麻豆社区

Sixteen archers from across the territory gathered to test their outdoor skills Saturday.

The Yukon鈥圤utdoor 3D鈥圓rchery Championship saw competitors take aim at 16 life-size targets, featuring animals of all shapes and sizes.

Traditional cub archer Levi Stoneman had the top score on the day at 202, followed by master over-60 traditional shooter Rob Ingram (200) and senior men鈥檚 traditional Graeme Brighton (151).

Each shooter went through the 16 targets two times. The event was hosted by the Yukon鈥圓boriginal Sports Circle at the biathlon range on Grey Mountain Road.

The amount of archers was more than double of last year鈥檚 outdoor championship total, when only seven competed.

The event also featured athletes from Carcross, Teslin and Ross River.

Organizer Colin Hickman said participants got one shot per target, per round. Points were tallied by bull鈥檚-eye (11), inner circle (10), outer circle (eight), and general target (five).

A perfect score would have been 352, Hickman said.

鈥淓veryone was on par with where they鈥檙e at,鈥� said Hickman of Saturday鈥檚 performances. 鈥淲e want to develop archery and make it a stronger program within the territory. And the only way to do that is to allow archers an opportunity to perform.鈥�

Some of the archers present Saturday represented the territory at the North American Indigenous Games this summer, and are now attempting to earn a spot on the Canada Winter Games team.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be having tryouts soon,鈥� said Hickman.

Prior to the weekend event, organizers readjusted the 3D targets, moving them to within a range of five to slightly more than 30 metres.

鈥淲e wanted to change it up so it was the same for everyone,鈥� said Hickman. 鈥淣o one had an advantage.鈥�

The sports circle will continue to offer archery programs for youth age 11 and up on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the winter.