JACKSON – Winston Academy finished fourth out of nine schools that competed in MAIS high school archery competition for AAA schools.
Winston had a team score of 2,998, trailing Columbia Academy (3,363), Laurel Christian (3,177) and Leake Academy (3,156). A team score is the total for 12 archers, which must include at least four boys and at least four girls.
Winston coach Dawn Steed was pleased with her team's performance. “Some of them had their best score.”
The team was led by three eighth graders. Kody Young was the top archer with a 281 score (300 is perfect), followed by Landon Fulton with 267. Riley Peterman was the top girl with a 261 score.
This is the third year that Winston has had an archery team. “We've had a really good time. The kids love it,” Steed said. “We're growing every year.”
In other MAIS classes, Simpson Academy won AAAA (3,379), Lamar Christian AA (3,211) and Rebul A with a 3,125 score. Simpson's score was the best for the week, surpassing the best MHSAA score of 3,356 by Itawamba AHS in winning Class II.
Clair Polk of Simpson was the week's top individual archer with a 294 score.
Louisville and Nanih Waiya competed in MHSAA North Regional competition, but neither advanced to the state meet. Twenty teams competed in each MHSAA class at the state meet, the top eight each from North and South qualifying and the next best four team scores.
Louisville was 18th in Class II (3A and 4A schools) at the regional with a team score of 2,737. Joshua Lee was the top archer with 270.
Nanih Waiya was 16th in Class I (1A and 2A schools) with 2,496. Top archer was Robert Ferguson with 257.
Noxapater suspended its archery program this year but hopes to resume the program next year.
The state competition was held at the Kirk Fordice Equine Center, part of the State Fairgrounds.
