This weekend saw 4 Andover Archers junior ladies; Aliyah Ramirez, Sassy Meyrick, Sophie Meyrick and Victoria Loader, competing in the Junior National Outdoor Championships held at Lilleshall National Sports Center. Whilst the event has been running for many years, it expanded this year to cover two large fields with over 330 archers competing each day, including the very ‘Best of the Best’ in every category.
Our ladies managed to overcome the nerves and intensity of the shoot to do us proud once again! The weekend got off to a great start Saturday with the Metric rounds;
Aliyah Ramirez (who had never before shot a 12 dozen round) achieved a Junior Master Bowmen class score of 1033 for a Metric 5 and achieved 3rd place in the Junior Ladies Barebow Under 12, breaking 7 club records and 3 county records!
Sassy Meyrick (who was aiming to score a comfortable 800, 900 at a push) achieved a Bowman class score of 1048 for a Metric 5! An absolutely incredible score, achieving a massive PB and 11th place in the Junior Ladies Recurve Under 12! Breaking a club record in the meanwhile!
Sophie Meyrick (ex longbow archer, new to the world of compound) achieved a Junior Master Bowman class score of 1328 for a Metric 4, achieving 4th place in the Junior Ladies Compound Under 14, just 3 points behind 3rd! In the process, breaking 6 club records and 7 county records.
Vicky Loader (also new to the world of compound) achieved a Bowman class score of 1233 for a Metric 2, achieving 5th place in the Junior Ladies Compound Under 18, just 3 points behind 4th place.
But the excellence did not stop there, the girls kept it with them overnight and brought it back on the Sunday to achieve more in the Bristol Rounds.
Aliyah Ramirez scored a Junior Master Bowman class score of 927 for a Bristol 5, once again finishing in 3rd place in the Junior Ladies Barebow Under 12, securing another club record.
Sassy Meyrick also scored a Junior Master Bowman class score of 1078 for a Bristol 5, a new PB by no less than 280 points, placing 11th once again in the Junior Ladies Recurve Under 12 after a tough battle in which she kept within the top 10 for most of the day! Sassy also achieved her first 6 gold end!
Sophie Meyrick scored a Junior Master Bowman class score of 1266 for a Bristol 4, a new PB putting her in 5th place, losing to 4th on golds alone and only 10 points behind 3rd place in the Junior Ladies Compound Under 14. Sophie also broke another club record and another county record. This was her third JMB score of the year!
Vicky Loader scored a Junior Master Bowman class score of 1232 for a Bristol 2 and after a long hard battle she finished in 4th place, just 4 points behind the girl in 3rd for the Junior Ladies Under 18 Compound. Breaking another club record and another county record.
Vicky and Sophie also won gold medals in the County Team Competition joined by Jacob Caine from Old Basing Archers.
The weekend resulted in 2 bronze medals and 2 gold medals awarded by Patrick Huston (Our 2016 Recurve Olympian), 6 JMB scores, 2 Bowman scores, a 6 gold end, 17 club records and 12 county records.
The girls shot absolutely amazingly and more importantly, they made our club proud by behaving impeccably, treating everyone with respect, showing perfect etiquette and truly acting as a team. We are extremely proud of them and cannot wait to see what these superstars are going to achieve in the future! Congratulations girls!
More photographs to follow.