Jesse Broadwater Accomplishes the Unimaginable in California
OutdoorHub 05.07.13
Erika Jones Wins Four Straight Shooting 2013 Hoyt Bows
Every year thousands of archers flock to Redding, California for the Western Classic Trail Shoot and the NFAA Marked 3-D Nationals, making Redding one of the biggest outdoor tournaments in the world. Redding is a true celebration of archery that draws all types of archers and bowhunters from around the world. Ask anyone that’s ever shot the Redding tournament and they’ll tell you it’s a favorite.
The course of seventy marked-yardage 3-D targets is stretched across beautiful, rolling hills and valleys. Over the course of 3 days, archers shoot all sorts of targets – from butterflies to a Bigfoot creature – and almost everything imaginable in between. From 12 feet to 101 yards, archers must factor in the many different elements of wind, slope angles and distances, which can be very taxing, even for the most seasoned pros. All of the targets have the famous orange dot that scores as an 11, vital shots count for a 10, and body shots count as an 8. Archers shoot two arrows per target making each target worth a total of 22 points, with a grand total possible of 1540 for all seventy targets.
Historically the Men’s Pro Division is won with a score that is five to eight points away from perfect, five being the all-time course record. However, this year, Jesse Broadwater not only raised the bar he threw the bar completely out the window by shooting a score of 1539 out of 1540 – a single point from perfection over the grueling three days and 140 arrows shot. His crushing course record performance was an unimaginable feat in archery. As awestruck spectators cheered him off the course, it was a very humbling and special day in archery for not only Broadwater but for all those in attendance. “This is a very special day for me,” Broadwater humbly commented. “I’d never won Redding before, so I was hoping to come off the course somewhere around five to six down hopefully putting myself in a position for a chance to win the tournament. Throughout the entire weekend, my new Hoyt continued to shoot flawlessly allowing me to focus on my shot and letting the bow do the rest. I’m just very humbled and grateful for the opportunity I had to shoot this strong and score this well. I’ll always cherish this weekend and this performance.” Broadwater and fellow teammate, Shane Wills also won the coveted team event title with a perfect team score of 1540.
Hoyt Pro, Reo Wilde, shot an impressive perfect one day score on the last day of competition catapulting him to the coveted Redding podium. “I haven’t been able to shoot Redding for the last four years because it’s been on the same weekend as the first outdoor World Cup event,” commented Wilde. “Redding has always been one of my favorite tournaments so it felt good to return and have my best finish ever here. I knew I had to shoot very strong on the last day to make the podium and my Hoyt gave me all the confidence to go and make it happen.”
In the Women’s Pro Division, the most dominant force in women’s compound archery this season, Erika Jones, dominated Redding to add more bling to her trophy case – racking up 2013 NFAA wins in Las Vegas, Louisville and Yankton, Redding was the icing on the cake. “I was so excited to be able to shoot Redding this year. Like a lot of the other US team members, the past few years we’ve had scheduling conflicts with the World Cup event keeping us from attending. It felt awesome to get another win and add 25 points to the lead for shooter of the year,” expressed Jones.
Traveling all the way from New Zealand, Linda Lainchbury and her Hoyt Carbon Element had a very strong showing, trailing close behind Jones to finish in second. Hoyt Pro and past Redding champion, Jamie Van Natta placed third, wrapping up the Hoyt podium sweep for the compound women. Hoyt Pro and field archery legend, Joe Kapp shot incredibly well this weekend, finishing up in second place in the Senior Pro division.
