COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - The USA Archery Collegiate Archery Program Collegiate Regional Championships will begin this weekend with the North Region Outdoor Collegiate Championship hosted by Ohio State University and ACE Archers in Delaware, Ohio, and the West Region Outdoor Collegiate Championship co-hosted by UCLA and UC San Diego at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center.
Chris Worthen, coach of the Ohio State University archery club, was very proud of his archers and is looking forward to a great event: "The Ohio State Club has been working all winter to get ready for their first outdoor tournament. They have been practicing in 35 degrees and rain for some of their first shots at 70 meters. The club has been working tirelessly on not only growing the club, but also on becoming better archers. Only one of more than 100 of their club members have shot in a head to head match. I can't wait to see what these students do when they have a little extra pressure applied!"
The Ohio State Club is just in its second year, and has already seen tremendous growth, with over 100 archers active in their program. They are looking forward to taking on top regional competition from Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin La Crosse, and more.
In the West region, California schools have historically been dominant in competition - UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego, and UC Berkeley - this year, archers at University of Arizona are looking to challenge the Cali schools and bring the heat.
U of A club president Ingo van der Heiden commented: "We are a smaller club so our chances at sweeping the UC schools is of course a competitive goal as it would be for other schools. But I think we can at least give them a run for their money even though they outnumber us."
Team manager Ryan McLean echoed Ingo: "My Team this year has been practicing very often, and we have become a very skilled group of archers because of it. All of our competition team has become top of the line archers and they are ready to show it off at a tournament. I'm confident we can dominate the other schools this tournament, as we have improved a lot since the last one. We've had a few technical difficulties before as well, so if we prevent those we've already won."
Top U of A shooter Kyla McPeak shared her teammates' enthusiasm: "For regionals I am most excited about shooting with other collegiate archers and learning from them so that I can shoot better. I am also super excited to be shooting a mixed team event. It will be the first one I have ever shot and the format sounds like a lot of fun since it's almost like a duel between schools."
To keep up with the action at these events, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you are part of a local archery club, consider taking your team to cheer for your favorite schools and introduce young archers to the great opportunities that are part of the USA Archery Collegiate Archery Program. Regional Outdoor Collegiate Championship events are open and free for the public to attend.
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