EXCITING FINISH;
It was only when European silver medallist, Mark Nesbitt arrived home that
the exciting finish to the European Archery Championships was revealed! In
the finals Mark was drawn against fellow team member Chris Wells from England
The final competitions were in the wooded town square and were relayed to
the public on a large screen! In the semi final Mark shot extremely well to
be 5 points ahead and then disaster struck when he set his sights at the wrong
place for the 55 metre shot and he missed his first arrow! However he did
not let that upset him and he continued to shoot well to finish all square
with Chris on 45 points each and it had to go to a one arrow shoot off. !
Chris shot first and scored a four just beside the spot. Mark shot second
with his best shot of the competition and hit the X the centre of the yellow
5. He was through to the final against the Swede! The final was also dramatic
with a running commentary as well as the big screen! Everyone was nervous
as both archers made mistakes but Mark again went into the lead before nerves
got the better and he missed an arrow. He continued to shoot well and it all
came down to the last target after which only one point separated the two
archers! Mark had won a silver medal in his first International Field Archery
championships and could with a bit of luck have won gold! Well done Mark
U.K. JUNIOR FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS.
It was a bit like a First World War Battlefield on day one of the UK Junior
Field Archery Championships at Dr. Whyte’s Estate! The rain over the
previous week had made the ground conditions very slippy and the weight of
rain the night before had actually collapsed the marquee! However due to the
generosity of Dr. Whyte the barn was available which enabled registration
to set up in dry conditions and get all the entries registered and the judges
to get all equipment inspected. The registration team of Eddie McClean, Christine
Nesbitt, Anne Lavery and Mary McMullen soon had all the specially produced
yellow hats and scoresheets distributed to the competitors. A strong team
of 10 judges led by International Judge Tony McLoughlin from Dublin supervised
the two day event. Other judges were Andy Haggan, Frank Mulligan, Ashley Russell-Cowan,
Adele Lynas, Rune Naeri as well as 5 judges being assessed for their County
Judge certificate. They were Pat Mulligan, Alwyn Sneddon, Eddie McClean ,
Mal Kerrin and Robert Nesbitt and all passed with flying colours. A tricky
course of 24 targets had been set out by Alwyn Sneddon and Robert Nesbitt’s
Red Tower, which the young archers would shoot from, was going to make targets
23 and 24 very tricky. George Nesbitt was thoughtful and he brought straw
for the mud around the tower thus making it safe for young feet! The Welsh
Team were very fortunate to have obtained accommodation in the new apartments
on Whyte’s Estate and all they had to do was go out through the front
door and they were at Registration and the practice butts. The apartments
were so plush there was a rumour that the Welsh were preparing to stay on
for the rest of the week!
SPONSORSHIP.
Edgewater Caravan Park owned by Mr Loren O’ Neill was the main sponsor
for the event. Volvo dealers, Greers of Antrim, Banbridge District Council
and Awards for all were also sponsors and Ballyvally would like to thank them
for their valuable sponsorship. The Chairperson of Ballyvally Buckaroo’s
Junior Committee, Miss Amy Lavery, organised an excellent Archery quiz based
on photographs which had many of the parents and junior archers thinking hard!
Good work Amy!
SPECIAL PRESENTATION:
On the Saturday morning the Chairman of Ballyvally welcomed all the archers
to the 5th UK Junior Field Championships especially those who had travelled
from Wales and England and who had travelled quite a distance within Northern
Ireland eg from Roe Valley. After all the archers had been issued with their
yellow commemorative hats, Councillor Junior McCrum officially opened the
tournament and there was a surprise for the two juniors Mark Nesbitt and Chris
Wells who had done so well the week before in the European Championships in
Croatia where silver and bronze medals had been won. A special cake with a
field archery target had been baked and Mark and Chris cut the first slice.
All the juniors were to get a slice when they came in at dinnertime after
shooting the first 12 targets..
CUB RESULTS:
Young archers shooting the yellow peg put in some great scores. In the under
15 class Zoe Liggett [448] and Harry Price [497] shot very well while in the
under 12 class, Rebecca Corbett came out tops with an excellent 464.The boys
under 12 section was won by Aaron McAleenan [33] with Mark McGaughin from
Cookstown 2nd on 249. Polly Price won the girls under 10 section with 409
just 2 points clear of Rebecca Lennon on 407.and Robert Wheatley the boys
under 10 with 444. In the compound barebow section, Dean Hamilton [446], Courtney
Heslip [323] and Matthew Corbett [440] all won their sections. In the longbow
section Mark McCaffrey [358] and James Beattie [228] both from Belfast won
with good longbow scores.
WHITE PEGS:
In the white peg division Ballyvally archers, Katie McClean and Vanessa Eakin
had a fierce tussle. After day one Kate was ahead by 14 points but Vanessa
came back on day 2 and won by 12 points! Over the two days Katie won by a
mere two points in the girls barebow class. Who says every point is not important?In
the boys barebow under 15 section, Ian Davies from Wales finished ahead of
Aodhan McIlveeny from Roe Valley to clinch the gold but in the under 12’s
Alex Crowley from Roe Valley beat Shaun David from Wales to give him the gold!
In the compound barebow section Ballyvally archers Michael Ward [509] , Craig
McCreery [396] and Morgan Russell-Cowan [438] took the gold medals. Eleanor
Goldsmith from Crown Archers [Kent, England] shot especially well to score
466 and take gold in the compound unlimited class while Ballyvally archers
Ewan Lynas [217] and William Heslip [328] took gold in the traditional class.
BLUE PEG CLASS:
In the under 18 girls barebow class the competition was a tight as it had
been in the under 15 girls barebow class. After the first 12 targets Miranda
Timmerman of North Gwent archers [Wales ] was ahead but Kerry Sneddon [Ballyvally]
pulled it back to lead by two points at the end of day one. Day two saw a
similar struggle and eventually Kerry Sneddon emerged the winner. In the under
15 boys class Robert Mallon [Lough Cuan Archers] led from the beginning and
took gold on 396 just ahead of Peter Lavery [Ballyvally] on 379. 3rd place
went to Emyr Wilkinson of Pentref Dragons [Wales ] on 304.The compound barebow
classes were won by Ballyvally archers Claire Hillen [352] and Andrew Sneddon
[361] while Rory Shannon took the gold in compound unlimited [173] In the
under 15 Freestyle Andrew Davies [Celtic Warlocks, Wales] took gold with 419.
Kyran O’Neill just turned 12 and just into this class came a creditable
3rd with 327. Nathan Lemon from City of Belfast club shot 227 in boys longbow
while Ballyvally’s Shannon Russell-Cowan shot 270 in the girls traditional
class to take gold.
RED PEG CLASS:
The under 18 freestyle saw a rematch of Mark Nesbitt [Ballyvally] and Chris
Wells [Crawthorne Archers, England] after Croatia. Mark took gold with a new
record of 630. In the boys compound unlimited class, Tapani Kalmaru, Castle
Archers [Wales] took the gold with 689 beating Rian Morgan [Ballyvally] in
to 2nd place with 637. In the girls section, Ciara Dunleavy [Ballyvally] took
the girls gold in compound unlimited class with 500 points while Amy Lavery
[Ballyvally] shot 537 to take gold in girls freestyle.
WALES WIN NATIONAL TEAM COMPETITION.
The Northern Ireland and Welsh teams had a very close competition over the
two days with Wales winning by a narrow margin….2,484 to 2448!! Archers
representing Wales were Tapani Kalmaru [u18 compound unlimited] from Castle
archers, Miranda Timmerman [u18 barebow] from North Gwent Archers, Emyr Wilkinson
[u15 Barebow ] Pentref Dragons, Andrew Davies[u15 freestyle] from Celtic Warlocks,
Ian Davies [u15 barebow] from Celtic Warlocks and Shaun David [u12 Barebow
] from Pentref Dragons. Archers representing Northern Ireland were Rian Morgan
[u18 compound unlimited] from Ballyvally, Kerry Sneddon [u18 barebow] from
Ballyvally, Robert Mallon [u18 barebow] from Lough Cuan, Kyran O’Neill
[u15 freestyle] from Ballyvally, Aodhan McIlvenny [u15 barebow] from Roe Valley
and Alex Crowley [u12 barebow] from Roe Valley. Next year the U.K. Junior
Field Championships moves to Kendal in Cumbria in the North of England.
RECORDS BROKEN:
Despite the wet conditions on the Saturday and the wind on the marked course
on Sunday, 8 Northern Ireland records were broken by Robert Mallon [barebow]
William Heslip [boys traditional] Shannon Russell-Cowan [girls traditional],
Mark Nesbitt [boys freestyle], Michael Ward [boys compound barebow] , Morgan
Russell-Cowan [girls compound barebow], Ciara Dunleavy [girls compound unlimited]
and Amy Lavery [girls freestyle] records. Even better 12 British records were
broken by the following : Morgan Russell-Cowan, Mark Nesbitt, Amy Lavery,
Ciara Dunleavy, Robert Mallon [boys barebow], Shannon Russell-Cowan [girls
trad] and Eleanor Goldsmith [compound unlimited] from Crown Archers [Kent]
ABC SQUADS
With the main tournaments now over, Ballyvally will be starting to choose
their junior squads which will compete in the main championships in 2008.
Preparations have already started and permission granted from GNAS for the
club’s first British record Status shoot in October 2007. Main events
in 2008 will be the Irish Open in Wicklow and Dearne Valley in Yorkshire in
March 2008, the NIAS Champs in April, Kendal and the British open in May and
the UK Juniors in August 2008. Indoor practice for Club members restarts in
Banbridge Leisure Centre on Wed 5th and Thurs 6th September, .Beginners classes
will also start on the same dates and anyone interested in having a go at
an increasingly popular family sport, please contact club coach, frank Mulligan
[406 23748 for details]