Press Release
The National Archery in the School’s Program
“Arrows Soar at NASP®’s 16th Eastern National Tournament”
By: Brittany J Jones
May 16th, 2018
Louisville, Kentucky home to the Belle of Louisville, the oldest Mississippi-style stern-wheel steamboat in history, hosted the 16th National Archery in the School’s Program (NASP®) Eastern Tournament, May 10-12. Student archers, from across the eastern half of the United States, gathered along with friends and family at the Kentucky’s Exposition Center to occupy their assigned shooting lanes at this year’s competition, for a chance to win titles, scholarships, and more! For most it was a culmination of nearly a year of in-school archery class and after-school team practice.
In addition to the 14,139 student archers in attendance who advanced from state tournaments in thirty-five states, more than thirty thousand friends, family, and volunteers were also present to make sure the tournament ran smoothly and to cheer on the athletes! As is the norm for NASP® classes and events, the female/male mix was 47/53 % underscoring that the rapidly growing sport of archery is popular among both genders!
After the announcer’s whistle blew for archers to “get bow” and walk to the shooting line, one whistle blast cued archers to “shoot”. Every 75 minutes thereafter, for 3 days, results for about 770 archers for each of 20 flights, began flying in! Beginning in the Elementary Division, the top male awards went to Mathew Harper, a 5th grader from Zanesville, Ohio. He shot a 296 out of 300 points with 26 tens (bullseyes)! The top female in the Elementary Division went to Natalie Bell, a 4th grader from Hickory, North Carolina. She shot a 293 with 24 tens.
In the Middle School Division, male category, two archers tied at the top. Morgan Ruckel, an eighth grader from Somerset, Kentucky shot a 295 with 25 tens. Also an eighth grader from Nelsonville, Ohio, Dominik Robson, shot a 295 with 25 tens! NASP® did not break ties this year, except for overall, so that more archers would be recognized for their achievement. In the female category, Ally Nordell, an eighth grader from Sarcoxie, Missouri took top honors with her score of 298 and 28 tens!
Last, but not least in the High School Division, male category, Dalton Hinkle, an eleventh grader from Henderson, Kentucky shot a 299 with 29 tens, 1 point from perfection! Fellow high schooler, Anna Herbert scored 297 with 27 tens in the female category. Anna is from Fowlerville, Michigan. Dorothy Cobb tied with Anna with a 297 also. Dorothy is from Allen High School in Texas. The overall male, for all divisions at the 16th Eastern NASP® National Tournament also went to Kentucky’s Dalton Hinkle with his score of 299! Ally Nordell from Sarcoxie was also the overall high scoring female archer with her terrific 298! Great job to all the participating athletes for their archery prowess, and exemplary sportsmanship!
Kingston Elementary School in Louisiana was the top scoring elementary team 3284 points. Pulaski Northern Middle School, Kentucky won its division with a score of 3428, beating the previous record for this division of 3404 set in 2016 by Benton Elementary School. Castle High School, Indiana earned the top achievement with a score of 3463.
Cash scholarships were presented to every member of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place team winners in the High School Division in the amounts of $500, $750, and $1000 per archer (up to 24 arches per team). These scholarships were made possible by: Academy Sports + Outdoors, American Whitetail Targets, and Easton Archery. Individual cash scholarships for the bulls-eye competition will be awarded to the overall sixteen boys and girls at the Scholarship Shoot-Off during the awards ceremony at the World Tournament, also in Louisville, June 9.
Of course, the 10-ring bulls-eye competition wasn’t the only competition contested at this year’s nationals. The NASP®/ International Bowhunting Organization’s 3D Challenge (NASP®/IBO 3D Challenge) was a hot ticket as 4,446 archers participated in this event. Archers shot at foam replicas of North American game animals such as Turkey, Coyote, Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, Deer, and Bighorn Sheep.
The overall male in this 3D competition went to T Sanchez, an eleventh grader from Hopkins County Central High School in Madisonville, KY. He shot a perfect score of 300 with 30 tens…amazing! T is the first archer to shoot a perfect 300 at the indoor NASP®/IBO nationals. Young Sanchez provided the following when asked about his participation in NASP®, “During archery season NASP® means everything to me. I practice every day, spend more time with my Dad, who is my assistant coach, and try to improve so I can earn NASP® scholarships. I find shooting the 6 different animal targets in 3D more difficult than the bullseye targets. I have to remember a different aiming point for each of the animals.” Ryan Bass, of the IBO says, “We would also like to congratulate T Sanchez on his accomplishment of scoring only the second perfect 300 during the 2018 NASP® National Tournament. The IBO has been fortunate to be a part of multiple tournaments with Mr. Sanchez and while his dedication to our sport is undeniable, what impresses the most is the level of sportsmanship and kindness he always shows. For shooting a 300, the IBO awarded T with a Family Membership to the IBO, a $100 gift card to Bass Pro, IBO goods, and along with our only other 300 shooter, Logan Kelly, their names will be put on the NASP®/IBO 3D Challenge trailer as part of the IBO “300 Club” so everyone will see this major accomplishment and more youth archers will strive to have their names placed beside his.
The top overall female was Kimberly Matherly who attends Reitz Memorial High School from Evansville, Indiana. Her score was 294 with 24 tens! Congratulations to the overall winners!
NASP® IBO 3D scholarships were also awarded to male and female archers who placed at the top. 1st place/overall winners received $1500, Runner Up/2nd place received $1250, 3rd place archers were awarded $1000, 4th places were given $750, and 5th places were awarded $500. Sponsors who provide scholarship money for these winners are Rinehart, Academy Sports, Sportsman Alliance, Whitetails Unlimited, Accubow, and IBO.
In addition to the Bull-eye and NASP®/IBO 3D Challenge competition, On Target for Life (OTFL), a program that recognizes students and adults who exhibit tremendous community and team service, courage to overcome challenges, and special academic achievements, were also awarded for their actions. OTFL awards were given to the following: The Community Service Award was presented to Billings R-IV School District in Billings, MO, The Bulls-Eye Award was awarded to Bryce Turner who attends Breckenridge Middle School in KY, The Superhero Award was earned by Joe Kirchoff from Haughton Middle School, LA, The Courage Award was given to Rachael Ross from New Madrid County R-1, MO, Coach of the Year was awarded to Rob Jellison of Hartland Ore Creek Middle School in MI, and finally The NASP® Legacy Award was awarded to Bill Gerchar from Xavier College Prep, AZ. Congratulations to these distinguished individuals and teams! To read more about OTFL recipients and awards, visit https://naspschools.org/about/news/2018-winners-of-the-on-target-for-life-awards-and-recognition-program.
Easton Academic Archer is a program that recognizes students for maintaining “honor roll” grades, while participating in the sport of archery! In fact, more than 50% of the nearly 15,000 participants in the Eastern and Western Nationals were among the 25,266 Easton Academic Archers registered by their coaches this school year!
NASP® acknowledges its Medal Level Sponsors for their contributions to the Eastern Tournament this year. Sponsors such as: Mathews, Mission, Genesis Archery, Morrell Targets, Easton Technical Products, Gordon Composites, National Wild Turkey Federation, Easton Foundations, Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Feradyne Outdoors, Rinehart Targets, BCY, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and EA Promotions. Without these generous sponsors, the tournaments and NASP® in general would be impossible to conduct.
Roy Grimes, CEO and President of NASP® says, “The 2018 Eastern NASP® National Tournament was safe, fun, and smoothly implemented with help from over 200 adult volunteers plus staff from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.”
Looking ahead, the NASP® World Tournament will be June 7-9 at the Louisville, Kentucky Exposition Center, and finally, NASP® All-Stars will compete in the All-Star Championship in Calgary, Alberta July 8-11. Teams who will be competing in this all-star event hail from Africa, Canada, and the Unites States!
For more information on NASP® news and events, please visit www.naspschools.org. Congratulations to all participating archers this year for your dedication and commitment, and good luck to archers moving on the World and All-Star Competition this summer!