(SB) – Bullseye! That was the continuous cheer for the Sergeant Bluff-Luton archers at the State Championship tournament (Mar. 1-3) in Des Moines at the Fair Grounds’ Jacobson Exhibition Center, as they captured the State Champions in Iowa. It was in a thrilling display of archery marksmanship. They did it against CR-Prairie, DM Valley, and Spencer in a skill battle that saw SB-L arrows hit their mark over and over again.
At any one time of competition, there are 100 archers on the line firing off arrows at individual targets set at 10 and 15 meters away. Only the top 20 teams in Iowa are invited determined by a school’s total scores – both individual and team -- recorded in competition Dec. 1, and Feb. 18. The dividing line in scores is 263 and above out of 300 points.
In archery, scoring is based on where your arrows hit the target. The closer the arrow lands to the center, the higher the score. Targets typically have rings of different colors, with each color representing a different point value.
The center ring, often called the “bullseye,” is usually gold and worth 10/9 points. The colors from highest to lowest points usually go from red (7/8) to blue (5/6), black (3/4), and then white (1/2). Each time you land an arrow in a specific ring, you earn the corresponding number of points. For instance, if you hit the blue ring with a value of 6, you score 6 points. If your arrow lands on the line between two rings, you’ll receive the higher of the two-point values.
Going into competition in Des Moines, SB-L was seeded #3 with a 3365 mark. CR-Prairie was seeded #1 with a 3390 mark, and #2 Spencer with a 3382-qualifying score. In the final tally at the end of state competition, SB-L’s 12 high school archers notched an average score per competitor of 280 1/4.
The top scorers for SB-L: Ethan Hilts (287), Bradley Hoffman (285), Mallori Harshfield (282), Kennedy Hansen (282), Sam Larimer (282), Jack Schoenfelder (281), Jaxson Perez (280), Rameen Sajid (279), Nolan Herbst (278), Emma LaMere (277), KateLynn Morey (276), and Landon Vanderleest (274).
Hilts, Coach Scott Pack, Sergeant Bluff’s police chief, said Hilts has been a phenomenon since last year as an 8th grader. As a freshman, Pack said, “he never let up on the gas.” Ethan hit an amazing 288-290 mark combined with his 3D (animal targets: turkey, coyote, bear, antelope, deer and ram set at various distances) finish to be named to the All-State Archery Team.
Scott Pack has headed the local archery program for the last 12 years. He said that the program took off exceedingly well from the onset. He started out with 30 students, and in no time peaked at 160 middle school and high school archers. He and volunteer coaches (Josh Deitloff, Melody Arentson, Jeff Edlund, Georgeann Sailors-Pack and Kimberly Smith) work with the local archers throughout the year. (It should be pointed out that at other Iowa schools of similar or higher size, teams list anywhere from ten to 12 assistant coaches per school.)
The climb to a state title has been constant and consistent. In 2017, the SB-L archers took 3rd place. In 2021, the SB-L archers came home with a 2nd place finish. This year’s championship is all the more incredible since a year ago, SB-L returned from state competition with a 6th place finish.
“It’s about having fun,” Pack said. At the same time, “the higher score you shoot, the more fun you have.”
Pack and the archery coaches took 24 archers to the state fairgrounds.
To complete the championship list, the additional 12 archers that competed: Emma Musick (273), Kaydance Rasmussen (272), Morgan Pack (272), Noah MacClure (271), Sairam Surdaram (270), David Gehling (269), Teagan Deitloff (269), Max Monney (268), Morgan Streck (263), Madeline Meehan (260), Brenna Ocker (256), and Brett Haider (256).
Thanks to the parents of all the archers, transportation came in the form of a caravan from Sergeant Bluff to Des Moines.
“We’ve just got great kids,” Coach Pack said, and that goes all the way back to when the program began, 12 years ago. “Now we’re in the running for the frosting on the cake,” he continued. The team will be heading to Sandy, Utah, to compete for a national title April 26-28, 2024.
Pack said he wished to congratulate five SB-L athletes for having achieved national recognitions this who won the Midwest Hockey league National Championship. “I would like to congratulate the team and Coach with an awesome season and achievement this Year!” he said.
