ArrowSport — June 5, 2004

Three veterans and three newcomers grabbed the remaining six openings in the 16-archer field for the 2004 ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge by taking the top spots last weekend in the “Eliminator Qualifier” at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the second of two qualifying events for the Games’ championships July 8-11 in Madison, Wis.

Taking first place at Oak Ridge was Donald Bishop of Arden, N.C., who defeated Mike Slinkard of John Day, Ore., in a hotly contested final round that pitted the top archers in head-to-head competition. The two veterans of the Great Outdoor Games both shot scores of 24 in their first-place matchup, but Bishop prevailed by scoring the fastest time in the “Speed Challenge” station. He hit his four targets in just over 20 seconds to edge Slinkard, who in an earlier qualifying round had shot a perfect score of 42. This is the second straight year Bishop qualified for the Great Outdoor Games, and it will be Slinkard’s third straight appearance.

The other ESPN veteran qualifying at Oak Ridge was Gerald Decker of Dalton, Pa., who finished third to secure his second straight trip to the Great Outdoor Games. Like Slinkard, Decker notched a perfect score of 42 in a qualifying round.

The newcomers who qualified for the Great Outdoor Games were Jeff Johnston of Dodgeville, Wis., fourth place; Chris Berry of Aurora, Mo., fifth place; and Decker’s wife, Cindy, who secured the sixth spot by shooting the top score of all female competitors. The Great Outdoor Games does not have separate men’s and women’s divisions, so the top scoring woman at the Eliminator qualifiers wins the sixth berth.

The Eliminator Qualifier at Oak Ridge was held May 28-30 in conjunction with the Archery Shooters Association’s 3D Pro/Am tournament. Nearly 150 archers shot almost 560 qualifying rounds the first two days of the Eliminator to determine a 16-archer shoot-off for the six invitations to the Great Outdoor Games.

ESPN’s archery event, which is sponsored by ArrowSport and the Archery Trade Association, is dubbed the “Eliminator” because of its fast-paced, head-to-head, single-elimination format. The Games in Madison will feature 16 archers, 12 of whom earned berths through the two qualifying tournaments. The other four spots are reserved for the top finishers from the 2003 Great Outdoor Games at Reno, Nev. This group is comprised of gold medalist Darren Collins of Kansas, silver medalist Randy Ulmer of Arizona, bronze medalist Randy Hendrix of North Carolina, and fourth-place finisher Jackie Caudle of Alabama.

The first Eliminator Qualifier event was in February at Las Vegas. Those six spots were claimed by Tim Gillingham of Orem, Utah; Rod White, Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Wayne Endicott, Springfield, Ore.; Mark Herring, Kent, Ohio; Darin Mack, Avondale, Pa.; and Ginger Hopwood, Marietta, Ga. Endicott was the only ESPN newcomer to qualify in Las Vegas.

Jay Barrs, ArrowSport’s director of promotions, supervises the Eliminator events. Barrs said Sunday’s finals in Oak Ridge were dramatic.

“Sunday’s head-to-head matchups totally changed the complexion of the competition,” Barrs said. “A lot of the guys were blazing through the Speed Challenge station Friday and Saturday when they were shooting by themselves in the qualifying rounds. Some never missed, but they started missing a lot more when they went one-on-one Sunday.”

The Eliminator competition at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games and its qualifying tournaments features four action-packed shooting stations:

-- William Tell: In this two-shot station, archers shoot a 3-inch apple off a base at 20 yards. They have five seconds to shoot the first apple and three seconds for the second.

-- The Bermuda Triangle: This station features two 25-yard shots at a large, wedge-shaped moving triangle with 4- and 6-inch scoring circles. Both archers shoot one arrow as the target moves left to right, and then they reload and shoot again as the target returns right to left. The sequence lasts 20 seconds.

-- Risk: This 40-yard station gives competitors 30 seconds to shoot one of four disks of 2-, 3-, 4- or 6-inch diameter, worth 12, 9, 6 and 3 points, respectively. The archer who is leading after the first two stations must shoot first, and the archers must call their shot before drawing their bow. If they hit a target they haven’t called, the shot doesn’t count.

-- Speed Challenge: This 25-yard shot features four 4-inch disks, with the fourth dropping a metal arm to stop the clock when it’s struck. Whoever hits the four disks soonest wins. Each disk is worth three points, and the winner earns an additional three points. The entire match often comes down to this final event, which is also re-shot to determine the winner when rounds end in a tie.