10/07/2026
The final results are in for the 2026 NC 4-H Shooting Sports State Tournament held on Saturday, October 3rd at the Millstone 4-H Camp and adjacent John F Lentz Hunter Education Center in Ellerbe NC.
The weather was threatening rain all day and we did have a brief downpour, but the Thunderstorms passed us by and for the most part it was just cloudy and pretty comfortable in Ellerbe. We had 14 participants from our Yadkinville Valley 4-H Shooting Sports Club who qualified for the State Tournament and competed on Saturday. Starting with our 5 Juniors. All 5 competed in either Air R***e, Air Pistol or both and while no one medaled this time around, I’m pretty sure all had “Personal Bests” and improved on their Regional scores back in August! Our Junior Competitors were the Team of Allie Myers, Bradley Myers, Jaxon Light and Grayson DeLuca along with Individual competitor, Eli Wilcox. Eli finished in the Top 10 in Air Pistol!
Our Seniors did take home some “hardware”, no gold, but lots of Silver and Bronze. Our Seniors consisted of Levi Williams, Maddox Nifong, Hunter Myers, Cameron White, Reece Long, Emory Giebitis, Peter Redelsheimer, Brantlee Evans and Onna Callicutt.
Hunter Myers shot a personal best in Muzzleloader with an 85/100 and collected a Bronze Medal as an Individual. Reece Long shot a perfect 200/200 in Sporter Compound Archery with 11 Xs…which resulted in a Silver Medal for HOA. (He was beaten out by 13 Xs) Reece was also 2nd HOA for Compound Match Archery with a 191/200 with 7Xs! Continuing with Reece’s Individual accomplishments, he gathered 2 Bronzes medals in Air R***e and Air Pistol. Reece was also qualified to shoot in 3 more events, but had to leave early due to an obligation with his school.
In the Senior Teams, the “YV Clay Hunters” finished 2nd in Compound Sporter Archery, missing gold by 5/100ths of a point and finished 3rd in Compound Match Archery with team members Levi Williams, Cameron White, Reece Long, Maddox Nifong and Hunter Myers.
Congratulations to all who medaled and all who participated!!! This was the first State Tournament for Emory, Onna, Allie, Bradley, Jaxon and Eli. It was also the 8th for Brantlee Evans who now holds our Club record for qualifying for the most State Tournaments…(woulda been 9 without Covid!) Also, Levi Williams was recognized at the beginning of the Awards Ceremony with 4 Ribbons from the 2026 4-H National Championship that he was shorted due to mistakes in the scoring by the officials running the Hunting Skills Discipline out in Nebraska in June. Belated, and well deserved and earned!
Thanks to all the parents who supplied the team and company with food, and beverages throughout the day and got everyone where they needed to be. Thanks to Steve Carson and Paul Staph for their help with getting kids supplies and to the right spots. Thanks to Jimmy Staley for his assistance getting the team ready and Chad Ray, the 4-H Agents and all the volunteers who set up and tore down and ran the ranges and made it all happen!
The next NC 4-H Sh***un League Shoot is November 14th at McDowell County and the 2027 NC 4-H Hunting Skills Tournament is January 9th at Millstone 4-H Camp in Ellerbe!
