BALLSTON SPA — Three local teens are heading west in June, competing at the National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Amber Cook, Paige Cook, and Rachel Wilbur, members of the 4-H Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County, all qualified for the National Championships after competing at the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Championships. Amber Cook will compete on New York’s Shotgun team, while Paige Cook and Rachel Wilbur will each compete on New York’s Archery team.
Paige Cook said it is “overwhelming, but exciting,” to clinch a spot at nationals.
“Yeah, it’s definitely overwhelming. But we’re all definitely blessed to have this opportunity and be able to experience this,” Rachel Wilbur added. “Very excited. We’re all working pretty hard at everything.”
The girls are also the first group from Saratoga County to even compete at the state championships, much less advance to nationals. Rachel Wilbur and Amber Cook competed at the state level in 2019, and all three girls competed in 2021 before qualifying for nationals at the 2022 State Championships.
“(In) 2019, we were the first ones to go out to the state competition, and now we’re the first ones from Saratoga County to go out to nationals,” said Amber Cook.
Kim Wilbur, mother of Rachel, said she is “so proud” of the girls, a sentiment that was echoed by the Cook’s parents. Renee Janack, mother of Amber and Paige Cook, pointed out that the girls are competing in fields that have been traditionally male-dominated.
“Proud just keeps coming to my mind,” said Kim Wilbur. “It’s exciting to see what the future holds.”
“It seems like such a cliche, I just keep saying how proud we are,” said Janack. “Not only are they the first going from Saratoga County, they’re young women. … It’s very male-dominated, so it’s thrilling to watch them grow as a team.”
Rachel Wilbur and Paige Cook both qualified for nationals at the New York State Championships in September. However, neither were certain they would make the cut.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Paige Cook.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make it either,” added Rachel Wilbur. “I really just went in there with an open mind, like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’”
Of course, both qualified for nationals, with Wilbur finishing second and Cook third overall.
Amber Cook, however, initially qualified for nationals in May 2022, but didn’t discover this until after her teammates had clinched their spots.
“I didn’t find out until after they did, in September. I was very surprised,” said Amber Cook. “I really did not think I was going to qualify, so it was just very exciting and I’m very proud of myself for being able to.”
Amber Cook will be joined on New York’s Shotgun team by qualifiers from Dutchess and Chemung counties, while Paige Cook and Rachel Wilbur will compete alongside a qualifier from Wyoming County on the New York Archery team.
Competitors will be scored individually, with their scores added up to generate overall county and state scores.
“We all go out there and shoot individually,” said Rachel. “So we’re scored individually, and then all together as a team at the end.”
The group is currently in the process of fundraising for the trip, with Rachel Wilbur saying it will cost about $3,000 per girl for the travel alone. The National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships will be held from June 25 to 30 in Grand Island, Nebraska.
“(We’ve been) getting together and just making sure everything is very precise, so we can go out to different stores and even just individual people and do group fundraising,” Rachel said. “We’ve been in the process of that for a few months now. It is a lot of work to do fundraising, especially this big.”
“It’s a long process,” added Paige Cook. “We’re mostly preparing to start in the next couple weeks, because getting the names and the emails and all that has taken quite a long time.”
The girls’ parents are also chipping in any way they can. Jeff Breedon, father of Amber and Paige, is an instructor at Saratoga County 4-H along with Janack and Kim Wilbur.
“Every one of us brings a different strength to the team,” said Breedon. “That’s how we’ve succeeded, I think, so well. If something needs to happen, one of us knows how to do it.”
And the time spent in 4-H has also helped the trio become closer, which Janack emphasized as one of the strengths of the program.
“That’s the beauty of 4-H, it’s a county-wide thing,” Janack said. “You have youth coming from all over who would have never met each other, would never have known how awesome their friendships are going to be. This is truly going to be a lifelong friendship between these three.”
Rachel Wilbur agreed, saying that while the girls knew each other before joining 4-H, the club has “really sparked that friendship in all of us.”
“I don’t even consider them my teammates, they’re just my family now,” said Rachel. “That’s what 4-H has brought to us. It’s definitely a blessing.”
