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Effingham County 4-H outdoor archery team wraps up season
4-H Archery Cloverleaf Team
The Effingham County $-H Cloverleaf team. Pictured, from left, Jerret Lee, Brady Rahn, and Caleb Hagan. (Submitted photo.)

Special to the Herald

The Effingham County 4-H Outdoor Archery Team concluded its season with an impressive showing at the state competition held on May 4 at Rock Eagle, where 584 4-H’ers from 42 counties in Georgia competed. With 42 members and the guidance of eight volunteer coaches, the team practiced diligently every Sunday from February to April, honing their skills and building camaraderie.

Led by volunteer coaches Aaron Morris, Steven Sewell, Henry Kessler, Kenny Lee, Josh Heaton, Joshua Moseley, Aaron Webb, and Regis Lesueur, the team showcased their talent and determination at the state level. A total of 31 members competed either individually or in teams of four across Cloverleaf (4th-6th grades), Junior (7th-8th grades), and Senior (9th-12th grades) divisions.

Effingham 4-H’ers who competed at state were: Cloverleaf -- Taylor Beck, Abigail Diaz, Luke Forest, William Forest, Caleb Hagan, Audrieanna Kinsey, Jarrett Lee, Erin Matthews, Harper Melander, Brady Rahn, Clifford ‘Ford’ Smith, Carson Way, Aaliyah Wells, and Layla Zipperer. Junior -- Baker Epton, Ava Green, Saylor Harris, Dalton Holler, Jenavieve Lee, Olivia Lesueur, Hunter Morris, Sara Lynn Moseley, Savannah Nash, Vivienne Palmberg, Eli Usher, and Wilbourne Parker. Senior -- Aleigh Gibbs, Jack Helmly, Andrew Moseley, Camden Rinke, and Owen Woods. These young men and women worked incredibly hard this year to make it to the state competition.

In a testament to their hard work and skill, the Effingham County Cloverleaf team -- Hagan, Rahn, and Lee, clinched first place in their division. Out of 151 shooters and a possible scoring of 360, Hagan had an individual third place finish with 336, Rahn finished fourth with 334, and Lee finished seventh with 326.  The overall team score was 996, 64 points ahead of the second place team.

The team is especially grateful for the dedication and commitment of the eight volunteer coaches. These gentlemen have given up their Sunday afternoons since February (some since October for the indoor season) to invest in these young students. The program would not be what it is today without the hard work put in by each of these volunteers.