The 14th Annual Traditional Archery Championships, a USA Archery event, were held recently at Michigan State University in East Lansing, where ten of the country's top traditional longbow, modern longbow and traditional recurve shooters gathered to test their skills.
During the Traditional Archery Championships, male archers participate in the York Round, which consists of 72 arrows shot at a distance of 100 yards, 48 arrows at 80 yards, and 24 arrows at 60 yards. The women compete in the Hereford Round, which is 72 arrows at 80 yards, 48 arrows at 60 yards, 24 arrows at 50 yards. An American round, consisting of 30 arrows at each of 60, 50 and 40 yards, and a clout round, in which archers shoot at flags placed 180 yards for the gentlemen, and 140 yards for the women, were also part of the event.
Brian Luke of Louisville, OH led the Male Traditional Longbow group with his scores of 193 on the York Round, 468 for the American and 25 for the Clout; he was joined in his division by Norm Graham of Williamstown, MI, who had a 131, 239 and 28; Dave Mamo of Milford, MI, shooting a 92, 293 and 0, and Nigel Rippon of Waynesville, OH, coming in fourth with a 38, 94 and 12.
For the women, Joan Hinterbichler of Albuquerque, NM competed in, and won, two divisions. In Female Traditional Longbow, she won with a 289 in the Hereford Round, 256 for her American Round score, and a record-breaking 96 on the Clout (unofficial). She was joined in the Traditional Longbow group by Carolyn Graham, a 14-year-old archer from Williamstown, MI, competing in the adult divisions, who posted a 63 for her American Round score. Hinterbichler also took top honors in the Female Modern Longbow division, in which she scored a 376 on the Hereford, 449 for the American and an 85 in the Clout.
Glenn Meyers of Freemont, MI was the sole competitor in the Male Modern Longbow division; he posted a 519 in the York, 588 for the American and 107 in the clout to win. The Male Traditional Recurve division also had two competitors; Norm Graham, who claimed second place in the Traditional Longbow group, also won the Traditional Recurve division, with a York score of 306 and an American round score of 533. His competitor, Joe Stemen of Fort Wayne, IN, posted a 226 in the York round to finish second.
Very different from ordinary outdoor target archery tournaments, the rules for traditional archery specify that all archers must shoot wood arrows; arrow rests, cushion plungers and sights are prohibited, and archers are not permitted to use binoculars or spotting scopes. There were three equipment divisions represented: traditional longbow, which is defined as all-wood British longbows or American flatbows without arrow rests or shelves; modern longbow, which can be made with fiberglass or other modern man-made materials, without arrow rests or shelves; and the traditional recurve, which are recurve bows with wood handles or risers.
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