BUCS Indoor Championships, hosted in Telford, is the UK’s premier indoor student archery tournament. This one-day tournament features universities from across the whole of the UK, competing for glory and prestigious BUCS points. Competitors shoot a “Portsmouth round” of 60 arrows at a 60cm face, with a maximum available score of 600.
Lancaster archers have been training hard with new coach and ex-Olympian Vlada Priestman. Her guidance has certainly made a difference with the club posting a strong performance in this year’s tournament.
The most notable achievement was an impressive 4th place finish for the senior male recurve team – Tom Wilson, Jay Tserkezie and Tom Bott. With a combined team score of 1688/1800, the gents were only 6 points off 3rd place Birmingham, which is a huge improvement from last year’s 16th place finish. Tom Wilson in particular can be very proud of his performance, finishing 6th in the individual senior male recurve category with a score of 571/600, only two points from 4th place and more illustrious BUCS points.
The female senior recurve team (Laura Hodgkinson, Gemma Ainsworth and Kirsty Falcus) posted a strong 8th place finish. Laura managed a fantastic 9th place in the individual senior female recurve category, shooting a superb competition PB of 551/600.
The novice team also gained some valuable experience from this tournament, and although a top 10 finish eluded them, they should be very happy with their performance at their first national competition.
The club has already gained more than double last year’s total BUCS points after only one of the two annual BUCS events, and the club now stands at 11. Looking ahead to BUCS Outdoor Championships in June, with the continued hard work from our archers and the help of Vlada, there is definitely more chances for a medal and another haul of BUCS points.
