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At 5-foot-1, Kay Kay Walker’s appearance doesn’t exactly invoke fear into those who happen to meet her. But when you watch the 13-year-old pepper the bullseye of a target with arrows from her bow with surgical precision, you realize her looks are but deceiving.
Walker shot a 284 to earn top honors in the seventh and eighth-grade bracket of the State Games of Mississippi Archery in Mississippi School match at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center Tuesday afternoon.
“Archery is fun, and it’s something I enjoy doing,” Walker said. “It’s something I want to keep doing. It feels good to know that I won, but I know that everyone else did well today.”
In fourth grade, upon learning she was too young to participate on the Simpson Central School’s archery team, Kay Kay and her father, Jeffrey, still found a way to practice her craft.
“When archery started at my school, I was in the fourth grade, and fourth graders couldn’t do archery,” she said. “I took time out of my recess to practice.”
Jeffrey Walker recalled working with his daughter in the school’s gym.
“I remember her coming in and spending her breaks in the gym with us instead of going on her breaks,” Jeffrey Walker, 42, of Magee, said. “She came in, picked up a bow and started shooting. You could tell she had a knack for it.”
Kay Kay Walker’s dedication to the sport has earned her four school state championships, and a second-place finish in the 2015 State Games of Mississippi’s archery event, where she shot 259.
Walker wasn’t the only top finisher at Tuesday’s event, which drew 94 participants.
Van Malone broke his left ankle during a Lawrence County High School football practice several weeks ago and underwent surgery last week to remove the fractured bone. Despite the injury and recovery, Malone said he didn’t consider withdrawing from the competition.
Unable to stand, Malone practiced from a chair at his Monticello home.
“Yesterday, it was pretty challenging because I was still feeling the anesthetic, and was shaking really badly,” Malone, 15, said. “But today, I calmed down a lot.”
Sitting atop a black standing stool, Malone shot his way to a first-place finish in his age bracket, shooting a 283.
Malone said he initially began archery not for the sport itself, but to help sharpen his hunting skills.
“At first, I thought it would be a good way to get extra bow hunting practice, but then I realized that you don’t shoot with sights, so I thought I’d try it as a sport,” he said. “I’m glad I did it.”
