Photo courtesy of Patty Payne Mary Margaret Payne, 11, of Troy, takes aim during a training session with the Royal Oak Archers at their practice facility near Paint Creek in Rochester Hills. Payne recently was crowned the Bowman Female Recurve Junior Olympic Archery Development National Champion July 12.

By Sue Teggart
C & G Sports Writer

TROY — While most 11-year-olds are still playing with dolls and other games, Mary Margaret Payne is busy with a different type of activity — archery.

And although she considers it a fun activity, it’s not a game.

On July 12, Mary Margaret won the Bowman Female Recurve Junior Olympic Archery Development National Championship in Oklahoma City.

Her first-place finish came unexpectedly after having a hold on second place and trailing junior ace archer Miriam Audra Trafford of Louisiana throughout the first three rounds of competition. 

It was in the last contest that Mary Margaret pulled ahead and clinched the national championship.

“I was so surprised,” she said. “Mostly throughout the tournament, I was pretty solidly in second. Then we got to our shortest distance, and I pulled ahead. I was really excited. I shot a personal best. With all the wind, it was even harder.”

Before her jump into the lead, she said she was satisfied to just be competing among the top archers at the national competition.

“I was just so proud of her and just wanted her to have fun,” said Tim Payne, Mary Margaret’s father.

Archers had four minutes in each of the four rounds of competition to shoot six arrows at targets that were placed at different distances to achieve the best score for the win.

“The toughest part is that it was 95 degrees out and really windy,” Tim Payne said. “Just that long day of being out in the sun was pretty brutal.”

Though the elements were unlike anything she was used to, Mary Margaret was able to persevere when it counted most.

“It was different from a lot of tournaments I’m in because it was so hot and windy,” Mary Margaret said. “It was constant (wind), but everyone had trouble. 

“I just had to time it right.”

Ready, aim, fire 
Though archery isn’t a typical sport for a young girl, Mary Margaret picked it up at the age of 7 and loved it almost at once.

After going to an archery camp through the Birmingham YMCA, Mary Margaret said she was hooked.          

“It’s so fun,” she said. “It takes precision and a lot of strength.”

After begging for a bow for Christmas, Mary Margaret’s mother, Patty Payne, took her to MJC Archery in Royal Oak to get fitted for the right equipment and hone her skills with bowmen from the Royal Oak Archers Club.

“(Mary Margaret) started going to the Saturday morning lessons at MJC and really got pumped up for it,” Patty Payne said.

After a few weeks of training in the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program, which is where Patty Payne said all young archers get their start, Mary Margaret began representing the Royal Oak Archers at JOAD tournaments.

“She just kept going and having fun,” Patty Payne said. “She was making friends from Texas, Louisiana and Arizona, and she had friends she made from across Michigan that she met at in-state tournaments.”

As Mary Margaret enters her third outdoor season with Royal Oak Archers, Tim Payne said he plans to generate interest locally by offering an after-school program for youngsters who might want to take up the sport.

For more information on US Archery, go to www.usarchery.org. For information about lessons, contact MJC Archery at (248) 589-2480.

You can reach Sports Writer Sue Teggart at steggart@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1107.