VIVA Top Ten Shoot Out Ranking

Young Adult Archery Free Style Shooter Wins the Vegas in Valdez Top Ten Shoot Out!

Therron Rude, a fifteen-year-old archer, won the $1,000 grand prize at the 9^th annual Vegas in Valdez Archery Tournament (ViVA) held in Valdez, Alaska, on Sunday. Therron, a high school student from Glennallen, Alaska, topped several veteran archers from across South Central Alaska including his father and coach Paul Rude.

ViVA is held in the Valdez Civic Center, in Valdez, Alaska, and is hosted by the Prince William Sound College (PWSC) Archery Club. This event is the largest indoor archery tournament in Alaska, attracting competing archers from around the state. The event is modeled after the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas, known as the Vegas Shoot.

ViVA is a Vegas 600-round tournament shot over two days and features a Top Ten Shoot Out where the top ten scoring archers compete in a sudden death shoot off for a winner-takes-all $1,000 prize. A $2,500 pay out across the field was also awarded. Other event offerings included free archery instruction, several fun shoots, games, and a social dinner on Saturday night.

Therron shot a very respectful 299/19X point game out of 300/30X on Saturday tying with Senior Bow Bowhunter Free Style archer, Rob Swanson, from Anchorage for second place. Neil Wright of Cordova finished Saturday in first place with an impressive 300/27X game. Rude’s score dropped 5 points and 4 X’s on Sunday; however, his combined two day total of 593/34X’s placed him in fifth place overall, qualifying him for the Top Ten Shoot Out.

Seven archers were eliminated in the first 3-arrow volley leaving Therron, his father Paul Rude (also from Glennallen), and Toach Riggins of Valdez (previously from Kenney Lake) in the final end. Therron’s father Paul stated that he was “tickled to have his son beat the old man” and expressed pride in his son’s performance. The senior Rude said “I keep telling my son that he has a champion inside of him.”

In addition to the $1,000 Top Ten Shoot Out prize, Therron also walked away with a first place metal in his division, a $100 cash payout, along with a $500 scholarship to attend Prince William Sound College. Therron is off to a great start with his archery career.

The PWSC Archery Club promotes target archery, 3D target archery, and bowhunting, along with wildlife and environment conservation. The Club offers student leadership opportunities in organizational governance, archery scholarships, collegiate archery team participation, local, and national competition. They host youth programs and community events, in addition to performing public service and service learning projects. The PWSC Archery Club is a member of USA Collegiate Archery, the Alaska State Archery Association, and the National Field Archery Association, and membership is open to the public.

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