National archery champ visits PCHS

PINCKNEYVILLE - On her way from Kansas to the National Field Archery Association (NFAA) Competition in Ohio, Christina Jones and her coach, Ray Manfull, detoured to Pinckneyville Community High School recently to encourage and offer their expertise to the archery teams at PCHS, PJHS and St. Bruno.

Having seen the video and story of PCHS archery team member Luke Bigham shooting with a mouth tab, Jones contacted PCHS Superintendent and archery coach Keith Hagene about a possible visit.

Jones also uses a mouth tab, and her coach has worked with her to develop her archery skills to top national level. Jones shared her personal, inspirational story through her "Get Back on Target" presentation, and, with Manfull, spent the morning at PCHS offering pointers to Bigham and other archery team members from the three schools, and telling how she lives out a key statement: "Every Setback is Simply a Setup for a Comeback."

Even as Jones also encouraged students to "find something you love, and give it 100 percent," she took that idea to Nationals as she won the Freestyle Limited Division for Adult Females with a score of 595/600.