Archbishop Neale wins first place in state archery tournament
Team invited to nationals in Kentucky
In only their third year of competition overall and in the first year of entering the elementary school competition, the Archbishop Neale School elementary school archery team has won the Maryland State Archery Championship.
“I’m so proud of our Archbishop Neale School archery team on their extraordinary performance,” said Lauren Warring, the head archery coach at Archbishop Neale School. “Both individually and in the team competition, they exceeded all of our expectations.”
The National Archery in the Schools Program Maryland State Archery Tournament was held at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster on March 19.
Individually, Nolan Filley was named top male archer in the elementary school division and Ainsley Spain was named top female archer in the middle school division. In addition, Ainsley, a sixth-grader, was also named top female archer in the state with a score of 276 points out of a possible 300.
The National Archery in the Schools Program has been extremely popular at Archbishop Neale. It is taught as part of the physical education program. As a result of its popularity, an archery club was formed, from which the archery team is selected every year. Gaining a slot on the archery team is a very competitive process. In addition to accuracy, all students must maintain good grades and have no disciplinary issues.
“The kids are awesome,” Warring said. Archery is a great individual sport, but it also involves a group effort in order to win a team competition. Archbishop Neale has a staff of dedicated coaches who have all been certified by NASP to teach safety strategies, skills and archer y techniques.
Focus, self control, discipline, and patience are some of the necessary attributes which are continually stressed. These attributes which contribute to success in archery can ultimately help our students to be successful, not only in the classroom but in life.
The Archbishop Neale community is fully invested in the archery program. The school provides all the equipment necessary to participate, but many families have purchased their own personal bows and practice at home on their own time.
At the Admiral’s Cup tournament held at the Severn School in Severna Park in late February, the Archbishop Neale team came up a little short and finished in second place. The Archbishop Neale coaching staff worked to determine which areas were in need of improvement and set about correcting our deficiencies. It required additional practice time and more time shooting and shooting from the longer and more difficult 15-meter distance.
The students’ efforts paid immediate dividends. In addition to winning the state archery title, the elementary team along with Spain, was invited to attend the NASP National Archery Tournament in Louisville, Ky., on May 13 to 15.
The entire coaching staff — Lauren Warring, Howard Schrader, Jill Wilson and Dominick Costa — thank the archery team for their commitment and extraordinary efforts this year and for making every arrow count. Now it’s on to the nationals in Louisville, Ky.
This report was submitted by Archbishop Neale School.