Great conditions for archers

Perfect shooting conditions on Sunday meant excuses for poor archery weren't given the time of day as the Mt Tiger Archers held the second round of their club championships at the outdoor range in Owhiwa Rd, Parua Bay.
The Triple Challenge is a multi disciplined event covering three types of field archery. Round one was completed at the indoor facility at Whangarei Girls' High School in March, and the leaders after that round were Dave Sandiford and Lisa Ferris.
The rounds are handicapped by distance to allow traditional archery styles of longbow and recurve bows to be competitive against modern, highly technical compound bows, so the eventual champion will be an archer at the top of their game.
There are men's, women's, junior and cub divisions with their own titles to be won. An archer must shoot all three rounds to be eligible for the overall championship title.
Sunday's competition comprised a field target round with marked distances and an unmarked round shooting three-dimensional animal targets.
It was hotly contested by club members, some of whom had competed at the World Bowhunter Championships in Wagga Wagga, Australia in April.
The men's competition was won by Trevor Irvine, a former gold medallist in the professional division at the world championships, with 649 points, with Gene Gray (605) second and Graham Coutts (579) third.
Gene is a junior shooter who is shooting at the adult level and Sunday's results shows he isn't out of his depth.
Lois Howe followed up her bronze medal at the recent world championships by winning this round of the ladies' competition with 589 points, ahead of Lisa Ferris (579 points), with veteran gold medallist Cheryl Irvine third.
Robert Douglas Green (556 points) won the junior men's division ahead of James Hand. The cub division winners were Jacob Green-Olsen and Breanna Gibbs. Novice shooter Mary-Anne McRae shot a creditable 537 in her first competitive event.
After the results from the two rounds of the overall competition were totalled, the competition for the top places remains very close, with Ross Fryer and Dave Sandiford tied in the men's division and Lois Howe and Lisa Ferris also tied in the women's division. James Hand and Breanna Gibbs are the junior men and cub girls' leaders.
The final round of competition is a 3-D animal unmarked round to be held on July 17.
For more information about field archery contact Mt Tiger Archer's secretary Jamie Carey, phone 021 1888-58, or visit www.mttigerarchery.