Hitting the Bullseye: Pelion Elementary Archers aim high, winning two national championships

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Some talented students in Pelion - just brought home some big-time honors in a national competition, and you could say they are taking aim at their dreams.

At the annual National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) Open Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, the archery team at Pelion Elementary School recently won the bullseye and 3D national titles.

Nicole Shumpert, one of coaches described how her team pulled off the impressive feat.

“The amount of dedication it took for them to reach a national level- was unbelievable. And their hard work and practice paid off greatly.”

The team let us in on a practice session, where these 4th and 5th grade girls hit their targets with ease and precision.

Paisley Montgomery, one of the archers said it comes down to thinking positive. She says she is excited for practice and visualizes success.

“I’m always thinking to myself, ‘Ok I’m going to shoot a 50 today.”

Archery takes quite a bit of focus and performing at a high level carries its share of pressure.

“To see the amount of pressure they have on themselves and how they can overcome that pressure is something that’s really amazing.” Shumpert said.

And they put in the work. Tori Mosteller, the mother of one of the girls on the team said her daughter Gracie is constantly practicing her craft.

“Even after dark- she’s like, hey Mom…cut on the big outside light. And she’ll practice more. It’s been pretty amazing to watch her come out of her shell.”

Shumpert says some of the girls are the best on the entire team.

“For a girl in this sport- a lot of times they are outshooting the boys on our team. "

Gracie Mosteller agrees.

“Normally boys would say that girls are worse than boys at everything. But I’m pretty sure we just proved that wrong.”

Lessons learned- as young girls, that will last a lifetime.

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