The Magnet Cove High School archery team poses with their first-place trophy after winning the 2026 AGFC Archery in the Schools 3D State Championship. The Panthers’ victory marks their second consecutive sweep of state archery titles.
The high school archers from Magnet Cove earned the top spot in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Archery in the Schools 3D State Championship Saturday at Pangburn High School on April 10-11, completing their second consecutive sweep of Arkansas archery events in the last two years.
The Panthers outscored 13 other archery teams during the event, scoring 1,710 points out of a possible 1,800 total. The team was anchored by four archers who finished in the top five for their division (Cash and Callan Hignight in the High School Boys Division, and Holly Chandler and Karlee Castle in the High School Girls Division).
Lead Hill High School placed second with a score of 1,675 points; Ozark High School was third with 1,650 points; followed by Bryant High School with 1,644 points and Cabot High School with 1,633 points.
"The difference in some of these scores is literally one or two arrows from a team's total 180 shots during the day, so the competition is really tight," Aimee Swaim, AIS Program coordinator for the AGFC, said. "Just about every Magnet Cove archer was either in the top five shooters for their class or only an arrow or two out, and that's what made the difference. I'm proud of all our archers for such an amazing competition and show of sportsmanship."
Magnet Cove’s Holly Chandler and Cash Hignight show off their $500 Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation scholarship checks. Both archers took home individual first-place honors in the High School Girls and Boys divisions, respectively.
The top high school boys' results were near carbon copies of this year's bull's-eye championship, with Magnet Cove's Cash Hignight and Lead Hill High School's Travis Cook posting identical scores of 294 (out of a possible 300). The two also scored the same number of 10s and 9s, with neither posting anything lower. In the end, Hignight prevailed and walked away with a $500 scholarship, courtesy of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.
The top high school girls' competition was also fierce, with Magnet Cove's Holly Chandler edging out Charleston High School's perennial standout Maddie Johnson by two points. Again, only one slightly errant shot by Johnson was the difference in this tight archery showdown. Chandler also received a $500 scholarship from the AGFF for her accomplishment.
A total of 694 archers, representing 43 schools throughout Arkansas, competed in this year's AIS Program 3D Challenge State Tournament. This is the third year of the new discipline being added to the program, and Swaim says it continues to grow in popularity.
"I really have to thank the coaches and staff at Pangburn for getting the ball rolling on this part of the program," Swaim said. "In 2024, we added this tournament to give our students the opportunity to compete in more than one event at the national level, but it's also bringing our students a step closer to understanding our agency and conservation efforts."
During the 3D challenge, students rotate through a course of six 3D targets fashioned after North American game animals: turkey, coyote, bear, pronghorn, white-tailed deer and stone sheep. The turkey is set at the 10-meter mark, and the course angles up to the 15-meter mark, ending at the stone sheep. Each archer shoots five arrows for score at each target.
"We had more than 3,000 arrows shot over the weekend and approximately 3,500 spectators at the event," Swaim said. "We're already looking at how we can expand to accommodate even more archers next year. It's going to be as popular as the bull's-eye competition within a few years if it keeps growing like this."
2026 Arkansas Archery in the Schools Program 3D Challenge Results
High School Team Awards:
First Place — Magnet Cove High School
Second Place — Lead Hill High School
Third Place — Ozark High School
Fourth Place — Bryant High School
Fifth Place — Cabot High School
High School Top Archers:
Girls:
First Place — Holly Chandler, Magnet Cove High School
Second Place — Maddie Johnson, Charleston High School
Third Place — Kendra Sain, Pangburn High School
Fourth Place — Claire Stokes, Lincoln High School
Fifth Place — Karlee Castle, Magnet Cove High School
Boys:
First Place — Cash Hignight, Magnet Cove High School
Second Place — Travis Cook, Lead Hill High School
Third Place — Koen Masingale, Ozark High School
Fourth Place — Dallon Hanna, Lead Hill High School
Fifth Place — Callan Hignight, Magnet Cove High School
Middle School Team Awards:
First Place — Barton Junior High
Second Place — Homeschoolers On Target
Third Place — Charleston Elementary
Fourth Place — Washington Middle School
Fifth Place — Bethel Middle School
Middle School Top Archers:
Girls:
First Place — Isabelle Turner, Charleston Middle School
Second Place — Presleigh McLaughlin, Magnet Cove Middle School
Third Place — Diana Rojo, Barton Junior High
Fourth Place — Avalynn Lynch, Homeschoolers On Target
Fifth Place — Greyson Newton, Washington Middle School
Boys:
First Place — Alex Householder, Lead Hill School District
Second Place — Jaxon Nix, Homeschoolers On Target
Third Place — Zachery Helm, Southside Middle School
Fourth Place — Triston Hughes, Norfork Elementary
Fifth Place — Parker Kuhn, Washington Middle School
Elementary Team Awards:
First Place — Columbia Christian
Second Place — Magnet Cove Elementary
Third Place — Charleston Elementary
Fourth Place — Washington Middle School
Fifth Place — Lead Hill Elementary
Elementary Top Archers:
Girls:
First Place — Olivia Curry, Magnet Cove Elementary
Second Place — Kaylee Sulton, Magnet Cove Elementary
Third Place — Ellee Hudgens, Columbia Christian
Fourth Place — Hannah Triplet, Columbia Christian
Fifth Place — Emily Wright, Midland Elementary
Boys:
First Place — Dawson Carr, Columbia Christian
Second Place — Liam Sheets, Magnet Cove Elementary
Third Place — Colton Lewis, Columbia Christian
Fourth Place — Parker Warr, Columbia Christian
Fifth Place — Cash Smrecker, Charleston Elementary
A complete list of team and individual archer scores is available here.