Tara Murray
It was a successful National and State Indoor Championships for the Werribee Archery Club.
The national event was shot all around Australia on the same weekend, with five Werribee Archery members and two associate members representing the state in the Archery Victorian RGB teams as well as competing in the state titles.
Lily Helleren came away with three top three finishes from her events.
“I came second overall in Australia for the under 14 female compound and first in the state.,” she said.
“I was also in the Victorian state team that came third. I am really happy with how I shot, I did my best and shot consistently in both of the sessions. I was beaten by one point but it was still an amazing event.
“Last year I won the under 14 female compound category, so that definitely gave me an idea of how this event would go and the National Youth in April this year helped give that perspective.
“I didn’t win but I beat the score from last year by a lot so I am really happy.
Sophie Helleren also finished with three top finishes including finishing third in the national youth compound with Lily.
“I was very happy with how I went in the events,” she said. “I tried my hardest and got near my personal best which is a great success in a state and national indoor competition.
“I thought I could have done better on the first day… The second day felt much better. The past indoor state and national event that I entered was last year and I have achieved much better scores this year with a third place medal [nationally]. I’m very happy.
Peyton Jarosz also claimed a national title in the under-16 female recurve event. She finished fourth nationally.
She finished fourth nationally in the youth recurve as well with Archer Grey.
“This year’s championships were a bit tricky for me because it was my last time shooting my old bow, so the pressure was high,” she said. “Day one of the competition I didn’t do my best so I was in sixth place.
“Day two I had a major comeback, I was in the right mental state. So I ended up in fourth place which I was very happy with because my competition was shooting very well.
“After my results of the second day I would say yes I executed my expectations.”
Amelie Lu won the under-18 state female recurve and finished fourth in the open female recurve.
She finished third and 14th nationally respectively.
“It was a good weekend of shooting and I was happy that I shot better than I had been in the lead up to the competition, coming third nationally and first in Victoria,” she said.
“I was pleased to have been a part of the senior state team that ranked second nationally.
“[I’ve been] climbing up in the rankings for my age group with each year and this year fell a little short of those previous results. There’s much room for improvement and will have to work harder to make the higher scores again.”
Caroline Helleran won the 50-plus female compound in Victoria, finishing third nationally. She was part of the Victorian team that finished second in the senior compound event.
“I am very happy with how I shot on both days. I was consistent from one day to the next which was the most pleasing.
“I did not focus on my competitors scores during the shoot which helped me to stay calm and relaxed.”
