Two Creston archers advance to nationals

After finishing in the top 10 at the State Archery Tournament March 1-3 in Des Moines, seniors Abby Collins and Thayer Rooney will be advancing to the national competition May 9-11 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Collins finished in seventh place in 2D. A 2D target is the traditional target with scoring rings with points ranging from one to 10 for a bullseye.

“Abby has made many sacrifices this year to be part of our team,” Coach Jacob Williamson said. “She chose archery over a few other activities that have been important to her in her senior year. She had the ability to show up and shoot well when she could work around everything else going on in her busy senior year.”

Rooney earned an eighth-place finish in 3D. The 3D targets are animal shaped. Targets include turkeys, coyotes, bears, deer, antelope and rams.

“He’s been consistent all season and a team leader in both event types,” Williamson said. “He’s a great person and a good archer. In both 2D and 3D he has been one that I’ve told other kids to try to beat because he’s consistent every week with his scoring.”

Rooney was also awarded the archery senior of the year award, an honor going to the senior with the top combined 3D score in the state this season.

For his stellar performance all season, Rooney earned a $500 scholarship. Upon graduation, archers can apply these funds to any post-secondary educational or training program of their choice.

“Both these archers have worked hard all season and it payed off for them in the end,” Williamson said. “We are very proud of them both.”

Creston Elementary will send three archers to nationals, all in 3D. Ava Schultz finished seventh, Finn Williamson placed fifth and Leo Williamson earned eighth. These archers led the Creston archery team elementary division to a third-place finish in 3D.

Other archers on the third place 3D elementary team are Lincoln Means, Carlee Briner, Mason Slick, Ava Lane, Eli Huck, Silas Warner, Mia Buckalew, Braxton Brown and Aurora Hornyak.

The national competition is put on by NASP, National Archery in the Schools Program. NASP brings safe in-school archery to 1.3 million students each year in 49 states. Since inception in 2002, NASP has involved more than 21 million students and over 104,000 adult instructors.

The 2024 national tournament series will begin with the Western National Tournament to be held at the Mountain America Center in Sandy, Utah on April 26-27; followed by the Eastern National Tournament to be held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky on May 9-11. The series of national-level competitions will culminate with the NASP Championship Tournament to be held at the Daytona Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on June 6-8, 2024. Each tournament will include bullseye (2D) as well as the 3D Challenge competition.

Top teams and individuals will be selected from the combined results of both Western and Eastern National Tournaments to have the opportunity to register for the Championship event. Top male and female individual winners from the combined results of both national tournaments will again compete for the NASP Scholarship Shoot-Off to be held at the end of the June Championship Tournament.