Registration is now open for the 2019 Lancaster Archery Classic, scheduled for Jan. 25-27 at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim, Pa.
And while it might not seem possible for the East Coast’s largest indoor archery tournament to get even bigger, the 2019 event promises just that. The 2017 Classic was the first at the massive Spooky Nook complex, which features 17 acres under roof, and it drew a record 1,100 archers from 13 countries. But there’s plenty of room for many more archers.The 1,600-plus archers expected to enter the 2019 Classic will compete in 15 divisions for over $300,000 in prize and contingency money, including the top payout of $20,000 for the Open Pro champion. That’s a $5,000 increase over last year’s top prize.You’ll also notice the division is now called “Open Pro,” rather than “Men’s Open Pro.” That’s because the Open Pro class is open to both men and women.Payouts for the 2019 Classic are being increased in several other divisions as well. Following substantial increases last year, prize money in some recurve divisions is being hiked again. The Barebow and Men’s Recurve champions each will take home tournament checks for $6,000 – up from $5,000 last year. That’s almost unheard of in competitive recurve archery. The Women’s Recurve champion will earn $3,000 – up from $2,500.
The other top finishers in these three recurve divisions also will see increases in cash awards. In Men’s Recurve and Barebow, second- third- and fourth-place archers will be awarded $2,500, $1,500 and $750 respectively. For fifth-eighth place in Men’s Recurve, the payout is $350 per archer, while ninth-16
th place finishers each will win $250.In Women’s Recurve, the runner up will receive $1,500; third-place finisher, $1,000; fourth-place finisher, $500; and $250 will be paid to each of the fifth-eighth-place finishers.
Besides the prize money, the first-through-third-place Barebow archers also will receive special barebow trophies, following a practice that was started at the 2018 Classic. Similarly, the top-three female barebow finishers – who compete against the men in the combined division - will again receive $750, $250 and $150, respectively, plus special trophies.Fifth-eighth-place Barebow division archers each will win $300, while ninth-16
th will earn $200 apiece, and 17
th-32
nd will each take home $15o. That’s’ a deeper payout than Barebow archers ever have received before at the Classic. It’s a recognition of their enthusiasm for, and commitment to, recurve barebow archery, which Lancaster Archery Supply avidly supports.The number of Barebow division archers in 2018 – 125 – was basically double the number that competed the year before. And, as has been the case the past two years, the video of the Barebow Division Finals at the 2018 Classic has by far been the most viewed of all the division finals videos on the LAS YouTube Channel. The Barebow video has been viewed over 175,000 times since it was posted in late January – more than three times the number of views garnered by the Men’s Open Pro and Women’s Open Pro finals videos combined.Other increased payouts for 2019 are as follows:Open Pro: second place - $7,500; third place - $5,000; fourth - $2,500.Women’s Open Pro and Masters Open Pro: first - $4,000; second - $2,000; third - $1,250; fourth - $1,000.
Youth Male Open: first - $2,000; second - $1,000; third - $600; fourth - $350; fifth-eighth - $250; and ninth-16
th - $150.All other payouts that were in place for the 2018 Classic, remain the same for 2019.To accommodate the increased Open Pro payouts, the registration fee for that class is being raised a bit for 2019. The discounted, early-registration fee is $350 for Open Pro archers who register before Dec. 30. After Dec. 30, that fee rises to $400. All other registration fees for 2019 will mirror 2018.A wildly successful addition to the 2018 Classic that will return in 2019 is the Easton Youth Trophy Tournament. This is a special, one-day competition for archers under the age of 21, that affords the opportunity to experience a world-class tournament, such as the Classic, but for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time commitment.
The Easton Youth Trophy Tournament will be a 60-arrow competition scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26. We’ve expanded the shooting area, so there will be room for 540 archers this year – nearly double last year’s field.Archers will be separated into four age divisions for competition – Bowman, age 12 and under; Cub, age 13 and 14; Cadet, age 15-17; and Junior, age 18-20. Archers should register in the appropriate division based on their ages as of Jan. 25, 2019. There will be both male and female classes for each division. Champions in each division - determined by score in the 60-arrow round - will receive trophies, with medals going to each of the top three finishers.Easton Youth Trophy Tournament archers are not excluded from the Classic. They can shoot in both tournaments if they want. Just be aware, the Classic finals might overlap with the Easton Youth Trophy Tournament – especially the Classic’s Youth Male Recurve finals, which are scheduled to begin at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.Due to growth in the competition fields, more archers in both the Women’s Open and Bowhunter divisions will have the chance to shoot their way into the 2019 Classic finals. While the eliminations field for these two divisions used to consist of the top 16 archers, the top 32 will qualify at the 2019 Classic.
That’s critical under the Classic format. If you can make it to the elimination rounds, you’ve got a real chance to win your division. That’s one of the things archers love most about the Classic.Imperfection does not necessarily mean you’re out of the Classic. All you have to do is shoot well enough in the 60-arrow qualifying round to make the cut to advance to eliminations. In that part of the competition, you’ll shoot a 12-arrow, head-to-head match against another qualifier. Win, and you advance.If you can win enough matches to make it past the finals cut-off for your division, you can shoot your way to victory. Let’s say you finish the qualification round and elimination matches ranked eighth in your division. And let’s say that division takes the top eight archers for the finals shoot ups.
As the No. 8 archer, you would start the finals by shooting a head-to-head match against the No. 7 archer. The winner of that match takes on the No. 6 archer. This process continues until someone shoots a match against the No. 1 archer for the division championship title, lots of cash and a well-deserved place in LAS Classic history. So in a division that advances 64 archers to elimination matches, it is entirely possible for the archer that shot the 64
th best qualification score to win his or her division.Aside from these changes, improvements and additions, archers can count on the usual, world-renowned, top-shelf Classic experience at the 2019 event. You’ll be treated like royalty from the moment you walk through the front doors of Spooky Nook. The entire LAS crew on site is there to serve you.We’ve got an on-site practice facility, which will be available for an additional fee of $10, if purchased before the event, or $15 on site. Or, you can practice for free at the LAS Pro Shop, which is 15 minutes away from Spooky Nook. A shuttle will ferry people from Spooky Nook to the Pro Shop regularly during the tournament.
When you’re shooting your qualification round, you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with the best archers in the world. Archers and archery fans can meet a selection of the top pros and Olympians for photos and autographs during a “meet and greet” event scheduled for Saturday. Our sponsoring equipment manufacturers will have over 40 booths set up to show you the latest and greatest target archery gear.Sign up now. We hope to see you at Spooky Nook in January!
