Yankton, SD, October 8, 2014 Easton Field at the NFAA Yankton Archery Center was the spot to be if you wanted to see the top outdoor target archers in the country this past weekend. October 4th-5th, 2014 was the first annual National Outdoor Target Championships. Over 100 archers were faced with three distances, 60-50-40 yards at a 122cm target on Saturday's NFAA 900 round. Sunday's NFAA Classic 600 round included 60 arrows shot at a 92cm target at the same distances, but in reverse order. The weather for the tournament was a bit challenging as temperatures were in the 40's and 50's and some gusty winds to contend with.
Jeremy Terhune, from Rozet, Wyoming emerged as the top archer earning $2,500 in the Pro Male Freestyle division with a score of 1422 out of a possible 1500. In the Pro Female Freestyle division, Erika Jones; from Grand Island, Nebraska, beat Serena Schluesner, from Roberts, Wisconsin, with a score of 1409 to earn $1,500 and be crowned the top female archer.
Being one of the 100 plus archers standing on the line, a whole new perspective was given to tournament newbies Noel Kusek and Rachael Byrd. This cold and windy weekend was a first outdoor tournament for 13-year old archer Noel. She has been shooting archery for a year and a half and says this tournament is just for her to get more experience since she has not been practicing for it very long. As a youth archer, Kusek shoots at distances of 50-40-30 yards for the competition. "It's more difficult because they switch the distances," she admits. However, she says being able to practice in the facilities offered at the National Field Archery Association makes her fortunate. Byrd, an employee of the NFAA Easton Yankton Archery Center and a marketing intern from the University of South Dakota, has been shooting a bow for 3 years as a bowhunter. She said, "Working at the Center has proven to be very exciting and fun, especially watching all of the target archers. Being a part of the NFAA Outdoor Nationals and the IFAA World Field Archery Championships this summer got me more excited about shooting a target bow." With a little encouragement, she decided to give this tournament a shot. "It was really fun even with cold temps and wind, and I ended up in 3rd place for my division - I really enjoyed meeting other people from around the country and making new friends."
There were many archers from around the Yankton area that competed in this national tournament, but Grace Ertle, a 17-year old from Michigan, drove 13 hours to compete. Agreeing with her fellow archers, she said, "Overall, I really liked it, but it was definitely a challenge with the wind." Despite the weather challenge, Grace won a national title for her division. Many other national titles were given out to archers including Gabby Keiser, 14-year old from Yankton, who took first in the Youth Female Freestyle division, and a father-daughter duo. Rachel Wesbrock took first place in the Young Adult Female Bowhunter Freestyle division as did her father, Jason, in the Adult Male Traditional division. Jason, expressing his gratitude toward the NFAA hosting a new tournament, said, "I'm very glad they had it. The NFAA has always showed they're willing to support shooters with new events like this."
Bruce Cull, President of the NFAA, said, "I'm very happy with the attendance of this year's inaugural tournament. This wasn't our first choice for a date to hold this, but we still have over 100 archers. Next year we will be considering a much earlier August-September time. We look forward to this tournament growing to several hundred within a few years."
The National Outdoor Target Championships marked the end of the outdoor season. Next for the NFAA is the upcoming Vegas Shoot in February and the start of the indoor season.
The National Field Archery Association's headquarters in located in Yankton, SD and is the largest archery association in the US with over 100 clubs and pro shops in all 50 states and an association of Europe. The NFAA hosts tournaments for Indoor, Field, Unmarked 3-D, and Marked 3-D as well as all of the above in 8 geographical region-sectional tournaments.
https://www.nfaausa.com
