INDIANAPOLIS — Some of the best young archers in the state gathered Saturday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the DNR Law Enforcement Division of the National Archery in the Schools Program State Championship.
The gathering of high school, junior high, middle and even elementary school teams included 21 archers from the New Palestine Junior High School (NPJHS) team who qualified for the state finals for the first time ever. Officials with the program noted, that the NPJHS team has shown steady improvement under Coach Daniel Rittmeyer, who prepared the Dragons well for their first trip to the state’s biggest competition.
“It was a phenomenal experience,” Rittmeyer said. “There was so much work that everyone put in with all the practices and teamwork, so seeing the kids being able to put it all together and go compete at the state level and having that opportunity especially in the first few years of our team existence was really special.”
The team’s other coach, Michelle Bloomer, a gym teacher at NPJHS who introduced archery to the district, said the team had a tense but terrific day, finishing with their top team score of the season — 3,011 points. That was good enough for 30th place in their division out of 41 different middle school teams.
A DNR officer looks on during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NPJH archery team competes during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NPJH archery team’s arrows are stored during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NPJH archery coach Dale Rittmeyer gives encouragement during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NPJH archery team competes during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NPJH archery coach Dale Rittmeyer readies his team during the state archery contest held at the Indiana State fairgrounds. Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
“We improved by 9 points with a season high of 10s, and that’s not bad for our first time at state, so it was quite an event,” Bloomer said. “There were so many people and our students were wide-eyed and full of excitement with tons of nervous energy because it was a bigger stage than I think we even anticipated it would be.”
Each arrow shot can be a 10, if perfect. The NPJHS Archery Team ended up with a team high of 85 different 10s on the day.
Bloomer noted the massive, even grand atmosphere of the State Championship had a different feel then the other tournaments the team has competed in this year, and that was a good challenge for the Dragons.
“I know a few of our kids came away disappointed in their scores, but I’m confident they grew from the experience,” Bloomer said.
Of the 21 archers who competed at state, 15 achieved Academic Archer honors, a distinction awarded for excellence in classroom performance.
Eighth grade student, Liam Rittmeyer, the coach’s son led the way for the Dragons with a total of 275 points, including 13 different perfect 10 arrows. He ended up finishing 15th out of 167 boy eighth grade archers and finished 26th overall out of all the 506 middle school boys competing.
“I was surprised at that,” Liam said about how well he scored. “I thought I’d be a little bit in a lesser place.”
Still, Liam noted it was great competing at the state level for the first time ever.
“It was all about just focusing because I knew if I got stressed, and didn’t do things right, I would lose and not shoot as well as I did,” Liam said. “So I just took it as, ‘I’ll just have some fun and shoot well,’ and I did.”
Seventh grade student Emmett Popplewell was right behind Liam with a score of 274, including 10 different perfect arrows. That was good enough to finish 11th out of 177 different seventh grade boy archers. Overall, he finished 35th out of 506 middle school boys competing.
Eighth grader student Olivia Homer was the top girl archer for the Dragons with a score of 265 including 13 different perfect arrows. She finished 36th out of 152 eighth grade girl archers. Overall, she finished 74th out of 443 middle school girls competing.
Coach Rittmeyer noted due to the team scoring over 3,000 points, NPJHS has actually qualified for the Eastern National Tournament competition which will be held May 9-11 in Louisville, Kentucky. However, he won’t know for sure if the team will get to go until all other teams above them sign-up for the tournament.
“Not all the teams above us will end up going so there might be room for our team,” Rittmeyer said. “We’ll know more in April if we’ll get the chance to go, but our team score was good enough.”
In an effort to keep the momentum going with the program Rittmeyer noted he has plans to meet with New Palestine High School officials to establish an archery program at the next level. That would allow this year’s eighth grader archers, who’ve fallen in love with the sport to compete again next year at the high school level.
“The excitement and interest in the sport has grown throughout the year,” Rittmeyer said. “Even one of the girls who competed at the state tournament was upset, not because of her scores, but she made the comment, ‘I don’t want archery to be over,’ and it’s that type of excitement and passion that is great to hear the kids express.”
