New coach Dunaway expects big things from Bulldog archers
BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Still just months into his college coaching career, Robert Dunaway admits he doesn't always have all the answers.
After 15 years coaching at the middle school and high school levels, Dunaway stepped into a "totally different world" this summer, when he was hired to take over as the head archery coach at Union College. And while his comfort level has grown during preseason practices, he acknowledges he still has "volumes more to learn" as the Bulldogs prepare to open the 2022-23 season with a pair of matches this weekend.
But to say that Dunaway is in over his head would not be a fair assessment, as the coach says he stepped into an environment in which he felt immediately comfortable.
"It's been a huge transition for me. The good thing is, these kids know what they're doing," Dunaway said. "I'm providing what I need as a coach and they're providing what I need to learn at the collegiate level. They're kind of like a family and they've brought me in like a family from day one. Everyone has just taken me in. It's been very smooth."
A reason for that early progress, according to returning archers, is that Dunaway has let the talented roster he's inherited have a say in how practices operate, allowing them to prepare for the season in a way that's comfortable and helps maximize their talents.
"It's not been a hard change at all," said Evan Miller, a sophomore open compound shooter. "(It's been) fluent, easy, everyone's working together well. People are stepping up, going to the next level to help everyone."
Also helping things progress is a very talented roster, filled with multiple athletes who achieved record-setting success a season ago.
Leading the charge on the men's side will be junior bowhunter Chase Herndon and senior compound shooter Lane Brandt. Herndon set both single day (600) and tournament (1,198) fixed-pin scoring record at the 2022 USA Archery Indoor National Tournament, while he and Brandt both set scoring records in their respective events at the South-East Region Outdoor Championships.
Brandt, along with Miller, Daniel Carlton and others, will lead a compound men's group their new coach says "will be hard to beat."
"My compound team can win anywhere," Dunaway said. "I've watched them shoot and they're amazing."
On the women's side, the Bulldogs lost a pair of All-Americans in Jamille Moore and Molly Gawedzinski, but Dunaway expects a group with a healthy mix of returners and newcomers can fill the void. Dunaway believes compound shooters Jalyn Sharpe and Ashley Coffing will lead the charge early while newcomers attempt to find their footing.
With the season fast approaching, Dunaway has worked to simulate a competitive setting by recording live scoring in recent practices. He says the environment has brought the best out of his team and expects the results will carry over when the Bulldogs take on other teams, starting this weekend.
"I can't wait to see these guys perform at competition," Dunaway said. "(I think) they do better when they have competition and the better it is, the better they're going to shoot. I truly believe that."
Union travels to London, Ky. for the 3D Regionals on Friday, then heads to the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) for the Southeast Conference Meet on Saturday.