Skip to main content

Archery Team at Mississippi College Targets 2nd Season


Members of the Mississippi College archery team in 2015-16 include: Rebecca Spinks, Jared Letson, Parker Battista and Morgan Hamilton.

Parker Battista set an incredible pace as one of the best collegiate archers in the USA last season.

The Tallmadge, Ohio native is focused on achieving even bigger things ahead as Mississippi College’s archery team opens its second season.

With 16 archers on a bigger MC squad this fall, Battista returns as the No. 2 male collegiate archer in America. He joined some pretty talented teammates when it comes to squarely hitting their targets.

“Last year, we really turned some heads, but this year the team has taken practice and tournament goals up to a whole new level,” Battista says.

All of his teammates, “are putting in the hard work. I can’t wait to see it pay off later this year,” he says. “We are striving to not just hold our own in archery this year but to pursue excellence in the way we shoot arrows for Mississippi College.”

Whether Baptist-affiliated MC wins or loses in tournament competition, “we want to represent the school and Christ well by the way we shoot,” Parker says.

Before Battista fired arrows at outdoor targets in a wooded area in Jackson, he utilized a pair of binoculars to enhance his precision.

Mississippi College’s archery team travels to Marion, Illinois for a major tournament October 2-4. In coming months, MC prepares for its national indoor season (18 meters) in January and national outdoor season (54 yards) in April and May in Gainesville, Florida.

One of the fastest-growing sports among high schools and colleges across the nation, archery teams are surfacing everywhere. Following the lead of Mississippi College, there’s now an archery team at Mississippi State University. A number of community colleges and private schools are also making plans to join the ranks in the Magnolia State.

Jim Turcotte, MC vice president for enrollment services and dean of students, was impressed with the progress of the Choctaws archery team during its inaugural season. The MC squad received three major awards for “best new archer” or rookie of the year. “We had both men and women who were nationally competitive in both indoor and outdoor.”

Parker is joined by pretty competitive teammates, like Rebecca Spinks of Picayune, Jared Letson of Madison and Morgan Hamilton of Petal. Some on the MC squad come from states as far away as North Carolina.

Turcotte oversees MC’s outdoor programs – from archery to clay shooting, and from the equestrian team to bass fishing.

Mississippi College’s outdoors programs, he said, “seek to educate our students about conservation issues. It helps them develop lifetime skills in the outdoors.

MC and other schools competing around the nation share links with the U.S. Collegiate Archery Association.