9 Jul 2024
At the weekend, five members of the U21 Scottish Pathway Academy travelled down to Lilleshall National Sports Centre to compete in the 2024 National Junior Outdoor Championships organised by ArcheryGB. This included Joshua Phillips (Links Archers), Kristin Ward (Ayr Archery Club), Olivia Kendal (The Ancient Society of Kilwinning Archers), Shay Boyd (Largs Juniors) and Zac Ibrahim (Derwent Bowmen). The weather was a big factor - huge downpours on both days and cold like a Scottish Summer (Saturday only got up to 14 degrees!).
For Shay it was a successful weekend who managed to take double gold in the U21 Men’s Recurve on the Saturday and Sunday maintained this level winning the U21 York Men Recurve. Joshua also displayed high level of performance – not giving Shay much breathing space.  Joshua finished 4th on the Saturday however took Silver in the York round on the Sunday with only 33 points separating both of them.
‘‘This weekend I am delighted on how I shot, this was my third JNOC and to see my own progress over the years resulting in this weekend’s wins with new PBs and obtaining several records is brilliant. It shows the hard work and support I'm now receiving is paying off’’, stated Shay when reflecting on the weekend.
‘‘There is always room for improvement but I honestly couldn’t be happier with my performance and now I have set my benchmark to beat at the next one. I had a great time with my target mates which really kept me going.’’
‘’Overall I had a very relaxed and enjoyable weekend of shooting with two 1st place wins and lots to be proud of with some things to work on. Fantastic competitions hosted at Lilleshall again, and I’m looking forward to the next one.’’
In the U18 Women’s Compound category Olivia took Bronze on the Saturday and Silver on the Sunday with a strong performance that warranted podium place finishes on both days. On the Saturday, Olivia shot 1309 and was inside 300 at each distance.
Kristin was competing in the U18 Women’s Recurve category. Despite the tricky conditions, Kristin put in an impressive performance finishing fifth with a score of 1141 on the Saturday and fought hard on the Sunday finishing in 7th with not much separating between her and fellow competitors.Â
It was double set of Bronze medals for Zac in the U16 Men’s Recurve over the weekend. Zac paid tribute to his coach Harry Heeley – an ArcheryGB International Coach who unfortunately passed away recently – you certainly did Harry proud!
We would like to congratulate all the competitors this weekend and wish everyone best of luck at the ArcheryGB Youth Festival which is in a couple of weeks.
You can view photos from the event here.