Crooksville archer awaits international stage

CROOKSVILLE – From the moment Larry Eyman III picks up his bow to when his arrow pierces its target, the Crooksville junior is one of the top high school archers in the country.

“He just gets up there and he’s standing in a spot and he’s in the zone,” said his dad, Larry Eyman Jr. “He’s the only one in the building at that point.”

“You get a possible score of 300 and my average is around 297,” the younger Eyman said.

The two-time state champ from Corning has honed his skills for years, but dominating competitions almost didn’t happen.

“He didn’t want to do it because to him it looked like a little kids’ bow, but we pushed him and basically (dragged) him into it and the first day he was in he was pretty much hooked on it,” Eyman Jr. said.

Eyman’s obsession with the sport has earned more trophies than he can count.

“I usually shoot at least every day or every other day for a couple hours,” he said.

“He’s very proud of it,” his dad said. “And he should be.”

But pride turned to amazement in the spring, when Bobbie Eyman learned her son was selected to shoot for the United States team at the 2016 National Archery in the Schools Program All-Star Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“I actually thought she was joking for a while about it until she showed me the email,” Eyman III said.

Only 16 junior archers in the country are making the trip, and Eyman will be the only representative from the Buckeye State. An estimated 160 archers will be competing from the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The Eyman Family will arrive in South Africa on July 10. To help make the trip possible, click the GoFundMe link below the photo.