Three fifth graders from Fritsch Elementary School competed in the National Archery Tournament at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah last weekend, April 28-29, 2023. Out of nearly 3,000 participants from more than 200 schools nationwide, Teddy Hohl shot a 241, Finn Russell shot a 199 and Wyatt Valentine shot a 160, earning them an overall ranking of 83, 186 and 211 respectively.
After earning high marks, the Fritsch Archery Team placed fourth overall at the Nevada State Championship in Las Vegas back in February. Out of 510 youth archers from 23 schools at the State Tournament, Wyatt placed seventh, Teddy placed ninth and Finn tenth. The Nevada State Archery Competition is sponsored by the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and hosted by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). You can view the full results of the Nevada State NASP Tournament by clicking here.
In order to participate at nationals as individuals, archers had to qualify by placing within the top ten shooters in their division for their State. The three boys were invited to Nationals in Utah to compete against archers from elementary schools across the country including Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington, to name a few.
The archer team from Fritsch Elementary School includes two dozen students. Other students from Fritsch who competed at State but did not qualify for Nationals include Miles Armstrong, Oakley Ashcraft, Myah Brewster, Kyler Clack, William Cooper, Avery Crane, Nathan Favero, Elle Grundy, James Hampton, Lily Hamtak, Kalina Hudson, Eli Hutchison, Jayden Ipsen, Margaret Miner, Chloe Murphy, Mira Orvald, Samual Papez, Jack Parker, Nakea Sulezich, Sean Reed and Madelyn Romeo.
Last year, the team placed second overall at the state tournament, and in 2021, Fritsch Archery won State and brought the State Title, trophy and honor home to Carson City for the first time in program history.
More than 6,000 total archers throughout the U.S. will compete in Nationals this year alone (mixture of elementary, middle, and high). Nearly 3,000 at western regionals and more than 3,000 at eastern nationals this upcoming weekend. The nationals are divided by the Mississippi River; western and eastern. Final scores will be entered for the entire nation after the eastern shoot. All 50 States compete.
“Families were awesome in bringing their student to Salt Lake to compete, as well as being dedicated to practice,” said Coach Bethany Henry-Herman, NASP Certified and physical education teacher for Fritsch Elementary School. “John and Laura Valley again came out each morning and afternoon to help prepare both the team and the boys. We have been practicing since November.”
Students in grades 4 through 12 are able to participate in NASP and compete in the state tournament. They compete against archers within their own age group: elementary, middle or high school. Youth archers all shoot the same Genesis bow and Easton 1820 arrows, as they represent their school archery programs in the state and national tournaments.