Georgia Southern University Archery Team Brings Back National Champions

The Georgia Southern University Archery team finished their season off strong with several national champion wins at the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championships (USIAC) in Long Beach, California. “We practice four to five days a week for a couple hours each time. In addition, many of our archers have attended numerous tournaments to help them prepare for competitions like this one,” said Rachel Luoma, archery team member and a native of Martinez, Georgia. “These wins mean a lot to us; they are a culmination of hard work, dedication and perseverance to a sport we all love.” Daniel Allen placed first in male basic bow. Ashley Hayden placed first in female basic bow and earned Best New Female Basic Bow Archer. Rachel Luoma was fourth place in female basic bow. Allen and Hayden also won first place in basic bow mixed team while Allen and Luoma won first place for All-Academic and All-American basic bow categories. Luoma and Allen were given All-American honors by the U.S. Collegiate Archery and recognized as All-Academic Archery Team members, an award given to the top ten archers with a grade point average above 3.0. “Our club continues to make a name for Georgia Southern. We usually have one of the smaller teams at Collegiate Archery tournaments, but ours archers usually win many awards or finish high up in the rankings,” said Luoma. “Wins like these allow us to broadcast the University’s name and continue to make Georgia Southern proud.” The team defeated the University of California, California State University, Sonoma State University and Stanford for the win. More than 350 individuals participated in the competition.