Penn College's Women Archers to Benefit From $5,000 Grant

Its men's archery team long has been a powerhouse in national competition, and Pennsylvania College of Technology athletic officials are hoping an infusion of grant money will equip the Wildcat women to compete at the same level.

The $5,000 grant was awarded to Penn College by the California-based Easton Foundations, which, in the past three decades, have donated millions of dollars to promote archery as a mainstream sport and help its development at the state, regional, national and Olympic levels.

Chad L. Karstetter, Penn College archery coach and alumnus a three-time All-American as a student and recipient of the college's 2008 Outstanding Varsity Athletic Alumni Award said he learned from other college coaches last spring that the Easton Foundations planned a substantial investment in high school and college archery, so he worked with the Athletics Department and the institution's Grants and Contracts Office to put together a proposal to help "grow" the women's program.

"Chad did most of the legwork in regard to the proposed budget that detailed how the funds will be used, and was also instrumental in getting support from his contacts at USA Archery," said Douglas T. Byerly, the college's director of athletics. "Our men's team has been traditionally one of the strongest in the nation, year to year, and we saw this grant program as a way to build the women's team to this same level."

One of the biggest hurdles for some females interested in getting involved in collegiate archery is the cost of quality equipment, Byerly explained there currently is no recurve gear for Penn College women, and compound archers are using outdated men's equipment that has been retrofitted. This grant will allow the Athletics Department to purchase some of the items needed to establish a new women's recurve team and support the women's compound team, he said.

"Since the start of the archery program, the men's team has always been very competitive and we always placed in the top five for an overall school," said Karstetter, twice a member of a national champion team and the U.S. World squad. "But to be able to make a move into the top three, you need a good women's team."

"Last year was the college's highest place overall with a third-place finish. If we could have filled all four squads, we would have been first," he added. "We had men's compound, men's recurve and women's compound; the only one we were missing was a women's recurve team."

Karstetter said he is pleased to have been able to help out the college and the archery team and vowed that the cooperation of "everyone that helped make this happen" will pay off in his student-athletes' continued success: "Look for the 2011 Penn College archery team to field all four squads and give all those large universities a taste of Wildcat pride."

For more about athletics at Penn College, visit online or call 570-320-2443.

For general information about the college, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about grant-funding opportunities, faculty and staff may contact the Grants and Contracts Office at ext. 7562 or through its Web portal.