NTU archery team overcomes high winds, equipment issues in competition

FORT DEFIANCE

Navajo Technical University archers found its niche during the West Region Intercollegiate Archery Championships at Mile Square Regional Park Archery Range, hosted by University of California-Irvine.

NTU’s archery team consisted of six men and one woman during the three-day competition.

“I am very pleased with our overall performance, considering high winds and mechanical issues with equipment, prior to leaving for WRIAC,” NTU archery Clyde Henderson said.
“Their performance is a stepping stone for next month’s Outdoor Nationals in Chula Vista, California. I thought everybody shot as well as possible, but the swirling winds contributed to the inconsistent scores across the categories.”

Due to equipment issues, Henderson said they had to reshuffle compound bows to different team members.

“One team member, who is one of my top archers, had equipment failure during the shoot and struggled with his equipment throughout the competition,” he said. “My rookie archers, Chase Bebo and Rivers Jones performed well and showed some meddle to handle the presence of adverse conditions and head-to-head competition.”

The team started the competition with a qualifying round that consists of 72 arrows. Henderson said individual and team match seedings were established from the qualifying rounds and added that each individual was placed in an elimination bracket for the final day of competition.

NTU’s Bowhunter men’s team, consisting of Bebo, Gilbert Benally Jr., and Shane Tsosie captured the Gold Medal. That same team also nailed down the Bowhunter Lottery team.

Capturing the Bronze Medal were the Bowhunter Mixed team, which had Maukenzi Moore and Shane Tsosie on that team.

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