Airline High School, Benton Middle and Benton Elementary captured top team honors in the bullseye competition of the Archery in Louisiana Schools (ALAS) State Tournament in Shreveport on March 5. The state tournament was the largest event in ALAS’ program history with 1,105 students from 51 schools across the state participating and almost 60,000 arrows being shot.
Students competed for $20,000 in scholarships, prizes and awards as well as the chance to qualify for the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) National Tournament to be held in May in Louisville, Kentucky. The ALAS program, part of NASP, is administered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
Benton schools swept the 3-D tournament, with Benton Elementary, Middle, and High schools taking home the 3-D team titles in their respective divisions. The 3-D state tournament consisted of 445 students from 31 schools.
Student archers compete in three divisions, elementary school (grades 4-5), middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12). The top three teams in each division received a team trophy and each first place team in the bullseye and 3-D portions earn an automatic berth to the NASP National Tournament in Louisville on May 10-12.
The top 10 male and female archers in each division received an automatic berth to the NASP National Tournament, with individual honors going to the top five finishers in each division. The top three male and female shooters in the bullseye portion received scholarship awards as did the top male and female overall shooters in the 3-D competition. Prize bows were also awarded to the top male and female in each division.
Aidan Haire of Benton High won top male honors with a score of 293, and Amber Long of Benton Middle was the top female archer with a score of 290. Each receives a $5,000 scholarship and prize bow.
Tyler Pope of Benton Elementary shot a 291 and Eden Old of Benton Middle shot a 290 and took second place male and female overall, earning $2,500 each. Third place male and female overall went to Jordan Graff of Alexandria Senior High and Emma Rutledge of Benton Middle with scores of 290 and 287 respectively, earning a $1,250 scholarship each.
Emma Rutledge of Benton Middle and Jacob Coutee of Northwood High were recognized as the top female and male archers in the 3-D event with scores of 289 and 282 respectively. Both received $1,250 scholarships for their first place finishes.
In all, 31 Louisiana archery teams and 60 individuals qualified for the NASP National Tournament. A list of winners can be found at the ALAS Facebook page and full results can be found at www.nasptournaments.org.
Scholarships were made possible thanks to donations by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission, Man Cave Archery, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation-Louisiana Chapter, Hoot & Holler Archery, LSU AgCenter, Morrell Targets, H&E Equipment Services, Quality Deer Management Association-Red River Branch, Homeland Safety Systems, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, Cenla Bowbenders, Louisiana Bowhunter, Hot Rod Graphixx and Outlaw’s BBQ. LDWF would like to extend a special thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers and staff that made this year’s event possible.
The ALAS/NASP program, which serves roughly 220 schools and 22,000 students in Louisiana, is available to all schools in the state and grants are available to assist with funding. For more information about the ALAS program, contact ALAS State Coordinator, Chad Moore, at cmoore@wlf.la.gov or 318-230-4352.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov. To receive recreational or commercial fishing email and text alerts, signup at http://www.wlf.la.gov/signup.
Great Job Tigers
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