Louth Archery Club quartet on target at Kirton tournament

A Louth and District Archery Club quartet met with success at the Kirton-in-Lindsey Open Tournament late last month.
From left, spotter Rick Smith, Amber Sheppard, Louise Smith, Pete Shaw and Stuart Rodgers EMN-190731-170611002From left, spotter Rick Smith, Amber Sheppard, Louise Smith, Pete Shaw and Stuart Rodgers EMN-190731-170611002
From left, spotter Rick Smith, Amber Sheppard, Louise Smith, Pete Shaw and Stuart Rodgers EMN-190731-170611002

Club juniors Amber Sheppard and Louise Smith together with visually impaired archers Pete Shaw and Stuart Rodgers had a great day of shooting in cooler, murky conditions.

Entering her first-ever tournament, Amber turned in a fine debut, having only taken up archery earlier this year.

She shot a short junior Windsor round, consisting of 36 arrows at 10, 20 and 30 yards on a full-size 122cm face, and totalled a super 822 out of a maximum 972 to win first place in her class.

Louise shot a short Windsor round of 36 arrows, shot at each of 30, 40 and 50 yards on a full-size target face.

She was a bit below her normal form, but still shot a creditable 715 to take first place in her class, and will now target further tournaments over the coming months.

At the opposite end of the shooting line, Pete (Visually Impaired open class) again shot alongside his friend and team-mate Stuart (Visually Impaired blind) in a

Burntwood Windsor round.

This consisted of 108 arrows shot at 30 metres on smaller target faces which carried a maximum score of 972.

Stuart struggled throughout the day to find his form and ended up with a score of 233, but this was a personal best and gained him a second place.

Pete shot consistently throughout the day to chalk up a superb 878 points for first place and break his own Lincolnshire county and East Midlands Archery Society record which he shot last year at the same tournament.

Pete and Stuart are looking to hit peak form for the National Disability Championships and British Blind Sport Outdoor Championships.

These will be held over two days of intense competition at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in mid-September.

They are both hoping to put more gloss on what has already been a successful season to date.