The Tyler Consolidated High School archery team hit the road Saturday, Jan. 31, traveling to Buchanan Upshur Middle School to compete in the BU 4H Kickoff Invitational.

Despite facing a major obstacle leading into the weekend, the Silver Knights still turned in a strong showing. Recent Arctic temperatures across the region forced the team to take a full week off from practice, but Tyler Consolidated was able to shake off the rust and earn a fourth-place finish in the team standings.

The Knights posted a total team score of 3152, led by several standout individual performances. Lilly Thompson paced the Lady Knights, shooting a 275 to claim a sixth-place individual finish. On the boys’ side, Tristan Bassett led the way with a 278, earning ninth place overall.

Team leaders continued to set the tone, and coaches were pleased to see improvement across the lineup as well, “Our leaders continue to lead and our bottom numbers continue to increase.”

Several archers recorded their best scores of the season even without the benefit of a full week of practice. One of the biggest jumps came from Sadie Nagie, who shot a personal record 263, an improvement of eight points from the previous tournament.

Those gains are exactly what the program is striving for as it works to build a deeper, stronger team score moving forward.

Saturday’s event also marked a milestone moment for the program, as it was the first time in TCHS/TCMS archery history that both teams competed together at the same tournament. The Tyler Consolidated Middle School archers pushed through first-meet nerves and represented their school well, giving the program plenty of optimism for the future.

As the teams look ahead, the hope is to return to a regular practice schedule in the coming week.

The program also offered support to fellow archers dealing with hardship. “We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the fellow archers and their families who have lost loved ones in recent days,” the team shared, while also sending well wishes to those sidelined by illness. “We look forward to getting everyone back together soon.”