150 Mile House archer Lily Fraser found gold, and some cold hard cash, at the Lhtako Quesnel BC Winter Games.
Fraser, who shoots for the Quesnel River Archers Club, took two gold with a compound bow.
Her coach Al Campsall said Lily did not disappoint.
“While a winning margin in the Games would usually garner single digits, Lily won the gold medal by a whopping 32 points over the silver medal winner and 47 points over bronze,” said Campsall. “This is a remarkable feat.”
After two days and shooting 120 arrows from 18 meters, Lily’s score was 1116/1200.
“She hit the dime-sized center 41 times.”
The next day, Lily competed in the final round brackets where the top four finishers from Friday and Saturday shoot-off in an elimination format. In her first 15 arrow match, Lily advanced to the gold/silver round by defeating the fourth place finisher, from the Kootenays, by a score of 139-137. Finally, she beat another Kootenays girl convincingly (136-133) to win her second gold medal, said Campsall.
She was also one of the 16 athletes at the Games to receive a $1,000 award from Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart program.
Jumpstart regional manager Katlyn Soanes made the presentation alongside Lhtako Quesnel BC Winter Games vice-president Brenda Beatty moments before the first shots were fired at the archery competition.
“The BC Games Leadership Bursary awards are for special athletes,” said Soanes. “It factors in their sports success, but it also factors in academics and community involvement. We get to see some pretty remarkable young people through our application process.”
This year, according to Andres Marquez-Velasco of the BC Games Society, there were more than 150 applications which is comparable again with pre-pandemic numbers.
Campsall said Lily received the bursary for outstanding voluntary service in her community and school as well as her remarkable achievements in her sport. Lily won three Canadian Archery Championships in 2023.
“As her coach, I was deliriously happy to see her win every possible honor in front of her family.”
