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Last updated on Thursday, March 15, 2012
(LINTON) - For Jessica Dickinson, an activity in gym class has yielded the opportunity to participate in a state championship.
The Linton-Stockton Junior High School eighth grader will take her quill and bow and go after an archery state championship in Muncie Friday.
Dickinson earned the right to battle alongside the other 1,200 entrants after participating in the National Archery in the Schools Program according to teacher Jill Flater, who along with Carla Gambill coaches the team.
According to sports writer Rick Curl of the Greene County Daily World, Linton-Stockton Junior High School was represented by a handful of students at a recent National Archery in School Program state qualifying event at Graysville.
When the day was over Dickinson was the lone qualifier for Friday's event at Muncie.
"I was shocked," she said. "I just got into a pretty good rhythm. Now I just want to go up there and do my best."
Dickinson, who only started participating in the sport about three months ago, score 200 out of a possible 300 points.
That score placed her in the top 10 for her grade division and entitled her to head north for the competition.
The contest will include three rounds of five arrows each from a distance of 10 meters followed by three more rounds of five arrows from a 15 meter distance.
As for Dickinson, she plans to keep things as simple as possible.
"I'm just going to go up there and keep on doing what I've been doing," she said. "I'm just going to go and do my best."
While they didn't make the cut this year, 10 others also took part in the contest at RCA.
Devin Bernard, Matt Stefancik, Jayton Neal, Kevin Mesner, Darren Dickinson, Zach Bailey, Corianne Barnes, Tyler Siders, Sarah King and Dylan Kristler were all apart of the Linton contingent that went to Graysville.
Flater hopes this is just the first of many students to make the trip to the state competition. She also hopes it will be the last time they have to go it alone.
Next year she hopes to include other grades as well.
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