At a glance
Saturday- WA 1440 (Gents and Ladies), Metrics I & II
Andy- 1070- 17th
David (Boris) – 985- 35th
Matt P- 976- 36th
Sara- 1082- 9th
Ally- 1052- 15th
Janna- 783- 37th
Izzy- 735- 41st
Michael- 964- 6th (New club record)
Patrick- 527- 1st
Abby- 1108- 1st (New club record)
Juste- 1052- 3rd
Aurélie- 980- 6th
Novice Recurve Team Trophy- 3140
Sunday- WA 70m and Head to Head
WA70m
Andy- 593- 7th
Matt W- 498- 44th
David (Boris)-476- 55th
Michael- 438- 65th (5th Novice)
Sara- 495- 10th (New club record)
Ally- 480- 15th
Abby- 467- 18th (1st Novice) (New club record)
Izzy- 389- 33rd
Juste- 377- 34th (3rd Novice)
Janna- 332- 43rd
Aurélie- 298- 50th (9th Novice)
Liam- 227- 11th
Patrick- 200- 16th (2nd Novice)
Fiona- 163- 22nd
Head to Head
Andy- 2nd
Matt W, David (Boris) – 33rd
Michael- 65th
Abby- 6th
Ally, Juste, Sara- 17th
Izzy, Aurélie, Janna- 33rd
Liam- 4th
Patrick- 9th
Fiona- 17th
A wonderful if very wet BUCS Outdoors weekend. SUAC gained the gold and bronze Novice individual recurve medals, the gold Novice individual barebow medal, the Novice recurve team trophy and the silver male head to head medal. In addition, 4 club records were also broken.
Match report
After collation of food, camping equipment (especially our nice new 10 man tent, with a full set of poles), kit, people and especially bows; SUAC was ready to depart Southampton on its way to another BUCS weekend. First to leave were Ally and Abby, although a detour and some ‘creative navigating’ (not for the last time) left Abby a way behind Ally. Next to leave, the SUAC minibus with passengers and kit, (and tables) following behind were Sam and David and finally Zazzles with Sara and Adam.
Arrival at BUCS was heralded by sheep and the threat of rain. Two tents up quickly, the minibus arrived and the rest also took shape, setting up Camp SUAC for the weekend. Appearance of a wild Tap, and a Skipper completed the company. Dinner guests included some of Warwick who seemed to have been abandoned by the rest of their team, and house guests included Oxford novices whose seniors had forgotten to pack the waterproof bit of their tent.
Forgotten items for SUAC also included Student ID cards, so an all-night dash back to Southampton for Zazzles meant some very tired people when they reappeared at Lilleshall at 6am.
Saturday’s weather continued in the same fashion as Friday evening so everyone was praising the wonders of waterproofs and line tents. Some very impressive performances resulted in the Novice team leading by 50 points before their last dozen, Abby won the novice recurve gold medal with a record breaking shoot, as did Patrick for the novice barebow gold medal and Juste came in a close third gaining a bronze novice recurve medal. Michael got a new club record from Andy. An 11 hour shoot meant that the medal ceremony was delayed until the next day so everyone returned to camp for well earned (if slightly haphazardly cooked) dinner and bed.
Sunday’s morning dawned with an unexpected brightness as the Sun finally made an appearance, along with the surprise of Sara’s minions gathering together in uniform for the first time. While the bevy of camp followers remained to pack up the camp and keep the team provided with much appreciated bacon sandwiches and inspirational dancing, the shooters gathered for the seeding round. After some further brilliant shooting, and more records broken by Sara and Abby, the head to head matches were figured and sadly it was seen infighting threatened pull SUAC apart as members were pitched against each other.
Izzy and Juste were the first to be pitched against one another and a victory to Juste pushed her up a round and against the number 1 seed that sadly beat her but Juste certainly gave her a run for her money and something to think about. Also knocked out in the first round were Janna, Aurélie and Michael. The rest soldiered on. Yet more face offs occurred as Ally and Abby shot against each other, a rematch for Waterside and Fiona faced Liam. This time Abby was victorious, and Liam also triumphed and continued into the next round. Going out were Fiona, David, Juste, Sara and Ally who was now free to head off to Dunster, arriving at a much more socially acceptable time than last year.
Continuing into the semi-finals were Abby, Andy, Patrick and Liam. Patrick fell at this round and Abby followed in the next. Liam went on to place 4th and Andy to 2nd, gaining another BUCS medal.
The medal ceremony, much hugging and many photo opportunities later, the minibus was again loaded with people, and the many vehicles went their separate ways; Zazzles was set for another, gentler trip home, Sam and David in their own direction and Abby taking her car load, including much Lucozade, off to continue the fun at Dunster Archery Week.
All told a highly successful weekend shooting at Lilleshall, many medals, a new trophy and some new club records set. The only downside, our poor Parker was dolphinapped, or is missing in action but no doubt enjoying a stay with one of our SEAL brethren.
We miss you Parker, find your way home soon!
