Contemplating moving up to the youth level a year early for the 2025 Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA) season, Owensboro Archery Club’s Keely Sanders decided to stay in the Eagle level and achieve her goal. Winning the belt buckle that is awarded to the National Shooter of the Year – an achievement she fell just short of reaching the previous season. With her Matthew TRX 34 bow in tow, Sanders’s decision paid off, winning gold in both the state and national levels for the Indoor, 3-D, and Outdoor Target competitions this past summer.
“I was very grateful for achieving it and I had a really fun time,” Sanders said.
The S3DA season consists of three competitions: indoor target, 3D, and outdoor target. For indoor, the athletes shoot at a five-spot target from 10 yards away, and at the State Tournament, Sanders was the only competitor out of any age group to shoot a perfect score of 360 – her new personal best.
3D consists of the archers shooting at foam animals from 20 yards out, and Sanders shot her other personal best at the State Tournament. It wasn’t until Sanders won nationals for both indoor and 3D that she believed achieving the triple crown was a real possibility – arriving at the outdoor target state competition with newfound confidence.
Outdoor target consists of shooting from 33 yards out, and with the triple crown in view, Sanders used her spare time for extra practice. The sweat and tears were worth the effort, culminating in a state and national title and the triple crown.
“It was surreal,” Keely Sanders’ mom, Jessica Sanders, said. “…I knew from the get-go that she had this goal because last year she didn’t win the belt buckle. It lit a fire in her, and she knew that she wanted to achieve that goal, and to do that, she had to go and practically win it all and take it all. So, she put in a lot of time and I think she is disciplined in that area. …We were just over the moon ecstatic.”
Sanders’ archery career stems back four years, having grown interested in the sport due to watching her older brothers compete. When it came time to register for the season, she had cold feet, but her dad, Andrew Sanders, signed her up anyway.
Andrew has become Keely’s coach, acknowledging that it has its ups and downs. Jessica stated that Keely couldn’t do this without her dad and that Andrew is her biggest helper out of anyone.
“It’s tough when it is your kid because I coach and talk to her differently than I would another kid that I coach,’ Andrew said. “Just because she’s mine, I’m a bit harder on her, but she’s hard on me also.”
Andrew isn’t Keely’s only coach, with the 12-year-old acknowledging all of the help she has received from a variety of people, including Nathan and Katie Hunt, Chris, Nikki, and Meg Curtis, Ryan and Adler Potter, and Tony Montgomery.
“I am so grateful for my coaches,” Sanders said. “They are always the best and are always there for everyone. Even if you aren’t family, you are family when you walk into that place and practice. They are outstanding and help with anything, even if it isn’t related to archery.”
Entering the youth level next season, Sander’s spent part of this year competing in a league that is part of the Owensboro Archery Club, shooting a year up in preparation for the increase in distance at the next level.
“I put in a lot of work and accomplished a lot this year,” Sanders said. “Next year will be harder, and I am going to have a lot more competition than I did this season. So, my goal is to just put in even more time practicing.”
