2017 RULH High School grad name USCA Academic All-American Archer –
By Wade Linville –
The first time he nocked an arrow, Tristen Cahall fell in love with the sport of archery. It’s a love he carried with him throughout his high school years at Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington, and a love that has recently brought him a great deal of success during his freshman year at Hocking College.
Cahall graduated from RULH High School last year and went on to study Natural Resources Law Enforcement at Hocking College. He also earned a spot on the Hocking Archery Team.
The once 4-H bow shooter of Brown County was able to achieve more than he expected as a freshman on the Hocking Archery Team, receiving such honors as being named a USCA Academic All-American and medaling at competitions that saw some of the best collegiate shooters in the United States.
“My first year with the Hocking College archery team has been a very successful year. At the beginning of the season I set a goal to just get better from one competition to the next, and I feel like I didn’t just meet that goal, but surpassed it,” said Cahall.
Cahall competed 3-D, indoor, and outdoor shooting competitions as a freshman member of the Hocking Archery Team.
In the USCA Regional 3-D shooting competition held Sept. 16 at Barbourville, KY, Cahall brought home a Gold Medal as an individual shooter.
Cahall competed in USCA National 3-D shooting at Sahara, IL Oct. 6-9, earning fourth place as an individual and competing as part of the Hocking Men’s Team that brought home the Silver.
Cahall also placed fourth as an individual in the USCA National Shooting Competition at Foley, AL Oct. 26-29, while his Hocking Men’s Team earned the Gold.
Indoor shooting competitions began during the 2017-18 winter for Cahall, and he would place fourth in the USCA Regional held in Madisonville, KY Jan. 26-28.
He ventured to Las Vegas, NV on Feb. 9 to compete in the USCA National, placing eighth in a group of very skilled shooters.
Cahall shot for a third place individual finish while competing in the USA Regional in Hamilton at the end of February.
Spring brought outdoor competition for Cahall and the Hocking Archery Team.
While competing at the Cumberland’s in Kentucky April 20-22, Cahall brought home a silver medal as an individual and a bronze as part of the Hocking mixed team.
He shot for an individual bronze medal at Clinton, MS during a competition held May 10-13, and aided the Hocking mixed archery team to a silver medal while competing in Newberry, FL May 17-30.
Cahall is not only thankful for the success he has achieved as a collegiate archer, but also for the people he has met through the sport he loves.
“I have met some of the best shooters in the world in my journey with the team and everyone I’ve met all said that if you don’t have fun while shooting, you won’t do well at shooting,” he said.
Cahall hopes to use his knowledge and skills in archery to one day instruct young archers of Brown County, getting more local youth involved in the already rapidly growing sport.
“I hope to see more youth from the area get into this growing sport,” said Cahall. “I hope to keep going to (collegiate) competitions, and to also come back (to my hometown) and help with instructing the Brown County archery program and see if I can’t get more youth into the sport, and possibly go onto college with it.”
