First posting: 5:30 p.m. Friday

After nine hours on the road, St. Mary's archery team has made it to Louisville, Ky.

The ride was smooth and uneventful, and all kids are healthy and accounted for (that's for you, parents). See a photo gallery here.

As of 5:15 p.m., the kids are settling into their rooms on the fourth floor of the Best Western. Some are disappointed since the outdoor pool is empty, others are disappointed they don't have their skateboards for skating in the pool. It's for the best --- they'll start practicing shooting in the conference room at the hotel after dinner. Pizza. 7 o'clock.

We left at 8 a.m. from St. Mary School. About four hours later we were greeted at the Indiana border with fireworks shops, road construction and $3.79 gasoline. Some kids let out joyous laughs as we passed a tobacco outlet, "The Butt Hut." It was apparent a break was needed.

We pulled over at a rest stop and lunch was Subway sandwiches and Doritos. It was a nice break, giving everyone a chance to take in the lush green trees. We took a group photo under an apple tree in full bloom.

Traveling on I-69, we kept watch out for the five tall crosses marking the site of the April 2006 crash which took five lives and led to the misidentification of Whitney Cerak. We never saw those crosses, but the accident and those involved were certainly in our thoughts.

It began to rain somewhere near Seymour, Ind. The bus was pretty quiet for a time, as the kids and chaperones rested for a big weekend ahead. St. Mary's archers are up against some 3,000 other shooters from around the country.

Just before we rolled into Louisville, I took an opportunity to talk to each member of the team and ask what their hopes for national competition were. Their comments can be found below.

I'd like to thank our driver, who got us here safe, sound and timely.

Keep checking this site for updates and photos as the trip progresses. Photo gallery

--Chris Engle, Gaylord Herald Times

As the bus rolled into Louisville, St. Mary's archery team members were asked -- in order from the back of the bus, to the front -- why they are participating in the archery program; and what their hopes for Saturday's national tournament are. Here's what they had to say:

• Chris Churches, junior: "I like to hunt, and archery is a hobby of mine. I don't have high hopes for nationals, but I'll do my best."

• Caleb Libke, senior: "I took archery because it was one last opportunity before school ends. I hope to win something."

• Alvin Sitkiewicz, senior: "I'm a really big bowhunter, and archery comes easy. I hope the team places in the top-30."

• Nick Sides, sophomore: "I like bowhunting, it's a hobby of mine. I hope to do good at competition and not freak out."

• Austin Lawnichak, junior: "I started shooting in gym class and I found out I was prety good at it. We're gonna come out on top, be number one."

• Matt Topp, senior: "I like to bowhunt. Tomorrow I'll just do good and have fun."

• Brett Bauer, senior: "It's a day off school. We're number one."

• Kolin Smith, senior: "Archery was a good opportunity to take advantage of. Tomorrow I hope to do good and have fun."

• Reuben Marquard, senior: "I did archery in gym and I stuck with it. I hope we place in the top-20."

• Jayne Hagedorn, sophomore: "Archery's fun. Hopefully we do really well tomorrow."

• Nicole Blanzy, sophomore: "This is another way of competing in a sport I love. Hopefully we'll do good."

• Sarah Topp, junior: "Archery's something new to try. I hope we do really good."

• Nick Purgiel, junior: "It's available, and it's pretty cool. I'm optimistic it will go well tomorrow."

• Quinn Marquard, 8th grade: "Ever since I started shooting I've liked it. We're gonna do good tomorrow."

• Josh Dobrzelewski, freshman: "May as well take advantage of it when it's at school. We're gonna kick butt."

• Justin Klee, freshman: "I love hunting and the outdoors. Tomorrow I'm hoping for a good turnout."

• Justin Rutkowski, freshman: "It was part of my P.E. program and I like shooting, and I thought it was a fun thing to do. I hope to finish in the top-10 and have a good time."

• Heather DeLong, senior: "Archery is fun and easy to learn. I hope we place in the top-two; preferrably first."

• Hannah Masko, freshman: "I like to shoot and hunt. I'm just hoping for a good score."

• Sarah Godek, freshman: "It's a lot of fun and a way to improve my archery skills. I'm going to do the best I can."

• Travis Becker, junior: "I've bowhunted for a while, and I find archery a lot of fun. I'm here just to have fun."

• Autumn Gould, senior: "I thought it'd be fun to try something new. I hope to get my arrows in the red."

• Carey Bragg, 7th grade: "Dad asked me to be on the team. I hope to get the spirit award."

• Anastasia Bragg, 6th grade: "I just like shooting. I hope I hit the target every time."

Second post: 10 p.m. Friday

The team just wrapped up practice and it appears the whole group is shooting well. Even in a somewhat-dim conference room archers were pulling off tight groups at 15 meters -- keep in mind they're shooting without sights. It's much tougher than it looks, as some chaperones (myself included) demonstrated tonight with sporadic groups.

Here's some photos.

There are other teams also staying at the same hotel -- so far, one from Southern Texas and one from West Virginia. Some of our archers are explaining to others from around the country where we are from, pointing to the Michigan map on the palm of their right hand. The others seem to understand.

The coaches visited the Kentucky Fair & Expo Center today and, word has it, the place is massive. There's 162 shooting lanes side-by-side, each five feet wide. That's over 800 feet, hopefully enough to accomodate the expected 3,000 archers. Here's the Center's Web site.

We leave the hotel at 10 a.m. The competition begins at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

If there is an Internet connection available at the Center tomorrow, I'll be updating this blog as often as possible.

Thanks, everyone, for your support.

-Chris Engle, Gaylord Herald Times


Third post, Saturday morning/midday

It wasn’t until we got to the expo center that its vastness was fully realized. The building’s huge -- the one wing alone where the tournament is taking place is 299,000 square feet. There are 162 targets side-by-side, at the ends of five-foot wide lanes. The room is 900 feet wide, and is illuminated by 2,160 gym lights in the ceiling.

All this space is not just for show -- there’s 3,001 kids shooting and, everywhere you look, there’s colorful team shirts from all across the country. Everyone seems enthusiastic.

Roy Grimes,  president of the National Archery in Schools Program, was there today. He said this year’s attendance is a new record.

“It feels great to have so many kids here,” he said, adding there were only 40 archers in the inaugural competition in 2002 -- before he took the program to the national level. He said the program was started by the Kentucky Dept. of Education and the Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Each group saw a necessity for the program.

“We were afraid kids weren’t spending enough time outdoors,” he said. The program has seen the participation of 3.2 million kids and has spread to 46 states and six countries.

The kids began shooting at 1 p.m. The sound of 810 arrows smacking targets sounds a lot like a giant making popcorn in his microwave, or fat raindrops falling on a dusty canvas. As far as the eye can see there were multicolored bows launching arrows.

Coach Rod Bragg was impressed with his archers’ performances.

“We’ve got some very nice scores,” he said, pointing to scores in the 130s and 140s (out of a possible 150 in the 10-meter shoot).

The archers showed skill at 15 meters as well. Matt Topp and Nick Sides each shot a 271; Jayne Hagedorn pulled off a 266.

Coach Bragg said the scores definitely reflected an improvement from earlier in the year.

Awards are to be handed out at 7:30. The team still isn’t sure how they matched up against the rest of the teams, but Coach Mark Copeland is a little worried.

“I told them, if they scored in the top-10, I’d let them shave my head,” he said. “I’m getting a little nervous.”

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Saturday afternoon

Once shooting was done we headed to Guardian Angel Church for a 4 o’clock service. The parish welcomed their visitors from Northern Michigan, and some of the chaperones again pointed to the Michigan map on their hand to show where we hail from. The parishoners liked this.

After Mass we went to the parish hall for a spaghetti dinner. All the kitchen staff and young servers were very polite and welcoming. We thanked them for being so inviting, and left them to their festival games.

Back on the bus we suddenly decided to take a quick sightseeing detour to Churchill Downs, famous for  the Kentucky Derby. We got there at 6 p.m. -- just in time for the last race. Everyone’s face lit up and we dashed into the complex as if we’d been there a dozen times before. We gathered on the balcony and were offered a fantastic view of the track -- a golf course, of sorts, for horses. There were women in derby hats and colorful paintings on the walls immortalizing jockeys past.

Ten minutes later the race was over, with horse #3 the victor. We piled back on the bus, but some stopped at the gift shop first. Everyone’s accounted for.

Right now it’s 7:20 p.m. and we’re parked outside the expo center. Coach Bragg is inside checking the standings, to see if it’s worth sticking around, or if we can get an early start back to Gaylord.

The team placed 17th among 43 teams. There’s applause on the bus.

“I get to keep my hair!” Coach Copeland ran his fingers through the hair on his head, where it will stay. He thanked the team for all their effort and there was more applause.

Now it’s time to head home. If the trip is anything like it was on the way down, we’ll be home by 4:30 or 5 a.m.

Again, thanks to everyone for their support. This trip was certainly a life experience for this team.

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