LOUISVILLE, KY.- After a spectacular 2022 season of shooting during the regular campaign, several local teams, part of the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), qualified for and attended the U.S. Eastern National Tournament held in Louisville, Ky. Teams representing James Clemens High, Liberty Middle School and Mill Creek Elementary made the 290-mile, four and a half-hour trek on Interstate 65 to the Derby City.

“It was an awesome experience as most of these youngsters have never experienced anything like this as most were expecting a small venue like the ones we have been in prior to the nationals,” said Jennifer Klein, head coach of the Mill Creek archery team. “The venue had 500 archers shooting at the same time and for many of archers it was nerve racking, but they soon settled in and did an amazing job on where they finished.”

Held in the Kentucky Exposition Center, the Eastern Nationals was a three-day event featuring squads representing schools from across the states east of the Mississippi River.

For James Clemens, Marcia Humphrey’s squad finished 71 out of 215 schools. Team members, their individual scores class rankings at the Nationals included: McKenna Shelly, Jr., 280, 69/508; Hayden Ward, Sr., 278, 120/422; Aaron Kennedy, Sr., 278, 124/422; One Kim, Sr., 135/422; Chesney Lucas, So., 274, 138/525; Caleb Thomas, So., 274, 148/523; Katherine Holcomb, So., 274, 143/525; Sohan Mynampally, Sr., 272, 1883/422; Lindsey Tucker, Jr., 272, 169/508; Samantha Moore, Jr., 269, 214/508; Ben Trieu, Jr., 267, 263/514; Bailey Werka, Jr., 266, 242/508; Kiwi Vaughn, Jr., 266, 248/508; Alexandria Alford, So., 265, 245/525; Gemma King, Fr., 265, 244/616; Alex Lorch, Jr., 265, 299/514; Ashley Desarro, Jr., 262, 290/508; James Manning, So., 261, 322/523; Sherwood Dong, Jr., 260, 348/514; Chris Lobo, Fr., 258, 397/679; Tara Flynn, Jr., 251, 388/508; Charlotte Alford, Fr., 247, 464/616; Graysen Furber, Jr., 234, 465/508.

Liberty Middle School, led by head coach Jonathan Mica, placed 118 out of 205 schools. Here are the final results of the individual Lions: Sahithi Mynampally, 8, 273, 135/744; Connor Murphree, 8, 271, 206/872; Ty Mooneyham,7, 269, 148/791; Colin Sullivan, 8, 266, 300/872; Isabelle Bao, 8, 266, 241/744; Joshua Shi, 8, 265, 329/872; Jerry Brunaugh, 7, 258, 325/791; Tyler Gaufin, 7, 253, 402/791; Andres Ortiz, 8, 252, 560/872; River Milly, 8, 251, 449/744; Keller Mahers, 6, 249, 325/653; Ellie Chan, 6, 247, 307/598; Yan Ayala, 7, 247, 482/791; Jacob Batchelor, 7, 247, 485/791; Hudson Waider,7, 244, 522/791; Ian Jett, 7, 238, 585/791; Joshua Mitchell, 7, 234, 627/791; Ronan Swenson, 7, 224, 690/791; Annie Kate Lane, 7, 219, 642/712; Sydney Webb, 7, 208, 671/712; Anna Heath, 7, 203, 679/712.

Mill Creek Elementary was coached by Jennifer Klein as the squad finished 117 out of 127 schools. Here are the individual scores and placements for Mill Creek: Kristen Smith, 4, 241, 118/508; Annabelle Osmer, 4, 232, 170/508; Henry Barnette, 5, 232, 451/871; Porter Wooten, 4, 226, 281/626; Isabella Urhahn, 5, 221, 493/735; Lydia Hosmer, 5, 216, 518/735; Lannie Waddail, 5, 214, 532/735; Zach Hossler, 4, 213, 391/626; Rylan Aungst, 4, 212, 394/626; Eli Mobley, 5, 207, 676/871; Jonathan Kosinski, 5, 206, 678/871; Reece Schneider, 5, 201, 719/871; Caleb Miller, 4, 200, 464/626; Kara Sarabia, 4, 199, 349/508; Sydney Svendsen, 5, 196, 632/735; Rachel Barber, 4, 191, 384/508; Abby Desarro, 5, 186, 670/735; Lilly Marshall, 5, 185, 676/735; Riley Swearingen, 4, 177, 552/626; Zach Gaufin, 4, 175, 556/626; Adali Becker, 4, 174, 447/508; Jake Johnson,4, 117, 617/626; Leila Mitchell, 5, 108, 734/735; Quinn O’Sullivan, 5, 107, 863/871.

Klein, who helped spearhead the local program in Madison, added, “All of our archers from high school to elementary soaked up the environment in Kentucky. This was a great experience for everyone. Archery has been a blessing for many of our archers, especially those not your usual athletes.”