OTTAWA (Archery Canada) – The country’s top archers gathered in Truro, N.S., this past week for Archery Canada’s 2018 Canadian Outdoor Field and Target Championships.

The action kicked off last Wednesday with the field competition, followed by the annual Fred Usher Memorial Cup team tournament on Thursday, the two-day target championships on Friday and Saturday, and last but not least, the Canadian Open on Sunday.

All these events were preceded by the Canadian Outdoor 3D Championships, also hosted by the St. Mary’s Archers of Truro club, from Aug. 4-6.

“As the 2018 Canadian Championships come to a close, it is good to reflect on the great times we have had here in Nova Scotia, the friendships made, renewed and cemented,” said Archery Canada president Al Wills. “Congratulation to the winners and well done to all competitors. Thank you to our hosts, and we look forward to meeting again next year in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.”

“Two years in the making and we’ve finally done it. A simple goal of providing a world-class event for our archers was all we had in mind. As the sun has set on our final day, I’m excited to say we accomplished that goal,” added Chad Harpell, chair of the organizing committee. “I’m so proud of our committee and all we have done. Great things can be accomplished with the hands of very few. Thank you all for attending.”

Nine archers accomplished the feat of being crowned national champions in both Field and Target competition.

In women’s action, double winners included Stephanie Barrett (recurve), Cathy Relf (recurve – master) and Abbigail Bunn (compound – cub), all from the Ontario Association of Archers.

Their performance was matched on the men’s side by Jacob Gagnon from Fédération de tir à l’arc du Québec (recurve – cub), Austin Taylor from Team Heartland (compound – junior), Rudy Jampen from the Calgary Archers Club (compound – master), Alan Hindle from Twin Rivers Archery (barebow), as well as Cass’ Creek Archery Club teammates Spencer Freeze (recurve – pre-cub) and Keegan Crawford (compound – pre-cub).

The Ontario Association of Archers dominated the Target Championships, winning 10 of 27 individual titles. The OAA also claimed four gold medals during the Field tournament.

A complete list of individual gold medallists from the 2018 Canadian Outdoor Field and Target Championships is included below.   

Canadian Open

Stephanie Barrett and Rudy Jampen both completed a rare “hat-trick” by also capturing gold in the Canadian Open head-to-head tournament.

Barrett prevailed in women’s junior-senior recurve, with Amy Louie from Royal City Archers and Woo Lyla Stevens from the Ontario Association of Archers taking silver and bronze, respectively.

Jampen was crowned in men’s compound cadet-master, with American competitor Seth Trahan and Brady Klassen from Team Heartland rounding out the podium.

Other gold medallists on the women’s side were Alba Lucia Villafranca from the Ontario Association of Archers (recurve cadet-master), Kaitlyn Horlock from the Ontario Association of Archers (compound junior-senior) and American Sachiko Keane (compound cadet-master).

In men’s action, Andrew Azores from the Ontario Association of Archers (recurve junior-senior), Julian Murphy from the Ontario Association of Archers (recurve cadet-master) and Luc Martin from Sussex Golden Arrows (compound junior-senior) joined Jampen in the winners’ circle.

Fred Usher Memorial Cup

In the annual team tournament between provinces and territories, Manitoba successfully defended its Fred Usher Memorial Cup title thanks to a 220-179 gold-medal win over Saskatchewan.

In the semifinal round, the repeat champions defeated Newfoundland 216-183, while Saskatchewan beat Prince Edward Island 210-191.

Quarter-final scores included Manitoba 215, Alberta 191; Saskatchewan 202, Quebec 182; PEI 177, Yukon 167; Newfoundland 171, Nova Scotia 143. In the opening play-in round, Saskatchewan had defeated New Brunswick 174-153 and Quebec downed Ontario 167-152.