The young archery program in the Platte County R-3 School District continues to show improvement.
Four school teams participated in the ninth annual Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program (MoNASP) state tournament held Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26 in Branson, Mo. The event drew about 2,100 student archers in grades four through 12 from a record-setting 127 schools across the state, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).
An estimated 6,500 spectators were on hand for the competition.
Platte County teacher Josh Littrell started the archery program just last year in the district and expanded it to include Compass and Siegrist elementaries, Platte City Middle School and Barry School in 2016 and 2017.
All four earned enough points during the Kansas City North Championships in February to qualify for state. Teams had to score above a certain number of points to qualify in various tiers.
Contributed photo
Archery teams at Barry School (top), Platte City Middle School (middle) and Siegrist Elementary (bottom) recently participated in the ninth annual Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program state tournament held in Branson, Mo. in late March.
Compass Elementary’s team finished eighth out of 23 at state and ended up just 81 points out of a top-three spot. Porter Cambell led the way with 15 tens and a total score of 274 — second among fourth grade boys and sixth out of 327 boys in the elementary division.
Kade Meinke was right behind at 273 with 10 tens, ranking fifth among fifth grade boys and seventh in the elementary division. Katherine Morgan was 24th for elementary division girls for Compass.
Siegrist Elementary finished 17th out of 23 teams in the elementary division with Ian Burnett (25th overall) the school’s top individual finisher.
Platte City Middle School ended up ranked 15th out of 41 teams in the middle school division behind Jaron Cook, who posted a score of 278 with 12 tens. He was eighth out of 153 for sixth grade boys and 38th out of 504 for middle school boys. Emma McAdams was the top girls archer for Platte City Middle School, placing 42nd.
Barry School placed 38th in the middle school division, and Rayna Garcia was 52nd overall for middle school girls.
The ninth annual state tournament winning teams and individuals, along with other teams and individuals who had qualifying scores, go on to compete in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) tournament May 11-13 in Louisville, Ky. Compass and Siegrist elementaries and Platte City Middle School all qualified.
MoNASP is coordinated through MDC and the Conservation Federation of Missouri in partnership with 620 participating schools and numerous supporting organizations throughout the state. More than 185,000 Missouri students in grades 4-12 participate in MoNASP.
“The growth of the Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program has been tremendous over the past couple years,” said MDC’s education outreach coordinator and MoNASP coordinator Eric Edwards. “This surge has led students outdoors with their families to participate in this lifetime sport. Many local conservation groups and civic organizations are also volunteering to help support MoNASP in their communities. Students are connecting with family members, coaches and teachers through archery.
“This connection and confidence gained through archery will spread into other parts of their lives.”
MoNASP is an affiliate of NASP and promotes education, self-esteem and physical activity. Since NASP’S beginnings in 2002, more than 10 million students have participated in the program through 10,000 schools in 47 states and 10 countries.