Adam Gallant is a shooter. Bows and arrows, that is. Last month, he won the Field Nationals, earning himself a spot on the USA World Field Archery Team heading to Lywynypia, Great Britain, for competition in September. He'll pay his own way for the privilege. One of the best junior shooters in the United States and a member of the Junior U.S. Archery Team, Adam frequently competes against pros, winning enough to get noticed.

He's in Oklahoma today, finishing up a three-day competition in the Junior Olympic Archery Development National Target Championships, and will compete in the Outdoor Nationals and International Archery Federation Outdoor World trials in Colorado in August. If he does well there, he may be selected to represent the United States in Antalya, Turkey, in October.

Adam will be a senior at Poland Regional High School in the fall, and despite a demanding daily training schedule at Central Maine Archery in Auburn, manages to stay on the honor roll and participate in Student Council, and the math, speech and debate teams. Oh, and he has a very understanding girlfriend.

Name: Adam Gallant

Age: 17

Hometown: Poland

Describe a typical competition: Most tournaments usually last over a couple of days. Shooting usually takes most of the day and starts early in the morning. Outdoor shoots usually last longer then indoor shoots mainly because outdoor shoots involve shooting a larger amount of arrows.

How do you become interested? At a younger age I was interested in anything that shot, as well as hunting. I got involved in some local lessons and was interested in pursuing archery. One thing led to another. I started at a local tournament and kept going to bigger shoots to now I'm traveling internationally to compete in World Championships.

What was your first competition? The first shoot I went to was the Maine State Tournament. It was held at an archery range that I took weekly lessons at.

How did you do? Well, it was my first shoot. I didn't place but I wasn't too discouraged.

Are you generally the youngest competitor in your field? Last year, I was one of the youngest in my division, I actually shot up into the Junior division even though my age should have put me in the Cadet division, so at the age of 16 I was shooting against kids 17-18. This year I'm still in the Junior division but I'm still on the younger side. I also compete in a few adult-only shoots where almost everyone is 18+. Last year I shot in one of those shoots in Colorado Springs; this was the U.S. Open and I actually finished in the top 16 of all the archers.

How much have you paid for your most expensive bow? The Bare bow that I shoot is over $1,000 new, but that is without all the other equipment that goes on it. With the other equipment that directly attaches to the bow its another $1,000 to $1,500. That does not include arrows, releases, etc.

Any problems checking your bows/arrows on flights? Not usually, but there have been times - though it's usually operator error, not the equipment.

Do you have sponsors? Yes, I'm sponsored by the local pro shop, Central Maine Archery, and Vortex Optics. I'm also on the Junior U.S. Archery Team, which is for the top archers in each division. Many archery companies will donate products or sell them at a discounted price to the archers on the team to help support them.

Trying to get more sponsors? Yes. My goal is soon be on two other pro staffs. One is Hoyt, who makes the best bows in the world, and Easton, who makes the best arrows.

What's the most rewarding thing? The most rewarding part is probably when I was in Washington a little while ago. I was out there for the National Field Championship and World Team Trials. I had spent the three weeks prior to the shoot training and shooting. I really wanted to shoot well and to make the team to go to Wales. I spent all my free time shooting and getting ready, I put everything else on hold to prepare for this. I went out to Washington and when I got there the weather was not the best, but I felt prepared and shot some great score and ended up winning both events with a good gap between me and my competitors. The training had really paid off, and that felt great to see that when I put all that work into it, that it really paid off.

What kind of strength or aerobic training must you do in preparation for competition? I do some work on my core muscles, I also like to bike for my cardio exercise. Other then that I walk a lot when I practice because I only shoot six arrows at a time before I have to pull them from the target. When I'm shooting 90 meters (99.5 yards) I walk 90 meters down and 90 meters back every six arrows, which only takes about six minutes to shoot.

Is this a sport in which you can turn pro? Yes there are a few people who can make a complete living at this. It is challenging but can be done, though there are a few more who do this as a part-time job and have another small part-time job, too.

Could you earn a college scholarship? No, there are no schools that will give scholarships for archery only. This is because there are very few colleges that have NCAA archery teams; most are on the club level. This is a recent change in the past five or so years. Though there are many schools that will pay for travel expense to collegiate shoots.

As a member of the 2008 Junior U.S. Archery Team, are you aiming for the Olympics? No, this question is asked a lot, but the simple answer is that there are two types of bows: recurve and compound. Compounds are the bows with wheels (or cams) on top, which help you draw the bow; recurve is a more traditional bow. Even though nowadays the recurve is very similar to the compound with all the accessories, the Olympics only allows recurves to compete, and I shoot compound.

How are your grades? My grades are pretty good. I make honor roll and started to take college classes my junior year of high school. My parents make me keep my grades up if I want to stay shooting.

Do you have time between schoolwork and training to date much? Ya, I make sure I find time for that. I actually am pretty lucky to have a very understanding girlfriend who supports me in archery and understands why I spend so much time away traveling or out practicing.

What do your friends think of this pastime? They all think it's pretty sweet. They're interested in the places I get to travel to. Especially this winter when I went to Las Vegas for a while, and this fall when I'm going to be gone for my first week of my senior year when I'm over in Wales competing in the Junior World Field Championships.

To view an example of field archery, go to: http://europroarchery.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/00732.1.1196873887120807203