Chase Millikan, a middle school archer and student at The Grauer School, an independent school in Encinitas, took second place overall in the Middle School Varsity Boys Division at the Olympic Archery in Schools (OAS) National Championship, according to a news release.
“This was a phenomenal accomplishment by Chase,” said Trevor Olson, athletic director for The Grauer School and archery coach, in the news release. “The Grauer School’s middle school archery team has not achieved this high ranking in over a decade. I am incredibly proud to see Chase’s hard work and dedication truly pay off.”
Millikan joined The Grauer School archery program in seventh grade to spend more time with his friends. This year, he only missed two practices before competing in the National Championship. Recently, he started outdoor shooting at longer distances, hoping to shoot 70 meters and place well at high school OAS competitions. He also has joined the Roadrunner Archery Club, Southern California's premier archery club and nonprofit organization designed to develop archers, beginners to expert, into world-class and nationally-competitive athletes.
“This year, I wasn’t able to prepare for the OAS State Championship because we had just come back from Expeditions, so for the National Championship, I practiced a little more than I usually do and made sure I outlined things beforehand,” said Millikan in the news release. “Archery is mostly in your head. For this championship, I made sure to stay calm and focused. I tried not to overthink and just cleared my mind.”
During this year’s OAS State Championship, Millikan also ranked first place overall in the Ranking Round (355/360), third place overall in the Olympic Round (Singles) and second place overall in the Team Round. Bella Athanas ranked eighth place overall in the Ranking Round (318/360). Owen Evers and Jack Ratner ranked second place overall in the Team Round with Millikan.
“Although many of our team members were not able to participate in the OAS State Championship due to later returns from Spring Expeditions, we are proud of the students who were able to compete,” said Olson in the news release. “I am impressed with all the middle school and high school archery students at Grauer who competed in the OAS State and National Championship. It was so much fun watching everyone compete, and even better to see everyone having fun together on the range. We had a fantastic season.”
Last year, the Grauer high school archery team was first place overall in the San Diego Conference Championship and fourth place overall in the State Championship, and the Grauer middle school archery team was second place overall in the San Diego Conference Championship and third place overall in the State Championship.
The Grauer School started its archery program in 2012. The program reached a new level of success in 2015 after joining the OAS, an established nationwide program with a competition structure where student archers can compete with other top-ranked archers. The Grauer School is one of only a few private schools in California that compete in the OAS. Archery is also one of the unique team sports like surfing, arena soccer and tennis offered at The Grauer School.
Learn more at www.grauerschool.com. —The Grauer School news release
This story originally appeared in Encinitas Advocate .
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