Family hits the target with archery

Members of the Claps family have hit a bull's-eye.

Tom and Mira Claps, daughters Eliana and Alexa, and son Jadon share a fondness for archery, and the Marion family enjoys training and competing together.

Tom and the three children will participate in the Iowa Games this weekend in Ames. The opening ceremony opens the biggest of the three-weekend event tonight, beginning with a Parade of Athletes at 7:45 p.m.

Tom returned to archery and bowhunting about five years ago while the family lived in Seattle. Eliana and Alexa caught the fever after watching dad.

“It's an activity that lends itself well to the whole family,” Mira said. “It's fun family time.”

The sport has really grabbed 11-year-old Eliana and 9-year-old Alexa, who began shooting about four years ago. They started with a plastic bow and now shoot with an Olympic-style recurve bow. They are in the Junior Olympic Archery Development program.

“Both girls have interest in going to the Olympics,” Tom said.

Mira Claps joked that archery has been the one constant as the family moved from Washington to California and, about a year ago, to Iowa. The girls met Janet Dykman, a 1996 and 2000 Olympic archery team member, while in California.

“Janet, being in the Olympics, was able to get them to a point where they were getting some good form,” Tom said.

The girls set indoor and outdoor records in California and in their brief time in Iowa. The two competed at the JOAD National meet in Des Moines last month. Eliana earned two medals, including a silver in the Olympic round, and Alexa just missed a bronze.

Eliana and Alexa compete in the same category, but there isn't much of a sibling rivalry.

“They're competitive from the standpoint that they want to shoot well,” Tom said.

“Archery has been a positive way for them to channel their competitive ways,” Mira said.

As the girls honed their skills in Washington, Mira sought a way to fight the monotony of watching practice. That's when she decided to “fling arrows” with her daughters.

“It looked like it was fun ... I decided it was time for me to pick up a bow and give it a shot,” she said.

The sport's grip on the family strengthened when Jadon picked up a bow. The 6-year-old shoots with a barebow, which Tom said is a recurve bow without sights.

“He just wants to hit something,” Tom Claps said.