Villages Charter School student Chelsea McGowan wrapped up her first archery season Sunday in Alabama, receiving the Shooter of the Year award at her national competition.
The young archer also placed second in the Real Tree ASA Classic Pro/Am National Championship this past weekend in Fort Benning, Ga.
The high school junior said her parents were “super stoked” and really happy about her accomplishments.
“They thought I was just a backyard shooter, then I went to my first tournament in Texas,” said McGowan who then explained that she placed second in her first tournament ever, proving to her parents that “this was the real deal.”
She is the daughter of Patrick and Sabrina McGowan.
McGowan had also recently won the 2016 Florida ASA Championship and took the shooter of the year award for her division in late July.
With her archery season over till January of 2017, McGowan says she has a new bow and will practice and work hard till then.
The charter school student is currently in the journalism academy at her school but is looking to pursue archery professionally.
Racking up plenty of scholarships through her competitions, the current buffalo has her eyes on the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky, which has an archery team she would like to join.
When asked about the possibility of ever becoming an Olympic archer, McGowan laughed and explained that as much as she really wants to, she was disappointed to find out that the Olympics will not use compound bows in the 2020 games.
If regulations ever change, however, she said she would definitely compete in the Olympic trials.