Local seventh grader places first in world archery tournament

Landon Carr, a 13-year-old seventh grader from Lawton Academy of Arts and Sciences, has a knack for archery that led to him competing in the National Archery in the Schools Program Championship Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla.

For his whole life, Landon Carr has been around archery. Both of Landon’s parents were in the Army and stationed at Fort Sill. Landon’s mom, Lynette Carr, said she enjoyed shooting a bow while hunting and would go to Archers Corner during her lunch break to shoot and let out some stress. Eventually Landon and his grandma began meeting Lynette there and that’s where Landon’s interest in the sport sparked.

Landon started shooting at the age of 3 by himself, but he didn’t begin competing in tournaments until 2021. Since then, Landon has competed in 19 tournaments and in that time has accumulated over 5,000 points.

In April, Carr competed in the NASP Western National Tournament in Sandy, Utah. Carr planned to compete in this tournament two years ago but was delayed because of a shoulder injury. This was Carr’s first time in the national tournament and his goal was to score 280 points to qualify for the NASP Championship Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla.

When they got to Utah, they realized that a part of Landon’s bow had been stripping away at the strings. Carr and his mom spent time trying to fix it and got it working well enough for him to compete.

Even with the complications he faced with his bow, Carr finished the tournament with a score of 286 and qualified for the championship tournament. He placed first for seventh grade boys, sixth for middle school boys, and 22 overall for boys. With his qualifying placement, the next step for Carr was the NASP Championship Tournament in April.

The NASP Championship Tournament in Daytona Beach had 2,696 competitors overall and over 1,400 of those competitors were boys. Carr would be competing on the first day of the three-day tournament, meaning he would have to wait till the last day to know his final placement.

Due to his unexpected issues he saw with his bow in the previous tournament, Carr decided that it was time for a new bow. However, he wouldn’t get much practice with it before it was time for him to shoot. Carr felt some nerves before shooting, saying, “I was nervous. I was just hoping to get a 293.”

Even with a bow he wasn’t used to, Carr exceeded his own expectations, reaching a score of 295. It was going to be a tough score for anyone to beat over the weekend, but all Carr could do was wait and pay attention to the scores of his competitors. On the third and final day, Carr had finally gotten the word that he had gotten the exact same score as another boy in his age group. Therefore, Carr and his competitor would end in a tie for first place for both seventh grade boys and middle school boys while ranking fourth overall for boys.

The excitement Carr felt when he had finally gotten the last results is unmatched. “I was so excited. I always try to do the best that I can,” said Carr.

Next year Carr plans to enter more tournaments, hoping to compete in 10 to 12.

Carr also has plans of talking to a USA archery coach about joining their team. The USA archery team would compete in more tournaments throughout the year and give Carr a chance to participate in the Junior Olympics.

Carr hopes that someday he can use his talent for archery to get him a college scholarship. Growing up with military parents has inspired car to pursue Aeronautical Engineering in college so that he can build planes for the military.