PCHS competed in the NASP State Tournament at the Louisville Exposition Center on Saturday March 13 and had their best day this year, shooting a team score of 3,186. This score topped the season average by 80 points.
The Wildcats entered the tournament ranked 81st out of 121 high schools that competed in a state qualifying tournament. The 3186 placed them at 62nd for a 19 position improvement.
Jacob Baird led the Wildcats with a 274, followed by Sophey Dalton with a 271 and Emma Gillespie with a 270. Other top scoring Wildcats were Bradie Lovelace (269), Sarah Zumwalt (268), Rylan Rhoton (266), Emma Record (265), Abby Daugherty (263), Adam Derico (262), Bradford Peoples (262), McKenzie Turner (261), and Jeanna Craig (258).
SMS also competed and entered the competition ranked 91st amongst middle schools that had completed a state qualifier. They shot a 2796, topping their season record of 2686 by 110 point. With this improvement, they finished the year ranked 84th.
Dylan Bramley led the Sharp Wildcats with a 267, followed by Lily Rice with a 266 and Jacob Craig with a 242. The scoring for Sharp was rounded out by Isaac Derico (241), Kaycee Voet (233), Braydon Askren (233), Leyah Hyden (229), Adam Straus (229), Miley Smith (221), Blake Colvin (214), Jaren Ashcraft (211), and Sam Hodge (210).
“Neither team has a superstar this year, but solid performances by a block of archers allowed the teams to advance their positions in the tournament,” said Head Coach David Myers. “Improving 80 to 100 points at a tournament the size of NASP State is a great accomplishment. Most tournaments we compete in have about 20 or so targets. There were nearly 300 targets spread across to gigantic rooms at the Expo Center. The nerves can really get to you on the line at the same time as another 300 archers but the Cats seem to thrive there! In a year that we started late and had so many issues with snow cancelling practices, these archers really stepped up!”
At this point Sharp doesn’t have an additional tournaments scheduled, but PCHS is now preparing for the KHSAA Region 7 competition, which will be held at Robertson County on April 3rd.
KHSAA splits the co-ed team into boys and girls divisions. In past years, Harrison County and Mason County have been our primary competition in the region, although the other programs have really turned up the heat.
“With the strange year, my statement from a few months ago is still true. We have all faced problems with practices and have only competed in a few tournaments. I know what our team is capable of, and I believe we should be able to take at least a second place finish in one or the other division to advance to state. But, with this crazy year, who knows?” Myers said about the KHSAA region.
There was one thing that Myers was sure.
“I worked the flights at the NASP State tournament and I worked with my archers since January. All of my archers and everyone I worked with this weekend agree that it was good to be back on the range, no matter the COVID changes that were necessary. I couldn’t see the smiles through the masks, but their eyes told the story!”
