A RHYL college lecturer has added another string to her bow and realised a lifelong goal.

Rhona Noden, who is curriculum coordinator for Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy at Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhyl campus, was crowned the ‘Welsh National Senior’ Compound champion at the Welsh National Senior Indoor Championships at the Sport for Wales Centre in Cardiff.

Competing against qualifiers from every archery club in Wales, she is now setting her sights on qualifying for the pre-Olympic squad.

Ms Noden, Glan Conwy, said: “I have achieved my ambition of becoming Welsh champion and I am delighted. It has been a difficult year, as I have had to combine my college work with competing all over the UK at weekends in order to improve my ranking. But, it was all worthwhile in the end.”

In 2018, the Welsh Archery Association revealed that she had been selected for the senior team to represent Wales at the Senior Euronations competition in Nottinghamshire. During that year she achieved eight North Wales Archery Society records and ten Welsh Archery Society records, as well as a bronze medal at the Welsh National Championships.

Her success adds to other impressive victories for her club, the Rhyl Leisure Centre and Ysgol y Castell based Gronant Bowmen, who in enjoyed a record breaking December with teen archer Faith Ward and Parlympian John Stubbs. She has qualified as a ‘bowman’ – the first ever woman from her club to achieve this status.

Rhona, who is originally from Scotland and began archery at 16, added: “So the next steps are selection for the Euronations and pre-Olympic squad if I can maintain the scores throughout the summer season. It will be harder because of the outside elements and shooting up to 70 metres, but it’s all part of the overall plan.”