Day 2 (Saturday)
The second day of competition at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas started out much the same as the first ... sunny and beautiful! The AFC crew hails from the Pacific Northwest, so we have been enjoying soaking up some much needed vitamin D.
However, unlike the first day, our shooting time was in the late afternoon at 4:00pm. This meant there was plenty of time for some good food, plenty of rest, and some much needed time spent on the practice range and/or mental visualization time. They say that archery is 80% mental and only 20% physical ... and at first it’s hard to understand just exactly what that means. But after yesterday played havoc with the emotions, anxiety, apprehensions and focus of some of our archers - it’s easy to see how important a strong mental attitude can be.
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| Brandon Tenner sending another arrow into the gold at the 2015 Las Vegas Indoor Archery Competition |
Adam and Chelsea, however, decided that they needed to hit the practice range a bit and fling some physical arrows downrange after their lackluster performance on Friday. Positive thinking is great ... but only if you’ve got the confidence to back it up. Unlike Brandon, the other archers of the AFC crew haven’t been shooting since they were barely out of diapers. So Adam and Chelsea took some time at the practice range ... while Brandon sat in the bleachers and tossed out kind words of advice and encouragement.
But one can only practice for so long before it’s time for the main event. So, at 4:00pm, the AFC archers once again found themselves in one of the convention-halls-turned-archery-ranges. It’s quiet the sight watching 240 archers all bumble about waiting for a tournament to start. Everyone is trying to find a safe spot for their bow, chit chat with their friends turned competitors, and - above all else - keep calm and sooth their anxiety demons.
Brandon once again shot a very solid round. His ability to consistently send his arrows into the gold rings was an inspiration and an envy to the other archers around him. He had a bit more trouble finding the exact center of the gold on every shot than he had the day before ... but still ended with a 281/300. This is once again above his average for the season - and hitting above your average at the worlds largest indoor tournament is a feat in and of itself. Brandon has been placed in the 1st Flight which will compete at Noon tomorrow. His current standing is 9th and if he shoots another strong round tomorrow, he’ll be at the top of the charts for the recurve flights!
Brandon is shooting for Active Heros/Carry The Fallen. There is still time to make a pledge and support this wonderful cause.
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| Adam's 30 out of 30 end in his second round of the 2015 Las Vegas Archery Competition |
Adam decidedly vanquished his anxiety demons from the day before shooting a tournament personal record of 279/300. He attributes his jump in consistency to the increased amount of sleep, practice, and calming influence of his friends. He also got the chance to shoot in an ActiveTense performance shirt ... more on that later. Adam’s personal goal was to, “shoot a score of 270 at Vegas” and he nailed that today. His crowning moment was hitting a perfect 30 in the 9th end. Adam jumped up the rankings to 47th and will be shooting in the 2nd flight. He is ranked 9th in his flight and only 2 points separates him from 1st.
Adam is shooting for St. Mary’s Home For Boys. Head on over to the AFC pledge page to support him and the boy’s who rely on the community for a brighter future.
Chelsea, although not shooting for an organization this tournament, found the resolve to raise her scores as well. She shot an entire 36 points above her score from yesterday, finishing with a 243! In fact, most all of the shooters from Team Portland improved on their second day, so good job everyone! This tournament has been an amazing experience for all the archers involved. Chelsea is looking forward and feeling confident for her final day of shooting tomorrow.
The third day of scoring takes all of the archers and breaks them down into Flights based on their combined scores from the first two days. Each archer then competes within their own flight, with the top 8 places in each flight receiving a part of the payout.
After our competition was over, we had the chance as a group to go over to the main arena and watch some of the Archery World Cup which featured some of the most talented archers from around the world. We can’t wait for archery to become more mainstream in the USA as this sport has so much to offer to people of all ages.
You can check up on your favorite archer and track their scores in realtime by going to http://ianseo.net/details.php?told=989.
Thank you again for everyone who has made a pledge! If you haven’t had the chance to yet, there is still time! Click the button below and help support a good cause!
~Adam and the AFC Team
