CuChulainn trio strike gold during Derry trip
MICHELLE Brohan, Fiachra Judge and Ann Marie Murray made the two-hour trek to Derry a worthwhile one when winning gold at the Foyle Valley Indoor Field Open for Ardee-based CuChulainn Archers.
This shoot is different to the normal FITA target shoot in that targets are moved after 30 arrows, although the distance remains the same. This is to somewhat replicate different targets in the Field/Forest environment. Despite being the same distance, moving a target just a foot or two from top to bottom can deceive the eye - and the muscle memory.
The target scores are also different in the centre - the highest points are 5 instead of the normal 10 - but all three archers mastered the challenge superbly to win first places in their events.
The same weekend four archers from CuChulainn travelled to compete in outdoor field/forest settings. John Keenan - who is a world champion in the sport - attended the Snowdrop shoot in Ballyvalley near Newry - a twoday event - and on both days he came out on top in the Master Men’s Compound section.
Elsewhere, Jacek
Szóstakowski, Ciaran Flanagan and his daughter Nina (9) travelled to Wexford for a 3D shoot, shooting at rubber animals in the Wexford forests. Nina in particular is fond of shooting this style and continues to outshoot her dad!
Jacek took a respectable fifth place in the barebow, Ciaran won bronze in the Men’s Senior Compound and Nina came first in the Bowhunter Cub section.
Five CuChulainn archers are counting down to the biggest event in the Archery calendar outside of the Olympics, namely the finals of the Indoor World Series, held in Las Vegas.
With almost 4,000 world-class Athletes in attendance, this will be a real test to keep a calm head while shooting 30 arrows a day over three days before the eliminator finals.
At the time of going to press the archers are in Vegas, adjusting to the heat and the time change ahead of the competition.
•Archery Ireland have confirmed that Anne Marie Murray has set a World Archery 25m record for both 30 and 60 arrows in Ladies Senior Barebow, and that her clubmate Michelle Brohan has also set new records for the same number of arrows in the Ladies Senior Recurve section.