Flames strike gold at archery national championships

A trio of men’s bowhunters from Liberty University’s archery team claimed a national team title at Sunday’s United States Collegiate Archery (USCA) 3D National Championships in Carrier Mills, Ill.

Liberty senior Jason Lynch, sophomore Spencer Foster, and freshman Louis Boyd outshot 11 other three-man bowhunter teams to emerge as champions. It is the second team title in the program’s 10-year history.

The tournament included a total of 240 archers from 23 colleges and universities across the country.

The Flames needed to go to a sudden-death tie-breaker match to advance past Hocking College in their semifinal round of competition after the two teams fired rounds of 276 in regulation. Liberty edged the Hawks 96-90 to move into the final round, where it defeated Southeastern Illinois College 286-278.

“It feels great to see such a young group of guys win,” said Head Coach Ian Rigney, who helped the team capture a national title in men’s compound in 2012 and also earned an individual crown. “We will have Spencer for two more years and Louis for another three years, so there is still a lot of potential there. What I prayed for was to be able to win a national title as a shooter and now to win it as a coach, too, was a dream come true.”

Individually on Saturday, Foster finished fifth out of 62 men’s bowhunters.

The Lady Flames’ trio of seniors Susannah Martin and Gwyneth Meyer and freshman Hannah Suber placed third in the women’s basic bow team competition to take home the bronze medal.

Archery is one of 41 sports under Liberty’s thriving Club Sports program.

Read the full story on Liberty’s Club Sports website and view complete results at uscollegiatearchery.org.