Last Saturday, UCD Archery travelled to UL for the IV finals and finished the season 2009/2010 with some very respectable results.

Elaine Chapman achieved rank 2 in advanced barebow. James Ryan came in second place in mixed advanced recurve his latest record of this season however remains unbeaten so far. The team gathered another impressive score of 2477 and won the third place.

In UL as the final Intervarsity of the season, the league prizes are announced, too. For the league the best five scores out of possible six competitions in each of the five different categories, team, barebow, compound, male and female recurve, count. The strong performance of UCD Archery competitors this season secured the second place in the team league. UCD Archery overtook in this last competition UL beating them by 12 points in the end. The main disadvantage for UCD in the team competitions is the lack of a compound shooter after Amin Ali left last year, heading home to Malaysia. Hopefully, there will be a member or a new member shooting compound in the next season so that UCD Archery will also have a competitor in the compound league.

In barebow league, Elaine Chapman unfortunately could not defend her third place and was defeated by Gavin Duffy from GMIT by only 22 points. However, her results became more consistent and her performance curve develops positively which is a good prospect for the next season.

Club champion James Ryan had no chance to win this year’s male recurve league since two IV dates clashed with competitions abroad in which James was representing Ireland. Therefore, he was missing one result. James would have won the league with a comfortable margin however and his capacity shows in the fact that he set new records in this season twice. His next project will be the qualification for the 8th World University Archery Championships in Shenzhen, China which will be held in September this year.

In female recurve, this season’s champion is from UCD. Ines Rauch won with a margin of more than 80 points and a final score of 2521. It is the first time UCD Archery has a champion in female recurve and only the second time UCD Archery has a champion in one of the individual categories. In season 2007/2008, James Ryan won the title in male recurve. Unfortunatly, Ines cannot qualify for the World University Archery Championships since she does not meet the requirements of the age bracket for the competition any longer.

Although no other top ranks in the league were achieved, the quality and constancy of the performances of UCD’s contestants show not only in the second rank in the team league but also in the fact that Rachel Schneiders and Anne-Marie Donohoe are in the top ten in female recurve and Shane Keaveney and Brian Cullen are in the same range in male recurve. UCD Archery can be proud of this year’s new members who compete regularly and all moved on to advanced.

The Irish Student Archery Association has awards for all student archers who achieve certain scores and many UCD archers have qualified. For the white award (scoring 400+): Niccole Barnes, Elaine Chapman, Robert Collins, Brian Cullen, Anne-Marie Donohoe, Christina Dworak, Erika Gard, Rachel Schneiders and Anita Wester; the black award (scoring 400+ in advanced recurve or 450+ beginner’s barebow): Elaine Chapman, Brian Cullen, Anne-Marie Donohoe, Erika Gard, Lisa Harrington and Rachel Schneiders; for the blue award (scoring 450+ in advanced recurve or 400+ in advanced barebow): Elaine Chapman, Robert Collins, Brian Cullen, Justin McCullagh, Anne Marie Donohoe, Erika Gard, Lisa Harrington, Ines Rauch and Rachel Schneiders and for the red award (scoring 500+ in advanced): Ines Rauch.

The results of this season prove that UCD Archery’s efforts are paying off and they certainly let the club be confident for season 2010/2011!

Following this success UCD Archery unfortunately had to say goodbye to a merited long-time member recently.

The club’s senior treasurer Colin Travis, aka “bulletproof monk”, took his leave, heading back home to the UK. Shooting since the age of 19 with a break in between, Colin joined UCD Archery in 2005 and soon became a committee member. In his time in the club, he was coaching new members and also was a reliable source of input to them during their later developments. In addition, Colin took part in about 30 Intervarsity competitions (IVs) and he also represented UCD during his time in Ireland in many non-IV competitions all over Ireland which offered other club members the opportunity to travel with him and compete as well. Colin has been described by many members as the heart and soul of the club. His leaving will be a big loss to the club and UCD archery certainly will hold Colin Travis an honorary memory.