Over 600 Youth Archers to Compete at Johnston High School

Over six hundred youth will be competing in the archery competition of the 2015 Winter Iowa Games powered by the Iowa Food & Family Project.  Partnering with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the event will take place Saturday, Jan. 31 at Johnston High School and Middle School.

Archers will begin their first flight at 8:00 a.m. and continue shooting throughout the day concluding at 4:00 p.m. Students will compete both on the individual and team level.  Teams from Atlantic, Central Decatur, Mount Ayr, Spencer and several central Iowa schools will be participating.

The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) in Iowa is coordinated through the Iowa DNR. Currently there are nearly 200 Iowa schools participating in the program.

The Iowa Games added the archery competition to the docket of sports in 2011 and the event continues to grow.  In 2011, the event was held in Central City and had 67 participants.  This year with a total of 619 archers from 24 schools, the event will break the previous record set in 2014 by 2 participants.

The follow schools will be competing at the event:  Atlantic High School; Bergman Academy (Des Moines); Blakesburg Elementary; Cardinal Community Schools; Central Decatur Elementary, Middle School and High School; Diagonal Maroons Archery; East Union Schools; Eddyville Blakesburg Junior High and High School, Eddyville Elementary, Fremont Elementary; Indian Hills Junior High School (West Des Moines/Clive); Iowa Christian Academy (West Des Moines); Johnston High School; Jordan Creek Elementary (West Des Moines); Madrid Community Schools; Mount Ayr Community Schools; North Mahaska Community School (New Sharon); Solon Community Schools; Spencer High School; Stillwell Junior High School (West Des Moines) and Valley High School (West Des Moines).

The Iowa Games archery competition in both winter and summer continue to grow with the national and international presence of Iowa archers like 2013 Iowa Games male athlete of the year, Bridger Deaton (Otley), Miranda Leek (West Des Moines) and Matt Stutzman (Richland).

The 2015 Games kicked off in late January and will continue through February.  Over the course of four weekends, the Winter Iowa Games will hold competitions for 25 sports in 17 different communities.

To learn more about the Winter Iowa Games, visit www.iowagames.org.