In just the second year of their program, the Whitesville Trinity High School archery team is building quite a resume.
With a handful of top finishes already earned this season, the Raiders are hoping to come out on top this weekend in the Scholastic 3D Archery (S3DA) High School State Archery tournament in London, Ky.
After placing third in their inaugural season, head coach Josh Payne and his team want to surpass last year’s state performance and eventually make it on the podium at the national archery tournament.
This year’s state tournament is set to take place Friday-Saturday, while the national tournament is set for July 11-13 in Metropolis, Ill.
“I would love to win a state title,” Payne said. “A school of 88 kids competing at the state level, I think that’s awesome.”
Most recently, Trinity claimed the team title at the Western Kentucky Archery Complex in Madisonville, where Clayton Rhodes and Brenden Wathen placed first and second individually.
In a school with only 88 students, Trinity managed to defeat several large school and club programs from all across western Kentucky.
Part of the quick success has been the high interest dating back to the founding of the program. With the entire school and parish community itching to create an archery program, Payne first approached Ben Morris, who was the school principal at the time.
The response was overwhelming, with 15 students joining the program in its first year.
“The turnout was great — there were a lot of people interested,” Payne said. “The kids really seem to enjoy it. It’s something that anyone can do regardless of size and athleticism.”
Payne said he’s received an outpour of support from the school community from the beginning.
“I get a lot of messages and comments from the community expressing their congratulations, or even just asking how we did,” Payne said.
According to Payne, archery is on the rise in the entire Daviess County community, and he credits much of that success to the other coaches in the area.
“When we went to nationals, there were more than 17 states represented,” he said. “Between Apollo, Daviess County (High School), the Owensboro Archery Club and us — there was someone represented on every podium in every class.”
“The coaches at OAC and Daviess County, they’ve helped me tremendously. Our program would not be where it is if not for their willingness to share their knowledge and help me get certified.”
With 17 athletes on this year’s roster, Payne iterated that none of this would be possible if not for the help of his assistant coaches Aaron Abbott, Al Wathen and Rodney Rhodes.
“My hats are off to them,” Payne said. “They help me tremendously.”
