On Jan. 26, the Herrin Flying Tigers competed in their first 3-D tournament at Herrin Elementary School. When the last arrow flew, the Tigers emerged with a great performance: four HHS students placed in the top three for their respective boys’ and girls’ divisions.
“A 3-D tournament is when you shoot a life-sized foam animal,” Jaxon Hale (12) explains. “A 3-D tournament is a lot different because aiming is a lot different. It’s harder. You can’t see the scoring rings from the shooting line.”
The four students who placed in the top three were Callie Walker (9), who scored first place in the girls’ division; Quinn Smedshammer (9), who placed third in the girls’ division; Ethan Tate (10), who placed first in the boys’ division; and Jaxon Hale, who placed third in the boys’ division.
Their success was not immediate. Before they could score so well, the team had to undergo rigorous training. “We had a practice with targets the night before. It’s different because we don’t run and do much activity,” said Quinn, who recently joined the Flying Tigers this month. The tournament on Jan. 26 was Quinn’s first experience. Rather than being daunted, she enjoyed it. “It was nice,” she said.
Callie, who has been shooting since sixth grade, backed Quinn up, describing archery as a different sport when compared to other activities seen at HHS. Callie said: “You’re not really competing against other people, you’re just trying to improve yourself. It’s a sport that you want to improve yourself. I practice a lot and breathe and focus.”
Ethan (who has been shooting arrows for four years) agreed with Callie, as he explained his process for preparing for archery tournaments. “I listen to my music and get in my zone,” Ethan said.
However, archery is not considered a sport at Herrin High School. Rather than being a sports team, the Herrin Flying Tigers are still only a club. Some archers believe that archery should be considered a sport. “It’s in the Olympics,” Jaxon said. “You can’t really say it’s not a sport if it’s in the Olympics.”
This group of archers has grown in numbers with recruits ranging from Herrin High School to Herrin Middle School and Herrin Elementary School. Of all four archers featured in this article, Jaxon has been shooting the longest (eight years). “We’ve gotten a lot bigger. We started with about 10 and now we’re past fifty [archers]. It’s getting bigger every year.”
This growing Archery Club will host a state qualifier on Feb 8th. They will also be traveling to Evansville, Indiana, on Feb. 15 to compete in another state qualifier. While the Flying Tigers will be competing against other archer clubs and teams, the plight to improve themselves never stops. “You want to get at least 70 points every time you shoot, so you can qualify for the next one. You want to build your points to be able to get to the other competitions,” Callie said.
While they may not yet be considered a sports team, the Herrin Flying Tigers have proved themselves popular through a growth in numbers and the performance of their archers, such as Callie Walker, Ethan Tate, Jaxon Hale, and Quinn Smedshammer.
