Aaron Cook wins 2 USCA Indoor National archery titles
Published 1:21 pm Thursday, March 16, 2017
Aaron Cook of Stanford helped the University of the Cumberlands (UC) Archery Team claim its second national win of the year by claiming two titles in the USCA Indoor National Championships at Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cook, a graduate of Lincoln County High School, has shot and placed in many collegiate tournaments over the past four years shooting for UC, but this is the first time that he actually won two national titles.
Cook, a senior, and Hayley Haygood, also a senior, of Liberty, Mississippi, got things started for Cumberlands at the national championships by teaming up to win the Mixed Bowhunter division, then he went on to win the Men’s Bowhunter division as well.
Cook and Haygood combined to shoot 155 to defeat Union by eight points. In Men’s Bowhunter, it took a tiebreaker to decide the title winner. Cook won his first two head-to-head elimination matches to advance to the finals against Parker Battista of Mississippi College. In the finals both competitors shot 147, forcing a one-arrow tiebreaker which Cook won 10-9.
The Stanford archer had a fantastic finish at the regional qualifiers to earn a spot in the national championships. UC took three of the top four spots in Men’s Bowhunter at regionals, wth Cook getting the team’s high finish as regional runner-up. Teammates Jayson Byrd and Caleb Dixon finished right behind Cook in third- and fourth-place, respectively, to also qualify for the USCA National Championship Tournament.
Cook is the son of Pam and John Cook of Stanford.