Story and photos by Doug Petrowski

Bill Hickey, owner of The Nock Point, was ready to close up his archery range and pro shop three years ago, but gave in to the insistence of his son Bob to stay at it a little longer. Now the Hickeys operate two archery businesses side-by-side in a facility that just finished hosting a successful regional competition of the 2013 U.S. National Indoor & JOAD Indoor Championships.

The two USA Archery events drew 180 competitors from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana to Mountlake Terrace for three days of competition at the indoor archery ranges of The Nock Point. The event has been a challenge for the Hickeys, their staff, and a slew of volunteers, but one that brought in more attention to their facilities among local and regional archery enthusiasts.

“I’ve been here at 7:30 in the morning each day this week, staying until 11:30 at night,” Bill Hickey said on Sunday. “I ain’t coming in tomorrow,” he said laughing.

The Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) championships saw 80 youth ages seven to 20 compete on Friday. Results of the JOAD regional can be found here. The 100 competitors in the U.S. National championships took over on Saturday and Sunday for their competition on the 20-yard indoor ranges. For their results click here.

The events drew world, national and Olympic Games competitors to the field. Many were hoping their results from this weekend’s championships would be a first step to qualifying for upcoming national and international competitions.

Among those in attendance was Dugie Denton, member of the U.S. Paralympics National Team that competed last summer in London. He drove 12 hours from his hometown on Joliet, Montana to participate in the Mountlake Terrace regional. Denton was disappointed with his first-round open compound division score of 559 (out of 600) that included 30 bulls eyes and 27 near bulls eyes because one arrow shot prematurely and ended up six feet above the target, stuck in the wall of the indoor range. “Winning scores will be 596, 597,” Denton said.

Participants at the Mountlake Terrace regional are competing against archers at 10 other regionals throughout the country over the next two weekends.

Tournament officials did stop competition briefly on Sunday for the announcement of a new national record set in the Master 50+ FITA Barebow division. Reynold Sarns of Oak Harbor scored a 528 in his second round, breaking a national record that had stood since 2007. Sunday was also Sarns’ 58th birthday.

Bill Hickey has owned and operated The Nock Point for 27 years, first at facilities in the Town Center area of Mountlake Terrace on 56th Avenue West, and now in a two-story facility at 22313-70th Avenue West. His son Bob owns and operates Nest Step Archery, an archery education and training center right next door to The Nock Point. The Hickeys will host another regional competition of the U.S. National Indoor and JOAD Indoor Championships in 2014.