Position the arrow, pull back the bowstring and then let her fly. Archery sounds pretty simple. But for those who’ve gone on and devoted themselves to the sport, it’s much more involved and difficult than most of us could imagine.

One of those devoted athletes is 16-year-old Adam Gallant of Poland. The young Mainer has been honing his archery skills for about 10 years now and his commitment and efforts during that time have made him one of the top archers in the country in his age group.

Gallant is one of several top-notch archers in the state of Maine including his mentor – world champion Dave Cousins of Standish. And Levi Cyr of Falmouth is another top junior competitor at the national level.

“This year was the first year that I won a national championship,” said Gallant as he discussed his top finish at the Junior Olympic Archery Development Nationals in Chula Vista, Calif. this past summer.

Gallant also added a second place effort at the Southern Illinois Cup and a third place finish at the National Archery Association championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. That third place finish earned him a spot on the Junior United States Archery team as one of the top five archers in the 17-18 age division (despite his being only 16).

“It’s one of those things I got into when I was young and I enjoyed it,” said Gallant about his early interest in the sport.

This past year included numerous Cadet national Star FITA (a tournament sanctioned by the National Archery Association) records, some Junior National Star FITA records and a Junior Olympic Archery Development national record. Needless to say, establishing records and winning championships takes time and that means Gallant has had to sacrifice other high school pursuits – he’s still involved in student government, but he gave up playing soccer after his freshman year.

“Archery has really taken over and that’s the main thing I participate in now,” Gallant admitted. “It takes a lot of practice (to get good enough in the sport to be recognized nationally). I try to practice at least 1 to 3 hours a day and shoot at least 100 to 300 arrows a day.”

When he’s not attending school and he’s not practicing, Gallant is generally headed to a regional or national competition. The indoor season will begin in January and he’ll take part in a number of events that will lead up to the “bigger” championships down the road.

The Junior World Championships will take place in 2008. A national competition will also take place in Colorado that will help decide who makes the United States’ World team. And the Indoor Championships in January 2009 is another event that Gallant plans on competing in.

“It’s a growing sport right now,” Gallant said about the movement by national archery organizations to raise awareness for the sport.

During the summer Gallant helps teach archery to beginners and intermediates at Central Maine Archery – a local archery center that sponsors him.