The weather was changeable at Greeba on Sunday, where eleven archers turned up to tackle a variety of metric rounds.
Johnathan Gordon and Richard Hainge faced off in the first WA1440 of the year. This comprises 36 arrows shot at each of four distances 90/70/50 and 30m. It is a true test of stamina and concentration which takes up an entire day. Johnathan Gordon rose to the challenge in style. A miss early on did nothing to derail him and he went on to post what was not only a personal best score for the round, but to break the Club Record which has stood for decades. He took the win 178 points clear of Richard, whose handful of misses did him no favours.
Erin Hainge redeemed the family honour in the Ladies Recurve version – same number of arrows shot over distances of 70/60/50 and 30m. Erin also had one miss, but this did not stop her from posting a personal best score for the round and cementing her place in the Island Games squad heading to the Faroes next year.
Aalin George was the only Compound shooter to take on the 1440 so won her division unopposed. Aalin kept all her arrows on target to deliver a solid round.
In the Gents Compound Andrew Westmorland and Les Corran had a straight head-to-head battle in a Double WA720 round – two rounds of 72 arrows shot back-to-back, at a distance of 50m. Les put in a personal score but was outshone by Westy who took victory by a clear margin, finishing 74 points ahead of Les.
Recurver Matt Smith tackled the single 720 round for the first time and came away with a personal best score and an idea of what he needs develop further.
Stan Gorry put his new acquisition through its paces in the Longbow version of the round – the Metric 122-50. He obviously enjoyed playing with his new toy as he thrashed his opposition, Peter Howland. Stan had a few offs but took the win 114 points clear of Peter.
Emily O’Hara elected to shoot a Metric II round. A handful of misses put a dent in her score, but it was a respectable effort for her first full day of the season.
Caitlin Gelder put in a solid performance with her Compound bow in a Short Metric 1 round, recording a personal best score that broke the 600 barrier.
Results WA1440: Gents Recurve- 1.J.Gordon 143/1202/45NCR, 2.R.Hainge 138/1024/17. Ladies Recurve- E.Hainge 143/1177/28pb. Ladies Compound- A.George 144/1337/80. Double WA720- 1.A.Westmorland 144/1305/63, 2.L.Corran 144/1231/34pb. WA720- M.Smith 67/399/3pb. Gents Lonbow- 1.S.Gorry 59/272/0, 2.P.Howland 38/158/2. Metric II- E.O’Hara 138/854/8. Short Metric I- C.Gelder 72/603/25pb.
Isle of Man Archery Club 