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Five people, including an NYPD officer, were killed near the corporate offices of the National Football League and Blackstone.
by Carson Gourdie
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When Khaliq Machado was a freshman at Champaign Centennial, he missed the try out for the archery program.
But his mother stepped in. She called the coach, who let Machado join the team
That turned out to be a great investment.
Robotic-like accuracy
We had Machado do 20 practice shots in front of the cameras
He couldn’t miss. Every shot hit was down the middle.
“Another bullseye," his mom said.
Cameras and his college coach watching him didn’t faze him.
“Are you impressed?" I asked his college coach, who leads the Grand View University program.
"Yes, can’t wait to get him to Des Moines!” Charlie Mundy told me.
Breaking barriers
Officials say Machado is the first Central Illinois product to move onto collegiate archery.
And Grand View, a private school in Iowa, gave Machado a full scholarship.
“We never heard of a scholarship for actual archery,” said Arthinann Machado, Khaliq's mother.
When he earned the offer, Khaliq "was speechless. I was like, 'There's no way a guy came all the way from Iowa to just look at me.'"
On Monday, he made it official: signing his letter of intent and moving to Iowa in a few weeks.
Grand View says offering him was a slam dunk.
“I look at GPA. Look at that first. Khaliq was real easy. Hitting the marks. And hitting the bullseye," said Mundy.
“I want to thank all of the coaches. For letting get a chance for something I’ll always be greatful for,” said Khaliq.
A program helping hundreds of students
Centennial's program started in 2013. Unit 4 schools Centennial have won several titles.
It’s given scholarship opportunities to kids like Machado.
And a place to belong for hundreds of students — Champaign Central has a robust program as well.
Assistant coach Heather Miller told me, "We have kids that are in band. We have kids that are dual athlete."
She added, "Those that are non athletic, might be students who even have certain disabilities or limitations, and there's opportunities to work around those limitations as needed."
The Machado family told me they're excited for road trips up to Iowa, and watch Khaliq compete.