Comet archers compete at nationals

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Cardinal High School finished in the top half of national competition at the 2012 National Archery in the Schools competition held Friday-Saturday in Louisville, Ky.

The Comets, back at nationals following their third consecutive state title win in February, tallied a final score of 3238 to finish 51st out of 126 competing high schools. Trigg County High School of Kentucky won the competition with a score of 3437 and Maysville High School of Ohio finished second at 3412.

The Comets finished 13th in the nation last spring.

Leading Cardinal High School this year were sophomore Brennon Elder, who shot a 281, and senior Kaitlyn Conger coming in at 276. Elder?s score placed him 182nd in his division, while Conger wound up 125th in her division.

Comet senior Montgomery Laughlin and sophomore Josh Stiles both finished with scores of 273 and junior Jonathan Ramos scored 272. Other top Cardinal scores in the high school division were Schylar Conger (270), Tayton Easton (269), Ty Short (268) and Mike Owings (268).

In the middle school division, the Comets finished 69th out of 130 teams with a score of 3112. Eighth-grader Justin Conger led the way with a final tally of 271. Dakota Durflinger and Shelby Smith, fellow eighth-grade students, finished with scores of 268 and 267, respectively. Seventh-grader Austin Cloke, the state champion in the middle school boys? division, finished with a score of 264. Eighth-grade students Cheyanne Fenton (260) and Ryley McElderry (258) also provided top scores for Cardinal.

Three Comet sixth-graders also participated in the elementary school division, including Shelbie Jeffrey (255), Gabriel Clarkson (238) and Jacob Stiles (210).

The National Archery in the Schools program promotes international-style target archery as part of the in-school curriculum, to improve educational performance and participation in the shooting sports among students in grades 4-12. This year?s national competition featured nearly 8,200 participating students.