A west metro middle school student is a national champion archer, the state Department of Natural Resources reports.

Mitchel Monforton of Mound finished first among boys in the elementary division on May 10 at the National Archery in the Schools National Tournament in Louisville, Ky.

Monforton, who attends Grandview Middle School, received the gold medal in the elementary male division and set a state record for all archers with a score of 289 and 21 bullseyes out of a possible score of 300.

Also, Chantelle Skarda of White Bear Lake finished fourth in the female high school division.

The DNR said Monday that Minnesota had the third-largest number of students participating in the 24-state tournament, which is the largest archery tournament in North America. There were 152 archers from seven Minnesota schools at the tournament.

Skarda, who attends the north campus of White Bear Lake High School, improved on her fifth-place finish in 2007 by scoring 286 and 19 bullseyes out of a possible score of 300.

White Bear Lake's archery team also placed eighth out of the 53 teams in their first-ever NASP national tournament, the best for a Minnesota team.

The DNR sponsors a two-week physical education curriculum that teaches target-style archery to students in grades 4-12 during regularly scheduled physical education classes. About 85,000 students from 250 Minnesota school districts participate in the program.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482