Knights Archers at Bridge Sports Complex.

On Saturday, February 15, the TCHS Archery Team had an early 7AM departure on their rain-filled trip to the Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, WV. The Knights were able to fill two teams even with the never-ending sickness that’s been plaguing the area. In a field of 16 High School teams, the Knights’ Archers First Team battled to secure an 8th place finish. They also made school history by becoming the highest scoring team with an impressive 3198 finish. Top female archer, Nikki Stoller, (277) achieved her personal best score, while top male archer, Tristan Bassett, (288) also enjoyed his personal best score to date.

The Second Team worked hard to pull down a 14th place finish with a Team Score of 2853. Top Female Archer Katie Ash (236) and Top Male Archer Josh Throckmorton (255).

Coach Utt had nothing but praise for the efforts his archers displayed. “Super proud of all these archers and their teammates! I also want to congratulate Briar Utt on shooting another 50 today. I also know he would like to have a couple arrows back that kept him from shooting the score he wanted,” commented the coach. Coach Utt went on to explain how far the team has come since its infancy 4 years ago on startup. “From just trying to hit the target, literally anywhere, to now being upset with ourselves because we shot a 9 instead of a 10. As Coaches we have grown too. For myself, I changed how I was shooting a Genesis bow so I could better explain it to the archers. I also know myself and the other coaches have spent countless hours reading, watching and listening to other coaches at events trying to pick up on anything that might help our archers. Then trying to get this information across to 30-40 different personality types which is quite a challenge at times. Anyways, we’re all figuring it out together, and I’m proud to be part of it,” informed the coach.

This coming weekend the TCHS Archers will be at the 6th Annual Poca Middle School Archery Tournament. The team and coaches continue to thank everyone for their support throughout the season. As a reminder, if you see an archer or coach out, ask them about their sports “Cooler Raffle.” All proceeds go to the team and are used to offset expenses during the season.