April 21, 2016

USA Archery Recognizes Collegiate All-American Academic Award Recipients

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - USA Archery is honored to recognize the 2016 All-American Academic Team Award Recipients. This prestigious award recognizes not only excellence on the archery field, but the hard work, and dedication required to balance a heavy practice and competition schedule with excellence in the classroom.

The All-American Academic Team is composed of the top 10 archers in each division and class based on the following criteria: 

• Archer must have been eligible to shoot in the 2016 Spring semester, meaning they were enrolled as a full time student.
• Required Cumulative GPA of 3.0 for Undergraduate Students and 3.5 for Graduate Students through fall semester 2015.
• USA Archery then takes the top 25% (ranked by score) of each division and class from U.S. Indoor Nationals. Archers are then ranked by cumulative GPA.

Congratulations to the archers who earned spots on the 2016 All-American Academic Team. These archers will receive a certificate and letter from USA Archery commemorating their achievements.

Claire Estrada, a student-athlete at Emmanuel College commented: "I have a job and archery and school, and so I've learned to make time for everything. I work during the day when I'm not in classes, and then I have a blank bale in my room so I can practice at night when I get back; it's a juggling act. This award helps recognize that effort, I have a 4.0 GPA, and it's a lot of work and a lot of hours. I hope to be able to keep it up and earn All-American Academic honors again."

Allie Blazek, an archer at Texas A&M agreed: "I study a lot, and then I study at the practice range, it's been difficult, but now I'm taking an archery class so I have designated archery practice time and that's been a big help."

For archers considering collegiate archery, Allie advises: "Study first, make that your first priority, and then shoot at nighttime if you can. Academics have to be the top priority. Having the collegiate division at USA Archery events makes it a lot less pressure for me because I'm competing with people who are balancing the same schedule I am."

The 2016 Collegiate archery season is off to a great start, and now that U.S. National Indoor Championships are a wrap, the outdoor regional events are off to a great start! Fun and excitement of the Collegiate Archery Program continues after the North and West regional championships last weekend with South and East regionals this weekend, and then 2016 National Outdoor Collegiate Championships at Michigan State University!

Contact USA Archery at [email protected] with any questions.

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