The Think Tank

We got to Wilderness Archery about an hour early, and I warmed up a little.  I was feeling a bit nervous but not too much.  I did a very good job of keeping my focus on pulling through my shots, and not thinking about my score.  Around the 6th end I started feeling a little bit nervous since I had not yet cleaned a whole half in a tournament or league this year.  It was mild, but there was a level of excitement and nervousness that continued to grow.  By the time I was in the 9th end, I was very nervous.  My heart rate was noticeably high, and I was bobbing all over the target when I was aiming.

I missed my second arrow on the 9th end, meaning that I cleaned my first 28 arrows, a new record for me.  My X’s were lower than I would have like, but I was satisfied with the 299.  I placed second, 2 X’s behind Rick.

When the Elims came around, I was still sort of nervous feeling but I held it together pretty well on the first end.  On the second I was fighting my release pretty bad, and I tried letting down several times, but finally I pushed a rough shot and hit a nine at 12 o’clock on my third arrow.  I figured that would be it for me, but Kitt missed his last arrow as well, which meant we tied.  I was irritated I had dropped the point and I was determined not to lose the shoot-off.  I let my first arrow down three times.  Kit was done with all three before I had fired my first shot.  I struggled through them all, but I came out with three good shots nonetheless, and finished with three X’s.  That was good enough to win.

I was still nervous and still struggling in the Final, and I shot another 9.  I figured that pretty much did it, and that assessment proved to be correct.  I stayed in in 2nd place and won $66 bucks.