Medford, Gilman archers earn high scores at nationals in Louisville

ARCHERY NATIONALS

Whether it was individually-based or team-based, the list of success for local student-athletes at last week’s National Archery in the Schools Program’s Eastern National event in Louisville, Ky. is a long one.

From a team perspective, Medford’s high school team placed sixth out of 148 in the 3-D competition and 124th out of 253 teams in the bullseye competition with scores enough in both events to qualify for the NASP Open Championship tournaments, better known as “The Worlds,” in Myrtle Beach, S.C. June 8-10. Five archers had high enough scores to qualify individually in both tournaments, led by senior Landen Viergutz, who had scores of 293 out of a possible 300 in both shoots.

The Gilman Pirate Archery Club’s high school team was 68th in the 3-D competition with a score that also is high enough for World competition and, individually, Tatum Weir had the highest score of any local archer, taking eighth out of 6,692 females overall and sixth out of 2,461 entrants in the high school girls bullseye shoot with a personal-best score of 294. Her 30 shots, 15 from 10 meters and 15 from 15 meters, hit the 10-point ring 24 times and the other six were good for nine points.

Weir had a crazy three days, pitching for Gilman’s softball team in Loyal on Thursday afternoon, traveling to Louisville that night, shooting her bullseye and 3-D rounds on Friday and then returning to Gilman and playing in two softball victories Saturday in the Gilman- Thorp Slamfest.

3-D shoot

In the NASP 3-D shoot, Medford’s high school team scored 1,711 points to finish just 20 points behind Eastern National champion Hillsboro High School of Missouri and six points away from owning second place. The Raiders had five fewer 10-point shots in the team scoring (114-109) to fall to sixth after tying with Vinemont High School of Alabama. The fourth-place team, Locust Grove Public School of Oklahoma, was one point ahead of Medford.

Viergutz’s 293 put him eighth out of 1,125 high school males and 10th out 3,401 boys overall. He hit 23 10-point shots and seven nines. Junior Jenna Wickersheim shot a 291 to tie her personal 3-D best from earlier this season and ranked sixth out of 1,104 high school girls and 11th overall out of 3,033 girls.

Ezra Hillebrand, a freshman, shot a 285 to take 60th in the boys high school division, while senior Kirsten Weix shot a 282 to place 63rd among high school girls. Senior Collin Rausch shot a 281 to place 127th in the boys division, while Coy Loucks was ninth at 279.

Senior Christine Czeshinski was 191st among high school girls at 274, while Kaedence Ecklund was 359th at 266. Preston Adams shot a 249, good for 805th in the boys division. Scores of 280 qualify individuals for The Worlds, while a high school team score of 1,550 is needed to qualify.

Medford’s Dylan Emmerich was the fourth-place finisher in the elementary school boys competition (grades 4-5). The fifth grader shot a 280 to easily pass the Worlds qualifying standard of 255. Seventh grader Jake Erl shot a 253 to place 513 in the middle school boys division.

Gilman’s team score was 1,631. Sisters Tatum and Reece Weir had the program’s highest scores. Tatum was 49th in the high school girls division and 68th overall, while Reece, a seventh grader, shot a 279 to rank 51st in the middle school girls division and 159th overall among girls. She was one of three middle schoolers whose scores were part of the high school team score.

Makii Austin Mallo was one of those. The seventh grader was 126th out of 1,340 middle school boys with a 273, while junior Dalton Wisocky shot a 269 to place 395th in the high school boys division. Eighth grader Ella Ewings was 194th among middle school girls with her 265.

Olivia Buske shot a 261 to take 477th among high school girls, Colton Lang shot a 249 to rank 612th among middle school boys, Rayanna Romig shot a 242 to place 613th among middle school girls, while Kameron Baltzley was right behind her in 642nd place at 240 and Kennedy Buske was 648th, also at 240. Jaylin Mallo was 803rd out of 936 elementary division boys at 176 and Emma Partridge shot a 159 to finish 698th out of 768 elementary girls.

Mathew Harper of Maysville, Ohio was the top male archer. The sophomore shot a 299. Eighth grader Charli Long of Benton, La., was the overall female champion with a 298.

Bullseye shoot

Medford scored 3,245 team points in high school bullseye competition to comfortably reach the Worlds qualifying standard of 3,150 while placing 124th. Gilman 238th at 3,077. Hillsboro High School again took the team title with 3,453 points.

Tatum Weir’s 294 was four points behind overall and high school girls champion Ava Castrogiovanni of Montrose Area High School in Pennsylvania. Viergutz’s 293 was good for 25th among 2,510 high school boys and 28th overall out of 7,387 boys.

Reece Weir had an impressive shoot too. She shot a 287 for Gilman to place 30th among 2,417 middle school girls and 107th overall. Olivia Buske also had a Worlds-qualifying score of 281 to place 260th among high schools.

Wickersheim and Weix were 145th and 174th in the high school girls competition with scores of 284 and 283. Hillebrand shot a 281 to place 382nd among high school boys. Dylan Emmerich’s 276 was 33rd out of 2,110 elementary boys and got him well past the World-qualifying standard of 255.

Medford’s high school boys competitors included Rausch, 527th with a 278; Michael Meyer, 648th with a 276; Loucks, 1,035th with a 270; Adams, 1,805th with a 256, and Ethan Emmerich, 1,962nd with a 252. High school girls included Melanie Kreklau, 1,244th with a 262; Kaedence Ecklund, 1,412th with a 259, and Czeshinski, 1,796th with a 251.

Gilman’s Wisocky was 621st among high school boys with a 277. Lang was 892nd among middle school boys at 263 and Makii Austin Mallo was 1,517th at 252. Baltzley was 1,065th among middle school girls at 255, Kennedy Buske was 1,287th at 250, Ewings was 1,338th at 249 and Romig was 1,515th at 245. Jaylin Mallo shot a 226 to place 1,149th among elementary boys and Partridge shot a 198 to place 1,456th among elementary girls.

Harper completed a sweep of the boys overall championships with a 298.

Centershot shoots

Medford also competed in the Centershot Ministries Eastern National Championships, also held in Louisville alongside the NASP event.

Medford’s high school team fell 15 points short of the team bullseye championship with its total of 1,710. The Raiders were 15 points behind Howell High School of Michigan and three ahead of third-place Zimmerman, Minn. There were 48 teams in the division. The Raiders were 41st out of 44 middle school teams with their score of 1,391. Causey Middle School of Alabama won the championship with 1,694 points.

Viergutz was third overall and among high school boys with his round of 295. Only Blake Moore of Hillsboro, Mo. (297) and Hunter Martin of Desoto Christian Academy, Miss. (296) were better. For high school boys, Hillebrand was 27th at 288, Meyer was 103rd at 277, Loucks was 166th at 270, Rausch was 201st at 267, Adams was 323rd at 249 and Emmerich was 345th at 242.

Wickersheim hit 290 to place seventh among high school girls and she was the top-scoring junior. Weix was 22nd at 286, Kaedence Ecklund was 98th at 274, Czeshinski was 152nd at 268 and Kreklau was 237th at 256.

For the middle school team, Erl was 112th among boys with a 270, Karson Ecklund was 256th at 254, Bentley Cooley was 349th at 237, Kayne Adams was 401st at 216 and Matthew Eckert was 436th at 191. Breanna Lemke was 262nd among girls at 244 and Erin Kreklau was 391st at 170.

Dylan Emmerich shot a 275 to rank 11th in the elementary boys division.

In the 3-D shoot, Medford was sixth out of 25 high school teams with a total score of 1,670. Howell won the team title at 1,718, nine points ahead of Wynnbrook Homeschool of Georgia.

Viergutz shot a 293 to place fourth among 195 high school boys and fifth out of 496 boys overall, while Wickersheim was 10th out of 187 high school girls and 13th out of 469 girls overall. For the boys Hillebrand shot a 284 and Rausch shot a 267. Weix shot a 281 for the girls, followed by Czeshinski (259) and Kaedence Ecklund (246). Erl shot a 263 and Karson Ecklund shot a 220 in middle school competition. Dylan Emmericah was 30th among 115 elementary boys at 247.

3-D targets didn’t stand a chance against Medford’s archers at the NASP and Centershot Eastern Nationals in Louisville, Ky. last week. Medford’s high school team was sixth at the NASP 3-D event and second at the Centershot shoot.SUBMITTED PHOTO