The Sault’s Lana Perry is savouring her latest success in competitive archery.
Perry won the silver medal in women’s 3D archery at the 2024 Canadian Outdoor Archery Championships on Monday.
The championships are currently underway in Fredericton, New Brunswick from August 2 - 10.
3D Archery involves shooting arrows at three dimensional, life-sized foam targets, shaped like various animals and typically located at various points throughout an outdoor trail.
After shooting 60 targets for qualification over the weekend, Perry made the top five for the finals.
The finals were shot on a field in front of spectators.
Though no stranger to success in the sport - having competed and won in local, provincial and national championships as well as competing in three World 3D Archery Championships - Perry told SooToday “my heart was pounding at the start of the finals.”
“I was happy I went first because I think the longer I had to sit and wait, it probably would have kept building that nervousness, but I knew I just had to relax and shoot.”
Reaching the podium had an added sense of satisfaction for Perry as she won silver despite dealing with a torn tendon in her left shoulder.
“I adapted to work with the injury,” Perry said.
“This feels great because a lot of the medals I’ve won have been local or provincial but the Nationals have the best from a lot of the provinces. Everybody’s got their best archers here and this is the first Nationals I’ve been able to compete at since 2019.”
She will be competing again at the Nationals beginning Thursday in target archery, shooting arrows at stationary circular targets set up at specific distances.
Perry will oversee a team of adult competitors - male and female - from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba as coach of Team Canada at the World Archery 3D Championships in Mokrice, Slovenia Sept. 30 - Oct. 6.
There’s an enjoyable bond between archers at competitions, Perry said.
“I had fun with the women I shot with. The woman who won gold is actually going to be one of the athletes that I’m coaching at the World Championships in Slovenia. And I became friends quickly with some of the people I didn’t know until I got here. There’s a camaraderie.”
“It will be a fantastic experience,” Perry said of the upcoming Worlds in Slovenia.