Four Prosser School District students and their families traveled to Sandy, Utah to compete in the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) tournament which occurred over three days, April 25th through April 27th. Approximately 2,000 archers traveled from the western portion of the United States. Chelsi Dormaier competed in the NASP Western National Bullseye and 3D events. Saraiah West and Karley Pettingill, Whitstran 5th Graders, and Jamie Larsen and Chelsi, Housel Middle School 6th grade students, all competed in the Centershot Western National Bullseye and 3D events. The archers are coached by Wendy Appelgate and Linda Suhadolnik, teachers at HMS and Whitstran.
The tournament included two different types of competitions. One competition, called “Bullseye,” requires the competitor to shoot at a bullseye target from distances of 10 and 15 meters. The other competition, called “3D,” includes 6 different types of 3-dimensional game animal targets at different distances in which all archers must shoot at. For each competition, there is a maximum score of 300.
To compete at an archery tournament, archers must build strength, develop proper archery body form, maintain focus and discipline, and overcome challenges that are unexpected. Each archer that participated at the National level tournaments spent months preparing for the events. Their hard work paid off- each archer met personal success in various ways.
6th grade archer Jamie Larsen reflected after the tournament experience. She said, “The more effort you put into anything, it will pay off.” Her success came from improving her score and improving as an archer.
Chelsi Dormaier, also a 6th grader, feels that perseverance is important during a tournament, especially when one of your arrows misses the target. She also said that her success this year is growing in her archery career, and she has learned to be patient.
5th grader, Saraiah West also said she learned to persevere through tough rounds. “I really improved and got my personal best score, which is something I’m proud of. I am excited to do it again.”
Karley Pettingill, 5th grader at Whitstran said “Participating in the archery tournament at this level is an amazing experience. With hard work and dedication
to archery, I saw what true competition was all about. I personally found areas of my greatest strengths and weaknesses of competition and how to correct and overcome them.”
The coaches felt that all of the archers achieved individual success in different ways. The archers also exhibited amazing teamwork, and the support of one another and their families was outstanding. They look forward to helping all the archers from Whitstran and Housel Middle School strive to meet individual and team goals in the coming years.