The Golden Hawk Archery Club will call Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman home today when they host their first ever tournament. Mid-Prairie has been off since shooting at Solon January 6th. The high school Hawks were team runners-up in 3D with Elijah Statler fourth for the boys and Averi Janecek ninth for the girls. They were fifth in team bullseye with Janecek 11th on the girls side and Statler 19th for the boys. The Mid-Prairie middle schoolers were fourth in bullseye and 3D at Solon. Kylar Kiefer was third in boys 3D, Lara Brenneman was eighth for the girls. In bullseye Gavin Luers was 10th for the boys and Skylar Swift 10th for the girls. The elementary Golden Hawks saw Claire O’Connor and David Popejoy place runner-up in 3D. In bullseye Blair Northup was eighth for the girls and Zander Copping ninth for the boys.
The Washington Demons will also compete today at Mid-Prairie. They hosted a home tournament for their last action on January 6th. The Washington high schoolers won the team bullseye and 3D championships. Ethen Mesch was the boys individual bullseye champion and Hannah Lipski was girls individual runner-up. In 3D, Jace Sanders was boys tournament champion and Gabrielle Andrew was girls runner-up. The Demon Middle School teams also swept the 3D and bullseye trophies. Zach Hotchkiss was boys individual champion in both contests, Eva Torres was girls bullseye champ and Charlee Read was the 3D winner. For the Lincoln Demons, Washington made it a clean sweep on the day, winning all team trophies. Individually, Addyson Neer won the girls championship and Carter Higdon was second for the boys in bullseye. In 3D, Addyson Neer completed the girls sweep and Kooper Barnes was the boys winner.
This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Kent Karnes talked with KCII Sports about what it takes to host an event like this. Karnes said, “This is our first home tournament, and that’s been one of our huge goals as an archery program. It takes a lot of people! Coordinator Casey Peck, all of the coaches, all of the kids will be helping to set up and tear down. We’ve also been getting help from the Washington program. It takes a lot of work! Janitors, Mid-Prairie Athletic Director Pete Cavanagh. It’s been a great journey. We’ve got six teams coming in. Should be a full round of kids. It’s a good chance to come out and see great archery without having to travel a long way. Come out and see what archery is all about!”
Joining the Hawks and Demons today are Eddyville-Blakesburg, Ottumwa, Solon, South Tama, and Vinton-Shellsburg. Action continues all day Saturday at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman.