Young local archer prepares for world tournament

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Archery is a growing sport in the state of Alabama and we have some of the top talent in the nation right here in our area. At only 12 years old, Makynzie Thompson out of Dawes Intermediate School just competed on the biggest stage in the sport and she walked away a champion.

Makynzie Thompson shot a 292 in the bullseye at nationals when she competed in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this month to win her first individual national title. She has only been competing for two years, picking up the hobby when she was 10. She has loved it ever since. Last year, Thompson only won one medal all season but this year she’s racked up over 30.

“During the season I felt like I actually put in the work for this and I got better and better every time I shot and it made me reach for my goal a little bit harder every time.”

Thompson’s journey to a national championship wasn’t an easy one. She battled an injury towards the end of the season. Thompson had an inflamed tendon in her shoulder which led her scores to drop into the 270′s. She was nervous going into nationals.

“I was very nervous since it was one of the biggest tournaments of the year. And since my injury back then, it really taught me just to go in there and just have fun because I didn’t know if I was going to place or not since it’s like 1000 something people shooting.”

Not only did she place, she is a national champion as a 5th grader. Some people might think of archery as a boys sport but Thompson disagrees.

“It’s not always a boy sport, any, any girl can do any sport. And it’s amazing how many of the top girls were on the team and placed above the boys. That meant a lot to the girls since there weren’t a lot of girls shooting and since archery is known as a boys sport, to see all these girls come in first and second place was really cool.”

Now she will prepare for the World tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida in just one week. Thompson says she’s grateful for her support system that has helped her get to this point.

“It means everything because I don’t know what I would do if they weren’t there to watch me and tell me what I’m doing wrong and comfort me when I’m upset.”

The world championship runs from June 6th to June 8th. We wish Makynzie and all our local archers the best of luck as they compete.

Copyright 2024 WALA. All rights reserved.