Tryzub’s Target Archery Team on Target in their Inaugural Competition
By Eugene A. Luciw

Last September, Ilya V. Buynevich, Ph.D., born and raised in Odessa, Ukraine, and now an Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at Temple University in Philadelphia, began organizing Tryzub’s first ever archery club and team.
Throughout the Fall, Nuynevich and his twin sons, Oscar and Oliver, spent many hours at the Ukrainian American Sport Center – “Tryzubivka” teaching a squad of beginners the basics about equipment, shooting and the rules of play. Winter saw the fledgling team move indoors to Target World, a local range, for intense training and practice sessions.

Shooter Coach Ilya Buynevich preps his twin sons, Osar and Oliver, for their first tournament

On February 19, five Tryzub archers entered the Olympic recurve bow division of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Indoor FITA tournament, hosted by the Reading Archery Club, Shillington, PA. It was the first competition for all of the team members, except for the archer-coach.

Tryzub’s results were quite remarkable. In the most competitive Male Senior competition, Ilya Buynevich placed third with a personal high score of 523 points out of a possible 600. In the extremely competitive Male Bowman junior category, Oliver Buynevich (233 points) placed third and Oscar Buynevich (176 points) placed fifth. In the equally competitive Male Cub junior division, Christopher Lopez placed fourth with a phenominal (especially for a newcomer) score of 303. In the far less competitive Master over age 50 category, Eugene A. Luciw captured first place gold with a score of 152.

Oscar and Oliver Buynevich (1st and 2nd from the left) and Chris Lopez (4th from left) compete “on the line”

Excited by these results, coach Buynevich exclaimed: “I am so proud of this team; I believe that we represented Tryzub’s legacy of championship and sportsmanship very well. We will return to the practice ranges with the goal of exceeding our personal bests in future competitions.”

Tryzub’s travel team: Shooter coach Ilya Buynevich, Oliver Buynevich, Chris Lopez, Oscar Buynevich and Gene Luciw

The Buynevichs will represent Tryzub in the upcoming Pennsylvania Indoor State Championships that will take place at three locations around the Commonwealth. The other team members are not available to attend.

The Ukrainian American Sport Center is constructing an outdoor shooting range and an influx of archers is expected for the Spring season.

Buynevich (1st on left) and Luciw (third from left) work “on the line”.

It is of interest to note that the reigning Olympic archery champion is Viktor Ruban of Kharkiv, Ukraine. He captured gold in Beijing in the year 2008, and will defend his title at the upcoming Summer Olympics in London.