Canada Claims Two Medals at 2019 World Archery 3D Championships
Archery Canada – OTTAWA (Archery Canada) – The Canadian contingent took full advantage of home field at the 2019 World Archery 3D Championships which concluded Saturday in Lac La Biche, Alta., as Trudy Dryden of The Glades, N.B., claimed individual bronze in women’s instinctive bow and also contributed to a silver-medal performance in the women’s team competition.
Archery Canada Website: www.archerycanada.ca/en
Official Championship Website: www.2019worldarchery3dchampionships.ca
Lac La Biche 2019: Results
“This is a great achievement for archery in Canada and even more so for women in archery in this nation,” said Aaron Bull, Archery Canada’s vice president of 3D programs. “I think our future in Canada is bright going forward and we look to build off this success.”
A total of 24 Canadian archers, 12 women and 12 men, were in action in the small town located just over 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton in four individual categories, including compound, barebow, longbow and instinctive. They were accompanied by team manager Bryan Harper of Mill Bay, B.C.
Dryden was sensational from start to finish in the women’s instinctive bow individual tournament. After finishing the two-day qualification stage in second place with a score of 770, she advanced all the way to the semifinals in the head-to-head ranking round, where she dropped a 28-33 decision to third-seeded Karin Novi of Austria, the eventual gold medallist.
The world championship rookie rebounded quickly in Saturday’s bronze-medal match however, defeating the No. 1 seed, Italy’s Sabrina Vannini, by 20-18 thanks to a perfect shot on her final arrow.
“I’m very pleased with my performance. I’ve been training hard for the past two years,” said Dryden. “It’s my first world championships, so coming into the competition I thought if I can be in the top 10, that would be terrific. Now here I am, ending up in third place. I’m just over the moon. I keep thinking ‘Someone pinch me. Is this really happening?’
“In my qualification round, I came out first the first day and then second on the second day, so that was a very good feeling. Today, I felt strong. A little nervous going into it, of course. But I nailed it on the last shot and it was such an emotional relief.”
In the women’s team event, which included each country’s top competitors in compound and longbow as well as the best barebow or instinctive shooter, Dryden teamed up with Miranda Sparkes of Logan Lake, B.C., and Monica Higgins of Lethbridge, Alta., to climb one step higher on the podium.
After qualifying fifth out of 11 trios with a score of 2,381, the Canucks edged No. 4 Austria 104-101 in the quarter-finals and dominated the top-seeded USA squad 108-96 in the semis, before dropping the title match 95-110 against sixth-ranked France.
In addition to their team success, Sparkes and Higgins also had remarkable individual competitions of their own, finishing fifth in longbow and compound, respectively. Sparkes went into her ranking round as the third seed, while Higgins was fifth heading into her head-to-head duels.
“I feel I did really well this week,” said Sparkes. “I’ve been practising really hard to figure out my gaps and how I’ve been shooting. My original goal was to do better than I did at the 2017 worlds in France, where I placed 21st. I peaked at the right time, so I’m quite proud of that.
“Then the team competition was just the icing on the cake. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”
Higgins was equally happy with her success this week.
“I feel really good, really proud of everything we did today as a team. We had a couple of mental mistakes in the final but overall we all shot wonderfully, it was great. My goal was to shoot in a final, it didn’t matter whether it was team or individual. I got to shoot today and I did better than I expected, we have a silver medal. I’m super happy.”
Added Dryden: “Qualifying to be part of the team event, and to be able to shoot with Miranda and Monica, that was a bonus.”
The red and white delegation also received individual top-10 performances from Fred Streleoff of Williams Lake, B.C. and Marc Britton of Pinantan Lake, B.C., who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in men’s instinctive, Calgary’s Catherine Faulkner, who was eighth in women’s compound, as well as as Cameron Herbert of Lacombe, Alta., who merited the 10th position in men’s compound.
Other Canadian results in Lac La Biche included:
Women’s Barebow: 17. Heather Leduc, Moose Jaw, Sask.; 23. Lana Perry, Sault St. Marie, Ont.; 24. Susan Gehlert, Lac La Biche, Alta.
Men’s Barebow: 17. Alan Hindle, Perth-Andover, N.B.; 31. Tyler Moore, Moose Jaw, Sask.; 32. Duane Filipuzzi, Lethbridge, Alta.
Women’s Instinctive: 12. Katie Britton, Pinantan Lake, B.C.; 23. Caroline Laue, Edmonton, Alta.
Men’s Instinctive: 23. Dan Mobbs, 150 Mile House, B.C.
Women’s Compound: 17. Jessica Beaumont, Neuville, Que.
Men’s Compound: 14. Chase Martin, Grand Prarie, Alta.; 20. Cory Smandych, Calgary, Alta.
Women’s Longbow: 13. Corneilia Squirra, Roblin, Man.; 19. Jessica Mobbs, 150 Mile House, B.C.
Men’s Longbow: 15. Kevin Baldwin, Atmore, Alta.; 32. Monty Vander Westhuizen, Medicine Hat, Alta.; 34. Brock Paton, Osoyoos, B.C.
Men’s Team: 15. Canada.