Bend sisters among several young C.O. athletes who fared well at archery nationals

(Update: adding video, comments from archers, parent and coach)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend archers were shooting for a solid finish at nationals, and it’s safe to say they hit their mark.

Avery Beauvais took first in young adult freestyle for the third year in a row. Louis Hodges scored third in the youth freestyle class.

Sisters Sadie and Isabella Turco took home first and second place respectively to round off an impressive Central Oregon showing at the National Field Archery Association 3D Archery Event in Redding, California. 

"I shot well,” Isabella said Thursday, with a smile.  

Isabella, who is 15 years old, finished second in young adult freestyle.

Sadie Turco, 11, won first place for freestyle bowhunter in the Cub Division, her first-ever national first place finish. 

Their mom, Yvonne, said she is extremely proud of her daughters, especially with the challenges of the past year.

"It's been good for them, because they missed a lot of the tournaments last year with the covid closure,” Yvonne said. “So it's good to see them have success. They've been training really hard for the last two years."

The Turco family first got into archery six years ago, when Isabella and her father began shooting, just for fun.

"I didn't fully know at first, but I started doing it more and I really enjoyed it,” Isabella said. 

Sadie picked it up just two years later, and now is one of the best archers in her class.

"It's just a really fun sport that is really challenging for me, but is really fun for me as well,” Sadie said. 

The girls’ coach, Billy Bowles, was not able to make the outdoor event, but he said their success is not surprising. 

"They really really want this. They both live and breathe archery,” Bowles said. "It makes me so proud, to see them do what they accomplished."

Bowles said since he first started coaching them, their improvement has been constant -- and impressive.  

"Tremendously over the last three years,” Bowles said. “When I got my hands on them, they were both pretty much basket cases."

Archery is now a staple for the Turco family, and while the girls have high goals, they understand self-improvement is the name of the game.

"It's something you can always challenge yourself with, both physically and mentally, you can always improve,” said Yvonne, who also competes. 

Sadie said, "It would be really cool for me to become a pro archer. But I've improved so much, and I hope I continue to."