Coming off an impressive season that saw the Columbia archery squad finish in second place at the indoor nationals and third place at the outdoor nationals, the team looked to pick up this season where it left off. With impressive performances in a mail in shoot on Nov. 4 and in the FITA East shoot on Nov. 11, the Lions are well on their way.
Leading the way in the mail in shoot was senior Nami Tripathi with a score of 259. Also making significant contributions were sophomore Roxy Atienza with a 257 and senior Melissa Shum with a 228.
The format of the mail in shoot makes it unique. Unlike a traditional tournament, in which multiple teams gather at one location at one time to compete, each team competes at a set time by itself and mails in the results.
Head Coach Alex Rodriguez stresses that these shoots are just as important as any other. As a result, he treats both styles of tournaments the same.
"I run my mail in shoots like regular tournaments," Rodriguez said. "We have a timing system; we use whistles; and I ask that the team come in uniform. It is almost like any other tournament except that we are here, and there are no competitors except us. Strategically, there is really no difference."
The final results of the tournament will be known when all of the competing teams submit results.
The FITA East shoot at Reading, Penn. was the Lions first traditional shoot of the season. In this tournament, the Lions took the first three places.
"We had very good results. We took the first three places, which are medal places. These are excellent results for us," Rodriguez said.
His squad's high finish was not the only benefit of the shoot for the Lions. The team was able to use this shoot as an opportunity to return to tournament-level form.
"Everyone was pretty much able to get back to being used to shooting under tournament conditions," Rodriguez said.
Getting back on track is an important early season goal for the Lions. In fact, Rodriguez sees this as an important aspect to the early shoots.
"A lot of our shooters don't shoot that much during the off-season," he said. "Basically, at these early tournaments, we want to get everyone used to shooting their bow. We can start out at a slightly lower draw weight [of the bow] and get back into right habits. In other words, not pick up any bad habits that may occur if we start at a heavier weight."
Additionally, the team can use these shoots to pick up some new tricks of the trade.
Rodriguez pointed out that "one of the nice things about the way the tournaments are held, is that when [the archers] compete, they compete against people on a high level. We can get to watch other people, how they handle the bow, their form, if they have any little changes in style.
It's one thing when I say something, it's another when they can see some of the top shooters on the East Coast."
With the early season shoots in the books, the team will now turn its attention towards the rest of the season. Upcoming shoots include the Wo-Pe-Na Open in Clifton, N.J. on Dec. 2 and the New Year FITA shoot on Jan. 20.
While these events are important, the team is gearing up for the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas, Feb. 22-25.
"The World Archery Festival is the biggest archery tournament held in the United States. One of the things that make it exciting is, as the name implies, we have top archers coming from around the world to shoot there. It's an excellent opportunity for the team to see some world class shooters shooting," Rodriguez said.
The Archery team will next be at home on Firday Feb. 2 when the Lions have their second mail-in shoot of the season. The Light Blue can only hope to repeat their success.