Nora Lazurko, a grade 11 student at Yorkton Regional High School, recently traveled to Regina for the 2014 National Archery in the Schools Program National championship with 10 other teammates.
And while her YRHS teammates, as well as 52 Yorkton elementary school archers, all performed admirably at the National tournament it was Lazurko's performance that stood out.
The archer in her fifth year of competition shot a career best 272, four points higher than her previous best set at the 2014 Provincial tournament, to lay claim to the grade 11 girls gold medal.
The 272 score was also good enough to rank her fourth out of all high school girls in the country and sixth overall in the nation when it comes to girls in archery. The dominant score also caught her off guard when her points were officially tallied up. "I expected to finish with a score of around 260. Not 272," mentioned Lazurko, adding that the score of 272 was "the best I've ever done".
Lazurko's archery coach at the YRHS, Dennis Nesseth, was also surprised with her total at the end of her flight but noted that he knew she had the skill necessary to hit the 270 mark. "She's a good archer," said Nesseth, adding that they are now eying the World Champions in Wisconsin in July.
However Lazurko is aware that, before she even attempts to compete at the World Championships, she will need to train a lot more. "I'll have to practice a lot before Worlds," offered the National champion, continuing, "They'll all be really good, in the 270-280 range, so I'll have to practice lots before then."
Other Yorkton results
Several other Yorkton archers put up strong scores throughout the National championship in Regina as well.
Both Matthew Popick (grade 11) and Felcon Swain (grade 12) of the YRHS finished fifth in their respective age groups with scores of 253 and 244 each, while grade 12 female archer Sam Kaegi finished fourth in her category with a score of 238.
M.C. Knoll's Brad Heskin stole the show in the grade six boys group with a score of 269, good enough for first place and the gold medal in his age category. The score was also strong enough to put him second overall in the middle school boys group while his Knights teammate Cailin Jarvis also represented her school well. Jarvis finished sixth overall in the grade seven girls group with a score of 260.
Columbia's Thomas Djagowez and Kaleb Weinheimer also put forth strong efforts. The two grade seven boys finished sixth and seventh in their age group with scores of 251 (Djagowez) and 249 (Weinheimer).
Yorkdale's top male archer was grade six boy Zach Wasylyshen who finished in tenth place in the grade six boys group with a score of 246 while Yorkdale's Abby Lees scored 245 to finish sixth overall in the grade six girls group.
