DES MOINES — High school and middle school archers from across the state gathered at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Friday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 1, for the 2025 Iowa National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) State Tournament. Among over 2,000 competitors were the Solon High School and Solon Middle School teams with a second place finish for the High School squad in Bullseye (traditional target) and a new team record score of 3,377.
Archery is a highly disciplined sport where safety is paramount, and every move carefully orchestrated. Archers shoot one practice round at ten meters followed by three scoring rounds. Next comes a practice round at 15 meters followed by three scoring rounds. Each round consists of five arrows with 50 as the highest possible score per round and a perfect game being 300. Solon’s archers qualified in bullseye and 3-D (aiming at a replica of a deer).
Gwen LaGrange scored 286 and was fourth in 12th grade girls. William McAtee also shot 286 making him fifth in 9th grade boys. Owen Rekers’ 286 placed him seventh in 11th grade boys while Andi Billerbeck shot 283, good for seventh place in 12th grade girls. Peyton Carlson scored 282 for eighth place in 10th grade girls. Out of 56 teams in the state 34 qualified for State. L
aGrange shot 282 in 3-D for sixth place among 12th grade girls and Ashley Farnsworth shot 278 for fifth among 11th grade girls. 47 teams compete in 3-D with 29 qualifying for the State Tournament.
Solon’s Middle School team was 19th in bullseye with Leila LaRoche leading the way for the Spartans with 261, good for eighth place among 7th grade girls. Out of 61 middle school teams in Iowa 27 qualified for the State Tournament.
Six Spartans shot a perfect round (all five arrows hit the bullseye) – Otto Gehrke and Raelynn Hamer for the Middle School, and Andi Billerbeck, Peyton Carlson, Ashley Farnsworth, and Trevin Wilcox for the high school.
The Spartans’ performances qualified the teams for Nationals, to be held in Louisville, KY the second weekend of May.