Archery

The archery squad began this season looking to repeat the success of last year's team, which finished second at Indoor Nationals and third at Outdoor Nationals. The season started off well for the Lions, anchored by senior All-American Nami Tripathi. Others who boosted the team were sophomore Roxanne Atienza and first-year Sutton Kiplinger, who emerged as a top prospect.

The team traveled to Las Vegas in February to participate in the World Archery Festival. Tripathi finished fourth in the second flight while Atienza finished seventh. Shortly after returning from the Nevada, however, Head Coach Alex Rodriguez suddenly resigned. Assistant coach Mitch Waldman was placed in the head spot on an interim basis.

In the beginning of March, the archers competed in a mail-in Shoot at the Barnard Gym and Tripathi came in first in that contest. On March 9-11, Atienza led the team by placing 10th out of 30 archers at the Indoor Nationals in Harrisonburg, Va.

On April 14 the squad began a pivotal and hectic month by traveling to Bloomfield, N.J. to compete in the Atlantic City Archery Classic Warm-Up. Under sunny skies Melissa Shum took first place, and Atienza took second in the collegiate division. A week later at the Battle of Bull Run in Centerville, Va., Atienza took the bronze in the individual elimination round.

This weekend the Archery team will compete in the much-anticipated Atlantic City Archery Classic. The tournament is important to the archers because it could help to build momentum for two crucial upcoming tournaments: the Empire State Games Trials in Flushing, N.Y., and United States Intercollegiate Championships in Austin, Texas.