“They told me their goal was to go to Worlds in Florida in October, and I laughed,” coach Becky Schafer said. “I told them if they shoot over 3,000 at nationals I will take it to the parents and we’ll discuss it.”
They shot 3,071, nearly 300 better than the number needed to qualify.
“They’ve been practicing three days a week for six months,” Schafer said. “Most of them come in another two days before school at 7 in the morning.”
Formed last year as part of the Archery in Schools program, the team exceeded all expectations by qualifying to nationals. And even though they only placed 102nd out of 106 teams, excitement and optimism prevailed heading into this season.
Schafer had more students try out than she could keep, and the 24 who made it continued to improve throughout the season, with a little creative help.
“Unlike most sports, there aren’t a lot of different things you can work on in archery, so we had to find ways to keep it fun,” Schafer said.
She offered milkshakes to anyone who could score a perfect 50 in practice and “just about went broke.” At some practices they shot at pumpkins, other times eggs. At one practice they shot at pictures of Justin Bieber.
It all helped the team score a 2,968 at the regional championships to qualify for nationals, where Megan Jungkunz’s 284 (out of 300) and Sean Brandabur’s 269 helped earn the right to go to the worlds in Florida.
“That would be awesome, something I could tell stories about for a long time,” said Brandabur, a rising seventh-grader.
“I love Disney World, so that would be really exciting if I get to go with my friends for archery, because I love archery a lot,” said Jungkunz, a rising eighth-grader whose score at nationals ranked 22nd out of nearly 1,000 archers her age.
After an initial feasibility query, Schafer began researching travel costs. The students have begun raising money to offset the travel cost of $1,200 per archer, which also includes the cost of one parent, which is mandated.
“Other teams from Ohio have sent individuals to the Worlds, but no school from Ohio has ever sent an entire team,” Schafer said.
“There are a lot of outdoor groups who award grants. I will be knocking on their doors.”
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