Williams Lake archer Al Campsall won an impressive ninth Canadian Indoor 3D Archery Championship Feb. 16-17 in Medicine Hat, Alta.
Campsall, a member of the Cariboo Archers in Williams Lake, out-sniped roughly 32 other competitors in the compound bow class en route to the win. There were about 250 competitors total at nationals.
“I was pretty excited about it, I have to admit,” Campsall said. “It was a lot of fun and it got me very excited about going to New Brunswick later for the Canadian Outdoor Championships.”
Campsall, after spending a week near Calgary at a tune-up event prior to nationals, beat the competition by 20 points — the most he’s ever won the championship by. He also finished first at the warm-up event.
“I knew a lot of the top archers in Canada would be at the warm-up event so I registered for that, too,” Campsall said. “It was a good thing I did because I got to shoot with some of the top archers in Canada and it was really helpful.”
In preparation for nationals Campsall shot between two to three hours each day.
“I was practicing at the Calgary Archery Centre, which is a significant facility,” he said. “You can shoot every day out to 40 yards, and they also have different situations where you can practice out to 50 yards, which is the maximum for our discipline.”
Campsall now has his sights set on this year’s World Archery Championships in Italy in October, an event he qualified for last year by winning the Canadian Outdoor 3D Championships. Campsall is the number-one ranked archer out of three who will represent Canada at worlds.
“I believe that I am improving, which is my ultimate goal before the worlds,” he said, noting the last time he competed at a world championship he left disappointed.
“Last time I finished 31st in the world, but I messed up with my equipment and had some jet lag,” he said. “Those are things that aren’t going to happen this time because I’ll be much more prepared.
“I’m going a week in advance to and I’ll shoot all week in the area. By the time world championships roll around I should be in good stead. This year I’ve vowed if there are guys who are better shooters than me then they’ll probably win, but they won’t win because I messed up.”
Coming up March 10 the Cariboo Archers host their annual general meeting at the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association. Shooting starts at 10 a.m., followed by a free lunch at noon.
On March 23-24 the Cariboo Archers host their 3D Indoor Shoot at the Trail Rider’s Arena. All shooting levels and abilities are welcome.
