Four young Squamish archers bussed the redeye 12 hours to the B.C. Winter Games in Kimberley and Cranbrook Thursday (Feb. 21) and returned bright-eyed three days later with the shimmer of four gold and two silver medals.Erin Liebich, a Grade 11 student at Howe Sound Secondary School, was the lone female competitor taking aim in the recurve category because there weren't enough girls using that particular bow with its sight and stabilizer to make up a female event. Before leaving Squamish she said she was "going to kick boy butt." And she didn't disappoint by bringing home two gold medals, said coach Paul Greening."She did amazingly well up there shooting against the guys and she kicked some boy butt like she said she was going to do," he said."Actually, she absolutely annihilated them It was almost embarrassing, she's that good."The first competition carried over Friday and Saturday (Feb. 22-23). Archers shot 60 arrows each day and the two scores were combined. A perfect score is 1,200 points and Liebich recorded 971 - about 200 points more than her nearest challenger. Male intimidation was definitely not a factor."I've shot with guys ever since I started so it's always been that way," she said. "But once they found out on like the last day [how well she was doing] they were like freaking out."Since Liebich won the aggregate gold medal competition, she qualified for the match play event against the three other top shooters. She used her eagle eye in two head-to-head battles to earn her second gold medal. "I focused on each arrow individually, not looking at the final finish and just had fun," she said about her key to success.Meanwhile in the barebow category, Nich Gulycz of Don Ross Secondary School followed suit targeting two gold medals, too. But he had to first acclimatize to the busy atmosphere."You go out there and normally you're nervous but you try to distract yourself and think about other things while you're out there shooting so you don't lose your concentration. It's all about keeping your focus," he said.The barebow podium was almost entirely Squamish. Gulycz was the only archer able to beat training partner Ethan Gaudry-Gardner, who ended up earning two silver medals.Compound bow archer Jordan Welch had the most competitors to beat. While the other two categories had about six competitors each, the compound bow category, with its levering system of cables and pulleys to bend the limbs, had about 16 archers, said Greening."There's a lot more kids up north who shoot compound because of hunting and 3D archery as well. It also has a bit more horsepower to it and the kids think it's a little cooler so you have more kids shooting compound."Welch shot well and finished in seventh place.
