Experienced Penn College Archers Open Season Saturday

Experience is an important factor for success in any sport, and Pennsylvania College of Technology is loaded with experienced archers this season.

The Wildcats of coach Chad Karstetter feature 10 returnees, and Karstetter, in his seventh season, hopes that translates into great things by the end of the season three months from now. Penn College opens its season Saturday at Taylor in the Pennsylvania Indoor Championships.

"We have a lot of returning archers who have a few years of experience and it all plays a part in being a great archer," the coach said.

"You can take somebody and teach them how to shoot in the middle (of a target) in your back yard or in your home-basement range, but you put them in an atmosphere where there are 50 other shooters who are that good and it becomes an mental game ... to shoot them in the middle and experience is a major part of it," Karstetter continued.

Competing for the college in the male compound division will be returnees Ryan Rambo (junior/Millville), Brock Smith (sophomore/Brookville), Shawn Tappen (junior/Wellsville) and Nate Potteiger (senior/Middletown) and newcomers Jarrod Chandler (Gillett), Frank Held (Williamsport), Brad Ferguson (Lewistown), Matt Miller (Jamescreek) and Martin Smith (Brookville). The Smiths are brothers.

"They are looking pretty good... We're going to have a pretty strong team this year," Karstetter said. "Ryan Rambo was excellent last year for us and just missed being an All-American by a couple of points. This year, coming back with a little more experience, I can see him doing very well."

Of the first-year archers, Karstetter thinks Brock Smith should make an immediate impact.

Shooting in the male recurve division will be returnees Jason Kornbau (senior/Felton), Mark Lambert (sophomore/Venus), Chris Adams (senior/Pen Argyl) and freshman James Fanelli (Glastonbury, Conn.). Lambert was named a national college "Rookie of the Year" in 2006.

"Last year, they had a pretty tough round (at the outdoor nationals). They had a couple of shooting errors... but this year, with more experience, I see them doing very well," the coach said. "James (Fanelli) is going to be a great asset to the team. He's shooting really well for the first year."

Rounding out the squad, and returnees, are members of the women's compound team ? Michelle Wright (senior/Kendall, N.Y.), Lindsey Fackler (sophomore/Halifax) and Sarah Wilson (senior/Tyrone).

"They were all together last year and shot really well outdoors and I expect them to do just as well this year," Karstetter said.

Wright was named a collegiate All-American last season for the second time in her career at Penn College and Karstetter believes she and Rambo stand the best chances of achieving that status this year.

Addressing Saturday's event, Karstetter said, "It's the beginning of the year.... We're going to shoot against a few teams. I expect that Penn State will be there. All-in-all, I expect us to have a pretty good showing... (but) after this weekend, it will be time to get real serious."

(Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site.)