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Archery tournament draws record entry
LOUISVILLE, Ky., (UPI) -- More than 7,000 school-aged competitors gathered in a Louisville, Ky., archery tournament in what organizers called a world record turnout.
Teams from 34 states -- 414 in all -- were attending the national tournament of the National Archery in the Schools Program Saturday, the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal reported Saturday.
The program, started in Kentucky schools in 2002, has spread to 46 states, five countries and involves 1.5 million students in grades 4-12, the newspaper said.
The president of the national organization said he was "awestruck" by the program's growth.
"We were trying to figure out a way to get kids off the couch and outside," Roy Grimes, a former Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources deputy commissioner, said.
Jessie Bullard, 15, and her family drove all night from Oklahoma to participate in the tournament.
Jessie is the Oklahoma girls high school state champion.
"It's nerve wracking, but it's fun just to come out here and see how you do against the other best archers in the nation," she said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky., (UPI) -- More than 7,000 school-aged competitors gathered in a Louisville, Ky., archery tournament in what organizers called a world record turnout.
Teams from 34 states -- 414 in all -- were attending the national tournament of the National Archery in the Schools Program Saturday, the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal reported Saturday.
The program, started in Kentucky schools in 2002, has spread to 46 states, five countries and involves 1.5 million students in grades 4-12, the newspaper said.
The president of the national organization said he was "awestruck" by the program's growth.
"We were trying to figure out a way to get kids off the couch and outside," Roy Grimes, a former Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources deputy commissioner, said.
Jessie Bullard, 15, and her family drove all night from Oklahoma to participate in the tournament.
Jessie is the Oklahoma girls high school state champion.
"It's nerve wracking, but it's fun just to come out here and see how you do against the other best archers in the nation," she said.
