Thunderbird Archery Program Holds Intramural Tournament, Competes in Billings
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The Hays/Lodge Pole Archery Program took a group of skilled archers down to Billings this past week to compete at a tournament put on by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. The tournament was held at Superior Archery and consisted of the students shooting from both 5 Meter and 15 Meter distances.
The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbird Archery Program has come a long ways in its Inaugural season and competed this past week in Billings at a tournament hosted by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks.
The archery program was organized by Hays/Lodge Pole Science teacher Rod Benson and has been a huge success thus far. Benson developed the idea last year and quickly got certified by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks to be an instructor.
Students were excited about the opportunity and quickly gravitated immediately to the program. After seeing the great interest in archery Benson set up a in school tournament with the top ten finishers qualifying for a MFWP sanctioned tournament in Billings.
40 students took part in the tournament which featured two rounds. In the first round archers shot three sets of arrows from 10 meters and in the second they shot three sets from 15 meters. A perfect score would be 150 point per round.
Finishing at the top of the girls division was sophomore Cassidy Shambo with a total score of 237. Finishing in a tie for second was Shaunte Hawley and Shailee Shambo with 218.
Also qualifying for the tournament in Billings was Haley Cichosz (217), Destiny Webb (212), Monique Gray (193), Alliya Pretty Paint (193), Amy Cochran (192), Riley Martin (185) and Riley Werk (185).
On the boys side the top 10 was led by freshman Marquez Stiffarm who won the tournament with a score of 236. Finishing second was Tyshawn Shambo with a score of 228. In third was Brad Snell with total score of 225.
Rounding out the top 12 for the boys was Avery Boe (218), Kalue Bell (216), Daniel Henry (214), Damon Shambo (212), RJ Blackcrow (206), Will Hughes (201) and Will Has The Eagle (201).
These students qualified for the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) tournament in Billings at Superior Archery on Tuesday, February 22. In a description about the tournament it was noted that it is a Bullseye Tournament with Mathews Genesis Bows and Easton Arrows.
Tournament format will include three rounds from 10 meters with each consisting of five arrows and three rounds from 15 meters also with five arrows each. There was also a practice round prior to each distance.
The tournament was open to any student grades 4-12 that participated in this years National Archery in the Schools Program.
"We were looking forward to competing against Hardin at the tournament. They won state last year, so it would have been a good test for our young program," stated Benson. "I'm not sure what happened, but they weren't able to attend. As it turned out, the only competitors there, besides our 20, was a handful of students from a group home in Billings."
The kids were looking forward to competing against another school said Benson, "Despite their disappointment, our kids made the most of the experience. It was fun for them to shoot in a different venue, see how a tournament is run, and enjoy some friendly competition against each other."
Destiny Webb takes aim during her shoot from 15 meters.
"Billings was one of three sites where Montana FWP will host tournaments over the next several weeks. The other sites are Arlee (March) and Bozeman (April). Once the tournaments are done, scores from all three sites will be compared to determine the state medal winners and team standings," added Benson. "Last year the competitions were done virtually, with each team shooting at their own school, with travel required to compete this year, I wonder if numbers might be down from last year. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out. We're looking forward to finding out how our scores compare with those at the other two sites."
The Thunderbirds shot really well at the Billings tournament. Junior Daniel Henry won the boys side with a 249. That mark is also a new Hays/Lodge Pole school record. Freshman Brad Snell was third with a 237.
For the girls, Thunderbird freshman Shailee Shambo won the tournament with a score of 230. Junior Monique Gray was second with a 220 and junior Logan Little Plume was third with a 205
