Archers hit bull's-eye in Falls shoot

It was an impromptu archery qualifying tournament, but a tournament nonetheless.

Under the direction of National Field Archery Association State Tournament Director Tony Bierwagen, Thompson Falls hosted a Northwest Sectional Indoor Target Shoot at the Falls junior high gym Saturday and Sunday.

Several local archers, including a 4-H youth team from Kalispell and its coaches, took advantage of the qualifying opportunity when alerted it to it by Bierwagen late last week.

Bierwagen said holding the tournament last week saved NFAA shooters making another trip to Lewistown, where most archers will be heading in several weeks anyway for the annual State Indoor Shoot.

"It was a simple thing to just put the shoot on here and get that taken care of," Bierwagen said. "There were three across Montana, with the other two being in Lewistown and Helena. Now we will wait until the scores are all in and see who qualifies."

The Northwest Sectional area also encompasses Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, as well as Montana for qualifying purposes, Bierwagen said.

The Halfmoon Highlanders, the 4-H archery team from the Kalispell area, was led into Thompson Falls by head coach RJ Lauria and several other chaperones.

Lauria said he is guiding seven competitive shooters in the club, and that the Highlanders will be heading to Bozeman this week for the Montana 4-H State Indoor tournament.

Bierwagen said he will be travelling to the Montana State NFAA Indoor Target championships in the next few weeks, and appreciates the fact that he and other members of the local club will not have to make multiple trips to fulfill their shooting obligations this year.

"The organization decided that you don't have to attend specific shoots to qualify anymore," he said, "and we were glad to take advantage of that opportunity with our shoot."