Local archer goes from protecting chickens to World Cup in Paris

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Local archer goes from protecting chickens to World Cup in Paris

Dec 7, 2012

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Christine Harrelson's path to greatness in archery had fairly humble beginnings.

“We had chickens, and we started to have a predator problem,” Harrelson said. “To keep the chickens safe, I picked up a bow and arrow and the problem was solved.”

With a used bow she found on Craigslist, Harrelson then started aiming at much more challenging targets - and hitting them.

“You are talking about target sizes (about four inches around),” Harrelson said. “But then, my husband, being very competitive, said, ‘okay hotshot,’ and he put up a sticker that usually goes over a bullet target. I drilled it, it was perfectly in the center of a dime-sized black sticker and that’s when we were all like, ‘whoa.”

And things took off from there.

After taking her first shot this August, Harrelson upgraded her equipment and her game. She won the first tournament she entered.

The better she got, the more daring the targets. In a YouTube video shot by her husband, Harrelson threaded a wedding ring from across a gym floor.

“I wasn’t nervous at all believe it or not,” Harrelson’s husband Chad said. “I’ve seen her shoot enough times that I know she never misses outside of an area (a couple inches big). For me to be three feet away, I may as well be in the parking lot.”

Harrelson is now heading for the Indoor World Cup with stops in Paris and Las Vegas in the next two months. Impressive considering this has all happened in less than six months.

“I’ve got a husband and five children, I’m 36 years old,” Harrelson said. “I never expected to find a talent at this stage of my life. Now that I’ve found it, I’m hanging on to it. I would tell people, it’s never too late, there is never a dream that is too big.”