Oklahoma Archers Shoot for National Championship

Oklahomans are accustomed to seeing their teams and individual athletes compete for national championships at the collegiate level. Recently fifty-four students from Coweta, Owasso, Shawnee, Coleman, Clayton and Keys schools participated in the first National Archery in the Schools national championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

If you had told me three years ago when we signed on as one of the eight pilot Archery in the Schools programs in Oklahoma that I'd be taking two teams to a national archery tournament in Kentucky, I'd have just laughed, said Shawn Gee Coweta Schools Physical Education Teacher.
"We were disappointed in how we shot at state tournament so we weren't going to even consider going to the national tournament. However, the parents of the kids on the archery team, the school administration and the Coweta community encouraged us to go," said Gee.

I didn't want the kids to have to worry about paying their own way so we put together several fund-raisers, added Gee. "We ended up with more than enough money to pay for the kids and sponsors. The money that was left over will help us buy additional archery equipment for use by the elementary, middle and high school," said Gee.

Owasso Eighth Grade Center physical education teacher Frank Blair, said his students were overwhelmed by the atmosphere at the national tournament. "This was our first year in the program. The students love participating in the archery program. It has really brought some of my more shy reserved students out of their shell. Several of the students had never been outside the state so this was a really fun learning experience for them," said Blair.

Oklahoma is one of forty-two states involved in the National Archery in the Schools Program, said Colin Berg education section supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The program origimeters and 20 arrows each at 15 meters. The first round at each distance was a practice round. The targets faces are the same as those used in the Olympics. Everyone uses the same Genesis bow and the same Easton 1820 arrows. The highest possible score is 300. The highest score shot at the national tournament was a 297. That means the student only missed the 10 ring, a circle the size of coffee cup, three times. For a full result of team and individual standing log onto www.archeryintheschools.org.

Several of the Oklahoma students placed in the top 25 in their individual categories. Although no national championships were brought home this year, Oklahoma's Casey Taylor from Keys brought home a shot that he will remember the rest of his life. He shot the only robinhood (when an arrow splits another arrow and stays in it) of the tournament. The 1,577 4th -12th grade student participants shot more than 63,000 arrows during the course of the day.

Sixty-five schools and 7,000 plus students participated in the Oklahoma Archery in the Schools Program this past year. To learn how to bring this exciting program to your school, contact one of the following Department employees: Northeast Region, Colin Berg 918/299-2334, Central and Western Region, Lance Meek 405/522-3572 or Southeast Region, Steve Burge at 918/297-0150. For additional information about the Oklahoma Archery in the Schools program log onto www.wildlifedepartment.com.

(EDITORS NOTE: THE OSGWA IS A BIG SUPPORTER OF ARCHERY IN THE SCHOOLS. THE OSGWA AND ODWC HAVE CONTRIBUTED BOTH MANPOWER AND MONEY TO SUPPORT THIS WORTHY CAUSE. THE OSGWA CONTRIBUTED $3500 TO SUPPORT THE ARCHERY IN THE SCHOOLS OKLAHOMA DELEGATION AT THE NATIONAL SHOOT IN KENTUCKY)