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Rising 7th Grader Hits the Mark With Archery

7/28/2017

After picking up an archery bow for the first time during a Girl Scout camping trip last spring, Collegiate School rising 7th Grader Molly Hutchison decided to give the sport another try. Her first go-round hadn’t gone so smoothly. So, Molly enrolled in five weeks of lessons. After the last class, there was no question she had found her sport.

In the short months since she tried archery, Molly has not only joined the Junior Olympic Development Program team, but she has twice been bumped up to shoot with older, more experienced archers.

“I knew right away when I took my first lesson that this was something I wanted to do,” Molly said. “Archery makes me feel good about myself. It is all about strength and patience. If you don't like your score, you keep shooting until you do like it.”

In July, Molly entered her first competition, the Virginia Commonwealth Games, which featured more than 7,000 athletes, in Lynchburg. For two days at the games, Molly shot 72 arrows at each of the following distances: 20 meters, 30 meters, 40 meters and 50 meters. Each round lasted 3 ½ hours. While she didn't medal, Molly held her own, shooting a score of 1075 out of 1440, and earned her first Star pin from the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc (FITA), archery’s governing body. At the end of August, she will head to the state championship in Manassas.

Watching Molly take on her new sport has been a joy says her mother Angie Hutchison. Her daughter’s rapid improvement also comes as no surprise.

“She is a very determined and dedicated girl,” Mrs. Hutchison said. “When she sets her mind to something, there is no stopping her.”

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