PRATT – Kansas Archery in the Schools hosted its 7th Annual State Archery Tournament, Saturday, April 9, at Clearwater High School. Three hundred and fifty-five students from 16 schools vied for the state title and a chance to compete nationally. The top 10 male and female competitors from each grade division at the state tournament qualified to compete at the 2016 National Archery in the Schools Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, May 12-14.

The 16 schools represented at the Kansas state tournament included: Chapman Middle School, Heritage Academy (McCune), Service Valley Charter Academy (Parsons), Clearwater, Norwich Elementary and Middle Schools, Southeast Junior High School (Cherokee), Dodge City High School, Straight Up Archery (Clay Center), Erie Arrows (Erie), Jackson Heights (Holton), Pittsburg High School, Prairie Trail Middle School (Olathe), Chaparral High School (Anthony), Greeley County Schools (Tribune), and Rose Hill.

Divisions include Elementary School (grades 4-5), Middle School (grades 6-8), and High School (grades 9-12). Each competitor shoots 30 arrows over three rounds. A round consists of five arrows from 10 meters and five arrows from 15 meters. A bullseye scores 10 points, so a perfect score would be 300. A team is made up of 12-24 shooters, and the team score is the sum of the top 12 scores.

Team standings by division:
Elementary School
1st Place – Clearwater Team No. 1: 2,799
2nd Place – Clearwater Team No. 2: 2,017
Middle School
1st Place – Chapman Team No. 1: 3,182
2nd Place – Clearwater Team No. 1: 3,176
3rd Place – Service Valley Carter Academy: 3,063
High School
1st Place – Dodge City Team No. 1: 3,166
2nd Place – Pittsburg Team No. 1: 3,102
3rd Place – Erie Arrows: 2,888

Individual standings by division and gender:

GIRLS
Elementary – Kalea Gooch, Clearwater: 252
Middle School – Avery Schill, Clearwater: 269
High School – Jasmin Havens, Pittsburg: 277 *Top girls' score

BOYS
Elementary – Bryson Snell, Clearwater: 251
Middle School – Zachery Ferris, Chapman: 280
High School – Justin Ostrom, Dodge City: 287 *Top boys' score, top overall score

If the name Ostrom appears familiar, Justin's older brother, Jhett won state last year with the top score of 279. Justin secured the top score this year using the first place awarded Genesis bow that Jhett won last year!

Operating under the umbrella of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) and the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) program, the Kansas Archery in the Schools program promotes international-style target archery among students in grades 4-12. Program coordinators introduce archery as a fun, lifelong activity to young people who may have never taken up the sport otherwise.

A 3D archery range was also set up as a separate activity for the students to take their archery skills to another level. The 3D animal targets are made of high density foam and show scoring rings that are anatomically placed over the animal's vitals. The 3D challenge was added by NASP to show students just one of the many options to grow in archery after NASP.

For more information, visit ksoutdoors.com or email Aaron Austin at aaron.austin@ksoutdoors.com.