Canada Cup West – Cranbrook, BC
This weekend, the Manitoba Provincial Team travelled to Cranbrook, BC, to compete at Canada Cup West. A total of 102 athletes participated in the event, representing provinces from across Canada as well as the United States.
The views in Cranbrook were nothing short of spectacular, but the weather was less than ideal for much of the weekend.
Competition began Friday evening with the optional 720 round. As the archers took to the field, the wind quickly made its presence known—something our Manitoba athletes are all too familiar with. With gusts reaching up to 60 km/h and target bales blowing over across the field, the competitors seemed to shrink end by end. Rather than letting the conditions frustrate them, our athletes embraced the challenge and used it as a learning opportunity, knowing that strong winds were forecasted throughout the weekend.
Saturday morning brought calm weather and ideal conditions for qualification rounds. Each team member shot well and put together strong performances. Acadia Flockton qualified first in the U18/50+ Women’s Compound division with a score of 681, Luke Bass qualified 11th in the U18/50+ Men’s Compound division with a 646, and Chris Waterman qualified second in Para Compound with a 655.
With qualifications complete, attention turned to the Mixed Team event. Luke Bass and Payton Harms (SK) entered as the 13th seed and were narrowly defeated in a closely contested opening match. Acadia Flockton and Gage Malenfant qualified third in a highly competitive field and went on to win three consecutive matches, advancing to the gold-medal final. In a tight contest, they delivered an impressive score of 152 to capture the gold medal by two points.
Sunday morning greeted us with wind, rain, and temperatures hovering around 4°C—far from ideal conditions for individual match play. With hot pockets being passed around to stay warm, our athletes persevered through the challenging weather.
Chris Waterman was first on the field in the U21/21+ Men’s Compound combined category. After a hard-fought match, he fell just short, finishing the weekend with a silver medal in the Para Compound category.
Next up was Luke Bass in the U18/50+ Men’s Compound division. Facing a seasoned 50+ athlete, Luke stayed composed and shot well despite the difficult conditions, but it wasn’t enough to advance.
In the U18/50+ Women’s Compound division, Acadia Flockton won two consecutive matches to earn a spot in the gold medal final. The championship match was a back-and-forth battle, but Flockton stayed focused and finished strong, defeating her opponent 140–136 to secure the gold medal.
A noteworthy mention goes to Manitoba athlete Anna Parkhomenko, who qualified second in the U21/21+ Women’s Recurve division, just nine points behind first place. In the Mixed Team event, Parkhomenko and teammate Dawson Molitor won two straight matches to advance to the gold-medal final, where they delivered an impressive performance, winning 6–2.
In individual match play, Parkhomenko won her opening match to advance to the gold-medal final. Facing a tough opponent, she came up just short and finished the weekend with a well-earned silver medal.
I’m extremely impressed with how our athletes handled themselves throughout the weekend and proud of the way they competed. The weather wasn’t what we had hoped for, but we left Cranbrook with plenty of highlights, valuable life lessons, and new experiences. We’ll continue putting ourselves in these situations, because that’s where growth happens.
Sean Murray
Provincial Target Team Coach
Archery Manitoba
