North Battleford's Tawnie Kotyk had a strong performance at the 2014 Canadian National Archery Championships Aug. 1-10 in Lac La Biche, Alta.
Shooting in the cadet level, the 16-year-old archer who attends John Paul II Collegiate High School won a silver medal in the compound bow target competition, a bronze in the compound bow field competition and third in an overall elimination tournament. Kotyk says these are her proudest accomplishments so far in archery.
"I'd say that's probably the best I've done at a nationals," says Kotyk. "[In the] years before that, all I've done is 3D. So then I got third two years in a row. I did target last year, but I didn't place. I wasn't even close."
With her successful meet, Kotyk earned points on the Archery Canada rankings list. Prior to the nationals, she says she was in fifth place. Her performance vaulted her to third place in the country at her age level. Also, she needs to have two scores over 640 points out of a total of 720. Kotyk has already earned one score of 647 at the U.S. National Champions July 24 in Hamilton, Ohio. The score placed her ninth out of 34 shooters.
It was her first time shooting internationally and she says she picked things up from watching the other shooters during the competition. While Kotyk says she was nervous based on the amount of competitors in the field, she calmed down when she began shooting as she realized she was "the same as them."
Kotyk began shooting when she was 12 after discovering the sport during a field trip to Ranger Lake.
"I went back and told my mom, 'I like it and I think I'm good at it.'"
Her Uncle Rodney started Kotyk in archery at the same time as his daughter was picking up the sport. Once she started, Kotyk began earning scores that won her a place on Saskatchewan's high performance team. Being on the high performance team meant having a two-day clinic almost once a month.
In addition to the high performance team, Kotyk says she practices for two hours almost every day of the week during the school year. She gets into a routine of going to practice after school. Kotyk says she used to play basketball as well, but as archery has become a bigger commitment she doesn't have time for other sports anymore. She practices more during the school year as she attends shoots for most of the summer.
Kotyk continues to compete in archery because it's an "intense sport."
"I just think it's really calming and you really have to focus," she says. "It's just the quiet and being able to focus in on one thing and not have to think about other people because it's an independent sport. You're not against other people, when you think about it. You're kinda just against yourself."
"It's just you and the target basically," she added.
She also keeps competing because, simply, she just keeps putting up successful appearances at events.
"I guess I just like the feel of winning."
Now, the preparation begins for the indoor shoot at the 2015 Canada Games in Prince George, B.C. Kotyk is currently on a short list of participants for the Saskatchewan compound team. She says they select four archers to represent the province, a male and female entry into both the compound and recurve bow competitions.
