The 2014 National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) World Tournament was held in Madison, Wisconsin, from July 11-13 at the Alliant Energy Center and taking part in it was one local Yorkton archer.
Yorkton Regional's Nora Lazurko qualified for the World tournament after she shot a score of 268 in the 2014 Saskatchewan Provincial tournament in Yorkton back on March 28. However Lazurko was unsure whether she'd even go to Wisconsin for Worlds, fearing that her 268 score might be a one-time occurrence.
But after her National tournament result, a total score of 272, good enough for fourth in high school girls and first in grade 11 girls in Canada, she made her decision. "I made the decision after the Nationals (in Regina)," said the soon-to-be grade 12 student from YRHS. "I found out I did so well my coach said I could go to Worlds. Right away I knew that I was going to go because I didn't know if I'd have a chance next year to go."
Unfortunately for Lazurko the World competition was not as kind to her as the Provincial and National tournaments were. The usually accurate Lazurko struggled at times en route to a score of 247; 25 points less than her National score, citing the amount of targets and nerves as a reason why her score might not have been as high as she had hoped. "I was really nervous and there were 95 targets which was kind of overwhelming," offered Lazurko, adding that the amount of people watching was something she hadn't expected prior to the tournament.
But while her 247 score didn't win her any awards in the competition, she finished in 721st place out of 1135 girls, she did come away with something; the knowledge and experience of competing at the World Tournament. "It was really exciting and I kind of used it to prepare for next year," mentioned Lazurko, who is eligible for the 2015 tournament due to being in grade 12. "I think I definitely have a chance to go next year and compete well."
