On The Mark: Humphreys Racks Up Archery Wins
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Bella Humphreys won first place in the State Games Of Mississippi in Archery.
MERIDIAN – Saturday’s first place win in the State Games of Mississippi Archery marked the end of an amazing season for Water Valley High School student Bella Humphreys. A rising sophomore, Bella tied the school record for the highest female score with her performance in the All Star Competition on April 22, shooting 290 points to win first place in the April 22 shoot. She was back in action Saturday in Meridian to compete in the State Games, Mississippi’s largest amateur sportsfest, and earned the first place win in the 9th-10th grade division.
The daughter of Lance and Angelina Humphreys, Bella joined the school’s archery team her seventh grade year. She explained she picked up a bow to compete because her older brother, Avery Humphreys, had also been on the archery team. She doesn’t remember many of her scores that first year, adding she started to make her mark on the scoreboard during her eighth grade year.
“One match was against six schools and I shot the highest score out of everybody, that was my first 280,” Humphreys said. The 280 points is out of a possible 300 points in the AIMS (Archery in Mississippi Schools) style bullseye competition that includes three 50-point rounds at 10 yards and three 50-point rounds at 15 yards to a total of 300 points.
When her ninth grade archery season started in February, Bella said she struggled early in the season before her scores started to steadily climb. She shot a 282, her personal record, in one match. In the very next match she shot a 284, upping her personal record again.
“Then I kept shooting in the 280s,” Bella said.
Bella made the trip to Jackson for the All Star competition and shot a perfect 50-points two times in practice rounds. When the competition started, she stayed hot shooting 49, 48 or 47 in round after round.
“Dad was on his calculator before we got all the scores. He flipped it around and said ‘you shoot a 290.’ I started crying and went to Steve (Lindsey) and started hugging him,” Bella recalled. “Steve is like another dad to me, he is the reason why I am shooting good.”
Saturday’s Surprise First Place Finish
Admittedly Bella thought she would struggle in Saturday’s competition as the arena was hot.
“I don’t shoot as well when it is hot,” she explains. “In the first round I shot a 49, and I was surprised. So I just kept doing the same thing,” Bella adds.
She kept shooting strong in the following rounds with scores of 48 or 47 before dipping to a 44 in the final 50-point round.
“This dude beside me put the arrow weird on his bow and so it hit mine when I was drawing. Then a bug kept flying in my face and it was throwing me off. I shot a 44,” Bella said. “I said we should just leave, because I didn’t shoot good. Then they are calling names and they called my name. I was like, hmmm, that is surprising.”
She was very surprised when her name was called for first.
Coach Lindsey credits Bella’s success to being a natural-born shooter with an extremely competitive edge.
“You can’t get that good without being competitive, she has a strong inner competitive nature,” the coach explains. “She finished fourth overall on the team (males and females) and had the highest female average on the team,” Lindsey added.
Lindsey also said Bella’s 290 score to tie the school record for female shooters as a freshman is insane, explaining the record was previously set by a senior. Now Lindsey has high expectations for the upcoming season and for Bella.
“She has to set practice standards for the rest of the team to set a good example, the other kids aren’t going to see the three hard years that she has behind her,” Lindsey said.
Bella also has strong expectations for the upcoming season.
“I hope our team wins state because Coach Lindsey has always wanted to win state,” she said.
