Bunbury Archery Club’s Lincoln Milbanke, 17, competes at Australian Youth National Championships in Canberra

A young South West archer has proved himself to be one of the best in the country. Bunbury Archery Club member Lincoln Milbanke recently headed to Canberra to compete in the Australian Youth National Championships, scoring in the top 10 in his competitions. The 17-year-old said it was a great to be able to participate in the event. “I got to see what a lot of the better archers and how they shoot,” he said. During the championships, Lincoln competed in four different types of archery shooting, with the field competition being his favourite. “It was the first time I really got to do it properly,” he said. “We were crawling all up and down the side of a mountainous area. The most degree that I was shooting out was roughly about 37 degrees down a hill and sometimes I was shooting up a hill. It was nice.” Lincoln placed fifth in the indoor event and seventh in the other three events. He first got involved with archery about 3.5 years ago after taking part in a shoot where he beat the record on his first attempt. Bunbury Archery Club treasurer Rachel Fitzpatrick has seen how Lincoln’s game has changed over the time period. “He’s matured a lot,” she said. “He’s just more accurate, his form’s really good, he improves all the time and he still has fun.” As for his sporting trajectory, Lincoln said he will take his competing “as far as I can”. Lincoln’s trip to Canberra was supported by the Australian Sports Commission’s Local Sporting Champions program.