UNITY - Unity Composite High School has hosted an archery program for students for the past seven years. The program benefits from funding from the Unity Wildlife Federation.
Six student athletes travelled to Stettler, Alta. on Feb. 11 to compete at an archery event. Three of the six participants were Grade seven students and this was the first archery tournament they participated in.
Sebastian Lauinger, Grace Heck, Natalia Heck, Tate Pool, Hunter Ireland, and Ariana Welsch all did very well according to their coach, and UCHS teacher, Michelle Van De Meutter.
Results included:
- Sebastian Lauinger with a score of 280 (personal best) which was an overall boy’s rank of fourth out of 130.
- Grace Heck with a score of 254 (personal best) which was an overall girls rank of 29th out of 127.
- Natalia Heck with a score of 215 (personal best) which was an overall girls rank of 78th out of 127.
- Hunter Ireland with a score of 182 which was an overall boy’s rank of 105th out of 130.
- Ariana Welsch with a score of 179 which was an overall girls rank of 104th out of 127.
- Tate Pool with a score of 176 which was an overall boy’s rank of 110th out of 130.
UCHS student and archery member, Sebastian Lauinger, says of his experience, “I have been in school archery for two years including this year. I was drawn to school archery as I was introduced to archery when I was three years old, and I’ve always loved it. I’m currently in Grade 9 and i plan to continue with the school through to Grade 12.”,
Lauinger says his biggest take away from participation in the UCHS Archery program is to keep a clear, empty mind, and not get too hung up on one bad arrow, as well as not let any previous arrows affect the following shots.
Archery is the sport, or practise of sport, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, meaning bow. Historically archery has been used for hunting and in the early ages, combat. Robin Hood may be the most well-known archery athlete. Archery is now considered mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity.
Archery is considered a great physical activity as it takes energy and burns calories as well as tones and strengthens muscles in the arms and back.
