JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The National Archery in the Schools Program, 2019 Missouri NASP state tournament was held March 22-24 at the Branson Convention Center and drew more than 3,200 student archers in grades 4-12 from 170 schools across the state. The state archery tournament was sponsored and coordinated by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation (MCHF).

Student archers who shot qualifying scores at the state tournament will earn spots at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) national tournament May 9-11 in Louisville, Ky.

Among those moving on to the national tournament were top overall archers Madison Genge and Donald Holupka both from Hillsboro High School. Genge shot a 295 out of 300 and Holupka shot a 294 out of 300 in the MoNASP Bullseye Tournament.

George Guffey Elementary once again continued its winning streak by winning the team division again this year.

“Congratulations to George Guffey Elementary for winning their team division in elementary for the eleventh straight year,” MDC MoNASP Coordinator Eric Edwards said. “We have had eleven state tournaments and they’ve won every one of them, which is a tremendous achievement.”

MoNASP is coordinated through MDC, MCHF, and the Conservation Federation of Missouri in partnership with more than 700 participating schools and numerous supporting organizations throughout the state. More than 200,000 Missouri students participate in the program. MoNASP is an affiliate of NASP and promotes education, self-esteem, and physical activity for students in grades 4-12 through participation in the sport of archery. Statistics show that school archery programs improve participants’ school attendance, increase their self-esteem and physical activity, help them relate to subject matter, and help get kids outside.

Learn more about MoNASP from MDC at nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/teacher-portal/monasp.

“The tournament has seen tremendous growth over the past decade and is now the second largest state archery tournament in the nation after Kentucky,” said Edwards. “More than 25,000 student archers from 200 schools around the state competed this past winter in local archery tournaments with the hope of qualifying for one of the 3,300 spots at the state tournament. The growth of the Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program has been tremendous, and this surge has led students outdoors with their families to participate in this lifetime sport.”

Students in the bullseye portion of the tournament shoot at international style archery targets with the traditional different colored rings which represent point values for 0-10. All archers shoot 3 scoring ends of five arrows each at both 10 and 15 meters, for a possible total of 300 points. In the 3D portion archers shoot at life sized 3D renditions of North American game animals, the big difference is that the six 3D targets are set at unknown distances. Each archer will have 5 arrows for each target trying to place them all in the scoring rings for a possible perfect score of 300.

In addition to the more than 3,000 student archers who competed in the state tournament and 3D tournament on Friday and Saturday, almost 100 more competed in the ASPIRE MoNASP tournament on Sunday. This special tournament was for students who were not able to secure positions at the state tournament. These students from across the state competed against one another, but their scores do not qualify them for national competition.

More than 14,000 supporters attended the weekend event, which also offered fun activities such as catch-and-release fishing, archery games, air-rifle ranges, and more.

Bullseye Tournament Top Scores

High School Division

1st: Carl Junction High School

2nd: Sarcoxie High School

3rd: Hillsboro High School 

Middle School Division

1st: Hillsboro Junior High School

2nd: Summit Lakes Middle School

3rd: Carl Junction Middle School

Elementary School Division

1st: George Guffey Elementary

2nd: Trinity Lutheran School

3rd: Meramec Heights Elementary

Individual High School Males

1st: Donald Holupka, Hillsboro High School

2nd: Gage Weist, Sarcoxie High School

3rd: Stetson Wiss, Lamar High School

4th: Dylan Heckmaster, Sarcoxie High School

5th: Hayden Lawson, Clinton High School

Individual High School Females

1st: Madison Genge, Hillsboro High School

2nd: Ivy Walton, Carl Junction High School

3rd: Kamryn Twehus, Blair Oaks High School

4th: Meaghan Frank, Fatima High School

5th: Summer Walters, Sarcoxie High School

Individual Middle School Males

1st: Koen Littlejohn, Lamar Middle School

2nd: Klint Luebbering, St. Thomas the Apostle

3rd: Kannon Talken, Saint Francis Xavier

4th: Dylan Pinson, Seckman Middle School

5th: Sammy Zamora, Sarcoxie Middle School

Individual Middle School Females

1st: Eleri Tye, Summit Lakes Middle School

2nd: Peyton Talley, Carl Junction Middle School

3rd: Manasi Tripathi, Sperreng Middle School

4th: Brooke-Lynn Merkle, Hillsboro Junior High School

5th: Alan McDonald, St. Andrew School

Individual Elementary School Males

1st: Luke Angerer, Trinity Lutheran School

2nd: Colten Scheulen, St. Joseph Catholic School Westphalia

3rd: Owen Vaught, Crane Elementary

4th: Mason Shumate, Clinton Intermediate

5th: Mason Cook, George Guffey Elementary

Individual Elementary School Females

1st: Jessie Jiang, George Guffey Elementary

2nd: Sydney King, Trinity Lutheran School

3rd: Tam Tran, George Guffey Elementary

4th: Kylie Hoeller-Rademan, St. Thomas the Apostle

5th: Mallory McDonnell, St. Elizabeth R-4

Get all bullseye tournament results at https://nasptournaments.org/TournamentDetail.aspx?tid=4659.

3D Tournament Top Scores

High School Division

1st: Sarcoxie High School

2nd: Hillsboro High School

3rd: Carl Junction High School

Middle School Division

1st: Carl Junction Middle School

2nd: St. Stanislaus

3rd: Hillsboro Junior High School

Elementary School Division

1st: Trinity Lutheran School

2nd: Compass Elementary School

3rd: Carl Junction Elementary

Individual High School Males

1st: James Filbeck, Sarcoxie High School

2nd: Donald Holupka, Hillsboro High School

3rd: Stetson Wiss, Lamar High School

4th: Gage Weist, Sarcoxie High School

5th: Dylan Heckmaster, Sarcoxie High School

Individual High School Females

1st: Carly Herget, Hillsboro High School

2nd: Kamryn Twehus, Blair Oaks High School

3rd: Summer Walters, Sarcoxie High School

4th: Ivy Walton, Carl Junction High School

5th: Mariana Nelson, Carl Junction High School

Individual Middle School Males

1st: Koen Littlejohn, Lamar Middle School

2nd: Cody Berhorst, St. Joseph Catholic School Westphalia

3rd: Peyton Willeford, Hillsboro Junior High School

4th: Mathew Johnson, Trinity Lutheran School

5th: Trevor Wayne Cantrell, Carl Junction Middle School

Individual Middle School Females

1st: Jenna Dick, Platte City Middle School

2nd: Avery Doerhoff, St. Stanislaus

3rd: Alison Forbis, St. Francis Xavier

4th: Allison Crewse, Mountain Grove R-3

5th: Madison Verslues, St Stanislaus

Individual Elementary School Males

1st: Luke Angerer, Trinity Lutheran School

2nd: Colten Scheulen, St. Joseph Catholic School Westphalia

3rd: Brooks Hall, Compass Elementary School

4th: Brady Anderson, Mountain Grove R-3

5th: Bridger Markway, St. Stanislaus

Individual Elementary School Females

1st: Sydney King, Trinity Lutheran School

2nd: Linley Pleus, Saint Francis Xavier

3rd: Alyson Thessen, Saint Francis Xavier

4th: AnnaJo Hill, Trinity Lutheran School

5th: Lauren Brooks, Sarcoxie Elementary

Get all 3D tournament results at https://nasptournaments.org/TournamentDetail.aspx?tid=4660.