Local students place among top national archers

Anna Reinkemeyer, 17, practices her archery Friday, May 19, 2017 at her home in Linn, Mo. Reinkemeyer has been shooting for three years and tentatively plans on continuing in college.
Anna Reinkemeyer, 17, practices her archery Friday, May 19, 2017 at her home in Linn, Mo. Reinkemeyer has been shooting for three years and tentatively plans on continuing in college.

Some Mid-Missouri archers can put impressive results at national competitions into their quivers.

Helias High School junior Anna Reinkemeyer placed third on the 10/15-meter range at the National Archery in the Schools Program's (NASP) national competitions May 11-13 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Reinkemeyer placed third among 2,150 high school girls, the 510 11th-grade girls and among 6,762 girls overall - this from someone who picked up a bow for the first time three years ago.

"I didn't start out good," she said of a skill which didn't come naturally to her. By her sophomore year though, she shot a score of 291 - 12 points higher than her personal best at the time.

She shot a 296 at nationals this year - her third time there.

"Someone told me that year I could win state," she said of the moment she topped her personal best. She made winning state her goal, and this year finished second out of 72 11th-grade girls there.

"I'd like to win next year," she said.

Blair Oaks freshman Kamryn Twehus shot a 294 to place first out of 641 girls in her grade and sixth among the 2,150 high school girls and 6,762 overall on the 10/15-meter range at nationals.

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Cole Sandbothe, who just graduated from Blair Oaks High School, placed fourth of 130 12th-grade boys in the IBO 3-D Challenge at nationals. Sandbothe also placed seventh of 729 high school boys and eighth of 2,224 boys overall. He shot 295.

The 3-D archery competition is different than the classic, colored bulls-eye targets many people may visualize. The 3-D targets are molded onto the sides of foam models of game animals like deer, turkeys and bighorn sheep.

Both Blair Oaks students said they got their start with a bow in hunting; Reinkemeyer hunts, too, but not with a bow.

Sandbothe has been shooting with a bow since he was 7 years old, and Twehus has been shooting a compound bow at home for a couple years.

"It takes a lot of practice," Sandbothe said. "It doesn't just happen overnight."

Reinkemeyer usually practices every day - half an hour to an hour at home in addition to team practice in the mornings during the school year. Usually it's just her, but sometimes her dad videotapes her so she can self-critique her form and technique.

Twehus said trying to beat one's own best is good motivation. She and Sandbothe said they practice a few times a week.

Blair Oaks' archery team is in its first year. This year was Twehus' first year at nationals. It was Sandbothe's fourth after going three times with St. Stanislaus School's team; he said this year's results are his best so far.

Both hope to go to NASP's World Tournament in Orlando, Florida, in July.

Reinkemeyer said she doesn't have time to go to a world tournament or to all-American tournaments. She said she's not really thinking about competition in the Olympics, either.

Archery isn't everything for her; relationships are what matters to her most out of what's gotten from archery. "I've met a lot of new people through it," Reinkemeyer said.

"If I can get a scholarship to a college with an animal sciences program, I'll do it in college," she said. She wants to become a veterinarian of large and small animals - "definitely horses" - and that's what she wants to focus on.

Sandbothe doesn't expect to compete on a team in college, although he might compete as an individual if he has time.

"I plan to keep doing it," Twehus said.

All three students see archery as a lifelong activity.

Sandbothe said it's a good way to "show yourself what you can do."

"It's more fun than you would think," he added.

"It's cool to be able to look at a target 15 meters away and be able to put an arrow through it. It's a cool feeling," Reinkemeyer said.