Daniel Shelton finished eighth in the high school boys division at the National Archery in the Schools Program Virginia State Championships on Saturday, March 10 near Richmond.
When he shot the last arrow of his round, Shelton pumped his fist.
“I did that because I knew it was my best round ever. I felt cool, calm and collected,” he said. “It felt like everything I had worked for had paid off.”
The William Byrd High School sophomore scored a personal best 286 points out of a possible 300 points to finish eighth out of 107 archers competing in the high school boys division.
Shelton, who joined Terrier archery as a seventh grader, become the first ever Terrier archer to qualify for the National NASP championship tournament in Kentucky in May.
“I am excited to represent our team at Nationals,” Shelton said. “I want to do what I have been doing and that is hit yellow.”
Shelton consistently attends practices, is determined to succeed and has steadily improved over the years.
“When he started his round, he said his goal was no eights,” said Terrier archery coach Chris Steuart. “I’m always challenging them to hit yellow because that is where the most points are available. He sure did that Saturday. He hit a lot of yellow!”
In tournaments archers shoot three scoring rounds of five arrows from 10 meters and 15 meters for a total of a 30-shot round. His score included 16 arrows that hit the center of the target to score 10 points. The remaining 14 shots hit the next ring out and scored 9 points each. All of his shots hit the yellow center area of the target.
“Daniel displayed everything you’d want a young man to show at the tournament,” Steuart said. “He had the poise of a determined archer, the form of a successful archer, and he was helpful to fellow competitors and the tournament staff. I am so proud of him. We all are.”
Terrier archery is a club sport offered at William Byrd for all students in the district– elementary, middle and high school. The club holds practices at WBHS on Sundays from 1:30-4 p.m.
“I hope what I’ve achieved will help our club become more successful and encourage more people to join,” Shelton said. “It is a fun extracurricular activity. It is a good skill to learn and the archery community is nice.”
For more information about participating in the Terrier archery program, contact Chris Steuart at 890-3090 or email at csteuart@rcs.k12.va.us.
