Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
NR-S alum Koven Walford began his third season competing in shooting sports for the University of Jamestown. (Submitted photo)
Koven Walford, who once shined as an archer at New Rockford-Sheyenne, is now excelling in shooting sports at the next level.
After graduating from NR-S in 2021, Walford attended the University of Jamestown for a degree in mechanical engineering. But when he's not studying to become an engineer, Walford can often be found aiming down range.
As an archer at NR-S, Walford won a state championship with a near-perfect score of 298, and twice attended the NASP national tournament.
Now at UJ, he's achieving even more success not only as an archer, but also as a member of the Jimmies' trap shooting team, which competes in trap, doubles, skeet, sporting and 5 stand.
Walford has competed at nationals in San Antonio, Texas and Las Vegas, Nev. for trap shooting, and has placed in the top three in multiple archery tournaments.
Some of his personal records include a 94/100 in Trap, a 47/50 in Doubles and a 580/600 in collegiate archery.
Walford's excellence on the shooting range has helped UJ Shooting Sports achieve great success, and he credits the NR-S archery program for much of his achievements beyond high school.
"I learned a lot in high school from coaches and time shooting," said Walford. "I was able to bring all of that experience with me to college.
"I grew up bow hunting and when we started an archery team I thought it would be fun," he added. "I'm glad I was able to be a part of the NR-S archery program and continue it here at UJ."
Like the NR-S archery program, the collegiate archery season has also gotten underway this January. This season and for the remainder of his time at UJ, Walford said one of his biggest goals is to achieve a highest overall score in both a trap and an archery tournament.
Generally, however, he simply enjoys the experience of collegiate shooting sports.
"I enjoy shooting sports because it's a ton of fun, laid back, a great stress reliever, cool to be a part of the team, and it gets your mind off school and work," said Walford.
"I will probably keep shooting trap and archery for fun after college. There are leagues like ATA (Amateur Trapshooting Association) and ACA (Alliance of Competitive Archers) that you can compete in which I would definitely consider."
Meanwhile, Walford has a message for the kids competing in NASP archery at the high school level – like any sport, there are opportunities at the next level for those who excel at shooting sports.
"I would say that their shooting sports career doesn't have to end at high school," he said. "While UJ is the only college in N.D. so far with an archery team, most schools have a trap team. If you're willing to travel, Mount Marty (South Dakota) and Alexandria (Minnesota) are the next closest schools with archery.
"Here at UJ, we are always looking for more trap and archery shooters and offer scholarships for both. So not only will you get some help paying for college, you can continue your passion and bring your skills to the next level."
