The Fort Frances Archers shone as brightly as the sun during last weekend’s second-annual Border Challenge with the Moonlight Archers Club of International Falls.
With 41 archers registered, this year’s “challenge” drew twice as many competitors over last year’s inaugural one. The bulk of the archers were with the Fort Frances club while seven hailed from the Falls club.
Six other archers came in from Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Dryden.
“One of the objectives of the competition was to draw people from out of the area to come and compete,” noted Ben Wiersema, president of the Fort Frances Archers.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded to the top three finishers in the eight events during Saturday’s competition at the Fort Frances Sportsmen’s Club grounds.
In the Cub division (up to 12 years), Travis Stromness (Fort Frances) finished first, followed by Jeremy Kemp (Thunder Bay) and Sean Wiersema (Fort Frances).
The Youth division (13-16) saw Andrew Wiersema (Fort Frances) take top honours, followed by Stacie Wise (Dryden) and Patrick Flemming (Fort Frances).
Marcha Cenedese (Thunder Bay) was tops among the ladies, followed by Stella Stromness (Fort Frances) and Karen Wise (Dryden).
In the Traditional division, Jeff Johnston (Fort Frances) finished first, followed by Phil Nick (Kenora) and Dave Berry (Fort Frances) while Ken Kemp was the lone competitor in the Open division.
The Crossbow division saw Dennis De Cicco (Thunder Bay) finish first, followed by Bill Mueller (Fort Frances) and Ed Stromness (Fort Frances).
It was a clean sweep by International Falls in the Bowhunter Limited division, with Mike Kleis first, Dave Simon second, and Tim Ruport third.
Blair Beadow (Fort Frances) topped the Bowhunter Unlimited division, followed by Ben Wiersema (Fort Frances) and Chad Shoberg (International Falls).
The second half of the “challenge” was held Sunday over in International Falls. Nine archers from here took part, and had a good showing.
Most notable were Jeff Johnston, taking top honours again in the Traditional event, Leo Korosec winning the Bowhunter Limited division, and Blair Beadow tops once again in the Bowhunter Unlimited one.
“It was a very good tournament . . . a big success,” noted Beadow, who organized Saturday’s shoot here.
Wiersema also donated a bow case and quiver from his new archery business above Kitchen & Bath Plus for a draw Saturday. Patrick Flemming won the quiver while a Falls man took home the bow case.
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