Marsh Lake’s Kirk Porayko has been a competitive archer for under two years, but he has already competed nationally and internationally.
On Sunday the 61-year-old added another feather to his cap.
Porayko posted the highest score on the day at the Yukon Outdoor 3D Archery Championship at the Biathlon Yukon range.
“I’m pretty happy about it,” said Porayko. “I just love archery.”
Porayko scored a 279 while competing in the master 60-plus compound bow division at the fifth annual competition in which archers take aim at three-dimensional foam animals.
This past summer Porayko placed sixth at the masters 3D nationals in Windsor, Ont., and sixth at the world masters championship in Vancouver.
“I was competing against some of the world’s best archers and coaches. That felt pretty good,” said Porayko. “Each year I pick up something. All I’ve got to do is get better, but that’s with a lot of practice.”
Arthur St-Laurent was the top recurve archer at the championship, winning the pre-cub barebow division with a 189.
The 3D championships, hosted by Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle (YASC), doubled as tryouts for the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) next July in Toronto, Ont.
From the competition the YASC will select about a dozen archers for a training squad from which eight will make the team bound for NAIG.
“We will help them buy equipment that is appropriate for the competition,” said YASC executive director Gael Marchand. “There will be between three and five competitions now and (NAIG), through which we will select the ones that will be going to the Indigenous Games. Some of the youth might go to the nationals instead, just a week after the Indigenous Games, so there’ll be several competition opportunities.”
Teslin’s Levi Stoneman, who competed for Yukon at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games, is a likely choice for the team. Stoneman posted the second highest score on the day with a 260 and was the only person to break 300 at last year’s championship.
Whoever is on the team, they will benefit recent additions to the facility at the Biathlon Yukon range on Grey Mountain Road.
The Whitehorse Archery Club purchased 11 new targets (of boreal animals) with an injection of $7,210 from Lotteries Yukon, bringing the total to about 40 targets.
The club has received a lot of positive feedback, said president Tom Rowles.
“We had a guy from Calgary doing his residency here at the hospital and he came up to visit, came up several times, and commented on his last visit: ‘The best range ever,’” said Rowles. “And we had another guy come down from Alaska the next week and (made) the same kind of comment.
“People really like the range; people who shoot it every week and people who come to visit.”
An event record of 25 archers took part in this year’s championship, up from 11 last year and 16 in 2014.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com
Results
Youth beginner
1st Dharma Huff — 111
2nd Mickey Dyck — 107
3rd Douglas McKinnon — 25
Adult beginner
1st Terilee Huff — 151
Peewee (compound)
1st Kieran Ritchie — 149
Pre-cub (barebow)
1st Arthur St-Laurent — 189
2nd Aidan Kyikayichik — 110
3rd David Stoneman — 99
4th James Rumbolt — 66
Cub (barebow)
1st Jesse Kates — 65
Cub (compound)
1st Levi Stoneman — 260
2nd Chance Hassford — 199
Cadet (barebow)
1st Nicholas Williams — 156
2nd Destiny Taylor — 103
3rd Nila Helms — 73
Cadet (compound)
1st Angie Wally — 112
Senior (barebow)
1st Adam Eason — 170
2nd Laurence Rowles — 146
3rd Marie-Maude Alland — 117
Senior (compound)
1st Mike Sydney — 193
Master 50+ (barebow)
1st Tom Rowles — 157
Master 50+ (compound)
1st Alan Hansen — 226
Master 60+ (barebow)
1st Rob Ingram — 171
2nd Sam Johnston — 168
Master 60+ (compound)
1st Kirk Porayko — 279