By Carson City School District
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Earlier this year, the Fritsch Elementary School Archery Team placed second in the Nevada State Archery Competition for the 2021-22 season after earning high marks for an elementary school. Last year, the team brought the state title, trophy and honor home to Carson City for the first time.
In addition to finishing second, the team also had some top finishers, including:
· Samuel Papez, fourth-grader, earned fourth place overall and second place for fourth-grade boys
· Carmen Mills, fifth-grader, earned ninth overall and seventh for fifth-grade girls
· Wyatt Valentin, fourth-grader, earned 14th overall and 6th for fourth-grade boys
· Sean Reed, fourth-grader, earned 15th overall and 7th for fourth-grade boys
· Finn Russell, fourth-grader, earned 16th overall and 8th for fourth-grade boys
The Nevada State Archery Competition, sponsored by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and hosted by the National Archery in the Schools Program, was held at The South Point Hotel in Las Vegas in February.
“This year we had the largest group of shooters, where 45 total participated,” said Coach Bethany Henry-Herman, NASP-certified and physical education teacher for Fritsch Elementary School. “Many of our top shooters were in the fourth grade, which traditionally have not participated and only offered to fifth-grade students.”
Students had to show up an hour early to school each morning to shoot in order to comply with the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place at that time, she continued. Archers practiced for roughly four months total.
Students in grades 4 through 12 can participate in NASP and compete in the state tournament. They compete against archers within their own age group: elementary, middle or high school. And they all use the same bow and arrows to maintain a level playing field.
In 2019, there were 136 active NASP schools in Nevada and 89 (65.4%) of those schools were in Clark County. In 2018, 74 of the participating schools reported a total of 12,656 students participated in NASP programs that year. Of those, 10,548 attended Clark County Schools.
“Vegas has usually dominated the Nevada State Archery Tournament,” Henry-Herman said. “This year, and all the success we had last year, would not have been possible without the help of former teachers John and Laura Valley. John and Laura created an archery legacy and continue to ensure the program continues at Fritsch Elementary School. It has been my honor and privilege to continue the archery legacy the Valley’s instilled within the P.E. environment and competitive archery teams in the Carson City School District. We had a good group of very dedicated archers this year, and we are happy to bring a trophy back to northern Nevada again.”
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