By Randy Zellers
LITTLE ROCK — Social-distancing requirements may have prevented the typical scene at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs for this year’s Arkansas National Archery in the Schools Program State Championships, but schools from across the state still are competing to see who is the best at Olympic-style archery this week.
Curtis Gray, ANASP coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said all competitions were moved to a virtual format this year to prevent the typical crowds of up to 16,000 at one location for the state championships.
“We just couldn’t organize any sort of gathering like that in good conscience,” Gray said. “But we still wanted to give all of our archers an opportunity to compete and continue enjoying their sport.”
Instead, archers at each school are competing at their own facilities with at least two coaches or administrators serving as scoring judges. Instead of the meet taking place all in one or two days, teams will have four days to shoot and submit their scores.
“With each school district going by different formats for how many people can be in a group at once and which days they host virtual learning, we wanted to make sure everyone had enough time to compete,” Gray said.
The format went well during the regional shoots, which took place from Feb. 8-24, despite weather-related setbacks.
“Major snowstorms shut everything down right in the middle of the regional shooting period,” Gray said. “We extended the deadlines for those scores for two weeks because of the weather, but we anticipate having all of the state championship numbers in by this Thursday night’s deadline.”
Gray says participation in regional shoots saw a substantial drop from last year, but he’s still pleased by the turnout.
“With COVID and the switch to a virtual format, I was worried we wouldn’t have many teams for this year’s competition, but we had more than 3,000 kids shoot and turn in scores,” Gray said. “With all the changes to student’s schedules and ability to gather for practice, We’ve weathered the storm much better than we anticipated, and I hope we’ll have even more participation next year as we see more stability in school schedules.”
Concerns for spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 shuttered last year’s Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program’s events, as well as this year’s regional ANASP, meets, but Gray is hopeful that next year will be different.
“That’s all we can do right now is hope that this is behind us when next year’s tournaments come around,” Gray said. “Until then, I encourage everyone to keep practicing and enjoying archery. We have 3D courses available throughout the state to enjoy some open-air opportunities as well as all of the teachers still giving instruction through the hundreds of schools that participate in the program. Every situation is different, but the end goal is to help our youth build confidence in this great sport.”
Visit www.agfc.com/ANASP for more information on the Arkansas National Archery in the Schools Program and this year’s competition.
Teams competing in this year’s state championships:
Region 1
Elementary
1st Place- Old High Middle School
2nd Place- Lincoln Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Washington Jr. High
2nd Place- Old High Middle School
3rd Place- Arkansas Arts Academy Middle School
High School
1st Place- Arkansas Arts Academy
2nd Place- Bentonville High School
Region 2
Elementary
1st Place- Bergman Elementary
2nd Place- Omaha Elementary
3rd Place- Valley Springs Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Alpena Jr. High
2nd Place- Bergman Middle School
3rd Place- Valley Springs
High School
1st Place- Alpena High School
2nd Place- Valley Springs High School
3rd Place- Bergman High School
Region 3
Elementary
1st Place- Eagle Mountain Elementary
2nd Place- Cave City Elementary
3rd Place- Southside Bee Branch Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Cave City Middle School
2nd Place- EPC Junior High
3rd Place- Southside Bee Branch Middle School
High School
1st Place- Cedar Ridge High School
2nd Place- Southside High School
3rd Place- EPC Senior High
Region 4
Elementary
1st Place- Greene County Tech Elementary
2nd Place- Valley View Elementary
3rd Place- Maynard Elementary School
Middle School
1st Place- Greene County Tech
2nd Place- Valley View Jr. High
3rd Place- Hillcrest Middle School
High School
1st Place- Greene County Tech
2nd Place- Valley View High School
3rd Place- Brookland High School
Region 5
Elementary
1st Place- Charleston Elementary
2nd Place- Rena Elementary
3rd Place- Pottsville 5th Grade
Middle School
1st Place- Charleston Middle School
2nd Place- Waldron Middle School
3rd Place- Pottsville Junior High
High School
1st Place- Waldron High School
2nd Place- Charleston High School
3rd Place- Pottsville High School
Region 6
Elementary
1st Place- Westside Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Palestine-Wheatley Middle School
2nd Place- Westside Middle School
High School
1st Place- Pangburn High School
2nd Place- Palestine-Wheatley High School
3rd Place- Vilonia High School
Region 7
Elementary
1st Place- Perryville Elementary
2nd Place- Ode Maddox Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Bryant Middle School
2nd Place- Bethel Middle School
3rd Place- Oden Middle School
High School
1st Place- Oden High School
2nd Place- Bryant High School
3rd Place- Caddo Hills High School
Region 8
Elementary
1st Place- Crystal Hill Elementary
2nd Place- Carlisle Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Cabot Junior High North
2nd Place- Cabot Junior High South
3rd Place- Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic School
High School
1st Place- Cabot High School
2nd Place- Little Rock Christian
3rd Place- Cabot Freshman Academy
Region 9
Elementary
1st Place- Vandervoort Elementary
2nd Place- Wickes Elementary
3rd Place- Bradley Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Acorn Middle School
2nd Place- Wickes Middle School
3rd Place- Vandervoort Middle School
High School
1st Place- Dequeen High School
2nd Place- Acorn High School
Region 10
Elementary
1st Place- Glen Rose Elementary
2nd Place- Spa City Archery
3rd Place- Mountain Pine Elementary
Middle School
1st Place- Glen Rose Middle School
2nd Place- Lake Hamilton Middle School
3rd Place- Mountain Pine
High School
1st Place- Glen Rose High School
2nd Place- Lake Hamilton High School
3rd Place- Hot Springs Shooting Sports
Region 11
Elementary
1st Place- Parkers Chapel
2nd Place- Taylor Elementary
3rd Place- Westside Christian
Middle School
1st Place- Barton Jr. High
2nd Place- Taylor Middle School
3rd Place- Emerson Middle School
High School
1st Place- El Dorado High School
2nd Place- Taylor High School
3rd Place- Parkers Chapel High School
Region 12
Elementary
1st Place- Hamburg Elementary
2nd Place- St. Johns Lutheran
Middle School
1st Place- Star City Middle School
2nd Place- Stuttgart Jr. High
3rd Place- St. Johns Lutheran Stuttgart
High School
1st Place- Star City High School
