Pelion Elementary’s archery team wins national championship
Team places first in bullseye, 3D competitions

School Name: Pelion Elementary School, Pelion, S.C.

Event Name: National Archery in Schools Program Open Championship 

Photo and Video Resources: You can find photos of the team at the national competition, video of the team practicing, and prior interviews here. 

Event Description and Background Information: The annual NASP Open Championship was held in Louisville, Kentucky, from June 23–25. Lexington County School District One’s Pelion Elementary archery team won both the bullseye and 3D national titles, scoring 3,197 in bullseye and 1,623 in 3D. 

Bullseye is when archers shoot for the target, and 3D archery is when archers shoot at a 3 dimensional target that looks like an animal. 

The PES team consists of 23 students and coaches Colby Coulter, Cassie Boatwright and Nicole Shumpert. 

To earn a spot in the national competition, the team traveled to Kentucky in May for the eastern division qualifying tournament. In that qualifier, they placed sixth in the bullseye competition and 11th in the 3D competition, out of nearly 130 elementary schools. 

They returned for the national championship to compete against 24-total eastern and western division qualifying teams.

Two individual archers also placed in the Top 5. Third Grader Paisley Hinkle placed 3rd in the 3D competition, and Ruby Salcedo placed 4th in the 3D competition. Both girls were already state title holders as Hinkle won the South Carolina bullseye competition, and Salcedo won the 3D competition in April. 

In April, Pelion Elementary also won the state competition, along with Carolina Springs Middle School and White Knoll High School – a sweep for Lexington District One schools.