Louth junior archer impresses at national championships debut

Louth And District Archery Club junior Louise Smith made a solid debut at the National Junior Championships at Lilleshall.
Promising young archer Louise Smith EMN-180805-091443002Promising young archer Louise Smith EMN-180805-091443002
Promising young archer Louise Smith EMN-180805-091443002

The Huttoft archer warmed up for the event by winning gold the previous weekend at Friskney with an impressive score of 1,072 out of 1,296 in a Bristol 4 round.

The nationals brought together 261 of he top under 18s archers, with 25 in Louise’s under 14s girls class.

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Day one’s competition was a Metric 4 round of 144 arrows, shot at four different distances 40m, 30m, 20m and 10m.

Louise scored a magnificent 1,146 out of a possible 1,440, of which 26 were in the gold 10 ring to lie 16th.

The next day was 13-year-old Louise’s favoured round, a Bristol 4 round – 144 arrows at 40, 30 and 20 yards.

She shot 1,135 of a possible 1,296, including 83 golds to move up to 11th place overall.

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The club and its chairman Rick Smith were full of praise for the young athlete’s performances and proud of her call-up by county selectors to shoot for the Lincolnshire junior squad at an East Midlands inter-county competition in Northamptonshire.

* Louise was joined by clubmates Pete Shaw, Stuart Rodgers and Tom Folwell at Kirton-in-Lindsey for the KLASSIC Windsor tournament.

Louise shot the junior round – three-dozen arrows at 40, 30 and 20 yards, while Tom shot the men’s round of three-dozen arrows at 60, 50 and 40 yards. Louise scored a good total of 828 and Tom shot an excellent 944 from a maximum 972.

At the other end of the shooting line, Pete Shaw and Stuart Rodgers shot in the Visually Impaired round of nine-dozen arrows at 30 metres on three different-size target faces.

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Pete scored a good 852 and Stuart, the club’s blind archer, supported by his spotter Rick Smith, shot a creditable 230.

All four came first in their respective classes with personal best scores despite the very hot and uncomfortable shooting conditions.

* Louth And District Archers meet at the Louth Town FC’s ground at Marshlands, in Saltfleetby on Tuesdays from 6pm to 8pm, and Saturdays from noon to 4pm.

The friendly club aims to enhancing the archery experience for current participants, and deliver chances for people of all abilities, both disabled and able-bodied, to take part in the sport.

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