USA Archery Penn College’s Matt Byrnes is shown competing during competition last year.

After a four-season All-American drought, coach Dustin Bartron’s Penn College archery team appears poised to regain the form that produced 88 All-Americans over the previous 22 years.

“I believe we will be very competitive this season. The chemistry and work ethic of these archers are among their strong attributes that will show success this year,” Bartron said as his squad prepared for its opener this weekend at the 55th USA Archery Indoor National Championships in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

“Practices have been strong for us. We have seen some great improvement in skill and chemistry during our practices. Going into the indoor season, we are well prepared,” the fourth-year coach said.

The Wildcats season officially began at the end of February with the USA Archery Indoor Nationals at Harrisonburg, Virginia. Penn College will be competing at the USA Archery East Region Outdoor Championships and Adam Wheatcroft Memorial in Harrisonburg, Virginia on April 20-21, and then the USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals in Statesboro, Georgia on May 17-19.

Competing in the men’s compound discipline will be juniors Jon Vough of Athens, Alex Edwards and Matthew Byrnes. Representing the college in men’s fixed pin will be junior Atley Cooper and freshmen Logan Shepard, Ben Malehorn and Aydan McLain.

Edwards, Byrnes and sophomore Brady Fowkes of Mayport were named to the All-East Region Team a year ago, and Fowkes was named to the All-American Academic Men’s Fixed Pins Team.

In addition to Vough, Edwards, Byrnes, Cooper and Fowkes, also returning from a year ago are junior Jansen Balmer of Ephrata and sophomores Paul Calabro and Sam Weber.

At the outdoor nationals last year, Penn College finished 22nd in a 49-team field.

“I am looking for the returners to be leaders for the younger archers and lead them to compete on this level. Our competition is very strong. We have the talent in practice — they need to be able to set the nerves aside and do what they know they can do when it matters in competition,” Bartron said.

“Byrnes has stepped up this year and is taking the roles of leader both in the range and in the classroom for all the archers. Shepard has also brought a lot of shooting and archery experience to the team and is always willing to help teammates with their equipment,” Bartron said. “This group has the ability to do big things if we can keep the nerves at bay. There is a lot of great talent in this group and they are always looking to each other to get better.

 “Many of the archers are not used to competing in tournaments of 800-plus competitors on the line. This will be very new and could be intimidating for some of our archers. We will look to our leaders (Edwards and Byrnes) to bring their experience in these tournaments to the newer archers and help prepare them for the emotions and nerves of these competitions.

 “If they can shoot as well in tournaments as they do in practice and when we are training, I expect big success.

 “This season will be very competitive. Right now, we are very strong and have some momentum. If we can carry this momentum throughout the season, we should be in the top 10 in the nation.”