On Tuesday, archery teams from Warren Central and Vicksburg High will shoot to establish themselves among the state’s best.

The two Warren County teams, along with a host of others, will compete in the MHSAA North State archery tournament in Coffeeville. For the 44 archers from Warren Central, this tournament will be their first real chance to compete against a large number of people.

It’s the first major tournament for the program, which was started this year. The only other competition the Vikings have had was a heads-up match against Vicksburg — which is also in its first year — two weeks ago.

Nearly 100 high schools statewide compete in archery. Most of the programs are funded by grants from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ “Archery in the Schools” program.

“We’ve only competed against one other team so far. So going to a tournament you’re going to be against hundreds of other shooters so it gives you that experience,” Warren Central coach Susan Stanton said. “We hope to perform well but we just want it to be a learning experience for them.”

Teams will be ranked in the tournament based on an overall team score, which is comprised of each team’s 12 highest individual scores. Of those 12 scores, four have to be opposite gender scores.

Stanton and fellow Warren Central coach Matt Brewer expect to see the team continue to progress on what it has done during practice.

“I just want to see them get a personal record,” Stanton said.

With archery being in its inaugural season in the Vicksburg Warren School District, it attracted plenty of novices. Stanton said that through practices those who’ve never picked up a bow and arrow before are increasing their skill level.

The maximum individual score for an archery tournament is 300 points and the Vikings have had students with scores of 270, which Stanton said was fabulous for a first-year team.

As a method of gauging how well his team stacks up with other programs in the state, Brewer looked at scores from last season. The Vikings are comparable with some of the best such as Petal, Franklin County, Lawrence County and Tupelo.

“The top scores in the state range from 2,900 to about 3,300 in overall team score. Our last meet we shot about 3,058,” Brewer said. “We were right there. For it to be a first-year team I was very pleased with it being our first meet out and being right there in the mix with some of the top scorers in the state.”

Brewer designed his practices to run as if they were actual meets, which in turn keeps his archers prepared. He said they’ve become used to the style and routine.

Before Thursday’s practice in the school’s auxiliary gym he handed out official scoresheets to his archers and had them shoot from the same distances as in competition.

“We’re ready to go,” Brewer said. “Ready to see how the kids are going to do. I’m excited about it just like the kids are and I expect them to do very well.”