big sky open | continued from page 5 up time and extra cash to line their pockets. Friday evening, the Big Sky Open traditionally kicks off with the “GoForIt” clay pigeon shoot. Competing archers who register for just this event, or two, or all three, try to break the stationary clay pigeons with one shot and hope they get lucky enough to join the “Perfect 50” club. Tony Harbaugh, Senior competitor from Idaho was the only archer on board to break the dry spell of three years. Saturday morning (and Sunday as well), competitors and spectators took a moment to welcome the sound of two young archers, Paige Younger and Brittney Brabec singing the National Anthem in the opening ceremony. AnYouth Winners of Big Sky Open nouncer Linda Marten called out the first group and the real competition was underway. The air was filled with the sound of arrows hitting targets, whistles blowing, groups of archers called to the starting line and friendly conversation. As the day progressed in double-digit heat, the Mathews staff shooters were busy plying their magic to a crowd of onlookers as they aggressively showed no mercy in regard to their fellow competitors. Gellenthien started his day off by leading the pack in the Men’s Championship Division just one-point ahead of Steve Anderson/UT and two in front of Duane Price/WI.
Women and Sr. Men competitors spent their shooting time concentrating hard to qualify a spot in the Championship portion of the tournament while those who didn’t would be flighted. Ten Senior Men qualified sending the rest into Flights and the same happened in the women’s. Does Saturday’s leader go on to take the title the finishing day? More often than not, that is the way it seems to work. Of course, there is some jockeying on down the line, but if the top competitor can keep his/her lead on the first day, the comfort zone they created will usually give them the title and award money they are seeking. So the first day is pretty much important to post a score that will leave others stunned and wondering what they did or will need to do. Tony Harbaugh/ID in the Sr. Men’s Division the first day posted a nine-point deficit over Dee Wilde/ID. In past years, Wilde had pretty much owned the title, so nine points under was devastating. Could he make it up tomorrow? With that being said, the second exciting event to take place is the “Shoot-Down” sponsored by Winners Choice Custom Bowstrings Inc/OR; Kiser Trucking/ Grand Junction; and American Whitetail Inc/IN.
Caught at least a couple of the Flight Winners on camera: Nicole Bassett/ID and Robert Gregg/NE
Starting at 10 yards, the archers from three different categories (Men’s Championship, Men’s Flights, Women’s Flights) centered their focus on the clay pigeons so they could advance to further distances. The five-yard increments started to take their toll at 35 yards. As the archers drop away, the distance gets longer, the clay pigeons smaller and the pressure mounts. In the Men’s Pro Division, all eyes were on Harbaugh, Dick Smith/ CO and Jeremy Terhune/WY who were the final three standing at 60 yards. Smith took a deep breath, shut out his surroundings and fired the final shot at a clay pigeon that resembled a flyspeck in the distance, but won him the privilege to say, “I beat the best of the best!” Smith & Terhune, respectively were 2nd and 3rd.
to the targets and finished strong with an 1108. Thank you, Jeff for competing and becoming Big Sky’s newest Men’s FSL Champion. Seneca Francis/UT had been making a steady climb to the top and in her third year of attending, she mancontinued on page 8
In the Men’s Flights, Justin Howell/CO beat his opponents at 50 yards; while Amber Christensen/ID won the Women’s Division and Jim Marshall/NV won the Men’s Bowhunter. Both scored big at 45 yards. Sunday was the defining day for the Big Sky Open. Here and there was an upset or two, but most stayed true to form. Gellenthien did indeed make Mathews proud of their sponsorship by winning the 2012 Big Sky Open, putting Anderson in second and another Mathew’s archer, Henry Bass in third. Bill Pellegrino, past Big Sky Champion, who placed sixth in the money, said it all about Gellenthien when the Daily Sentinel interviewed him. Quote, “He (Gellenthien) competes all over the world and is probably one of the top five archers. Braden is absolutely the best!” It was exciting to watch Jeff Fabray/CA who is a handicapped archer in a wheel chair. Furthermore, he shoots arrows by releasing the string from his teeth. Jeff runs a busy schedule, but this year, it was an honor to finally see him competing in the Big Sky Open. Fabray is one of the best archers in the U.S. in the Men’s Pro FreeStyle Limited Division. The flat V-Formation range is perfect for handicapped archers and Fabray had no problem making it back and forth from the shooting line
6 Archery Magazine
n
November/December 2012
scores, tournament info and more at www.fieldarchery.com 7