Story by Rusty Ellis
Photo Courtesy of Mickye Steele
The White County Archery team finished their season on the mountaintop, as they won the Tennessee Archery State Championship last Friday.
The team’s performance was highlighted by Colby Lowery’s individual showing, as he finished with a 286, just 14 points shy of a perfect score, to win the boys individual title.
Katie Hutchings finished close behind with a 285, the same score as Ryan O’Dell. Kenneth Bryant fired in a 279, while Kade Sparks shot a 275. Ethan McCoy (274), Annika Amaral (271), Wyatt Donohoe (268), Lillie Roberts (263), Julia Judd (263), Hunter Sloane (262) and Alyssa Fox (258) rounded out the top 12, as the team finished with a composite score of 3,265.
For head coach Mickye Steele, it was the culmination of all the work the team has put in over the course of the season.
“This team has really put in a lot of extra hours, and it’s such a great accomplishment,” Steele said. “My seniors shot as freshmen when we won second in the state, so they were ecstatic…when we sat down to hear results, they were just excited when we came out on top.”
Steele is quick to point out how much extra time her students have put in to make it to this point.
“As a team, we do about three to five hours of practice a week, and for the kids, they get out of it what they put in,” Steele said. “For some of these kids, they eat, sleep and breath archery, just like other sports…to compete at the state level, it’s an accomplishment in itself.”
It wasn’t a stress-free day, as they had to wait until the very last point reveal to find out if they’d won. And they had to overcome the defending state champions in order to do it.
“The day we had Friday, it’s when three points matter,” Steele said. “We beat Riverdale by three points, and they had held the title the last two state tournaments.”
As far as Lowery’s performance, Steele says it’s a moment he’s been working towards since he started with the program.
“I’m super proud of him,” Steele said. “He started as a freshman, just this quiet, young man who needed to build some self-confidence, and Friday, he brought it. His self-confidence has just gone through the roof.”
One of the lasting effects that Steele hopes this accomplishment has is an increase in participation within the program. Something that she believes will help that is the start of feeder programs in White County, one of which began this year.
“We were able to start an elementary team this year,” Steele said. “Other programs around the state, specifically Rutherford County and in the Crossville area, elementary schools have had programs for years…we had tryouts and it’s county-wide, so it’s not just one school. I think starting the feeder programs into the middle school and then middle school into high school, next year we’ll see a great turnout in terms of participation.”