Taking aim

By MIKE JAMES
The Independent

SUMMIT May 08, 2008 08:10 am

— Six practices a week have paid off for Boyd County Middle School�s archery team, which heads to Louisville on Friday for the National Archery in the Schools national championship.
The 23 team members will shoot practice rounds Friday, then compete Saturday morning, said coach Sheri Schatz. They�ve earned the right to compete by winning first place in their regional competition and 10th at the state meet.
The competition will bring together about 3,000 students from throughout the United States to the Louisville Exposition Center, where they will compete for $14,000 in scholarships as well as team and individual awards.
They will shoot from 10 meters and 15 meters, Schatz said.
The six-day-a-week practices have sharpened the team both physically and mentally, she said. �The skill is important, but at this level of competition it goes to a mental thing.�
At a practice session Wednesday, five archers at a time stepped up with bows and most of them plunked their five arrows at or near the yellow bull�s eye.
It�s a matter of concentration, said Trevor Litteral, a seventh-grader. �You�ve got to be able to drown out other people,� he said.
�You�ve got to be in your own bubble,� said sixth-grader Zach Wells.
�If you have bad habits, you have to zone them out and then practice more,� said Taylor Rockwell, also a sixth-grader.
More practice isn�t a problem, Schatz said. Most of the members of the team have their own bows. Generally, once they join the team, archery equipment tops their Christmas and birthday lists.
The archery program at the school is in its second year.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.

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