The 2014 National Archery in the Schools (NASP) Kentucky state championship held March 17-18 at Louisville’s International Convention Center featured more students than ever.
“A record 4,172 student archers competed in the tournament,” said Patrick O’Connell, state NASP coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Last year, which was our previous record, we had 4,093 students compete. In addition to that, for the first time, we went over 10,000 archers across Kentucky completing at our regional qualifying tournaments.”
Elementary, middle and high school students competed for individual and team awards. It was the 13th state tournament held in Kentucky since the program began in 2001.
After practice rounds, each competitor shot 15 arrows from 10 meters and 15 arrows from 15 meters, for a total possible score of 300 points. Competitors shot additional rounds to break any ties.
Archery is a Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) sport activity so the top five high school boys and girls and top 3 teams received KHSAA state championship awards.
In the overall individual competition, Payton Lykins of Henderson County High School won the girl’s division with a score of 296 while Shaye Patterson of Trigg County High School came in second. A three-way tie for third place was resolved by a shoot-out among contestants. In the final results, Maggie Melton of Henderson County High School took third, Kayla Bingham of Trigg County High School took fourth and Taylor Baker of Meade County High School captured fifth place.
Dustin Johnson of Graves County High School won the boy’s division with a score of 298 while C.J. Dunaway of Anderson County High School took second place. Cameron Hunt of Madisonville-North Hopkins High School and Evan Smith of Trigg County High School tied for third place; Hunt defeated Smith in a shoot-out to resolve the tie. Connor Patterson of Lincoln County High School came in fifth.
In the overall team competition, Trigg County High School won the high school division, followed by Madison Central High School in second and Anderson County High School in third.
In the middle school division, Caudill Middle School in Richmond captured first place, followed by Anderson County Middle School in second and Trigg County Middle School in third.
In the elementary school division, Shopville Elementary School in Pulaski County placed first, followed by Kentucky Christian Academy in Campbellsville in second and West Ridge Elementary in Frankfort in third.
The top finishers in the team and individual standings qualify for the 2014 NASP Nationals, to be held in May at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville.
A list of all of the individual and team winners are posted online at:http://nasptournaments.org/PostTournamentDetail.aspx?tid=393
