Alex King, from left, Ronnie Humpherys and Lizzy Voeten, archery students at Liberty Middle School, stand by a R100 truck at the Rinehart 100 contest. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Liberty Middle School’s five-member archery team competed in the Rinehart 100 contest at Lakepoint State Park in Eufaula.

Based in Wisconsin, Rinehart Targets conducts R100 three-dimensional tournaments across the country and supplies 100 3-D targets for archers to shoot.

Rinehart 100 on Feb. 25-26 included both lifelike and unrealistic animals placed on North American and African ranges, each with 50 targets. Animals included dinosaurs, white rhinoceros, skunks, cheetahs, boars, wolves, lions, tiger, elephant and an 18-foot-tall giraffe.

“Archers had to climb a ladder to retrieve their arrows from the giraffe,” parent volunteer Molly King said.

“This is the first time the R100 has been in Alabama in over seven years,” Charmin McAlpine said. McAlpine is President of Bowhunters of Alabama, the sponsoring club. “We hope they will come back again next year.” 

More than 400 archers participated, plus spectators. “It’s recommended that archers shoot one range a day — 50 targets per day,” McAlpine said.

Liberty archer Lizzie Voeten said, “Participating in R100 improves your skills, as you encounter different conditions. Liberty’s archery team shoots inside on a level floor at targets 10 to 15 meters.”

“The R100 was outside, so we had to deal with wind, and the ground wasn’t level. Sometimes the target was above or below us. We also didn’t know the distance,” Voeten said.

Alex King, Captain of Liberty Archery Team, said 3D archery “is great exercise and fun for families. As a family, we walked through the ranges. I walked over five miles each day.”

“3D archery also teaches you to respect animals and only kill them to eat and not just for fun. The 3D target’s part (with) the most points is the spot that kills the animal instantly. You learn to put it down without pain instead of just injuring it and having it run away and suffer,” Alex King said.

King earned an R100 achievement pin for his score at par on both ranges.

Ronnie Humpherys from Liberty enjoyed meeting Eufaula Mayor Jack Tibbs, who walked with him and watched him shoot. “Hey, it’s not every day I meet someone as important as the mayor. He told me I was a good shot, so that made my day really special.”

Liberty has the newest archery team in Madison. Seven students qualified for regionals. Alex King and Voeten have placed first and second in several tournaments.