LOUISVILLE — The first step to eventually being part of the high-powered archery program at Anderson County starts at the two elementary schools.
Competing in late March at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), both Emma B. Ward Elementary and Saffell Street Elementary were represented at the Kentucky State Tournament at the Kentucky Exposition Center in the ‘bullseye’ division.
Ward had 16 shooters in the event. In NASP events, teams can have as many as 24 shooters with the top 12 scores being used for a ‘team’ score. Ward finished with a team score of 2,533 to finish 97th out of 107 elementary schools that had full teams.
The top score for Ward was a 254 (300 is a perfect score) by 5th-grader Marley McDaniel. She was followed by 4th-grade teammate Elijah Hatfield with a 239 and a 234 by 5th-grader Aiden Aguilar.
The other scores used in the team total were a 232 by 4th-grader Noah Lester, a 218 b y 5th-grader Trinity Gamble, a 2143 by 5th-grader Cason Sims, a 211 by 5th-grader Leland Robinson, a 196 by 5th-grader Stella Duff, a 188 by 4th-grader Harper Duvall, a 187 by 4th-grader Brooklyn Fosson, a 181 by 5th-grader Kayleigh Morgan and a 179 by 4th-grader Samantha Gaviria.
Other team members from Ward who competed in the event that had over 8,000 archers in all three divisions (elementary, middle school and high school) included 5th-grader Laylah Green with a 177 while a trio of 4th-graders posted scores of a 152 from Elijah White, a 146 for Brendalynn Fair and a 125 by Eliza Johnson.
Saffell Street Elementary only had one competitor in the event. That was Karson Trent, a 5th-grader that posted a score of 247.
Neither program had anyone take part in the 3-D portion of the tournament.