Keith Brown will shoot for gold as a fourth seed in the archery event.

LAKE PLACID, NY — Randy Hendrix of Clemons, N.C., advanced from a No. 15 seeding in the 16-person field to win last year's Archery gold medal at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

After the seeding round Thursday for the 2002 Great Outdoor Games Archery competition, the consensus among the archers is that seedings may have become even more meaningless under a new shooting format this year.

"Last year you could just shoot at the bigger targets, get ahead and try to hold your lead," said Hendrix. "This year you've got no points to play with.

You've got to go for the smaller targets, and you've got to be a little bit lucky."

Nevertheless, Hendrix did manage to post the best qualifying score and earn the No. 1 seed in today's Archery finals. Hendrix scored 30 points out of a possible 42. Butch Johnson of Woodstock, Conn., and Wade Gautreaux of Laura, Ohio, tied for the second best qualifying scores with 27s. Johnson earned the No. 2 seed in a shoot-off.

In 2001 there were six shooting stations and a different scoring system that, as Hendrix mentioned, allowed competitors to play it safe. But because the field was so competitive, there was no clear favorite in the Great Outdoor Games format that archers see only once a year. This year's format reduced the stations to four and time has become a critical factor. Thirty seconds is the maximum allowed for any shot on the course.

On Station No. 3 — Thread the Needle — each archer may shoot as many as four arrows in a total of 30 seconds at four-inch targets located 40 yards away, down an obstruction lined course. Each target is worth three points. If anything that gives Hendrix an edge, it's this station. He was one of only two competitors who attempted four shots in the 30 seconds allowed, and he was the only one to score the maximum of 12 points on the station.

"I think I've got an advantage there," Hendrix said. "I'm used to shooting fast. But the last station is where I may be at a disadvantage."

The last station, Station 4, is called "Hole in the Wall," where archers shoot two times at unknown distances between 30 and 40 yards. The distance is changed between each shot.

"I don't shoot 3-D targets enough anymore," Hendrix said. "I'll probably have to play it safe on that one because I don't really have my yardage down."

Foreshadowing the tightness of Friday's finals, six men tied for the No.4 seed by scoring 24 points in the qualifying round. A massive shoot-off left Keith Brown of Greensboro, N.C., fourth, Marty Chapman of Hendersonville, N.C., fifth, Randy Ulmer of Cave Creek, Ariz., sixth, Rod White of Sparta, Wis., seventh, Mike Slinkard of John Day, Ore., eighth and Tim Gillingham of Riverside, Calif., ninth.

Cousins, who won the silver medal here last year, makes no bones about his dislike for this year's setup. But then, he didn't like last year's either.

"It's just not my cup of tea, to be honest," said Cousins. "It's a throw of the dice more than anything. It's just run and gun."

That won't keep Cousins from competing hard and having a good time. "We're lucky to have this platform," said Cousins, a 25-year-old pro, who has been ranked the No. 1 compound archer in the world the last two years.

"It's a great opportunity to showcase our sport."