The Meigs County Archery Team and NASP® changed my daughter, Morgan Pritchett’s life. I wish she were here to tell her own story. Unfortunately, she passed away in an auto accident on May 5th, 2022. Two weeks before her graduation, and while on her way to archery practice.
It was exactly one week away from the national archery tournament, and the team knew how excited she had been about going. The team honored her while they shot by keeping her lane open and placing her picture with her bow and arrows.
This was only a day after burying their teammate.
The team continued despite the adversity, and they finished the season strong. This team was amazing to her family they were the first ones to show up with food and they were there with roses for her inner casket. They all signed her arrows at nationals and brought them to us. Moe would have been proud.
When Morgan was young, she wanted to play sports and be part of a team, but she was always a little clumsy. Many did not know, she had high blood pressure and was pre-diabetic. I think a lot of this stemmed from being born with kidney reflux. She was in and out of the hospital as a baby and she was on antibiotics every day until she was four and they could finally operate. She persevered through it all and never complained, she was one tough kid.
In middle school, Morgan tried out for softball and didn’t make the team. She was shattered and her self-esteem was too. One day, Morgan came home and said “mom, I want to try archery”. We said OK, although she had never shot a bow before. She began going to practice and she loved it. Later, she also became the school mascot. This girl had so much school spirit and was always cheering everyone on. She was a Tiger for life.
In high school, they began archery practice at 6:30 in the morning. I thought that for sure she would not stick with the sport because it started so early, but she was faithful to being at practice.
She was not the best, but her coach Anthony described her as the anchor. She encouraged everyone and always made them laugh. At her funeral, there were thousands of people who came through the high school gym, where just a few months before she had shot in an archery tournament, and attested to her loving and kind spirit.
On May 1st, she received a Daily Post Athenian – Best of the Preps Archer of the Year Award. She worked really hard at not only improving in archery but also her grades. She strived in school and her senior year took college classes and graduated with a 3.78 GPA.
Morgan really looked up to coach Anthony and he taught her a lot. She wanted to learn and get better for her team, her school, and her county. She took pride in being a Tiger.
Just as archery left a mark on her life and guided her to who she was as a teammate and a person, she left her mark on her team, the school, our community and so many in her life.
