Archery Team at Mississippi College Excels at National Championships

Mississippi College Archery team

Wrapping up its second season, Mississippi College’s archery team shined at the 2016 national championships.

Nine MC archers competed at the U.S. Outdoor Intercollegiate Archery National Championships in Chula Vista, California May 19-22.

Often hitting the mark with their bows and arrows, MC finished in 2^nd place in the men’s bowhunter division at the venue near San Diego. The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky claimed the No. 1 spot. The final score: 212 for the Patriots to 191 for the MC Choctaws.

Parker Battista of Talmadge, Ohio, Daniel Brickhouse of Mobile, Alabama, and Kai Wong of Clinton competed for the MC men in the division to earn silver medals.

In the women’s bowhunter division, Cumberlands tallied 204 points to 179 for the MC Lady Choctaws. Morgan Hamilton of Petal, Norkesia McGloster of Gastonia, North Carolina and Jessica Jasper of Brandon brought home silver medals for the MC women.

“Everyone shot great,” Battista said Wednesday. Beginning his senior year in August, he’s seen dramatic improvements for the Choctaws this past season. “We’ve ramped up practices this year,” he said. “We are way ahead of where we thought we would be.”

For top-notch college archers, taking much time away from practicing with bows and arrows isn’t a good thing. “If you take off you get behind,” Parker says. The 22-year-old Ohio native will continue to participate in archery tournaments over the summer. One of the trips will take him to Illinois.

Other archers participating for MC at the tournament at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in California included Caleb Davis of Brandon, Alexandria Selby of Atoka, Tennessee, and Natalie Timmer of Holland, Michigan.

Jim Turcotte, vice president for enrollment services and dean of students, praised the students for their super performances at the nationals. It can only translate into boosting student recruitment for the archery team in 2016-17, he says. “We look to add significantly to our talent for next year.”

Some outstanding archers live just a short drive from the Clinton campus. There are thousands of student archers competing at Mississippi high schools in metro Jackson and beyond.

The success of the Christian university’s program speaks volumes about the abilities of the team’s nationally recognized coach, Waldo Cleland. “We are very proud of our archery team and Coach Cleland,” Turcotte said. “These results are due to the hard work of our students and great coaching.”

In addition, Turcotte offered his congratulations to Morgan Hamilton, Jessica Jasper, Daniel Brickhouse and Parker Battista, who all were all selected to various All-American archery teams.

For more information on the MC archery team, contact Jim Turcotte at 601-925-3315 or turcotte@mc.edu