Archers attend championship at Myrtle Beach

Students from middle school and high school participate

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 Five White County students recently attended a National Archery in Schools Program annual open/championships and showed off their skills with some impressive scores.

According to Mickey Steele, archery coach, four students from White County High School and one from White County Middle School participate in the tournament, which was June 10-12, 2021, at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, in South Carolina.

Steele and her husband, Bryan, both serve as coaches for the White County Archery Program.

Students were grouped into the following divisions

  • High School boys/girls
  • Middle School boys/girls
  • Elementary boys/girls

The NASP Nationals Tournament was held virtually, in April 2021. Archers who scored in the top 100 in their divisions in the national tournament automatically qualified for the championship. According to Mickey Steele, there were approximately 15,000 archers who participated in this specific event, which included eastern and western divisions.

Collyer Steele, an eighth grade student from WCMS, was one of the individuals who qualified and placed 93rd out of 3,611 in his division, which gave him a bye into the championship.

The high school students from White County who traveled to Myrtle Beach did not place in the top 100 in their divisions but registered to shoot in the open portion of the tournament, on June 10, in hopes of securing a position in the championships. To accomplish this feat, an archer must place in the top 10 of their divisions.

Mickey Steele said over 2,000 student archers from all across the United States attended the championship, in Myrtle Beach, with hopes of making it to the finals.

Rob Adcock, with a score of 283, narrowly missed out on qualifying by placing 18th in the High School boys’ division, with Kenneth Bryant scoring 280 and placing 22nd.

Katie Hutchings, with a score of 287, placed 8th in the High School girls’ division, earning a spot to shoot in the championship.

Hannah Stanton scored 244 and placed 92nd.

On June 11, Hutchings and Collyer Steele arrived at the convention center for an 8:30 a.m. flight time. This two-day shoot was made up of the top 100 boys and top 100 girls in each division from the nationals; the top boy and girl archer in each division from each state tournament; the top 10 ranked teams in each division from the nationals; the highest scoring team in each division from the state; the top team in each division; and the top 10 individuals in each division from the open tournament.

Mickey Steele said Hutchings and Collyer Steele both came away with impressive placements.

“In this coast-to-coast competition, Collyer, with a score of 274, was ranked 65th in the Middle School boys’ division – 27th out of all 8th grade boys and 208th out of all boys in all divisions,” Mickey Steele said. “Katie [Hutchings], with a score of 283, was ranked 41st in High School girls’ division - 13th out of all 11th grade girls and 63rd out of all girls in all divisions.”

The next NASP Open/Championship will be in June 2022, in Louisville, Kentucky.       

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