Batesville archers sweep state championships
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For the past several years, so many have said that Southeastern Indiana boasts some of the best archery programs in the state. One school in particular on Saturday showed just that as Batesville’s elementary, middle school and high school programs swept the NASP State Championships in Indianapolis.
It was the first time in state championship history that a single school corporation claimed all three divisions of the finals.
Batesville won the elementary school division with a score of 3063, holding off Triton Elementary and its score of 3045. Nearby Dillsboro Elementary and Hayden Elementary placed ninth and 10th respectively out of 21 schools with scores of 2860 and 2836 while Jac-Cen-Del competed and placed 21st at 2530.
Inside that same division, Batesville Intermediate fifth grader Rebecca Siebert was the team’s top archer on the day, finishing third overall among elementary girls with a 270 which included 10 perfect shots on the day. A slew of classmates followed as Levi Trenkamp was sixth among elementary boys with a 268, Bruce Li eighth at 267 and Wesley Rogier 12th with a 264.
Jac-Cen-Del’s Kolton Vachet scored a 279 with 13 10’s and was the top fourth grade boy at the state championship while also finishing second overall among elementary boys. The top Lady Eagle was fifth grader Kearney Simon at 253 which placed her 27th out of 237 girl competitors. South Ripley sent fifth grader Railyn McMillin who was 14th overall in girls action, shooting a 257.
In the middle school ranks, Batesville was a winner by nine points, shooting a 3283 to North Harrison’s 3274. South Ripley was 22nd out of 41 teams with a 3081 and Jac-Cen-Del finished 32nd at 3009. Batesville’s Varshath Rajesh, an eighth grader scored a 288 and was the middle school boys state champion after topping 505 other competitors.
Eighth grader Grace Magee was at 284 and finished third out of 443 middle school girls and Gracie Doll was a Top 10 finisher, placing third on the girls side with a 283. Following up that duo for Batesville with regards to top scores was Jac-Cen-Del eighth grader Mason Comer who was 12th in the middle school boys division with a 279 and South Ripley eighth grader Tyson Robinson whose 278 made for a 15th place spot.
The high school division wrapped up the day with Batesville on top at 3411 and Castle High School placing runner-up at 3394. Milan competed and placed 25th out of 28 teams with a score of 3159.
Another individual state championship was wrapped up by a coverage area archer in the division as Batesville junior Lydia Haskamp racked up 23 bullseye shots and scored a 293, finishing first out of 332 high school girls. Teammate Lilian Eckstein, a freshman, was second among high school girls with a 290 (22 10’s) and sophomore Quinten Sarringhaus was the top archer for the Bulldog boys, firing a 290 which placed him seventh out of 338 participants.
Milan junior Fredy Cortes had a team-high 274 to place 83rd in the boys division and sophomore Abigail Carpenter was the top girl for the Lady Indians with a 269 which placed her 107th. One individual apiece represented Jac-Cen-Del, South Ripley and Oldenburg Academy. Senior Estela Lopez was 67th on the girls side with a 274, sophomore Lilly Harrison finished 198th as she shot a 259 for the Lady Raiders and Lady Twister junior Annabelle Nunlist shot a 272 and placed 88th.
Over 100 state finalist archers were from the coverage area with many of those archers now set for spots inside national competition in the spring. A full list of coverage area results can be found online at nasptournaments.org.
