Two firsts and two seconds.The Pennsylvania College of Technology archery team fared quite well when it hosted the East Regional Collegiate Outdoor Championship Saturday and Sunday.
Beth Robinson (Williamsport) won the women's individual compound event and helped the Wildcats to a first-place finish in the women's compound team event by beating James Madison University, 231-222. Also for the Penn College women, Michelle Wright (Kendall, N.Y.) placed third in women's individual compound and earned the top spot on the All-Eastern Team as a result of her combined scores from this weekend's outdoor and earlier indoor regional action.
On the men's side, Ryan Romberger (Pillow) finished second in the individual compound, losing by just one point to the nation's top-ranked archer from James Madison, and, in men's team compound competition, the Wildcats finished second to James Madison, also by one point, 247-246. As a result of his outdoor and indoor scores, Romberger was named to the fourth spot on the All-East Team.
Penn College's male recurve team finished third in the regional competition, which drew six colleges and 61 archers.
"I really had my hopes up when the guys had JMU down by two points after the second round. I thought they were going to pull it out," Chad Karstetter, Penn College coach, said about the male compound team event.Cool weather Sunday, with temperatures in the low 40s, was a factor for all of the archers, according to Karstetter.
"It's kind of hard. You're on a shooting line and you may shoot your first 18 arrows and then not shoot again for 10 minutes and you get cold your muscles tighten up a little bit and it's hard to stay focused," he said.
"Overall, our archers really shot well and I'm very pleased with the way things turned out. I couldn't have asked for them to shoot much better," Karstetter said."And, I'm really happy that Penn College allowed us to host this event. We are going to continue to do it year after year."
Next up for the Wildcats will be the U.S. Collegiate Outdoor Championship from May 20-22 at Milledgeville, Ga.
"We'll hold practice a couple of times a week to get ready. We'll shoot a lot at 70 meters to get ready for the knockout round and the team round," Karstetter said.
( Photos by Phillip C. Warner, student writer/photographer)