Five local archers in the Half Moon Highlanders 4-H club have qualified for the national competition in Nebraska in June.

Miranda Lauria, Ana Ramsey and Keanna Weber of Columbia Falls and Tristan Smith of Kalispell placed in the top four in the state for Olympic recurve archery. They were up against eight other recurve shooters in the state. Also, Hayden Falkner of Columbia Falls qualified in compound archery.

They had to contend with rain, wind and cold at the qualifiers in Livingston this month. Yet, they still made it out on top. It is one of the first times that four recurve archers from one club will represent the state at nationals.

They are a dedicated bunch.

In addition to regular practice, they’ve fine-tuned their form, read mental training books and learned to shoot with distractions—people yelling or throwing rubber gloves at them while they shoot. But more than anything they practice a lot.

“We’ve been shooting basically everyday since October,” Lauria said. They take turns practicing at each other’s houses to get used to various terrain and conditions.

The 4-H national competition puts the archers one step closer to competing in the Olympics, club assistant Tessa Lauria said.

None of the students have been to nationals in archery before and they only get one try. They have to have their equipment in top condition with spare parts ready to go. If a string or any part of the bow malfunctions, they have to fix it on the spot or lose out on their one chance.

Lauria qualified as an alternate last year, but she decided to forfeit that in order to be able to try again this year. She has been shooting since she was 4 years old. Ramsey has been in archery for just the past three years and Smith since he was 8. RJ Lauria has coached the kids for many years.

The shooters are trying to raise $3,000 each for transportation, lodging, food and to pay for tournament activities in Grand Island, Nebraska. They’re selling raffle tickets for several items including a bistro set, half day raft trip for two, one year free range time at Flaming Arrow, $100 at Dreamcatcher Lodge bed and breakfast, cord of wood, print by Marie, $30 at Teakettle Cafe and a gift basket. Also there’s a separate raffle for breeding with an Appaloosa named Bluhawk. The deadline to buy raffle tickets is June 24 when the team leaves for nationals. The raffle will be held July 18.

They also have a GoFundMe site at gofundme.com/bdxwn2y4. For more information on how to donate call coach RJ Lauria at 406-885-3646.