Chamois parishioner pursues excellence in archery
Jack Schollmeyer hits the mark almost every time he aims his bow and arrow at a target.
Yet, he’s determined to keep getting better.
“I’m always taking away something. I’m constantly learning different things from my tournaments, even though I’m at the point I am in archery,” said Jack, a rising junior at Chamois High School and a member of Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish in Chamois.
“I want to go to the Olympics someday,” he stated.
Jack is an ace at archery, a sport that has been growing in popularity throughout Missouri for more than a decade.
“I started practicing my fourth-grade year at school, shooting,” Jack recalled. “That same year, I won the Show Me State Games in Missouri. It really took off from there. I couldn’t put down a bow.”
The oldest of Nick and Crystal Schollmeyer’s children recently placed first among over 1,000 high school boys at this year’s National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) Championship, also known as the World’s Tournament, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
His younger sister and brother, Carly and Hank, are archery enthusiasts and also took part in the June 5-7 tournament.
“It’s great,” said Jack. “During archery season, we go to two or three meets a weekend. We always push to be our best selves. We’re always trying to help each other with practice. We’re always trying to help each other get better as a team.”
The three traveled to Myrtle Beach with their grandparents.
“Carly and Hank both shot pretty well,” said Jack. “I think they were pretty happy with themselves.”
Jack prevailed among 104 11th-grade boys, 452 high school boys, and 1,604 boys overall from all over the country.
The highest score in a NASP competition is 300.
“I ended up shooting a 297 and winning it,” said Jack. “It’s definitely the biggest award I’ve ever won, as far as archery goes.”
He received a trophy, a Mathew’s LIFT X bow, and a Morrell target for winning first overall for males in the tournament.
He received a plaque, medal, blue Genesis bow, and a Morrell target for winning first in the high school male division.
He also received a $2,000 scholarship for being the first place high school male academic archer.
Good and bad days
In a NASP competition, each participant shoots 40 total arrows, half from 10 meters away from the target, and the other half 15 meters away.
Competitions are divided into eight rounds, with archers shooting five arrows each round. A practice round starts competition at each of the two distances, followed by three scoring rounds.
Each arrow is scored by how close it is to the center bullseye, with 10 being the highest score per arrow. A perfect score for a competition is 300 —requiring the archer to shoot every single arrow into the bullseye.
Jack’s best score in a tournament was 298, but he has scored 300 several times while practicing at home.
“I practice every day,” he stated. “It’s really important to me.”
But, simply practicing isn’t enough.
“You have to practice with good technique,” he stated. “If you practice with wrong form, you’re not doing yourself much good.”
Jack said proper form makes the archer more accurate.
He practices in his basement for NASP tournaments.
“For my Olympic recurve shooting, I practice outside at 60 meters,” he said.
He also trains at least once a week with a coach, Janis Grellner at Backyard Archers in Linn.
“She’s helped me a lot,” he said. “She taught me a lot about technique and form and works through my tournaments and figure out whatever I’m doing wrong.”
Not every practice or tournament has been easy.
“My bad days are not like most people’s,” Jack explained. “I might shoot in the low 290s and be upset. You just have to let it go and focus on the next one.”
Once around the time he started going to tournaments, he endured a protracted stretch of futility.
“It hurt to shoot that poorly,” he said. “It stuck with me for weeks. I couldn’t get it out of my head.”
He stayed with it, let go of the negativity, figured out what he could from the experience and started to improve.
“I still do let it get in my head every once in a while, but I’ve gotten better at letting it go,” he said.
Fellow archers occasionally come up to him after a tournament and tell him how well he shot that day.
“It’s really something special when that happens,” he said.
Is God in any of this?
“Yes! Of course!” said Jack. “God is always here. He’s always by my side. He’s helped me through everything I’ve done. He’s made me the best version of myself every day, as well as my archery.”
Time of his life
Especially during the school year, Jack’s days are quite busy.
“I have a job and school,” he said. “It’s hard to find practice time. I usually shoot with my recurve until dark. At least an hour and a half, and then I can shoot indoors. I can always find time to shoot throughout the day.”
He doesn’t enjoy practicing in the summer heat.
“I usually wait until the end of the day,” he said.
The sport also offers him and his family some travel opportunities.
“Not really so much with NASP, except when you go to state and nationals,” said Jack. “But with my recurve, the meets are pretty far.”
Recurve is a competition involving a certain kind of bow.
Jack also enjoys lifting weights and playing baseball, both of which help him with archery.
“Running and all that kind of stuff gets you in shape and increases your strength,” he said.
That strength helps him maintain good form and pull back on a tight cable against a rigid bow.
He’s hunted with a rifle, but never with a bow.
“I’m going to try it this year,” he said. “I kind of stayed away from it because I didn’t want it to ruin my form.”
He makes a point of carving out time each day to converse with God.
“I thank him for everything he’s done for me,” said Jack. “I pray to him about the things that are going on in the world. And then a couple of ‘Our Fathers’ and ‘Hail Marys.’”
Some you win
Jack said that despite the presence of pointy projectiles, archery is a very safe sport.
“There have never been any safety issues in the history of NASP tournaments,” he noted. “It’s very, very well run and it’s very safe.”
He’s pleased that young people have taken such a liking to his favorite sport.
“There are definitely a lot of young archers these days,” he said. “Some of them surprise me with how well they shoot.”
He’s convinced that as long as someone puts in the time and the effort, he or she can be successful in archery.
“Anybody can do it,” he said. “You’ve just got to have the time and the patience.”
To anyone who might enjoy pursuing archery or any other activity as a passion, Jack suggested: “Give it everything you’ve got. If it’s something you really want to do and put your time into it, you can’t take the easy way out of it. You’ve got to do your best.”
Success relies on a lot of patience.
“You have to keep trying,” said Jack. “Maybe get in with someone like my coach to help you. Maybe start getting some lessons and figuring out proper form and practicing and doing as much as you can.”
A person needn’t be great at a hobby to enjoy it.
“If you do enjoy doing something, you should keep doing it,” Jack suggested. “That’s kind of the thing with me and baseball. I’m not the best at it, but I still love playing.”
But as for archery, he is, in fact, driven to be the best.
“I don’t like losing at all,” he stated. “So I put it all out there and I practice it a lot.”
“Give it a shot”
Jack and his family are planning to head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, this summer for the Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) national competition.
He deemed NASP an excellent experience for him.
“It’s been a part of my life since fourth grade,” he stated. “It’s really amazing. I encourage everyone to give it a shot. It’s done wonders for me.”
After high school, he hopes to join an archery team in college and continue pursuing his dream of Olympic gold.
“A lot of colleges have programs,” he noted. “Some of them are club sports or aren’t directly affiliated with the school. But they’re out there.”
He asks for prayers for himself and his fellow archers.
“Pray to help us be the best versions of ourselves and be the best we can be,” he suggested.
Contributing to this report was Elise Brochu, a staff writer for the Unterrified Democrat newspaper in Linn.
