Kingston Elementary School in Benton captured the elementary national championship in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP®) National Tournament held in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 10-12.
 
It is the third time a Louisiana school has won a national title. Benton Middle School won the first in 2016, taking the middle school national championship. Benton Elementary won last year’s championship over 179 other schools. Kingston took home this year’s championship over 171 other elementary schools.
 
Kingston also finished fourth in the NASP®/IBO 3-D championship. Kingston Elementary and other Louisiana schools taking part in the NASP® National Tournament are part of the Archery in Louisiana Schools Program (ALAS), administered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
 
Benton Elementary School, located seven miles from Kingston Elementary, placed third in bullseye and second in 3-D.
 
In the middle school division, Haughton Middle School brought home the second place trophy with a score of 3,420. Benton Middle School finished third out of 255 middle schools with a score of 3,403. Haughton Middle also brought home second place in the NASP®/IBO 3-D championship. Benton Middle School finished third in the 3-D tournament. 
 
Case Smith of Northwood High School won the elementary individual championship with a score of 292 in the 3-D championship. Case beat out 597 other male archers. Aiden Jones had another great year. Jones finished as the middle school champion in the 3-D tournament. Jones beat 919 other male archers to take the top spot.
 
Tyler Pope from Benton Elementary finished second in the 3-D tournament for elementary boys.
 
Brailey Bishop of Benton Middle School finished second in the bullseye competition out of 2,644 female archers in the middle school division. Bishop shot a 295 to take the second spot. Taylor Bourn of Haughton Middle School took a spot in the top five female archers in her division with a score of 293.
  
Other top ten finishers for Louisiana included: Matthew Hollis, Haughton Middle School, ninth place middle school in bullseye; Tyler Pope, Benton Elementary School, sixth place elementary in bullseye; Spencer Campbell, Kingston, eighth place elementary in bullseye; Jackson Vickers, Kingston, 10th place elementary in bullseye; Emma Greer, Ball Elementary, sixth place elementary in bullseye; Gilliana Gonzalez, Kingston, eighth place elementary in bullseye; Mason Hicks, Benton Elementary, 10th place elementary in 3-D; Anna Young, Benton Elementary, eighth place elementary girls in 3-D.
 
Joe Kirchoff, assistant coach for Haughton Middle School, won the Super Hero Award, given to recognize an unpaid volunteer who makes an outstanding positive impact on their NASP® program or team. This award is part of the On Target for Life Awards and Recognition program. 
 
A total of 14,139 archers from across the U.S. competed in the 2018 National Tournament, including 220 from 14 Louisiana schools. Louisiana archers earned the opportunity to attend the NASP National Tournament by qualifying at the ALAS State Tournament in Shreveport in March. To see all scores from the NASP National Tournament visit www.nasptournaments.org.
 
LDWF would like to congratulate all Louisiana student archers and coaches who competed at the NASP National Tournament.  Many of these students will move on to compete at the NASP World Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 7-9.
 
The ALAS Program is part of NASP, designed to teach students in grades 4-12 international target style archery. The NASP/IBO 3-D program features students shooting life-like 3-D animal targets with the same equipment used in the NASP program. The ALAS/NASP program is available to all schools in Louisiana and grants are available to assist with funding. 
 
For more information on the ALAS program, contact Chad Moore at cmoore@wlf.la.gov or 318-230-4352.