H.S. ARCHERY: WAVERLY HAS EIGHT ARCHERS COMPETE AT NATIONALS TO CAP PROGRAM'S FIRST SEASON (12 PHOTOS) (2023-05-31)

Valley Sports Report
LOUISVILLE — Waverly had eight archers in action recently at the Eastern Nationals here at the Kentucky Exposition Center to wrap up the program’s first season.

Waverly coach Mark Bakley expressed his thanks to everyone involved for a successful first season.

“I have a huge ‘thank you’ to (Waverly Superintendent of Schools) Dr. Knolles for allowing us to get this rolling, and to (athletic director) Rich McIntosh for all that he has done to provide the equipment and transportation so kids could attend practice, the school board for letting the sport move forward and the community and beyond for sponsoring and continuing what they did so these kids were allowed to capitalize and experience something that grand.

“My biggest thanks goes to the kids and the families that got up on Saturday mornings to shoot and drive 22 hours to spend 36 hours in Kentucky so the kids could experience something like this,” said Bakley.
 
“I never thought we would have 21 kids come out the first year, and I learned a lot as a first time coach for a sport that is new to us,” he added. “We will start our second season this fall and take some of the lessons learned and move forward.”

Bakley is looking to grow the sport at Waverly.

“I am really hoping to getting kids in the program starting in fourth grade and have them compete and continue shooting through 12th.

“We hope to do some partnerships with Waverly Recreation to get kids involved early and offer more opportunities for our youth,” added Bakley.

In all, grades 4 through 12, there were 15,492 student-archers competing in the Bullseye and 3D competitions.

Eighth-grader Serenity Relyea was the lone Wolverines to qualify for the Eastern National Bullseye competition. She had a score of 254 out of a max of 300, which ranked her 1,148th (out of 2,417) in her division, 482nd (out of 864) in her grade, and 3,144th overall (out of 6,692).

Waverly had eight competitors in the Eastern National 3D tournament, including Relyea.

Junior Abigail Blauvelt had the best finish of the day for the Wolverines. She had a score of 269, which placed her 277th (out of 1,104) in the High School Division, 71st in her grade (out of 244), and 418th overall (out of 3,033).

Relyea had the best finish of Waverly’s six archers in the Middle School Division. She had a score of 250, which placed her 450th (out of 1,161) in the Girls Middle School division, 193rd in her grade (out of 420), and 1,245th overall (out of 3,033).

Eighth-grader Mark Myers shot 241, which placed him 778th (out of 1,340) in the Boys Middle School Division, 309th in his grade (out of 461), and 1,914th overall (out of 3,401).

Seventh-grader Quinn Lyons shot 225, which was good for 1,026th in the Boys Middle School Division, 349th in his grade (out of 444), and 2,442nd overall.

Eighth-grader Lily Baggerly shot 210, which placed her 998 in the Girls Middle School Division, 381st in her class, and 2,457th overall.

Eighth-grader Blake Draper shot 200, which placed him 1,220th in the Boys Middle School Division, 435th in his grade, and 2,946th overall.

Eighth-grader Destiny Harbst shot 183, which placed her 1,104 in the Girls Middle School Division, 408th in her grade, and 2,796th overall.

Fifth-grader Sawyr Lyons shot 195, which placed her 545th (out of 936) in the Elementary School Girls Division, 394th (out of 586) in her grade, and 2,689th overall (out of 3,401).

——————

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARK BAKLEY.