Williamsburg, KY – The Indiana S3DA program launched its 2025 competition season with a thrilling indoor target regional event at Red Dawn Armory in Princeton, Indiana. The event featured over one hundred archers from nine S3DA teams coming together to fill the range with excitement and enthusiasm. Red Dawn Armory, dedicated to promoting archery awareness, hosted the event as part of their ongoing efforts to support the sport.

“This was the first tournament of our 2025 season, and I was very pleased with the turnout today,” said Indiana S3DA State Coordinator, Billy Smith. “We had the Head Coach for Wabash Valley College, Earl Lawrence, and the Indiana Chapter President of USA Archery, Jim Shackleford, join us for the event. They both commented on the amazing turnout. We also had four new Regional Coordinators in attendance to gain experience in how to run a tournament. I am excited to see the growth of our state in the future.”

S3DA archers Maddox Wickey and Teddy Wagner from Gun World Aces experienced their first-ever archery tournament. Both aimed to avoid shooting a “0” and performed admirably, with one making the podium and the other finishing middle of his class. Another memorable moment of the event was when a new archer faced multiple bounce outs. Her fellow archers on the same bale rallied around her, offering encouragement and reminding her to focus on the next shot rather than the last.

Returning archers and newcomers alike made impressive podium finishes. Madilyn Patton from Shooters Archery was thrilled with her performance, shooting a 150 with 22 X’s. On her last end, she needed a judge to make a call on an arrow on the line. “I am glad it was a 5, as my goal was to shoot a 150. Waiting on the call was absolutely nerve-racking,” she said. This arrow secured her a gold medal finish.

Six archers – Hannah Lacy, Bo Cole, Kade Weidenbenner, Hannah Smith, Noah Coyle, and Madilyn Patton – started the season strong, each finishing the event with a 150. They are the first archers of the 2024-2025 competition season to join the Indiana S3DA 150 club.

For more information, please visit the Indiana S3DA Facebook page or contact the Indiana S3DA State Coordinator, Billy Smith, at ins3da@gmail.com.

About Scholastic 3-D Archery

Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA) is a unique, family-oriented youth archery program which has grown exponentially across the United States as a next-step initiative to follow introductory archery programs. The mission of the Scholastic

3-D Archery program is to foster, educate and guide youth in the areas of 3D, indoor target, and outdoor target archery as well as safe, ethical bowhunting practices. The goal of the S3DA program is to provide archery and bowhunting opportunities to youth in after-school settings, as well as with archery-affiliated clubs and businesses in the community. S3DA youth participate in 3D and target archery using compound and traditional archery equipment. Youth members can participate at regional, state and national archery events and earn college scholarships from colleges and universities across the United States. S3DA addresses the need for a program to bridge beginning target archery experience and more advanced activities such as 3D shooting and bowhunting. The program currently operates across the United States with hundreds of certified coaches serving thousands of youth archers.

Contact the Scholastic 3-D Archery National Office at:

www.s3da.net or 410 Sycamore Street, Williamsburg, KY 40769, Ph: 606.524.3685

Media contact Kayla Bolton at kaylas3da@gmail.com, Ph: 423.494.2204