To say Audie Smith’s archery career has been a roller-coaster of ups and downs would be an understatement.
She began shooting with the Arrowcats in the fourth grade where she finished in the top 100 in the elementary division of both NASP Nationals and World competitions.
She topped 290 for the first time as a seventh-grader. She won her first tournament as an eighth-grader.
And all the while, she did it with full family involvement. Her older sister Kaylin was winning archery tournaments of her own at the high school level. Her mom Deena and father Todd were her coaches.
But as Audie made the move to high school, things turned upside down when her father and coach was diagnosed with cancer. She still managed to keep her focus and win the NASP region with a score of 293 and won the KHSAA Region title.
Todd would lose his battle with cancer before Audie’s sophomore season. She would win three of her first four tournaments, finish sixth at NASP state, and finished fourth at the KHSAA State Tournament.
Audie hit her stride in 2020, winning 10 of 16 tournaments until COVID-19 brought a premature end to the season. There were no KHSAA region or state tournaments held.
The lingering effects of COVID-19 have dramatically altered what is now Audie’s senior season. Practice times have been reduced. The tournament schedule is lighter.
Audie has kept her laser-focus and matched her career-best score earlier this month at the NASP State Tournament with a 295 that earned her third place.
This weekend, she will shoot in the KHSAA Region Tournament with a spot on the line for KHSAA State.
Despite several scholarship offers to continue shooting archery in college, Audie says the next couple of months will be her last. She is ready to move on to her next challenge with the hope it doesn’t come with the ups and downs she endured during her archery career but with the same success.
