Ok, the results are in for the 40th U.S. National Indoor Archery Championship.

First off, my results from E. Lansing put me in 2nd place for that particular venue. The gentleman in 1st place beat me by one silly point. So that wasn’t too bad, although I wasn’t thrilled with my results.

The final results put me in 34th place nationally. That’s out of about 200 national archers, including the Olympic Team and the United States Archery Team.

I was a bit disappointed with my results as I was shooting about 40 points higher in practice rounds. That would have put me in a MUCH better standing, at about 13th or 14th place. My goal was to break the top 20 given how well I was shooting and breaking the top 15 was actually feasible.

But alas…national and international competition adds a degree of competitiveness and nervousness that, if not calmed immediately upon standing on the shooting line, will carry itself into the competition. Having not been on the national stage in…oh…20 years, it had an impact on me as shown by a lousy score of 25 on my first end, and then another 25 a few ends later. I still pulled a 278 out of the first 10 ends, even losing those 8-10 points initially.

It was a great experience to compete nationally once again and I will definitely be doing it again next year. With the outdoor season about to start I’m still debating whether to shoot it competitively or not this year. With 125th U.S. National Outdoor Championship having moved just this year from it’s long-time location near the Olympic Training Center to nearby Hamiltion, Ohio, it would be a much easier trip to make. But the time, expense, and an achy breaky body may all take a toll.

So that decision has yet to be made for certain.

But all in all, I’m happy with my return to competitive archery. I had the chance to meet new up and coming archers, and re-acquaint myself with some old friends, including an old Olympian friend in E Lansing.

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Posted: March 24th, 2009 at 11:24 am.
Filed under: Archery.
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