Sports

IBO Triple Crown stops in Wetumpka

By Kyle Austin - Sports Editor
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Bennett’s Archery in Wetumpka recently hosted the International Bowhunters Organization Southern Triple Crown, but the attendees weren’t limited to those from the Deep South.

In a single row of cars at Camp Chandler on Saturday, there were license plates from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia and, of course, Alabama.

“We’ll have four to 500 people in Wetumpka for the tournament, and they’ll come from about 25 states,” said Mike Bennett, who owns Bennett’s Archery with his wife, Barbara, and helped coordinate the event. “We even had one group fly in from Australia. The sport really has a following down there.”

The IBO has six national archery shoots across the United States each year. The Southern Triple Crown, which takes place in Wetumpka and at sites in Georgia and Florida, accounts for three of those tournaments. The Triple Crown is a 3-D tournament, meaning participants shoot at targets on three-dimensional replica animals.

“The top 20 in each division earn a trip to the World Championship in New York later this year,” Bennett said.

For the Wetumpka leg of the Triple Crown, four target ranges were set up with 10 targets in each range. Archers were grouped according to type of bow and equipment and had the entire weekend to finish each course, although they were timed at each target.

“Targets are scored with a max score of 11,” said IBO President Ken Watkins. “There are specific scoring zones on the targets, but you can’t really see them from 25 yards away. You really have to know where they are and take your time shooting.”

This is the fifth year Wetumpka has hosted one leg of the Triple Crown, and Watkins said he originally heard about the town and the Bennetts at one of the other sites.

“At one tournament in Pensacola, we met some people who knew of the Bennetts and their 3-D range,” he said. “We flew down and discussed the possibility of holding a tournament here, and we all agreed it would be a great place.”

Watkins said he has been most pleased with the Wetumpka area in general and the Bennetts in particular.

“Camp Chandler is a beautiful location, and the amenities in the area and the reception from the locals has been nothing short of tremendous,” he said.

Walter Johnson, a biomedical electronics technician from Rainbow City, said he thought Wetumpka was a great place to hold the Triple Crown.

“I love it here,” he said. “This is one of the better ones I’ve ever been to, and they always do a great job.”

Johnson has quite a bit of experience in the archery circuit. He’s been doing tournament archery for nine years, and he has qualified for the World Championship once, although he was unable to attend. He also won the Bowhunters of Alabama championship for the last two years running with his longbow.

“I got into tournament archery because I enjoy bowhunting,” he said. “That’s bow hunting, not necessarily finding.”

Wes Keen, a bowhunter from Corydonw, Ind., was also impressed with the tournament at Camp Chandler.

“They do a good job here,” he said. “It’s almost too good; it’s a hard course, and it certainly ain’t a cakewalk.”

Keen won an IBO World Championship in 2006, and he’s no stranger the the Southern Triple Crown. He actually qualified in Wetumpka that season, although he said he and his friends compete at all the IBO tournaments.

Bennett said it wasn’t unusual to see the same faces at all the Triple Crown events.

“You see the same people at the other two sites,” he said. “It kind of becomes a little community when you see the same people at all these tournaments every year.”

Watkins said that was a trend he enjoyed seeing.

“Eventually, we want to develop all our tournaments into a similar size and style,” he said. “But first and foremost, IBO is an educational organization that uses archery to promote bowhunting and to inform and educate bowhunters.

“Tournaments like these help us do that.”

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