Students

Right on target: ASU archery team wins at national competition

The six-person team brought home the gold at the National Outdoor Collegiate Championships.

By Bryan Pietsch

2018-08-07

ASU’s archery team brought home the gold at the National Outdoor Collegiate Championships earlier this summer.

The six-person team entered three archers into the May 17 competition, including two W. P. Carey students: sophomore Molly Nugent and senior Nathan Yamaguchi, both marketing majors.

Yamaguchi says that although the team is small compared with other schools from around the country, they keep up when it comes to scores. “What we lack in numbers, we make up for in quality,” he says.

Nugent and Yamaguchi won gold in the mixed recurve category, named for the mixed-gender teams and the shape of the bow. Yamaguchi also won bronze in the male recurve category.

In overall individual qualifying scores throughout the tournament, Yamaguchi placed second and Nugent fourth.

The team did well despite scattered storms at the tournament, which was held in Newberry, Florida. And getting to connect with fellow archers is a unique experience.

“Many of the competitors you will meet again and again, so you get to know so many people from around the country and around the world,” Nugent says. “I like the fact that we’re such a tight-knit group because someone is always willing to lend a hand.”

For Yamaguchi, college archery has given him the chance to fall back in love with the sport. After practicing at the Olympic training center, he says the sport began to feel more like a job.

“Being able to compete with people who shoot purely for the love of the sport is something that really changed the way that I view competitions,” Yamaguchi says. “I’m having more fun now than I ever had before.”

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