Chandler seventh-grader Caden Eyestone won an archery world championship last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
He competed at the National Archery in Schools Program national tournament and qualified for the world event, which we won.
He was one of four Chandler archers competing at the event, joining Annie Brannon, Lexi Martzall and Ashlyn Helm.
Eyestone had a bullseye score of 297 and a 3D score of 291, finishing in 1st place for Middle School Boys in bullseye, and 2nd place for Middle School Boys in 3D.
By finishing in the top 5 boys overall, he competed in the scholarship shoot off. He won the top scholarship award of $5,000.
Other prizes included arrows from Easton, a target from Morrell and a bow from Genesis.
“What was exciting about that is when you have a shoot off,” said Ty Rhoads, coach of the Chandler team.
“You shoot five arrows. Just the stress of that and that the other kid he was shooting against was a senior. So, it was incredible.”
Brannon had a bullseye score of 281 and a 3D score of 280. She finished 56th out of 275 in the high school girls in bullseye and 30 out of 158 in the high school girls in 3D. This places her in the top 20 percent in this World Championship.
Lexi Martzall placed 1st for Middle School Girls in the NASP Open with a score of 290. In the NASP World Championship, Lexi finished 13th out of 320 Middle School Girls in bullseye with a score of 285 and 8th out of 182 middle school girls in 3D with a score of 283.
Ashlyn Helm scored a 266 in 3D, which placed her 46th out of 182 middle school girls. In bullseye, Ashlyn’s score of 257 placed her in the top 50 percent of all middle school girls but 35 among 6th grade girls shooting. Rhoades was not able to go to Myrtle Beach with the team, but Coach Susan Morton was.
“You know, it was great. It felt like we were in a real tournament. It was a great experience for the kids competing against top archers in the state,” Morton said.