For the third consecutive year, two Georgia elementary archery teams, including Cohutta Elementary, placed in the top five in the nation at the National Archery in the Schools Program National Tournament.
Cohutta Elementary’s archery squad missed a national title by 12 points, placing second in the elementary team division with a score of 3,227. Woodlawn Elementary, a two-time national champion, also finished on the podium with a team score of 3,223 and a third place finish at the 12th annual national tournament.
More than 12,000 archers from 42 states competed at the Louisville Exposition Center May 7-9 during the world’s largest archery tournament.
Georgia had 500 students compete in the tournament from more than 25 schools that qualified for nationals. Four Georgia elementary schools finished in the top 12 in the country (Bethlehem Elementary - 9th, Bay Creek Elementary - 12th). Bay Creek Elementary was the only elementary school in the country to qualify and transport two teams to the national tournament.
Loganville Middle School placed 12th in the middle school division with a score of 3,303 and North Murray High School finished 23rd in the high school division with a score of 3,356. About 150-200 of the top teams in the country competed in each division.
Dodge County High’s Morgan Graham, who won the top overall male shooter at the 2015 Georgia NASP State Championship, fired a 295 to finish sixth nationally in the high school male division, just three points shy of the overall high score. He was the top 12th grade male at the tournament. Graham was selected to the 2015 NASP All-Star Championship Team, which will compete against the top shooters from other countries at the NASP World Championship held July 23-25 in Nashville.
North Murray High’s Haley Bagley, Georgia’s top female shooter at state, shot a 291 and was the top 10th grade female at nationals.
Woodlawn Elementary’s Mattie Nuckolls finished first in the fourth grade female division with a score of 280. Cohutta Elementary also finished second in the NASP IBO 3-D Challenge, a separate 3-D archery tournament held during the national competition.
Complete tournament results are online at www.nasptournaments.com.