May 16, 2012

National Field Champions Crowned and WAFC Team Selected

Spokane, WA - World Field Champion Dave Cousins will take to a World Championship field course once again this year, having secured the first birth on the World Archery Field Championships Team for the compound men's group. Cousins will join a group of veterans and newcomers who will form a formidable team of barebow, recurve and compound shooters bound for Val D'Isere, France in August.

New National Field Champions were also crowned this weekend in fourteen different categories. Kathryn Fischer, in the barebow junior women's category, took her title with a 219 over the unmarked and marked portions of the course; Rebecca Nelson-Harris won the barebow women's group with a 603. For the men, it was Alan Eagleton winning by the same score.

Bill Young took top honors for the compound master men with 726. The compound cadet men's group was headed by Thomas Alexander, shooting 632; Emily Fischer won the compound junior women's title with 693, while Ben Cleland took the junior men's championship with 773. Jamie Van Natta will join Cousins as compound national field champions, shooting 785 and 832, respectively.

For the recurves, David Wearne won the master men's title, putting up a 587, while Heather Trafford won the recurve junior women's category with her score of 531. Joshua Raby was the top scorer in the junior men's group with a 599, while for the adults, Olympic hopefuls Heather Koehl and Jake Kaminski won their championship titles with 666 and 698.

Competing archers at host Evergreen Archery Club were treated to scenic backdrops of downtown Spokane framing some steep cuts and Rocky terrain.  Temperatures peaked in the mid 70's as archers were presented with challenging shots - some framed by trees, quiet streams, and rocky ledges - with 20 meter plunges to the target.  Other targets featured a sand pit with volcanic rocks thrusting its way out to provide the ultimate test of balance and archery skill.

The selection for the World Archery Field Championships team was also a tough contest, with many archers registering late for this event to make it a more challenging field. Ultimately, a twenty-nine person team was selected, with archers in junior and senior age groups in the three primary categories: barebow, compound and recurve.

The six person barebow squad will consist of Eagleton, Benny Rogers and Ty Pelfry in the men's category, while Nelson-Harris and Charlene Trafford will make up the women's team. Kathryn Fischer will compete in the junior women's group. Commenting on having a three person team for the U.S., past World Team member Charles "Skip" Trafford noted: "This is the best three-man barebow team USAA will send to the worlds in over a decade. Each is a national champion with many barebow records to their credit. They will represent the barebow fraternity well in France."

The recurve team will be comprised of Kaminski, Joe McGlyn and Wyndell Wilhelm for the men, and Koehl, Nancey Tsai and Jory Schroeder for the women. Raby, Hunter Conley and twelve year old Charles "Hardy" Trafford will make up the junior men's team, while the women's squad will be Heather Trafford, Katherine "Kit" Flick and Miriam Trafford.

For the compounders, Cousins will be joined by Jesse Broadwater and Rod Menzer (Kevin Wilkey was the third place finisher but Menzer will attend in his stead). Paige Pearce and Hunter Jackson will be the two female compound entrants. For the junior men, Hunter Barthels, Ben Cleland and Evan Scudner will represent the U.S., while Kayleigh Rogers, Emily Fischer and Alison Williams were selected to the junior women's team.

In addition to the four Trafford family members competing in Val D'Isere (with the youngest family member, Hardy, competing in his third World Archery Field Championships), there will be several World Archery Field Championships veterans, two Olympic hopefuls, and ten members of the South Texas JOAD Club on the team.

Click here for complete results from this event. Photos from the event (courtesy of Steve Yee and Brandi Barthels) may be found on USA Archery's Facebook page.

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