When archery competition begins this fall for Republic’s JROTC students, senior Maggie Mason will have high hopes — and for good reason. Mason has already seen success in national archery competitions over the past year.
Mason first became interested in archery during physical education classes at Republic, and she joined the JROTC program before she even knew about its archery program. When she found out about the archery competitions, she joined the team.
Mason competed at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) Eastern Nationals, the JROTC Eastern Bullseye Championship, and the 2023 NASP Open Championship during the spring, despite a rough start to the year.
“I’ve been pretty consistent since I started, and then the beginning of (last) year I was not very good. The scores were not really consistent,” she said. “I figured out what I was doing wrong, and I was like, ‘Oh, I can shoot a lot better than I thought I could.’ I was able to confidently shoot back-to-back personal records (PRs) in the last three competitions.”
At the NASP Eastern Nationals in Louisville, KY, Mason scored a 281 out of a possible 300. Her performance qualified her for the JROTC Eastern Bullseye Championship. There, she scored a 282, ranking second out of 85 girls who qualified for the event.
Mason’s score at the JROTC Eastern Bullseye Championship qualified her for the 2023 NASP Open Championship in Myrtle Beach, SC. The result was more than she expected — and more than she even knew was possible.
“When I qualified, I didn’t even know it was a thing. And then I was worried that my parents have been doing a lot for me within the last year, paying for a lot of things for me,” she said. But her family made it work, allowing her to attend the Open Championship with her dad.
Because she didn’t want the trip to end in disappointment, she practiced so much she had blisters and callouses on her fingers. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to score low at this competition when my parents have let me go so far,” she said.
And the practice paid off again when Mason scored a personal record of 283 in Myrtle Beach, ranking 48 out of 356 in the high school girls category. Mason ranked as the number-two girl archer from Missouri, out of 32 who qualified to be at Myrtle Beach. She missed the top spot by two points.
Her success has set her up with a lot more confidence.
“I know I can do it, so my goal is just to keep trying to get a new PR, maybe hit the 290s, because that would be really cool,” she said. She’s also looking into scholarships for archery in college, and she has already talked to three schools with relatively new programs about that possibility.
Mason’s journey from casual interest in archery to becoming a top national performer is an indication of her determination to succeed. She will aim to continue that success during one last year of competition as a senior.
