A City of Yuma employee took home silver and bronze medals after competing in an event that draws senior participants from all over the world.
Ken Conway, who instructs archery, leads stargazing events and kayak tours for Parks and Recreation, competed in the Huntsman World Senior Games, held Oct. 4-16 in St. George, Utah. Huntsman bills itself as “the largest annual multi-sport event in the world” for athletes aged 50 and older. Their 2019 event drew approximately 11,000 competitors across 34 different events.
Conway competed in American 900 Round target archery over two days, shooting 30 arrows at 60 yards, 50 yards and 40 yards, each day. Ken earned a bronze medal for his age group in his equipment category. He then competed in the 3-D round, a hunter simulation where participants shoot at life-size foam animal targets from 28 stations along a trail, shooting two arrows per station. He won the silver medal in that competition.
The competition attracted 150 archers from around the world, including two California state senior champions, and former Olympian Ed Eliason. The current record-holder in Conway’s category is four-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist Rick McKinney, who has provided color commentary during Olympic archery coverage.
In preparation for his Huntsman performance, Conway trained 2 hours a day, 7 days a week, shooting over 100 arrows every day, at distances out to 80 yards, for 6 months.
Conway’s performance qualifies him to participate in the Senior Nationals next May in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Despite that, he said that he felt “satisfied” with his score. “I had scored higher in practices,” Conway said. Challenging weather conditions – a sandstorm canceled one day’s scheduled rounds – may have played a factor. “And there was perhaps a little bit of ‘tournament tension’ there,” he added.
His training for the national competition is already in progress. “My goal is to improve my score and medal at Senior Nationals,” Conway said.
Conway is a Level 2 certified USA Archery coach. He currently instructs the City’s beginner archery class on Saturday mornings at the Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex. The six-week class is an introduction to the Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) program. All necessary equipment is provided for participants in this class. His certification includes: archery skills development, equipment tuning, and safe sport practices designed to prepare young archers to compete at state and national tournaments.
Interested archers of all abilities, ages 8 and older, should watch for future City of Yuma Parks and Recreation archery programs.
The Huntsman games and medals were just one part of a memorable trip for Conway and his wife. They also attended the launch of NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, which represents the first space mission to study the Trojan class of Jupiter asteroids. Additionally, Conway was among the astronomers recruited by NASA to use high-powered telescopic equipment to observe and then measure the size of the asteroids Lucy was sent to study.
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November 11, 2021 at 01:22AM
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