Emanuel County 4-H’ers were busy this past weekend with archery competitions.
The team first took aim at the Georgia 4-H State Indoor Archery Championship held January 22 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.
Twenty-three Emanuel County 4-H archery team members competed in four divisions: Cloverleaf Compound for students in grades 4 through 6, Junior Recurve and Junior Compound for seventh and eight graders, Senior Compound for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and Cloverleaf Novice, which is limited to recurve or universal draw length compound bows that do not have a positive draw stop or let-off.
Several local youth placed well in the competition of more than 600 4-H archers.
In the Cloverleaf Male Compound Division, Ethan Mason placed 14th out of 175 archers. Journi Morris placed 10th in Junior Female Recurve. Paxton Dixon placed 10th in Junior Male Compound, Cooper Riner placed 12th, Maddox Robertson was 18th, and Sam Williams placed 24th of 66 competitors. In the Senior Female Compound Division, Greenlee Johnson placed 14th out of 41 archers. Thai Thompson placed 11th in the Senior Male Compound Division made up of 71 shooters.
The archery team also held its annual county match Sunday, January 23, at the Emanuel County Livestock Barn. Winners in the Cloverleaf Compound Division were: Loralee Scarboro, first place; Edyn Henry, second place; and Addi Rae Robertson, third place. The Cloverleaf Compound Division was won by Ethan Mason with Noah Brantley, Tate Torpy, and Sam Lawrence rounding out the class. Maddox Robertson was the high archer in the Junior Compound Division with Cooper Riner, Paxton Dixon, and Sam Williams placing behind him.
Thai Thompson was overall male high medalist as well as the first place winner in the Senior Compound Division. He was followed by Jack Williams (second) and Greenlee Johnson (third) who also placed as overall high female medalist.
Other archery team members competing this season were Adalyn Akridge, Lizzie Bowman, Adrienne Garrett, Slade Hicks, Sadie Holden, Jay Johnson, Dicey Lane, Eli Lane, Jacob Lewis, Spencer Lawrence, Jonah Morton, Lauren Sapp, Kaylee Screws, Abi Torpy, and Bowen Ware.
The archery program is a part of the Georgia 4-H Shooting Awareness, Fun and Education Program (S.A.F.E.). The teams were coached by 4-H Volunteers Brad and T’Neil Williams, Chesley Dixon, Steven Johnson, and Cliff Mason.
4-H is the youth program of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. For more information about this program or other 4-H activities in Emanuel County, contact the local UGA Cooperative Extension Service at 478-237-1226 or visit the office located at 129 North Anderson Drive in Swainsboro.