Over the weekend, you may have noticed the 150 or so archers who
took over the Intramural Field. But if you didn’t take a
closer look, you may have missed out on the setting of a world
record and a dynasty battling for its eleventh straight national
championship.
For the first time in its short history, UCLA’s club
archery team hosted the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery
Championships.
Though the Bruins were forced to settle for a bronze in
men’s recurve ““ the only team division in which UCLA
fielded a team ““ the weekend was dominated by the
sport’s traditional powers.
Texas A&M, collegiate archery’s ten-time defending
national champion, was looking to keep its crown, while James
Madison University was trying to avoid coming in second to the
Aggies for an eleventh straight year.
“We won (the title) in 1995, and they’ve won it
every year since then,” JMU coach Bob Ryder said.
“We’ve come in second every year they’ve won.
That gives you an idea of the battle the two of us have going
on.”
In the end, Texas A&M won the overall national championship,
marking its eleventh straight. For UCLA, Stanley Cheng and Mike
Rael finished 4th and 9th, respectively, in the men’s
individual recurve tournament.
Collegiate archery is divided by both gender and type of bow,
resulting in four different events: men’s and women’s
recurve, and men’s and women’s compound.
While there is an overall team competition, many schools simply
don’t have enough archers to field a full team in all four
divisions. Consequently, the focus for many schools is either on
individual performance, or on the one or two team divisions they
can fill.
It’s not unheard of for a school to bring a
“team” of one ““ a single archer ostensibly
representing a school, but essentially just competing
individually.
The result is a split in the archery world, between the handful
of teams able to numerically field a complete 16-member team, and
the teams with a more limited focus. Because the scoring system
awards overall success, schools with teams in every discipline are
the only ones that have a realistic shot at the national
championship.
For the rest of the teams, USIAC is about individual achievement
and, hopefully, exposure.
For a sport in which national titles are influenced by the
inability of many schools to field complete teams, participation
and publicity are an issue. Even a team like Texas A&M finds
that, despite its success, its trademarked 12th man still
hasn’t taken an interest in the bow.
“Around our campus, not very many people know us,”
said Alden Harris, co-president of the A&M team. “But in
archery circles, everyone knows Texas A&M.”
Still, the lack of public interest doesn’t take away from
the impressive individual achievements that took place this
weekend. JMU’s women’s compound team, for example, set
a world record in the team competition, scoring 228 out of a
possible 240 points on the way to a first-place finish.
Those involved in organizing the event considered it a success,
as most of the participants highlighted the facilities and the UCLA
club archery team’s hospitality.
“This has been a heck of a job by UCLA,” said Ryder.
“It’s a very difficult event to set up, and they did
great. My only regret is I’d have liked to have had a chance
to see more of the campus. The most we’ve seen is the field
and the freeway.”