The Xth Costa Rican Cup took on a bit of a different flavor from the past indoor event in November. This event was a registered star FITA held at the beautiful Los Delfines golf Resort in Playa Tambor along the Pacific side of Costa Rica. This is approximately 100 miles west of San José among the lush green forest, tropical birds and the beauty of nature. Approximately 30 archers from Croacia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and the United States attended.

Everyone flew into San José and were met by the transfer company where they were whisked off to the Hotel Palacio for the evening and in preparation for Monday departure via motor coach to the resort. There were approximately 50 in our group. After about a 4 hour bus ride and an hour ride on a ferry across Nicoya Bay, we arrive at the resort. We were greeted by our hosts Juan/Roxana Wedel and our tour specialists Eric Companioni & William Fletcher. Eric and William represent Costa Rica Travel Site and were responsible for putting this package together. I understand they are also the newest members of the Costa Rican Archery Association. Everyone gets checked in & transported to our appropriate 2 bedroom villas to settle in for a week of fun & relaxation.

Some of the group head out for same practice while others opt for a round of golf on the beautiful 9 hole course minus one hole. This is due to the fact that the tournament is set on the 1st fairway. Not a more breathtaking setting could have been chosen. A leisure stoll across the shooting field by a large iguana was the high light of this afternoon. He took a long hard look at the smilling face target core representing the Stanley Hipps targets used and then back into the water along the edge off the field. At all times, I was without my camera.

Official practice begins on Tuesday. Before getting into a serios tournament mode, Stewart Bowman, Gil Bowman and Stanley Hipps head out to do some fishing. They had a successful trip and snag several black tuna and some mahi mahi. The fish were taken to the Playa Tambor resort just a short distance from de Los Delfines and the chef there graciously prepared them and the group enjoyed this tasteful treat for dinner that evening. “Thanks guys - ya done good!“

Beautiful canopies line the field to protect the shooters from sun or rain should it happen. We did had a couple of light showers, but did not had any affect on the tournament. The Los Delfines staff has rolled in a refreshment stand, so water, soft drinks and peanuts are within easy reach.

A nice scoreboard has been prepared with names already in place. During the FITA this is manned by Roxana Wedel, Linda Marten and Gil Bowman.

Back at the tournament field Wednesday officially starts the tournament under the official whistle of Lionel Caldwell of the United States and Cristobal Merlos of El Salvador. A beautiful day has dawned and we´re on the way. As it is typical, a light mist begins just about the time scoring starts, but lasts only a few minutes and left us pretty good on a hot/humid day.

At the conclusion of 90/70 meters a new world record is established. Becky Pearson takes advantage of the ideal weather and fires a 347 at 70 metes putting down the previous record of 344 established in 1999 by Lene Ahrenfeldt of Denmark. On the gentleman side of the field Frank Pearson and Stewart Bowman take the lead with 327´s respectively. It appears the Pearson are here to make this a family affair and are off to a good start.

On the Olympic bow side of the field veteran Ed Eliason takes a strong lead firing a 280. His closest contenders were Ricardo Merlos of El Salvador and Lauren DeLange of Costa Rica with 267.

After a short break 70/60 is under way. Still with ideal weather conditions. In the gentleman compound we find Jorge Jimenez of El Salvador the 1999 Costa Rica Cup champion leading the 70 mts with 345/669. Following close behind is Frank Pearson with 342 and tied with Jorge at 669 for the round. On the ladies side Becky finished with a 350/697. The Olympic side of the board finds Eliason opening up the gap with 320/600 followed by DeLange with a 291/558.

With day one completed by about 1:00 pm everyone retires to the buffet line. All meals are served buffet style with a splendid assortment of delicious breads, fresh fruit, salads, entrees and deserts that will make the waistline stretch to the limit.

Now for most, it is time for a little central American “siesta“, a round of golf or later a stroll down to the beach to unwind for the day.

Day 2 brings a partly overcast morning but still warm and humid. The 50/30 distances and the team round will be completed today.

At the finish of 50 mts we find Frank Pearson leading 50 mts with a 346/1015 while Jorge Jimenez is still making a run for it with a 340/1009 and in 3rd place finds Stewart Bowman with 344/1004. On the ladies compound side, Becky is opening up the lead with a 343/1040 while Patricia comes in with 200/700.

Still on the Olympic Bow side Ed Eliason fires a 318/918 to open his lead while Merlos has 287/842 and only one point behind is Lauren DeLange with 283/841. A real battle is brewing for 2nd & 3rd place. Stay tuned to see what´s in store for the final distance.

Again after a brief break, the previous record of 1387 held by USA´s Sally Wunderle established at the NAA National Championship in 1999. Finishing 2nd in the ladies was Patricia Herrera of Costa Rica with 266/966.

On the gentlemen´s side finds Frank Pearson finishing 1st as well with a 355/1370. Close behind was Jorge Jimenez with 358/1367 and 3rd Stewart Bowman 359/1363. Stewart captured the high score for 30 meters but to little too late.

The Olympic bow division finds Ed Eliason the champion with 341/1259. Second place went to Ricardo Merlos 326/1168 and only one point behind and third to Lauren DeLange 326/1167

After everyone has raided the chow line and a little rest everyone assembles for the team event. The USA team comprised of Becky & Frank Pearson & Stewart Bowman captured the gold 250 over El Salavadors Jorge Jimenez, Alex Rivas and Carlos Vides 244. Thrid went to Costa Rica with 235 comprised of Juan wedel, Roy Sanchez & Joerg Pfreiffer.

Now the excitement of the event begins as a elimination round concludes the tournament. On the compound men side finds the event starting with the 1/8 elimination, Frank Pearson fires a 175 against opponent Stanley Hipps 157 wile Stewart Bowman records 174 against Valverde of CR 153 and 3rd highest in the 1/8 finals was Alex Rivas of El Salvador with a 169 against Oscar Protti of Costa Rica 159.

The quarter finals sees Stewart Bowman of USA and Jorge Jimenez of EL Salvador recording 114´s against Hans Markovic of Croatia 109 and Rob Asay of the USA 107 respectively.

Heading into the semi finals we see Frank Peason of USA with a 113 against Alex Rivas ELS 112 to proceed to the medal match and Jorge Jimenez 116 ELS ousting Stewart Bowman USA with 115.

In the bronze medal match we see Alex Rivas 113 against Stewart Bowman 111 and Rivas of El Salvador taking the bronze medal.The gold medal match puts Jorge Jimenez against Frank Pearson while both fire a 112 for a tie. In a sudden death shoot off Jorge captures the gold medal by outscoring Frank.

In the Compound ladies arena we find Becky Pearson against Patricia Herrera.

Becky is on a winning mission this trip and fires a 112 against Patricia 66.

On the Olympic bow side the men start with the quarterfinals. Ed Eliason USA shots a 105 against Luis Noguera 79 of CRC; Ricardo Merlos ELS records a 101 against Sergio Azofeifa 97 of CRC and Marcos Brenes CRC 97 against fellow competitor Jose Rivera CRC 95 and head into the semi finals.

The semi finals In the Olympic bow división finds DeLange CRC with a 102 against Ricardo Merlos ELS 90 and El Eliason USA 99 against Marco Brenes CRC with 96. This puts Brenes against Merlos for the Bronze and Eliason against DeLange for the gold medal match.

El Salvador is hungry for medals at this event and in the Olympic bow division finds Merlos capturing the bronze with a 96 against Brenes 89.

The Olympic bow finds Eliason winning his 9th Costa Rica cup by scoring a 109 against DeLange 93.

At the conclusion of the tournament it was decided to have the female/male compound champion have a 1 end shoot off at 70m. Now the gambling begins, as quickly there is a hat passing through competitions / spectators & anyone else.

In the area for a prize pot to go to the winner. At the completion of the end they are tied with ----. This forces another sudden death shoot off. After the 1st arrow they are still tied, after the second arrow we still have a tie. Now we´re going to separate the men from the boys so to say by shooting 1 arrow closest to the center. Yea, you guessed it - Becky put the heat on Jorge and won the prize pot consisting of around $70. They both score 10´s but Becky lands her arrow closer to the center. “Way to go Becky!“

In celebration of his Husband Frank and Juan Wedel carry Becky back to the shooting line and fortunately that didn´t drop her.

To promote archery and introduce new archers to tournaments an introductory round at 30 meters was offered. Three young upcoming archers took advantage of this to find out what tournament archery is about and take part in the festivities. “Congratulations guys, hope to see you in more tournaments!“

Saturday morning we board the motor coach for the return to San Jose for the evening and everyone heads for their homes on Sunday. A wonderful time was had by all.

If your plans ever find you heading to Costa Rica, we would recommend you to give the Costa Rica Travel Site a call and let them assist you with plans, tours, etc. They have done a fine job for us and stayed at the resort the whole time we were there and assisted with any of our needs from travel to helping at the tournament. They can be reached on the web at www.crtravelsite.com

Thanks to Juan, the Costa Rica Archery Association and to Eric and William for making this a pleasurable and memorable trip.

Plans are in the works for this event to be held in October/November 2001. Tentative dates are October 22 - November 4. Watch for confirmation of the exact date.