PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
MONTPELIER ARCHERY CLUB NATIONAL QUALIFIERS- Front row from left: Braelyn Harter and Alexx Belcher. Middle row from left: Bailey Abrams, Sessley Burroughs, and Olivia Kannel. Back row from left: Emerson Moor, Christian Nofzinger, Sam Walkup, and Ashlyn Harter. Missing from the photo was Nash Miller.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Archery Club has been quite active over the last 15 years, attracting both elementary and high school students, offering a unique avenue for student achievement beyond traditional athletics.
Led by Char Johnson, who started the program, and Kaitlin Harter, who has been involved for the past four years, the Montpelier Archery Club will be competing in the Eastern National 3-D Tournament to be held May 7-9 in Louisville, Kentucky, which is also Mother’s Day Weekend.
Harter said that in her four years with the Archery Club, they have qualified for nationals each year, but this year she had a higher standard in which she wanted them to meet a different tier.
“There are five tier brackets to go to nationals, and I didn’t want them to be on the bottom one this year,” said Harter.
“I’m not taking my bullseye team to the nationals this year, but this was the first year that we did 3-D targets which involves animal targets.”
Harter said the club had only participated in three different tournaments with the 3-D targets, so this is very fresh and new for them.
The Eastern National 3-D Tournament involves animal targets such as deer, antelope, turkey, bear, ram, and other animals.
Competing in the 3-D target category, the club was successful in placing fifth out of 15 teams in the recent state tournament held Easter weekend in Logan, Ohio.
“We kind of just touched base with the 3-D because we haven’t fully focused on it, because we obviously do bullseye every year that’s our normal,” commented Harter.
“This was just really amazing that the kids did as well as they did, because it wasn’t our main focus. It was just something that we really kind of dipped our toes in, tested it out and see if we liked it.”
Maysville High School was the overall team champion with 1,686 points, followed by Warren High School (1,666); Crooksville High School (1,663), Federal Hocking High School (1,650) and Montpelier (1,649).
Harter commented on the criteria which the Archery Club had to achieve in order to advance to nationals.
“Our overall results on our regular tournaments when we did 3-D, we already met the criteria to go, so I already had a general idea of going to nationals, but with them placing fifth place that was kind of a solid point for us to go,” pointed out Harter.
Leading the Montpelier Archery Club was freshman Christian Nofzinger, who achieved top overall honors in the boys division out of 268 competitors, tallying 282 points in the event.
Also qualifying for nationals in the high school category were freshman Nash Miller, sophomores Sam Walkup, Sessley Burroughs, Bailey Abrams and Ashlyn Harter, and juniors Emerson Moor and Olivia Kannel.
Harter and Walkup both finished 19th and 20th place respectively with 276 points each. Both were also ranked fifth and sixth in the sophomore girls division. Moor was 36th overall and fifth in the junior boys division with 272 points.
Miller was 53rd overall and ninth in the ninth-grade boys division with 267 points. Kannel finished 44th overall and ninth in the junior girls division with 266 points.
Abrams was 84th overall and 23rd in the sophomore girls division with 256 points. Burroughs was 85th overall and 24th in the sophomore girls division with 256 points.
In addition to the high school team, two Montpelier fifth graders will also be competing at nationals. Braelyn Harter was runner-up in the elementary and fifth-grade girls divisions with 264 points.
Alexx Belcher placed fifth in both the elementary and fifth-grade girls divisions with 246 points. “It was really nice to just kind of get this good solid group of kids that wanted to participate and wanted to go to nationals,” said Kaitlin Harter.
“They’ve worked really hard, so I’m super proud of them especially when our main focus really is bullseye and they managed still get fifth place at state.”
During the regular season, the Archery Club competed in several archery tournaments at Delta, Fairview, Hilltop, Stryker, and Patrick Henry as well as hosting its own tournament.
The Archery Club currently has over 70 kids in the program, ranging from fourth grade to high school seniors.
Getting ready for nationals is the next step ahead for the Montpelier Archery Club as it prepares for its biggest event of the year.
The club has been practicing on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the former Superior Middle School building and focusing on 3-D shooting.
“They’re all super excited and focused and ready to go,” said Harter. “It’s a big privilege for them to go to the nationals.
There will be so many kids that will be there as far as competition. As we’re getting ready, it’s nice for them because I could pay more individual attention to them.”
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