Few girls dream of being nationally ranked for their bow hunting skills.

Chelsea Polenz lives that dream.

The Rochester freshman has competed in national archery contests across the country, was ranked fourth in the nation for her age group at 17, took two state championships and was ranked in the top ten for adult women nationwide at an indoor competition in March in Louisville, Ky.

She is now president of the Archery Club at Central Michigan University, a newly formed group the 2009 high school graduate created even before attending her first day of classes.

“A lot of people think that archery is for rednecks and hillbillies, but it’s not,” Polenz said. “It takes a lot of strength and a lot of accuracy.”

Her fondness for the sport began at age 12, when she received a toy bow and arrow as a Christmas present from her father, Mark Polenz.

The two would spend hours shooting apples around their hometown and, after seeing how much his daughter enjoyed the sport, Mark decided his daughter’s growing skills required stronger equipment.
Polenz now owns three bows, two of which are hot pink.

In addition to her equipment, Polenz has spent the past two years sharpening her techniques with the help of Jim Morrow, an avid outdoorsman who has appeared on the Hunting Channel and coached Olympic athletes, she said.

Family tradition

The daughter of a devoted hunter, Polenz said she inherited her love of archery from her dad’s side of the family.

“Everyone on my dad’s side hunts,” she said. “Even the women. It’s funny.”

Part of Polenz’s decision to start the Archery Club at CMU was influenced by her father, who wanted to make sure she would have a place to shoot in college.

Chelsea was accepted to Arizona State University, which offers club archery, Mark said, but she wanted to stay close to home — which meant CMU needed a club archery team.

“I’m very proud of her,” he said. “She’s one of the top ranking in the country at what she does. She can outshoot me.”

Archery Club

The Archery Club at Central Michigan University is still a work in progress, but Polenz said she would like the group to meet in the Student Activity Center during the evening at least once a week.

Polenz wants the team to travel to competitions this semester at locations ranging from Michigan all the way to Las Vegas and Kentucky.

Polenz’s roommate, longtime friend and fellow club member April Kretchman, a Rochester freshman, said she is looking forward to group practices.

Kretchman said people never expect the two to be devoted to archery.

“People are like ‘What, you’re a bow hunter?,’” she said. “People don’t think we’re the outdoors type, but I like it because it’s different than your usual sport.”

E-mail the author: Joe Borlik