Archers take aim in Darrington at national tourney
National tournament draws competitors from across the country
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
From left, Dan Croft of Puyallup, Blair Sandberg of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and John Klus of Madison, Wis., compete Thursday morning at the National Field Archery Association's 65th National Outdoor Championship in Darrington.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
John Klus, a hunting and fishing guide from Madison, Wis., takes aim Thursday morning at the National Field Archery Association's 65th National Outdoor Championship in Darrington.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
At the end of national tournaments, participants will all fire an arrow into a painted piece of cedar like this one from the 1985 National Field Archery Association’s national tournament in Darrington.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Dan Croft of Puyallup takes aim Thursday morning at the National Field Archery Association's 65th National Outdoor Championship in Darrington.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Archers are scored by adding up the points obtained with four arrows on a target. The archers shoot will shoot on 28 targets over the course of a round, adding all of the points together at the National Field Archery Association's 65th National Outdoor Championship in Darrington.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
From left, Dan Croft of Puyallup, John Klus of Madison, Wis., and Blair Sandberg of San Luis Obispo, Calif., score their targets Thursday morning at the National Field Archery Association’s 65th National Outdoor Championship in Darrington.
The 54-year-old from Puyallup repeated the ritual over and over Thursday as he traveled from target to target in a hilly patch of woods on the edge of Darrington. He was one of hundreds of competitors taking part in a national championship that has been coming to this mountain town since 1982.
“It's the competitiveness, for one,” said Croft, explaining what hooked him on field archery. “But mainly the people you meet. You get to meet people from all over the country.”
Go to Darrington this week and you'll hear plenty about archery. Since Wednesday, the town of about 1,400 has been hosting the 65th National Outdoor Field Championships.
Some 400 competitors, plus their families, converged here from as far away as New York and Australia. One man even rode to the competition from Pennsylvania -- on his motorcycle. A lot of people in this mountain town, including Mayor Joyce Jones, have opened their homes so competitors can stay there.
Today, the public is invited to an opening ceremony and Pro-Am competition starting at 5:30 p.m.
The Darrington Archers' home turf has become the major destination for outdoor archery competition on the West Coast. The national championships have been coming to here since 1982, arriving every three years in a rotation with Yankton, S.D., and Mechanicsburg, Pa. The course has five ranges, including one that's wheelchair accessible.
“It's beautiful,” said Marihelen Rogers of Yankton, secretary of the National Field Archery Association. “The ranges are gorgeous. The people are wonderful. It's a great place to come for a national event.”
Archers in the tournament are divided up by age, gender and by the type of equipment they use. While the amateurs compete for trophies, sponsored pros vie for more than $10,000 in prize money.
The whole community chips in when the archers come to town, said Candy Vincent, secretary and treasurer of the Darrington archery club.
“We just want to say ‘thank you' to the community for helping us,” Vincent said. “We have people from the community who don't even shoot, and they're out there helping.”
Teenagers and young people ages 13 and up volunteer as runners to set up targets and bring competitors water and food. Darrington High School's cheerleaders and girls basketball team were there to assist the archers and to raise money for their seasons. Members of Darrington's Community Club and Senior Center are cooking fundraiser meals.
Out on the ranges, competitors in Croft's amateur freestyle bowhunter division worked in small groups. At targets set at different distances and angles, they shot four arrows at each. They could score a maximum of 20 points at each stop, earning five points for hitting the center circle, or four or three points for rings farther out.
Croft, who owns a home-maintenance company, said he enjoys sharing the sport with people of different backgrounds. His threesome included Blair Sandberg, 44, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., who owns the B-Stinger company that makes stabilizers for bows.
The third member of their party was John Klus, 36, of Madison, Wis., who runs a fishing and hunting guide service. Like many other competitors, Klus came to town with his son, a 9-year-old competing in the cub division.
The competition is scheduled to end Sunday. Tournament tradition calls for a finale in which all participants shoot autographed arrows into a 10-inch cross section of cedar with a illustration of Whitehorse Mountain by local painter Sharon London Marcantel.
Gale Fiege contributed to this report. Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
Darrington tournament
The public is welcome to attend an opening ceremony and Pro-Am competition today at 5:30 p.m. as part of the National Field Archery Association's championship tournament in Darrington. The event is being held at the Darrington Archery range at 312 Sauk Ave. To get there, turn south from Highway 530 at the fire station and keep going. For more information, go to www.nfaa-archery.org.
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