CMU’s archery team made an impressive debut on the national stage, marking a milestone for the growing shooting sports program
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) has not only added but succeeded on a national level in its recent club sport addition. In 2021, CMU added a Shotgun team and in 2022, it added an Archery team which fall under the club shooting sports discipline. The Archery team made history in early October by making the USA Archery 2025 Collegiate 3D National Tournament in Foley, Alabama. The team was eager to compete in their first nationals and looked forward to growing and recruiting new talent each year moving forward as they become a better program.
The 3D National Tournament consists of a few different events that bring all kinds of archery to the collegiate level. One example is the recurve division. This consists of athletes using a recurve bow to strike a target and receive a series of points. This division is what is performed at the Olympic Games. In the event of a tie, both teams take turns shooting one arrow as close to the middle (10) as possible. Archer’s get up to three attempts to win the shoot off.
CMU’s team competed against schools like the University of Pittsburg and Texas A&M University. This new level of competition brought an experienced challenge for CMU’s athletes, but the team still managed to place 15th overall out of 24 teams. For being the first team to compete in a national championship, the athletes held their own and even had a few stand-out athletes.
Bailey Rogers placed 13th out of 37 other college women in the recurve division and accompanied Shane Kobald and Carter Hamilton in a top 16 bracketed shoot off against Texas A&M. These students are looking forward to attending nationals next year with experience under their belt.
“I was excited that we made it to the team shoot offs because that was an experience they will never forget,” said Head Archery Coach Ashley Teal. “There were lots of teams cheering and chanting. They are all excited to go back next year with the knowledge they have now.”
Successful Club Sports at CMU are certainly no stranger to competition on the national scale. The Mavericks have chased down multiple national titles, developed All-Americans and produced many national qualifiers. CMU also continues to add new opportunities for students by creating teams for many different sports. For example, the Mavericks will take the pool this year and compete in water polo tournaments for the first time. This gives many students on campus an opportunity to explore their athletic passion while getting their degree. Aside from introducing teams, CMU’s Club Sports are growing and slowly becoming national powerhouses.
Coach Teal is looking forward to the growth of her team for the upcoming season. “I have loved to watch all the students grow and succeed over the years,” Teal said. “I am excited to see what the future holds for this team, and I know it’ll be even better.”
The end goal for Teal is to make both shooting sports a more competitive program at CMU where they can reach out and recruit with scholarships but also compete far more and against more top-level programs. As of now, the team relies heavily on club fairs and social media as a source of recruitment. They also rely on cost-effective public ranges for their practices.
Check out CMU Shooting Sports at @cmushootingsports on Instagram and follow their success as they embark on a new season next year.
