Two local teens excelled at the Alberta Target Archers Association Indoor Provincial Shoot in Calgary on March 24-25.
Taking aim at first place was the only thing on Colton Gustafson’s mind at the event, and he was right on target, coming home to Athabasca with a gold medal. Fellow Athabascan and close friend Ryan LeMessurier was right on his heels, medaling with silver.
For Gustafson, 15, archery is a way of life.
“Ever since I was a little guy I’ve been shooting arrows,” he said.
His dedication to the sport showed when he went to his second provincial shoot and came back with first place in one of the hardest classes to compete in, according to Gustafson’s head coach and trainer, Rene Schaub of the Lakeland Archers.
“Colton shoots in the male cadet compound class, which is one of the hardest to compete in because at that age, there are so many archers and everyone wants to win,” Schaub said. “It’s a tough category to stay on top of.”
The cadet class is for shooters 15-17 years of age and especially in the male division, there are a lot of shooters compared to other categories.
That didn’t seem to faze Gustafson when he took to the line to shoot at the provincial event.
“It was really encouraging to see where we were shooting because the facility was so nice and when I got up to shoot, I was in the zone,” he said, adding that even though he shot for himself, he was also competing for the Lakeland Archers. “It’s an individual sport but we put together such a good team this year, it took away a lot of the pressure.”
Schaub said the team mentality is not something that a lot of people equate with archery clubs, but he describes his archers as more of a family than just a club.
“We have a really big club and a big part of our success is that we are more like a big family,” Schaub said. “Everyone works together.”
Twenty-five Lakeland archers came home with medals – 12 gold, nine silver and four bronze. One of the silver medalists was Gustafson’s friend and runner up LeMessurier.
He made his way to his second provincial shoot and his last as a cadet, having turned 17 this year (next year, if he goes to provincials, he’ll be shooting as a senior archer) and he didn’t waste a second of it.
“It was pretty fun at provincials this year and it was nice to get to shoot in such a great facility,” Lemessurier said.
“Last year I placed fourth in my category and this year I got second. It felt pretty good to place second out of all the people shooting. I’m pretty happy with everything right now.”
LeMessurier said he wants to see how far he can take archery over the next few years, including going for nationals or even further, a sentiment that Gustafson shares, noting that he hopes to maybe go to the Canadian team some day.
Schaub sees great potential and desire in the two young boys to go far with a sport they love.
“Shooting against all those other people, the boys realized how good they really are (and) it inspired them to see how far they can go,” Schaub said. “They were inspired to do better. It’s really great to see how enthusiastic they are.”
