BARRY’S BAY – A 16-year-old archer from Barry’s Bay has taken home his third gold from the 3D Outdoor Canadian Championships, as well as the prestigious Grand Prix award.
Ryan Luckovitch, a Grade 11 student at Madawaska Valley District High School, has a shelf full of medals from archery competitions throughout Canada. He secured his latest awards from the National competition held in Winsor this summer, which pits the best of the best from across Canada.
Prior to this year’s competition, he secured two gold medals. His goal last year was to get his third consecutive gold, but it was not meant to be. Luckovitch returned from the 2015 Nationals with a bronze medal. Although he placed, Ryan blamed his shortfall partially on the terrain – last year’s competition was held in Manitoba.
“Manitoba is all fields and we shoot in the bush all the time,” he said. “My yardage, I was putting a little bit more on than what I should. I was just adding yardage. My numbers were right, I was adding to be safe. The last day I think I was seven points out of third place. I was sitting at fourth, then I shot the highest score for our peg that day because I just trusted my numbers and caught up to third. I shot a lot better that day.”
Following that shoot, Ryan began training with Kathy Millar, a highly respected and decorated athlete in the archery community. She has represented Canada at the FITA World Field Championships and has coached the Coached IPC World Championship Team.
Ryan, with the help of his parents, now commutes every Thursday to Winchester, a three-hour drive each way to train with Millar.
“He really loves archery,” his mom, Donna, said. “It was a stepping stone.”
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