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Bulldogs Archery Wins at State Tournament
By: Brett Hanebrink
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The Athens Middle School and Athens High School Bulldogs Archery teams competed in the State Tournament this weekend in Columbus and both earned berths in the National Tournament.
The Bulldogs’ High School team took 2nd place out of 27 teams hosted by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) in downtown Columbus. The team is coached by Byron Ingraham and Scott Hall-Jones, a fourth-grade teacher. The team has some high-level talent, including Elizabeth Neat who finished 1st of 779 female archers in the state, and Kennedy Cantrell, who finished 5th. Hunter Wood and Jonathan Bruch took care of the boys’ rankings, finishing at 6th and 7th of 929 archers.
The Bulldogs’ Middle School team finished 3rd of 51 teams competing at the State Tournament. Four of the teams archers finished in the top 20 individual rankings, including Reagan Repp (9), Cameron Niese (11), Grace Casto (14), and Nicole Bean (17).
“State went really well for me,” said 6th grade archer Reagan Repp. “I shot a personal record of 278. I got first out of all sixth graders so I was really happy.”
This is the first time the team has qualified for the National Tournament, despite having individuals represent the program in the past seasons.
The middle school’s team is coached by Physical Education teacher Anne L’ Heureux, who started with the program in 2002.
“It’s been 14 years that we’ve been waiting for a team championship,” L’ Heureux said. “We’ve had state champions before, we’ve had state placers, we’ve had national champions before, but never a team championship.”
Both teams will compete at the National Tournament starting May 11th at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Ky. If successful there, the teams and individual players will move on to the World Tournament July 20th in Orlando, Fl.