By Brittney Darrow
Mount Vernon Archers exceeded expectations at the Iowa NASP Archery State Championship last weekend. The high school team placed second out of 23 teams in the tournament and first in the 3D tournament. The team scored 3350, losing to Valley High School by 19 points.
“The high school team ranked third in Iowa after the 10-week league season,” said head coach Tom Wilkinson, adding that second is the highest that the high school team has placed. The national tournament is in Louisville, May 11-13.
The top shooters this year for the Mount Vernon Archery team are Logan Kelly for the males averaging 293 and for the females Emily Friedman with an average of 283. “Logan Kelly also set a new score for High School boys in bullseye with 299 and in 3D with a 298,” said Wilkinson. The Mount Vernon archery club has set many new records. They set a new high team score of 1666 in 3D archery, which is shooting targets that look like animals.
“I really enjoy 3D shooting because it is more realistic than normal target shooting,” said Kelly, who is an all-state archer and winner of the boys’ state 3D shoot. Kelly tied with Collin Hallier for individual top score of the team (294).
Archery is not something you can master overnight. You have to keep practicing if you want to succeed. Winning five tournament championships, two runner up finishes, and one third place trophy, and state trophies, the Mount Vernon team is soaring through the sky.
Both teams and individuals compete at state. The teams can have 12-24 people on them. The top 12 archers combined score is the team score. People can also win individually by having the top score of their gender. The best individual score you can get is 300.
During an NASP (National Archery in the schools Program) competition the archers shot at 10 meters and have one practice round shooting 5 arrows. Then they did three rounds that are scored at 10 meters. The archers moved back to 15 meters and did one practice round and three scored rounds. All of the scores were combined at the end.
“I think people like archery because it is different than other sports,” said Wilkinson. “It’s challenging to perfect your technique and shooting form. It also takes calm nerves and focus to do well. I guess archers enjoy mastering something that is a lifelong sport.”
