Results

Madisonville, KY – UPIKE archery totaled eight medalist finishes and crowned a pair of conference champions at the 2021 MSC Indoor Championships over the weekend. The team tallied 75 points, breaking four school records along the way.

The three-day competition was the first event for the Bears of the 2020-21 season, and the debut of first-year head coach Ellie Yocum. UPIKE earned two gold medals, two silver, and four bronze to finish fourth out of ten teams. Cumberlands (KY) took the top spot with 174 points while Lindsey Wilson tallied 101 points for the runner-up spot. Union notched third place just above the Bears on the leaderboard with 98 points.

One of the weekend's top performers was junior AJ Clements who earned a conference title in the men's recurve event. The Glenville, GA native claimed the gold medal defeating both opponents in the bracket 6-0. Clements takes a place in the UPIKE record books, topping previous top marks set in both the 600 and 300.

The Bears' second gold medal victory came in the Mixed Recurve event where freshman Anastasia McFarland teamed up with Clements to defeat Cumberlands in the championship round. The MSC Championships served as the collegiate debut for McFarland who also grabbed a fourth-place finish in the women's recurve event, breaking a previous school record by 44 points.

UPIKE's Men's Barebow team earned a silver medal on the day as well, defeating Lindsey Wilson 5-3 to make it to the gold medal match. The team consisted of Mason Hess, Jacob Suffridge, and Andrew Blackburn was edged by Cumberlands in the championship round.

Catelynn McKnight, Brooke Fannin, and Emily Dendinger made up the Women's Bowhunter team which earned UPIKE their second silver medal of the day. The trio topped Lindsey Wilson 226-222 in the first round before falling to Cumberlands (KY) by just two in the final round, earning them the runner up spot. McKnight found success in individual competition as well, breaking her previous school record in the 600 and earning herself the bronze medal in the Women's Bowhunter bracket.

UPIKE tallied three bronze medals in mixed competitions, which feature a men's and women's player pair competing in their specific events. Mixed Barebow, consisting of Kayla Snyder and Suffridge who's qualifying score of 586 earned them the third place finish. In Mixed Bowhunter, the duo of Catelynn McKnight and Kirklin Newsome defeated Campbellsville 156-138 to claim the bronze. Anna Scarbrough and Evan Flores notched a third place finish in the Mixed Compound bracket, falling just shy of the silver medal 157-156 in the quarterfinals.

Yocum, who is the only female head archery coach in the state of Kentucky, was pleased with the weekend's performance. "Couldn't be more proud of this team," said Yocum, "After facing so many challenges this season, it was great to have the team back on the range. We're continuing to build and look forward to outdoor competition later this spring."

The Bears will hit the range next April 7-10^th for the USA Outdoor Regionals in Williamsburg, KY.