Colby Lowery is State Champion at archery competition

White County High School senior Colby Lowery is a member of the Warrior Archery team, and, while the team won the State Championship last week, Lowery took home the Individual shooting honor.

“It felt pretty good,” Lowery said about being named the state’s champion shooter and admitted that it wasn’t something he was expecting. “Going in, I thought it would be my last time shooting, so I just wanted to shoot the best I could.”

And that’s exactly what he did. And on that day, his best was a State Championship.

“He had a good day,” Mickye Steele, the Warrior Archery coach, said. “He showed up, and it was his day.”

Lowery spent the entire four years of his high school career as a member of the Warrior Archery team, evolving from what Steele called a “very shy young man” into a team leader.

“Colby brings good morals and good character to the team,” Steele said. “He is always so supportive of his teammates – there to build them up if they are down and cheering them on through their success.”

That’s exactly what Lowery was doing when his teammates flipped the script and cheered him on to his big win.

“I told Kade all season, ‘I want you to win state.’ He had been shooting four or five points away from a perfect score all season,” Lowery said. “Then I started shooting good at this tournament, and he flipped it around and started telling me, ‘Hey man, go win state!’”

Now that Lowery is the owner of a State Championship, he will travel to the National Championship with the Warrior team. However, while they shoot for a team score, he will be shooting for an individual, in what he says will likely be the last match of his career.

“I have a seat in Worlds and won’t have to qualify at nationals, but the World Championships start when college is starting, so I don’t know if I will be able to go,” Lowery said. “We will see if the opportunity arises.”

While Lowery is wrapping up his high school archery career, he thinks there is plenty of unfinished business left for the Warriors.

“There are a lot of good shooters on this team, and they have a lot of good matches ahead of them,” he said and then offered his teammates some advice. “Give it your best shot. I didn’t think I would ever win state, but I just went and did my best and here we are. Always, give it your best shot.”

For Lowery, he says that regardless of what happens at the National Championships in May, he will have no regrets.

“I’m leaving archery as a high school thing, so this is a great way to go out,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to end it.”