Raeleigh McKellar is just like any other teenage girl whose high school adventures are now underway. She likes birthday parties and swimming, loves her dogs Caspian, Envy and Nessy, and was excited about the release of new music from one of her favorite artists, Conan Gray.
However, the 14-year-old is a bit different, too. She’s coming off a summer that featured a trip to the 2022 Youth Pan-American Games in Nova Scotia. The archer didn’t simply represent the United States, she captured a silver medal in the U21 Barebow division – not bad for her first international event and her first outdoor 50-meter competition.
The trip to Halifax represents just a portion of McKellar’s list of accomplishments in 2022. It’s as extensive as it is impressive.
A focus on “the process without a worry about the results” sparked a massive 2022 campaign for McKellar, who set a new state record en route to a victory at the LFAA State Indoor Tournament.
There was a second-place finish at the NFAA Indoor Nationals in Kentucky and a fourth-place finish in the USA Archery JOAD Target Nationals in Decatur, Ala.
The Bossier City resident also captured a win at the 2022 Shoot Your Way Around the Bayou (SYWAB) Championship, the 2022 USA Indoor National JOAD and National Archery Tournaments in College Station, Texas, and the 2022 NFAA Southern Indoor Sectional. She is also a Caddo Parish 4-H regional and state champion.
McKellar’s entry into the archery world is unique. She’s almost here by default.
“I just decided one day that it looked cool and I wanted to try it,” she said. “After trying literally every other sport ever and hating all of those, archery is the one that stuck.”
Clearly it was meant to be.
McKellar spends most of her time practicing at Hoot & Holler Archery in Bossier City, but her father, Cody, has also provided a nice practice area at home.
Hoot & Holler is no stranger to producing talented archers who make waves on a national level. Abbie Rutledge (now at Texas A&M) is a member of the United States Archery Team. Landon Richardson won a bronze in Canada and current teammate Savannah O’Donahue won a silver in her category.
Canada is McKellar’s favorite experience thus far. In addition to repping the Red, White and Blue at the Junior Pan-Ams, she took a memorable trip to Peggy’s Cove, a popular tourist destination in Nova Scotia.
“We got to climb on a bunch of rocks and we saw a duck and I got to buy an awesome little pocket knife as a souvenir,” she said.
The goal for 2023 is simple, but monumental: Join Benton’s Rutledge on the U.S. National Team (McKellar fell just shy of making the roster this year).
“That’s really all I know,” McKellar said. “We will see how we feel after that.”
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com