It’s that time again – the state championship of the National Archery in the Schools program is upon us.
Almost 880 middle and high school archers from 44 schools are expected to compete in the event, set for Friday at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility in State College. There will be a lot of shooting.
According to Todd Holmes, who runs the program as shooting sports coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there will be 95 shooting lanes. Each can accommodate two archers at a time.
Over the course of the day, all of those kids will fire nearly 38,000 arrows, at a combined rate of nearly 7,600 per hour.
Western Pennsylvania will be well represented.
Among the schools set to compete are Beaver Middle and High schools from Beaver, Central Valley Middle and High schools from Monaca, Upper St. Clair High School, Windber Area High School, St. Vitus School and New Castle Christian Academy from New Castle, Grove City Christian Academy and Trinitas from Grove City, New Brighton High School, Cameron County School District from Emporium, Forest Hills School District from Sidman, Sheffield Middle/Senior High School from Scheffield, and Tidioute Community Charter School.
Teams that do well enough in State College can qualify to go to the NASP national championship. It’s set for May 7-9 in Louisville, Ky. Pennsylvania sent 17 schools to that event last year.
