Junior archer Anthony Jaeger may still be new to the archery scene at West Ashley High School, but he is already setting records and beating his competitors. At the Summerville Catholic Tournament, Jaeger had the highest individual score of anyone on the team. Not only did Jaeger improve his score by 12 points from the last competition, he scored a total of 274 out of the 300 possible points. Jaeger was happy and very surprised that he was selected as this week’s Athlete of the Week, especially since it’s only his first year on the WAHS Archery Team.
Jaeger was recruited to the team after his teacher and current coach, Thomas Cousins, had his Outdoor Pursuits class practice shooting a bow and arrow. Cousins noticed that Jaeger was a natural and offered him a spot on the team. Jaeger happily accepted, and the team has gotten even better since he joined. “He takes archery very seriously and works very hard at it,” says Cousins. “I’m very excited about what the future holds for him as he is still new to the sport.”
“I’m getting started kind of late,” says Jaeger. Although the season has been going well, Jaeger wonders how much better it could have gone if he had joined the team sooner. “I should have asked about archery as a freshman or sophomore,” he says. Despite his late start, Jaeger has been a fan of archery for a long time. “I’ve always liked archery since I was a kid,” says Jaeger. “It’s awesome that I get to do it now!”
Joining the team has been good in a number of ways for Jaeger. He explained that instead of coming home from school and just hanging out or wasting time, he now has a sense of purpose to practice. “It’s made me more physically active and it’s made me happy,” says Jaeger. He also claims that archery has helped improve his academics. “I learned how to focus really well, and I need it in the classroom,” says Jaeger.
As a first year member on the team, Jaeger has been trying out different tactics to see what works for him. Just having fun seems to be working best so far. “The having fun part is really important because you can’t shoot when you’re upset or mad,” says Jaeger. While having fun is instrumental to his success, sometimes Jaeger finds himself anxious during competitions. He deals with his anxiety by focusing on the target and imagining he’s the only one in the lane.
Jaeger does plan to continue archery through college if possible. He hopes to go to Armstrong University where he will major in Cyber Security. He is currently taking strides to achieve this goal by taking as many Career & Technology Education (CTE) and math classes as he can. He also plans to take online classes that West Ashley High offers during the summer to help him further reach his goals.
As the season continues, Jaeger and his teammates will have the opportunity to qualify for State in just a few weeks. We wish Jaeger and his teammates luck and look forward to the growth of the West Ashley High School Archery Program in future years. “People should really check out archery,”says Jaeger. “It sounds boring but it’s really fun! The people are fun too. I mean, who else gets to shoot a bow and arrow during school?”
