Members of the Churchill County archery club show off their awards after winning third in the state archery tournament. Left to right are Koda Biggs, Broder Thurston, Sterling Lee, Emily Dixon, Lana Quint, Cody Sponsler and Sienna Burgess.
Churchill County High School’s archery club took third place as a team during this year’s annual state tournament.
There was strong competition in the tournament. Coach and club adviser Dean Schultz said over 600 participants competed, including those from Fallon. There were 19 other teams at the competition.
With a maximum score of 300, Fallon’s archers performed well. The top scorers included Broder Thurston shooting 279, Sterling Lee 277, Faith Cornmesser 267 and Shelbi Schultz 265.
Schultz said this was the second year Churchill County hasn’t had the top archer in the tournament. The coach said his archers were excited for the results. He recalled some of the more experienced members of the team were disappointed about not placing higher, but he reminded them “it’s better than fourth.”
“You’re on the podium with third,” he said.
In the seven years the archery team has competed at state, they have finished in the top three every year. The first year Fallon had a high-school team was 2012, though Schultz took individuals before that when it was mostly through the elementary schools.
Schultz noted the state tournament is the only competition of the year.
This year’s team had 19 participants with three middle-school students and 16 from Churchill County High School and Oasis Academy. Schultz said this year’s team was the smallest since the club started.
Schultz said he likes the archery program because it gives students who might not be able to play other sports recognition. He also liked how some participants started due to casual interest but grew to love the sport.
“Probably 90 percent of the kids that take my class would have never ever shot a bow and arrow in their life,” Schultz said. “They come here because it’s intriguing and they want to do it.”
There is a national competition later this year in Louisville, Ky. and several Fallon archers qualified to go. Schultz said he does not plan to go, but could not speak for the other members of the team; he said the cost of sending them all was too much for the school district to cover.
I’m not going to push to pursue that,” Schultz said. “If the parents want to take the kids they can, but that’s a big endeavor too.”