UCLan students clinch gold medals In British Indoor Championships
Two students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have scooped gold in a national Indoor Archery competition after beating hundreds of competitors from across the UK.
Amy Cole (22) from Birmingham, a Forensic Anthropology student and Daniel Kilgallon (21) from Worcester, a Forensic Psychology student won gold medals in the University Pairs section of the National British Barebow (Indoor) Championships held in Linthwaite, West Yorkshire.
Barebow archery is a stripped-down form of modern archery that features no sights, no stabilizer, clicker and markings on the bow to help the competitor aim.
In the Championships, Amy and Daniel shot a British Record Status World Archery 18 round, an event consisting of 60 arrows shot at a full 40cm face at 18 metres.
The UCLan pair competed against archers from across the North of England during the Championships in Linthwaite, which formed part of a national competition held across the country.
The overall scores were then measured against those at other venues before Amy and Daniel were announced as national champions in the University Pairs category.
The pair’s success in the Championships came after Amy herself had to overcome a back injury to take part in the competition.
As the recipient of a sports scholarship as part of her studies, Amy was able to receive expert physiotherapy support from Adam Cook, Head of the UCLan Physiotherapy Department, in the week before the Championships took place.
Amy said: “We both put a lot of effort into training and it’s always rewarding when the hard work pays off. We are very grateful to our coach and support staff without whom we would not be at the level that we are."
Daniel Kilgallon said: “Competitions are always hard, especially those outside of university tournaments but our team puts a lot of training hours in each week whatever the conditions. Happily we came away with a good win this time and hopefully there will be more medals to come.”
The British Barebow Championships are run by Archery GB and are the association’s only national competition specifically for barebows. The event is run across multiple venues across the country, with overall winners then announced as national champions.