In the photo, Dale Ashenhart of New Martinsville takes aim at the International Bowhunters Organization world championship at Seven Springs, Pa., on Aug. 10. A 19-year veteran bow shooter, he captured the world championship in the crossbow class with a score of 402. (Photo provided)

Two area residents gave exceptional performances at the International Bowhunting Organization’s world championships, held Aug. 7-10 at Seven Springs, Pa.

New Martinsville resident Darrell Ashenhart scored 402 for first place in the crossbow class and Michael S. Tenley of Clarington turned in a 397 to capture the runner-up position in the same class.

Some 180 persons attended the championships, 14 of them from West Virginia.

Shooters had to make the top five in each class in qualifying rounds held for two days. The five left standing in each class then were challenged with a 10-card shootout for the championship.

Ashenhart has been shooting for 19 years. Last year, he placed fourth in the world and second in the national championship.

Darrell Ashenhart, left, and Michael Tenley display their awards for winning the world championship and second place spots, respectively, at the IBO championships at Seven Springs Aug. 7-10. (Photo provided)

In 2000, he took sixth place in the world championships using a compound bow. However, a tree stand injury to his right arm in 2010 will no longer allow him to compete with a compound bow.

Tenley, who has been in the sport for 20 years, has won the world championship three times – in 2007, 2011, and 2012.

This year, he took first place in the national IBO Triple Crown.

The IBO, founded in 1984, is based in the northern Ohio town of Vermillion, located between Sandusky and Lorain on Lake Erie. Its purposes are to promote, encourage, and foster the sport of bowhunting; to provide bowhunter education; to act as a liaison for the betterment of bowhunters; to act as a clearing house for essential bowhunter information; to assist and foster the conservation and preservation of wildlife; and to adhere to the basic ideal of the International Bowhunting Organization Inc., which is the unification of bowhunters.