LOUISVILLE – All six Bullitt County middle school programs competed at the end of March in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) Kentucky State Championships at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Both Eastside and Bernheim Middle Schools had strong showings, finishing third and fourth, respective, in a field with 138 schools from across the state taking part, they had nothing for the champion Harrison County Middle School team that posted an impressive score of 3,396. That was 90 points ahead of the runner-up team, Scott County Middle School. This in a sport where the high school division was settled by one point.
Eastside posted a score of 3,291 while Bernheim finished with a 3,284. Bullitt Lick also had a top-15 finish as the Bobcats were 15th with a score of 3,232.
In the big field, Zoneton had a score of 3,120 and finishing 61st while Hebron Middle School finished 84th with a score of 3,075. Another top-100 finish was posted by Mount Washington Middle school with a score of 3,040 which was good for 96th.
A year ago, Bernheim’s Jayden Kearney won the state title in this event, but he was not able to recreate that finish this year. Kearney finished with a 279 this year which was well off the pace set by Addlee Miles of Harrison County Middle School with a 292. The top male finisher was Boyle County Middle School’s Jackson Mertz with a 291.
The top individual shooter from Bullitt County was Eastside 8th-grader Brody Mann and Bernheim 6th-grader Evan Maraman who each had a 283. Mann wins that tie-breaker with 18 ‘10s’ while Maraman had 17. Mann finished 22nd out of 1,800 middle school boys in the field and 20th amongst 8th-grade boys. Maraman was 24 in the boys’ middle school rankings and was first in the field of 6th-graders.
The top Bullitt County girl in the event was Bullitt Lick 8th-grader Christina Welch with a 281. That score placed her 20th among middle school girls and tenth among 8th-grade girls.
The middle school teams have some local meets upcoming, but the next ‘major’ event will be the NASP Eastern Nationals that will be held May 8-11 back in Louisville at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Remember, in ‘bullseye’, each school can have as many as 24 shooters taking part with the top dozen scores being used to create a ‘team’ score. A perfect individual score is 300 and a perfect team score is 3,600.
Eastside Middle
Score – 3,291
Place – Third
The Eagles, after a few average seasons, are back among the state’s elite middle school teams. It was Eastside over a decade ago that pioneered NASP shooting in the county and started what has spawned the popularity of the sport in Bullitt County, leading to numerous state and national honors for many local programs.
Besides the 283 from Brody Mann, Eastside also got a 282 from 7th-grader Sawyer DeBlasi while 8th-grader Taylor Smith and 7th-grader Ethan Vincent each had a 278. Sixth-graders Drew Robinson and Cole Strange were next with scores of 277 and 276, respectively. Allison O’Neal, a 7th-grader also had a 276 score.
The Eagles other ‘team’ points came from 7th-grader Annslee McCullough and 8th-grader Annabella Cropper with 271 scores while Jason Weatherford, an 8th-grader, had a 270. Caden Riggs, a 7th-grader, had a 265 while 7th-grader Cody House had a 264.
Also taking part for the Eagles was Ethan Wolff (260), Braden Draper (260), Cassie Herb-Gillon (259), Micah DiChlara (258), Jazlyn Meese (257), Sam Tolle (254), Hudson Cooper (252), Braden Mann (246), Stella Williams (245), McKenzie LeCompte (245), Jacob Melcher (242) and Levi Redden (235).
Bernheim Middle
Score – 3,284
Place -- Fourth
Besides the 283 from Maraman and the 279 from Kearney, the Bruins’s ‘team’ score also included a 278 from 8th-grader Lexie Carrier and a 277 by 7th-grader Jaelynn Norris and a 275 from 7th-grader Isaak Lancaster.
Also part of the ‘team’ score was a 274 from 8th-grader Luke Conely and a 273 by 8th-grader Riley Dustin and a 272 by 8th-grader Calen Smith. Rounding out the team score was a 270 by 7th-grader Mason Risinger, a 269 by 8th-grader Trey Rountree, a 268 by 6th-grader Peyton Sizemore and a 266 by 6th-grader JT Williams.
The other team members for the Bruins taking part were Paislee Druin (261), Sky Ellison (261), Sara Winans (259), Brooklynn Allen (259), Bice Alvey (257), Christopher Pottinger (256), Damien Finn (255), Laura Bradley (252), Prestan Podkrajac (252), Haleigh Richardson (250), Maddison Baxter (232), Dominic Weber (232).
Bullitt Lick Middle
Score – 3,232
Place – 15th
Leading the way for the Bobcats was 8th-grader Christina Welch with a 281. The team also got a 278 from Zachary Smith, a 6th-grader, while 7th-grader Kylee Carter had a 276. Makinlee Atherton, a 6th-grader posted a 273 while Braxton Berry, a 6th-grader had a 271.
Also scoring for the Bobcats in the ‘team’ score was 7th-grader Jenna Green with a 268, the same score was 8th-grader Paul Schuster. Vince Schoenhoff, a 6th-grader had a 267 while 7th-grader Peyton Thompson posted a 265 while 6th-grader Jordyn Hall had a 264. Rounding out the team score was 8th-grader Parker Hill with a 261 while 8th-grader Aidan Keene had a 260.
The rest of the Bullitt Lick team included Caleb Logsdon (259), Parker Ash (256), Megan Browning (255), Makayla Burgin (255), Bryce Marples (241), Michael Kappell (238), Mason Schofield (23), Bella Boston (229), Alexis Chambers (210) and Josie Kline (193).
Zoneton Middle
Score – 3,120
Place – 61st
The best score for the Timberwolves was posted by 8th-grader Zane Uncleback with a score of 275. The team also got a 272 from 8th-grader Isabella Edwards and a 271 from 8th-grader Ryan Case. Nine of the top 12 scores for Hebron was scored by 8th-graders.
Also posting a high school was 8th-grader Zadee Lau with a 269 while 8th-grader Maddisin Jansing posted a 266. The team also got a 262 by Olivia Close, an 8th-grader while 8th-grader Jack Shaffer had a 256. Grant Larson, a 7th-grader, finished with a 254 while 6th-grader Jace Baker had a 252. Rounding out the ‘team’ scores were 248 scores from 8th-grader Olivia Campbell and 7th-grader Tucker Butler along with a 247 by 8th-grader Natalie French.
The Zoneton roster also included Elizabeth Camacho (246), Makenzie Clemons (245), Ethan Purtilar (245), Gracee Vires (242), Blake Willoughby (236), Jordan Case (233), Allie Johnson (231), Justice Newman (228), Eli Fraze (212), Izabella Phillips (211), Levi Boggs (209) and Sawyer Bruner (192).
Hebron Middle
Score – 3,075
Place – 84th
The best score for the Panthers was a 270 by 7th-grader Lillian Burk while 8th-grader Rylan Israel posted a score of 269. The team also got a 266 from 7th-grader Lillian Jett and a 262 by 8th-grader Chase Williams.
Adding to the ‘team’ score for the Panthers was a 258 by 6th-grader Keara Payne and a 257 by Abigail Smith, an 8th-grader. Zachary Humphrey, a 7th-grader, finished at 255 while 6th-grader Bentley Miller had a 252 and 6th-grader Cameron Blose a 249. Rounding out the ‘team’ scores was a 247 by 8th-grader Patience Hayden, a 246 by 7th-grader Kendyl Smith and a 244 by 6th-grader Kaydence Dobson.
Also shooting for the Panthers in this event was William Clifford (242), Amelia Latz (242), Mark Bickett (234), Adam Kremer (233), Levi Clark (232), Ryan Baird (226, Triston Jacobs (222), Isaiah Schraut (221), James Robinson (220), Nicholas Davis (214), Wells Melton (212), Harper Lewis (203).
Mount Washington Middle
Score – 3,040
Place – 96th
The top score for the Generals was 8th-grader Wyatt Phillips with a 272 while 6th-grader Emma Schildknect had a 271. In addition, Mount Washington got a 263 from 7th-grader Chandler Schmidt and a 260 from 8th-grader Chloe Dempsie.
Adding to the ‘team’ score was a 254 from 6th-grader Camden Lurie and a 253 by 7th-grader Joseph Whitaker. The scoring also included a 251 from 7th-grader Pari Patel and a 250 by 7th-grader Skyler Mudd. Zen Vander Espt, a 7th-grader, had a 243 while 7th-grader Kenzy Hill had a 242, the same score as 6th-grader Brayden O’Bryan. Kamryne Biggers, a 6th-grader finished with a 239.
The other members of the Mount Washington team for this meet included Gage Roades (232), Peyton Riley (231), Emily Montgomery (229), Lily Hoben (228), Esperanza Ramirez (224), Matthew Montgomery (220), Kaiden Koebel (218), Tucker George 216), Natalie Robinette (215), Hunter Smith (214), Ziva Lymburner (209), Leland Greene (208).