Waking up bright and early, senior Jennifer Meyer waited nervously in line at 7:00 a.m. to enter Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines to compete at state.

“Going into state I felt so nervous because I knew this was my senior year and this was my last chance to do well,” Meyer said. Though her surroundings screamed with silence, Meyer still had to calm herself by taking deep breaths and making conversation with her line partner.

She shot at 8:00 a.m. and left leaving more confident than before, with one of her highest scores of the season, 283 out of 300, as well as first place on the charts.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t hold it the rest of the day, because everyone else shot,” she said. “It was pretty cool to be first even for a little bit.”

Twenty-four students competed March 7 for a placement at the state tournament. Each archer had a chance to complete a practice shoot before taking their scored on the 10 and 15 meter marks.

Coaches Dave Beason, Doug and Kathy Trail, prepared the competitors for the tournament through morning practices starting at 6:45 a.m. Enduring through the practices, the team finished in six place out of the 14 opposing teams.

“I just wanted people to do well, and to shoot their best score,” Beason said. The team did just that, scoring 3315 points total, their highest score of the season. Individually, Beason also saw improvement from students in their scores, but like any sport he still sees weaknesses that need to be worked on. One improvement he would like to see is shooting towards the bullseye, which takes time and practice.

“The more you shoot the better you’re going to get,” Beason said.