Mississippi College Recruits Two Seniors For Archery Team
Water Valley seniors Austin McCluskey (left) and Hunter Stanford (right) inked letters of commitment for Mississippi College’s archery team where they earned scholarships. Witnessing the signing last Thursday along with friends and family members were Mississippi College archery coach Waldo Cleland and Bob Tyler.
Mississippi College Recruits Two Seniors For Archery Team
By David Howell
Editor
WATER V ALLEY – Two Blue Devil seniors made history Thursday when they inked national letters of intent with Mississippi College (MC) to compete on the archery team. Hunter Stanford and Austin McCluskey are the first two Water Valley seniors to earn scholarships for archery and the first two in-state recruits for the Mississippi College archery team.
MC archery coach Waldo Cleland traveled to Water Valley for the signing as family members and friends witnessed the historic event held in the school library. Cleland told the Herald that Stanford and McCluskey had competed in non-school related shoots across the state, earning top scores.
“I studied the 3-D shoots and these two guys names’ just popped up real regular,” Cleland explained. “After I studied their scores, I made contact with them and found out what kind of guys they are, at that point I was sold,” Cleland added.
The archery program at MC was launched in 2014, also making history as the state’s first collegiate archery team. Cleland is a four-time national archery champion and a Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks officials official, where he serves as the agency’s coordinator of archery and bowhunting.
Stanford and McCluskey are among 13 signees committed to MC for the coming school year and will compete at the top level of collegiate archery.
“We compete in Division II in football, basketball, baseball and other sports, but we compete in Division I in archery,” Cleland said, adding that the current school year marks the second year for archery at Mississippi College.
“Mississippi College competed in the Nationals last year at the University of Florida and earned a number two spot overall. We have already earned two national titles,” Cleland added.
Early in the program, MC has focused on the bowhunter division, but Cleland said the college is expanding to compete in free-style events and he hopes that the two Water Valley recruits will be his lead guys in this division. He explained that in the freestyle competition, competitors are not restricted in accessories used on the bows.
Both Stanford and McCluskey credited their fathers for introducing them to archery as a family sport at a young age. The pair plans to room together at MC.
