Once more the Cambridge University Bowmen failed to reach the very top of University Archery in Britain at the B.U.S.A. Outdoors championships held at Lilleshall. However some good individual performances have given hope for next year.
Every year students from all over the country gather to compete. The B.U.S.A. outdoor trophy is one of the few which had never been won by the Cambridge team. In the previous two years the Light Blues came second being edged out by a very strong team from Edinburgh.
However after an impressive indoor season and a Varsity victory, they travelled to Lilleshall as the pre-tournament favourites. The conditions were far from ideal with strong winds and a low temperature. Soon it became clear that the team would not be able to match the Edinburgh archers, who dominated the competition from the start, eventually taking home the trophy for the eighth consecutive year with a score of 3300. Only the team from York, who finished second, could live with their scores.
The Cambridge Squad - Andrew Somers, Pamela Custance-Baker, James Pawley and Matthew Monaghan - fought with Bath for the bronze medal, only loosing out on the last arrow with a team score of 3084.
However the light blues did not go home empty-handed. Richard Benwell won gold in the novice event beatiang his closest rival by over 100 points and helping his fellow novices, Diana Wood and Anna Addinall, to secure third place.
Representing a minor sport in Cambridge, the University Bowmen are currently recruiting new members. All standards are welcome, including absolute beginners: two people on the current squad took up the sport just two years ago.
The club encourages newcomers by providing equipment and coaching. The good novice performance this year bodes well for the coming season. When the club has to defend the B.U.S.A. indoor title, won in March. Full details about the club and archery in general are available at http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cub.
(The Cambridge Student, 05/10/02)