“This year, archery has looked completely different with Covid,” expressed middle school coach, Tammy Chronister. “The Jr High archery team did not think that they would be able to have a season, and when it was announced that they would be doing the Regional Tournament virtually, the Middle School was only able to practice twice before competing.”
“But Jr High was determined and they persevered by placing 2nd in our region, which allowed us to go to state. With only a few weeks to practice and the snowstorm, our Middle School did what needed to be done.” The Jr High archery team finished the season ranked 18th in the state. “Our two top shooters for the boys were 8th graders Jaren Howell, who scored a 276, and Nathan Canada who scored a 273. The two top girls were 7th graders Zoe Richardson, scoring a 265, and Erika Brothers, scoring a 251. I am so proud of these 7th and 8th graders and everything they have accomplished this year and I’m ready to see what the next year will bring us.”
“In a “normal” year, our archery season begins in September,” explained high school archery coach, Kristen Atchley. “Under covid guidelines, we were unsure if we were going to have an archery season. When we finally got the green light to begin, Sr High only had 3 official practices before their Regional Tournament. However, anxiously awaiting to see if we would have a season, our archers were practicing from home. Then we got the good news that we had won our Regionals with a score of 3203!”
“When we won our Region, our kids were so pumped. I was so proud of them. They worked extremely hard and gave it everything they had. With everything being virtual we had no idea how things would go.” continued Coach Kristen Atchley. Senior Alexis Lane said “I was so excited for our team to make first on my last year! It just felt unreal with the seniors we had lost that made our team so good. We had really stepped up this year with the uncertainty of even having a season!”
After Regionals, Sr High was ranked 6th. After announcing the date for State, Sr High had one week to prepare, and they prepared the best they could. “We knew we had a lot of work to be done. Our kids knew what they had to do and worked incredibly hard to achieve their goal,” added Atchley. After all the hard work that the Sr High had put in, they pulled through and placed 2nd at the Arkansas State Archery Tournament.
“When I got the message we had placed second overall in State, it was automatic calling everyone to tell them! It just felt so unreal. I’m so proud that these seniors went out with this big of a bang. I’m proud to be a has-been for Waldron Arrow dogs.” Lane concluded. Dylan Brown placed 2nd individually winning a $2,000 scholarship, Patrick Poor placed 5th individually and won a $500 scholarship, and Gatlin Lovett placed 10th individually.
