Stretching her bow out toward the target, senior Olivia Crooks aims at the bullseye. She pulls the arrow back onto the bowstring and tenses, preparing to release.
After competing at state in March, the archery team is headed to the Western Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 22. Archers practice in the PISD administration building’s gym every Tuesday and Thursday.
“I think getting out of my head really improved my score,” Crooks said. “Once you start competing with only yourself, you really improve your time.”
Archers practice techniques such as string bow, the box method and visualization.
“Archery is an individual yet team sport,” senior Blake Yuen said. “You’re focused on improving your scores and your form, but you are also part of a team. A team that feels like a family.”
The archery team holds end of the season parties every year, going to entertainment places like Pinstack and Top Golf.
“Aside from the tournament itself,” junior Adyson Russell said. “It’s always great to be able to spend time with my teammates before and after the tournament.”
The state competition was in San Antonio in March, where they placed 14th overall.
“As Maurice Thompson once said,” Yuen said. “There is no excellence in archery without great labor.”
The team participated in nationals last year and placed 3rd in 2022 and 2023.
“Nationals is always a great opportunity for the entire team to see how we’ve improved over the season as well as seasons before,” Russell said. “We always have so much fun heading to Utah for the tournament.”
This article was edited by Yousuf Ali, Aarushi Rana and Alexander Gutierrez.
