Wilbraham & Monson Academy's Gene Kang '20 entered the summer with an impressive archery resume, including a third-place finish in his age group at the National Indoor Championship in 2015.
After his performance in June and July, Gene is starting to aim at the highest level of archery that exists.
Gene won his division at three competitions, and also placed 26th in the 12-14 age group category at the National Outdoor Target Championship in Alabama in July.
"Overall, I did pretty well," Gene said. "This is my second year competing outdoors and this was much improved over the first year of shooting."
Gene won the Connecticut Archery Association Outdoor Open Championships in June a week before taking first at the Outdoor Archer's Cup Archery Tournament in Massachusetts. After finishing second at the Connecticut State Outdoor Championships & Nutmeg State Games, Gene made the trip south to Alabama to shoot against the top archers in the country. He concluded his summer by winning the Bay State Games, which are essentially the Olympics for high school athletes in the state.
"Getting into all of the competitions, it's good experience for when I grow up and potentially compete in the Olympics or even the World Cup for archery," said Gene, who started shooting at archery competitions three years ago. "Having all these competitions under my belt helps me gain experience."
Gene surprised himself at the national outdoor meet, outscoring shooters who had beaten him at previous competitions.
"During nationals, I beat a lot of people I had never beaten before," he said. "I scored higher than some of them in competition and elimination. At outdoor, there are a lot more people and it's better competition. For outdoor, you're probably 30 meters farther out. The targets are bigger but you're farther away. You have to deal with the conditions, such as the wind and sun. The elements affect your shooting.
"It was a great experience, traveling to Alabama and shooting at nationals. I hope to do it again next year. It was great to travel the country and meet so many great people and compete at nationals. I know I could have done better. I think in archery, you're never satisfied with a performance. I think I performed well and lived up to my expectations."
His summer performance has Gene setting his expectations higher, with hopes of making the U.S. National team in the future. He'll spend Sept. 3-5 meeting with the national coach and possibly shooting with members of the Olympic team, which earned a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.