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March 30, 2006

Hughes, News & Views: Wabash Valley archers are right on the mark

By David Hughes

TERRE HAUTE — I’d like to think that I generally know what’s going on in the Wabash Valley sports scene.

But I was surprised to learn recently that we have several national-caliber archers living amongst us.

Some of them participated in the National Field Archery Association’s indoor national championships March 18-19 inside the Kentucky International Convention Center at Louisville, Ky.

For example, 64-year-old Bob Sampson of Terre Haute placed first in his flight in the Senior Male Freestyle Division. He scored 596 points out of a possible 600.

In his younger days, Sampson competed in about a half-dozen national meets per year from 1976 to 1980. Then he drifted away from the sport because of all the weekend travel and time spent away from his family.

But he got serious about archery again last year.

“In 1978, I was considered one of the top 100 in the country,” Sampson reflected. “Now I shoot the same scores, but the competition is so much greater than it was then.”

Nowadays, Sampson estimates that he’s in the top one-third in the nation among men in the senior division (over the age of 50).

On the opposite end of the age spectrum in Valley archery is 17-year-old Justin Rogers, a junior at Linton High School. In the recent National Field Archery Association (NFAA) indoor championships, he placed second in his flight in the Young Adult Male Freestyle Division with a score of 596.

Rogers competes in four archery organizations — the NFAA, International Bowhunting Organization (IBO), Archery Shooters Association (ASA) and Indiana Field Archery Association (IFAA). Since his father let him experiment with a used bow at age 5, he’s improved enough to win five IFAA state championships and set three state records in his division.

In 2003, Rogers captured the IBO world championship in the Youth Male Division (ages 13-14) at Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va., where he shot at 3-D targets from up to 35 yards away. He usually practices at the Sullivan County Archery Club in Pleasantville or at Willow Point in Linton.

“We have pictures of him [holding a bow] when he was in diapers,” father Peter Rogers mentioned with pride.

Sullivan resident Kenny Kays, 45, is the state treasurer of the IFAA. He said he’s competed about eight or nine years, having won IFAA state championships at two different meets in 2001, and he usually practices at Willow Point or at the Gander Mountain store in Terre Haute.

“I like meeting the people and getting the kids involved [in archery],” said Kays, who often travels to weekend tournaments from January to the first of October.

“People in archery are really family oriented,” Peter Rogers emphasized. “They’re like your best friend whenever you show up for amateur meets.”

But the pro division can be a little less friendly at times, Darrin Christenberry of Spencer noted, probably because of the money involved.

Christenberry, 35, first entered national amateur tournaments in 1994 before turning pro in 1998. At the recent NFAA tournament in Louisville, he placed ninth in the Pro Male Freestyle Division with a score of 600.

The year 2003 went particularly well for Christenberry as he won the IBO National Triple Crown and national championship in the Men’s Open Pro Division. For his national championship, he received $14,000 and a gold belt buckle.

Earlier this month in the ASA LimbSaver Pro/Am Championships at Fort Benning, Ga., Christenberry earned $16,000 by finishing first (after a tie-breaking seven-shot shootoff) out of 63 competitors in the Men’s Open Pro Division. He currently ranks first in the ASA’s Shooter of the Year standings in the Men’s Open Pro Division.

“You try to have nerves of steel,” explained Christenberry, whose 14-year-old son Dylan also competes in big-time tournaments. “You’ve just got to go up there and become mentally numb, shoot your bow and hope you come out on top.”

This year, Christenberry has traveled to Georgia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Florida and Las Vegas, among other places, for meets. He sometimes takes his son to the meets that are close enough for him to drive. He takes about 10 weeks a year off from the sport — September to mid-November.

Christenberry said some of his meets are indoors, but most are outdoors. Depending on the organization and type of meet, archers can aim at the traditional multi-colored, circular spot targets varying in distance from 20 feet to 100 yards or trickier 3-D targets from 15 feet to approximately 50 yards.

Christenberry and the others insisted that successful archers can come in all ages, shapes and sizes.

“Anybody can shoot a bow and arrow,” Christenberry said. “It’s a mental game. One guy from Pennsylvania is in a wheelchair and he’s one of the best shooters in the world.”

“I don’t think anybody has a physical advantage over anybody else,” Peter Rogers added. “Men don’t have an advantage over women.”

It does help a little, however, to own a top-of-the-line bow and arrows. Christenberry said his archery equipment would sell new for about $1,700 in a store and most good sets cost at least $1,000.

But there are less-expensive models for beginners. And beginners are what these folks would like to see more of at local and state tournaments.

Sampson and Kays said youngsters who don’t play on their schools’ football or basketball teams may find archery more to their liking, adding that the National Archery in the Schools Program is available in the Wabash Valley.

For more information about adding the National Archery in the Schools Program at your school, joining the IFAA (which has about 540 active members) or entering upcoming tournaments, feel free to call Kays at (812) 268-4287.



David Hughes can be reached by phone at 1-800-783-8742, Option 4, or at (812) 231-4224; by e-mail at david.hughes@tribstar.com; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.

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