Liberty University Club Sports
US Collegiate Archery Indoor Nationals
Archery team concludes indoor season at Nationals, Virginia Section at JMU
2/27/2023 5:35:54 PM | Archery
Liberty University’s archery team concluded its indoor season at the Virginia Section of the U.S. Collegiate Archery (USCA) Indoor Nationals, hosted by JMU in Harrisonburg, Va., from Feb. 17-19.
The Flames and Lady Flames performed well in the event and finished with four top-10 individual showings across the various divisions on Friday and Saturday.
Leading the pack for Liberty was sophomore Kayla Cassady, who placed third in women’s barebow with 894 total points.
Lady Flames senior Natasha Leininger (1031 points) and junior Lilah Hartman (1098) recorded fifth- and sixth-place finishes in women’s recurve and women’s compound open, respectively.
In the men’s compound open event, three Flames placed in the top 15, with junior Joel Barkley (1134) taking seventh, sophomore Levi Rodgers (1116) snagging 12th and junior Harry Rogish (1107) finishing 14th.
Junior Justin Lynn placed (1096) 13th in men’s fixed pins, with fellow Liberty junior Adam Gorsline (1066) firing a 14th-place total.
Sophomore AC Cook (733) finished in 15th place in women’s fixed pins to round out the Lady Flames’ scoring.
“We were up against some stiff competition,” Liberty Head Coach Jason Lynch said, noting that several members of the team did not compete due to illness and injury. “It’s a national competition, so all the colleges in the country are competing at this event in different venues. We showed up (and) we did our best.”
Following this competition, the team now transitions into its outdoor field archery season, with its first competition being the USA Archery Outdoor Regionals in late April.
Lynch stated that indoor competition helps prepare the team for the outdoor season because it increases the number of arrows each archer shoots in a day. While the Flames and Lady Flames typically shot 20-40 arrows a day in fall competition, the indoor nationals increased this number to 60 each day, for a total of 120 arrows per athlete.
The team will conclude the outdoor season at the 2023 Collegiate Target Nationals at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga., May 18-21.
By Christian Shields/Staff Writer
