Students Take Dead Aim at Success

Students Take Dead Aim at Success

By Del Milligan
The Ledger

Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 2:40 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. BARTOW -

Kyle Borders of Lakeland, a sixth-grader at Union Academy, already had the itch to learn about archery when the Bartow middle school formed a competitive team this year. "I figured it would be fun. I've always wanted to shoot a bow since I saw this movie called 'Eragon,' " Borders said.

Del Milligan | the ledger UNION ACADEMY'S MADISON WYANT, of Bartow, competes in the National Archery in Schools Program virtual tournament in February. Union scored 2,002 points as a team.
click to enlarge MEMBERS OF THE DANIEL JENKINS ACADEMY TEAM, FROM LEFT, Kelli Dowdy, Kelly Quinn, Ambrosio Lopez, Leroy Beckford, Austin McKittrick and coach Felix Vicens received awards Monday. Buy photo Pierre Ducharme | the ledger

click to enlarge Archers from Union Academy fetch their arrows while particpating in the National Archery in Schools Program virtual state tournament. More than 70 students wanted to try out for Union's team. Del Milligan

"I get to see my friends, and it gives me a chance to shoot a bow and arrow.''

Borders is one of 22 Union Academy students in grades six, seven and eight who have become proficient at the sport through the National Archery in the Schools Program.

Students from Susan Prevatt's physical education classes practiced after school and posted scores for the first NASP Virtual State Tournament the last two weeks in February.

"We've got kids out here who would never make the basketball team or the volleyball team. But they can come out here and do well,'' said Prevatt, who just started the program this year.

Union Academy was one of 28 elementary, middle and high schools in Florida that fielded a total of 592 students in the first state tournament, although 104 schools statewide are in the program, including seven in Polk County. Winners in each division were eligible for national competition.

"This year we're really doing it just to get our feet wet. Next year, we'll go at it with a little more competitive attitude,'' Prevatt said. "I don't think we need to start buying airline tickets yet. But more than half the team are sixth-graders, so they have two more years to improve.''

Daniel Jenkins Academy in Haines City, under coach Felix Vicens, won the state middle school competition and received its awards in a ceremony at the school on Monday. Jenkins Academy, in its second year in the NASP, earned a trip to the national finals.

"They got involved shooting archery in the winter of 2006. They've done a really good job with that group of kids,'' said John Weatherholt of Lakeland, who oversees the statewide program as hunter safety coordinator for the Southwest Region of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Weatherholt said the national tournament is coming to Florida for the next couple of years.

"We have been asked by the national organization to host, in 2010, the NASP national finals in Orlando at the Wide World of Sports complex,'' Weatherholt said. "We're hoping to hold the 2009 state tournament at The Lakeland Center.''

For the tournament, the top 12 scores were sent in, and had to include four boys and four girls. Seventh-grader Allison Stinson was the top archer for the girls at Union Academy with 184 points out of a possible 300, and seventh-grader Aaron Presnell scored 240 points with seven bulls-eyes to lead the boys. The team posted a score of 2,002, well below the 2,600 score needed to qualify as an at-large team.

At Union Academy, one of four Polk schools in the tournament along with Jenkins Academy, Lake Gibson Middle School and Lakeland Christian, there are about as many girls as boys on the team who wanted to learn international-style target archery.

Stephanie Cati, also a sixth-grader from Bartow, enjoyed the experience of something new.

"I always wanted to shoot a bow and arrow. I wanted to try it out,'' said Cati, the only member of her family involved in the sport. "I just like to have fun.''

And a few archers on the team already had experience, like sixth-grader Austin Anderson of Eagle Lake, who goes to the range with his grandfather.

"I've been shooting bows for at least two years,'' said Anderson, who usually scores in the 40s out of a perfect 50.

Targets were set at 10 and 15 meters, with students shooting 15 arrows, five at a time, at each distance for a score.

The team used Mathews Genesis compound bows, Block targets and aluminum arrows. The cost of the equipment, $5,000 retail but $2,716 for schools, was split 50-50 by the school and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Safety is paramount. Prevatt took an eight-hour safety class before starting the program, and students had to make perfect scores on safety tests.

"There's a 12-question test they have to score 100 on before I'll put a bow in their hand,'' Prevatt said.

Students from diverse backgrounds, and those who aren't as athletic, take part in the NASP. While 22 students are on the team at Union Academy, Prevatt taught archery to all the physical education classes, involving about 280 of the school's 390 students.

And Prevatt said archery has additional benefits.

"The thing that makes it so good to carry over into the classroom is they have to concentrate. It teaches them to focus,'' she said. "And they get such a sense of success that they can't wait to shoot again, and you can't always say that in sports.''

More than 70 students wanted to try out for the team, but Prevatt could only accommodate 50.

"I had no idea the turnout would be so huge,'' Prevatt said. "Kids have just loved it."