LEWIS WINS BRONZE
Lennox Island resident calls it ‘a win for my community and province’
Lennox Island resident picks up P.E.I.’s first medal at North American Indigenous Games
As Logan Lewis celebrated and received congratulations, his thoughts were never far from home.
The 19-year-old resident of Lennox Island won a bronze medal in 3D archery at the North American Indigenous Games on Thursday. It was Team P.E.I.’s first medal of the competition.
“I was thinking if I get a medal it will not only be a win for myself and my family,” said Lewis. “Winning the medal is a win for my community and province.”
Lewis and Darcie Augustine, also of Lennox Island, were P.E.I.’s two competitors in 3D archery. Augustine’s final placing was not known at press time.
“Realistically, both Darcie and Logen are both intermediate shooters, and our feeling was if we could sneak into a medal position it would be a huge achievement,” said Team P.E.I. coach Duncan Crawford. “Our goal was to have them peak at these Games. Both Darcie and Logen had multiple personal bests.”
Lewis got off to a strong start, and completed Day 1 in third place. He dropped to fifth on the second day before rebounding for a strong finish on the final day.
“Archery is as big a mental game as much as a physical game,” said Crawford, who acknowledged nerves affected Lewis on Day 2.
Some good conversations between athlete and coach prepared Lewis for Thursday.
“Going into the final day, I was a lot more confident,” said Lewis, who moved back into third position after the morning shoot. Crawford’s instruction to Lewis for the final afternoon was to “maintain a high level without being too aggressive.”
Lewis finished with a 20-pluspoint lead over the fourth-place finisher, noted Crawford.
Lewis said he didn’t feel any extra pressure in his final two rounds knowing he was in medal contention.
“I was completely fine,” he said. “I was in a zone. I came here thinking I was going to do exactly that, and if I don’t get a medal I’m still going to be happy with my score because I was doing my personal best overall.”
Lewis admitted he was “really excited” after learning he medalled.
“It was like everything combined at once, it was the best thing ever,” said Lewis, who
added the moment would not have been possible without the support of his parents, Bob and
Lynn Lewis, and sister, Breanne Lewis.
This was not the first time Lewis has worn P.E.I.’s colours at the North American Indigenous Games. Team P.E.I’s flagbearer for this year’s opening ceremonies finished fourth in wrestling in Regina in 2014.
Crawford also praised Augustine’s efforts and performance.
“For a young lady who really got her equipment in the last three months, she put in a good amount of time, she worked at it and I’m thrilled with her performance,” said Crawford. “Any time you can have an athlete go to the biggest competition of their life and achieve multiple personal bests, not only have the athletes done everything they could, it’s also very rewarding as a coach.”