INA, Ill. (October 18, 2023)—RLC's Archery team starts the season off strong with one of their athletes bringing home a national championship title in 3D Archery.
The team is made up of 4 returning players and 5 incoming freshmen.
Returning players are Drake Barnett (Carmi), Bryce Bieber (Tower Hill), Paige McKittrick (Cowden), and Donovan Thomas (Patoka).
New players are Andrew Hubbs (Ridgeway), Mallory Settles (Elizabethtown), Ava Deavenport (Dahlgren), Ben Herron (West Frankfort), and Braden Schmittel (Dolores, CO).
Head Archery Coach Donnie Millenbine said that he's extremely impressed by the talent of all the new players. They're dedication towards the sport has motivated the entire team to practice harder and improve their abilities with every match.
In one of the two matches they have performed at thus far this season, Hubbs returned home a National Champion. In Foley, Alabama at the USA Archery match, an affiliated organization of RLC, Hubbs placed First in the 3 qualification rounds with a 2-point lead. He made it to the Top 3 shooters in the 3D Archery division in a 3-target pressure shoot-off. He maintained his First-place lead and came back to RLC a National Champion in 3D Archery.
"Going into it, I was not expecting to win. I was just there to have fun," Hubbs said. "But after the first qualification round, I thought there was a chance I could really go somewhere with this. It just ended up happening for…I still can't believe it."
Hubbs decided to come to RLC because he heard it was a friendly place to attend school. He has made a lot of friends so far and he really enjoys the team dynamic.
"It's been a great experience," he said. "I hope to form a tighter bond with my teammates, and by the end of the season I hope we can bring home a National Championship as a team."
Overall, at the USA Archery match, the RLC Archery team placed 10th out of 32 schools and were the only Junior College team to place that high.
Millenbine is not only impressed by the athletic talent of the team, but the academic talent as well. He said that they all excel in their grades and has no doubt that if they keep up they great work, they could be honored by Academic All-Americans, a national program that recognizes outstanding student-athletes.
Individually, and collectively, he wants to see everyone slowly improve upon their scores and get better and better each match.
RLC would like to extend their deepest gratitude towards Banterra for donating $1 million to The Game Plan, the largest sponsorship agreement in RLC history.
Construction on The Banterra Sports Complex is estimated to start in Fall 2024.
