TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple High School Air Force JROTC archery team will be well represented at the State Tournament after qualifying 17 students to compete in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) Texas State Championship next month.
Those students qualified for the State Tournament based on their performance at the Texas NASP State Qualifying Tournament in Mesquite at the end of January. The team was notified that the students had qualified for state earlier this week and the 17 students will be the first Temple High School JROTC archers to compete in the Texas State Championship.
The students qualifying to compete at state are Damien Acosta, Aiden Bibi, Angyl Bibi, Aiden Castillo, Fits Myguel Abuyabor Dajao, Reyna Davila, Jaxson Fraley, James Herrera, Cheyenne King, Katelynn Larson, La’Shaiyah Leverette, Tyra Ly, Kenneth O’Bar, Dayton Printup, Pika Saga, Winona Saga, and Zander Zambrano. All 17 THS team members who competed in the qualifying event will be advancing to the state competition and will be competing in the Texas State Championship March 20-21 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio.
The Temple HS JROTC archery team is in its first year of competition after forming late last school year. TSgt. Jesus Duque serves as the team’s coach and sponsor and used grant money to help expand the program this year after he saw how the students responded.
“This has been an experience because we just started this team. As much support as they have given me in starting something new, I felt like I had to give them as much as I could,” Duque said. “As much practice as I could give them, and as many tournaments as I could give them to get them ready for competition. We had our fingers crossed the whole way and now here we are, going to state.”
“I am a little nervous about going to state, but I am also really excited that we qualified,” O’Bar, a junior at THS said. “I didn’t really expect that we would make it to state, but I am really happy that we did.”
The students came to the team with different skill levels and abilities, but they say they have grown as individuals and as a team over the course of the year. They say the trip to the state tournament is a nice reward for the work they have put in this year and look forward to another opportunity to compete.
“My instructor was telling me that I had a lot of potential and have gotten a lot better this year,” Dajao, a sophomore at THS said. “I felt like I could have done better at the qualifier. When we first started, I could barely make the target and barely made the team. Now, I am scoring in the top three, so I have really high expectations for myself, even if I didn’t expect to be here.”
“I really happy to be able to go to state,” added Davila, a THS junior. “I thought the idea of the archery team sounded really fun, so I wanted to be a part of it. I felt like my score could have been better, so I plan to practice more and be more patient going into the state tournament.”
Winona Saga is one of the seniors on the team and feels good about making history as one of the program’s first state qualifiers. She also hopes the team’s fast success will lead to even bigger things for both the archery team and Temple HS JROTC.
“I am very proud of myself and my team,” Saga said. “I wanted to try something new since we just started this program thanks to Sgt. Duque. I am proud of this team and hoping to do my best at the state tournament.”
Growth of the JROTC program was one of Duque’s goals in starting the archery team, but he has also seen other benefits. The students have continued to improve their archery skills, but Duque has also seen the students learn and grow in ways beyond the competition.
“Commitment, responsibility, looking out for one another, helping one another,” Duque added. “They are learning the attributes and abilities of leadership. Being there for each other and looking out for each other so they can advance together. I have seen them grow, not just in their abilities, but as a way they can be more involved in the corps.”
More than 5,000 students representing approximately 200 schools are expected to compete in the NASP Texas State Championship. The top performing teams and individuals at the Texas State Championship will qualify to advance to NASP US Western Nationals in Sandy, Utah in April.