The regulation phase of the competition was over. Cassy Pelton, the 21-year old Georgia Southern junior, stood tied for third at the World Indoor Archery Team Trials in Lansing, Michigan. Her dream of competing for the United States rested on how she would do in her tie-breaker match.
    Adding to the drama, Pelton, a right-handed shooter, was facing a lefty, meaning the two women would essentially be facing off both figuratively and literally for the final spot on the U.S. team.
    “It was a lot of pressure. It was intense,” Pelton said of the moment. “I thought ‘If I do well or not, this is what God wants for me.’”
    Pelton would go on to win the tiebreaker 6-2, securing her spot on the national team and will be traveling to Ankara, Turkey, in March to compete in the World Indoor Archery Championship.
    “It took a moment for it to sink in,” Pelton said. “I turned to shake her hand because it was a really good match and I heard people clapping, which was nice, but then my eyes locked in with my mom and she was beaming and I was like ‘OK, we did this.’”
    For Pelton, archery hasn’t been a lifelong dream. In fact, it wasn’t until the summer before her freshman year of high school that she’d ever actually shot an arrow.
    She and her family had just returned to Georgia from Germany where her father had been stationed. She was staying with her grandparents in Florida while her parents looked for a house near Fort Stewart and he gave her a bow and arrows as something to pass the time.
    “The second I fired that first arrow, I was hooked,” she said.
    In high school, she joined the archery team and dedicated herself to the sport.
    While in high school she performed well, earning a scholarship to Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs and started considering the possibility of making the Olympic team.
    Emmanuel College ended up not being the place for Pelton and she left after a year that involved conflicts with the coach there and was ”in a bad place mentally.”
    She enrolled at Georgia Southern, joined the Evans County Junior Olympic Development (JOAD) Team and within the last year has really started to garner attention nationally for her shooting, eventually earning a chance to make the Olympics.
    It was with Evans County JOAD that she met Holly Edgar who was coaching the team at the time. Pelton asked Edgar to be her coach and after discussing it, Edger began as her coach.
    Edgar said she saw the potential for Pelton to be a world class shooter from when they first met.
    “She has a lot of enthusiasm and loves her sport and loves learning more about it,” Edgar said. “She has a dedication to practicing. I knew she’d be going where she wants to go.”
    She competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials last year, but failed to qualify for the team.
    “It was heartbreaking at first but you just have to pick yourself back up,” she said. “I knew it was a possibility, especially with it being my first Olympic Trials, that I might not make it. It would have been fantastic, but it wasn’t in God’s plan.”
    “You just have to take a step back, look at it, try to learn from it and find out where we can do better,” she said.
    It was shortly after the Olympic Trials that her attention turned to qualifying for the World Indoor Archery Championship and her thrilling qualification.
    Now, in addition to preparing for her first international competition, Pelton has to also balance her school work and additional responsibilities. She’s a Biology/Pre-Med major who wants to eventually go to medical school to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. She also is the captain of the Georgia Southern Archery Club where she is recruiting new members as well as working at the newly-opened Shooting Sports Education Center at Georgia Southern.
    Her typical day involves waking up early to work out, followed by a few hours of class followed by practice and work. In between classes she also tries to find time to practice.
    While archery is very much an individual sport, Pelton constantly says “we” when referring to her accomplishments. From the financial support from her family and other supporters to her coaches and teammates who have pushed and guided and encouraged her along the way, Pelton is acutely aware of how much of a team effort it has taken for her to reach this point.
    “My team is a huge part of my success as well. This team ranges from people on the Southern Eagles Archery team to the people on my old JOAD team at Evans County. They are not only my team but they are also like family to me and I can't be where I am without them,” she said.
    “I’m very proud of her,” Edgar said. “she’s worked very hard and I’m just glad to be a part of it. It’s been a joint effort, obviously with more effort on her part, but I’m just very proud of her.”
    Pelton is scheduled to fly to Turkey on February 28 with the competition beginning March 2. She’ll participate in four days of competition for both individual and team events.
    “It’s definitely draining,” she said of the competition schedule. “It’s tempting to want to go out and see the sights, but you have to remember why you’re there. Sometimes you have to make yourself go back to the hotel and rest and relax.”
    She’s obviously excited to compete not only for her school and her state, but for her country.
    “This is my debut international tournament and I don’t want to shoot poorly and have people think ‘the pressure got to her’ or something like that,” she said.
    A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Pelton cover the expenses of competing. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/indoorworldteam.
    The competition will be streamed online at archery.tv for anyone wanting to watch Pelton as she competes.