The ArrowCats claimed state champion honors for the fourth straight year and national title honors for the third consecutive year at the high school and middle school level.
The elementary school team finished in second place behind Pulaski Elementary School by just 97 points. However, their team score was 244 points more than last year’s winning total.
Graham Cofield won his fourth straight state individual title and third straight national title with a score of 296 out of a possible 300.
Cofield, a senior who plans to attend Western Kentucky University, also won $2,500 in scholarship money during the tournament
His score was two points better than second place Chad Leigh of Pulaski County and nine more than his younger brother Grady, who finished fifth with a score of 287.
Freshman Danielle Reddick, who finished third at the middle school level last year, shot a 282 and finished third at the high school level this year, just eight points behind winner Courtney Campbell of Meade County.
Like Cofield, Reddick also won a scholarship at the competition.
As a team, Trigg County easily beat Henderson County by 74 points for the title, while Maysville, Ohio was third in the national competition.
However, the number that stood out for TCHS was 368 points, which was how much higher their winning score was this year compared to last year.
In a telling stat that shows how far the state has evolved the archery program, Trigg County’s winning total of 4,069 last year would have only been good enough for 11th this year.
At the middle school level, eighth grader Emily Shipley finished second at the state and national level with a score of 277, which was just four behind the winner, Audrey Slaughter of Henderson County South Middle School.
For the guys, eighth grader Landon Stinson won the male middle school division by the second largest margin of any group.
Stinson’s score of 287 was nine more than second place Randy Maxwell of McCreary County Middle School.
TCHS eighth grader Ben Kelly was fourth with a score of 277, and fellow eighth grader Jeremy Butts was fifth with a score of 276.
Their efforts helped TCMS achieve a team score of 4,307, which was 44 points more than second place Henderson County South Middle School and 62 more than third place Pulaski Northern Middle School.
In the elementary school division, Pulaski Elementary ended Trigg County’s grip on the state and national championships by winning their first title by 97 points over TCES.
Sixth grader Brianna Messmer tied for fourth place with a score of 252, which was 13 fewer than the winner, Kennedy McAlpin of Pulaski Elementary School.
When the students returned home Friday, they were escorted by Cadiz Police to the school.
“I’m very proud of each and every student and I’m proud of how hard they’ve worked the past few months,” archery coach Tina Davis told the gathering of parents and students at the middle school gym. “I think every single person here stepped up and did well for us.”
According to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Olympic style archery program was a Kentucky-spearheaded effort to promote academic success among Kentucky students and inspire greater interest in outdoor skills development. It began as the Kentucky Archery in the Schools Program. But that name soon changed when its almost overnight popularity quickly expanded nationwide. The first event was held in Lexington four years ago and attracted 600 student archers.
A record 2,168 students representing 107 schools from 40 Kentucky counties as well as schools in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin competed last week.
"The tremendous growth and popularity of this program is astounding," said Roy Grimes, an aide to Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KDFWR) commissioner Tom Bennett and national coordinator for NASP. "It has exceeded all expectations.
Thirty-six states now participate in the National Archery in the Schools Program. The program is poised to expand into Australia, Canada and Mexico this year.
