Barren County Senior Inspires Community with Archery Success

Barren County High School Archery Head Coach Chris DeVore sat at his desk Monday afternoon as students poured into the team’s facility in Trojan Academy’s basement. Students mingled quietly on the silver bleachers, waiting for the first whistle to cue their routine. But something was missing. 

“There are days that we come in and you think, ‘man, I don’t want to be here,’ and then Dylan will walk in,” Coach DeVore said. “The whole atmosphere will change.” 

Dylan Black, a senior at Barren County High School, walked in, head held high and circular glasses rested on his nose. His laugh echoed off the concrete walls as friends flocked to his side. 

“He is a goofball,” Coach DeVore said with a smile. 

Black, 18, won the Kentucky National Archery in the Schools Program state title in Louisville on March 14. He shot a 293 out of 300 possible score, beating 1,469 other archers from across the state. Black’s performance qualified him for the NASP US Eastern Nationals tournament, but his journey to success began eight years ago when his fourth-grade teacher at Richardsville Elementary handed him a flyer for tryouts. 

“If I could paint a picture of my parents’ faces when I showed them that flyer, it would be priceless,” Black said. “But they’ve never limited me. If I commit myself to it, they’ll at least let me try it!” 

Black has a condition called bilateral phocomelia, a rare birth defect that stopped his arms from growing. Bilateral phocomelia affects 0.62 out of 100,000 new births, according to a study from the National Library of Medicine. 

“There was definitely a lot of trial and error when it comes to how I shoot,” Black said. 

Black uses a mouthpiece to pull back the bowstring and a metal frame to hold the bow. The frame, sporting red and yellow Barren County colors, allows Black to easily move it across the floor and adjust on the fly. 

“It would’ve been so much easier for the coaches to just say ‘I’m sorry, there’s no way we can do this,’ but none of them ever looked at it that way,” Black said. 

Wayne Glenn, Black’s first coach at Richardsville Elementary, built prototypes for him out of PVC pipe and plywood before Warren County Sheet Metal built and donated a device for him to use that has been the basis ever since. 

“I want to show people how powerful it is if you just believe in yourself,” Black said. “I can’t say for sure if I have [impacted others], but I really hope I’ve at least inspired one person to, at the very least, try.” 

Black signed his letter of intent to compete in archery at Kentucky Christian University on April 21, and the Barren County Board of Education recognized his state title at a board meeting on April 25. 

Black will compete at the NASP US Eastern Nationals tournament on Friday, May 8.