Bulls-eye!

Talk about it

Great heroes have defined themselves in history and folklore by their use of a bow. Odysseus shot through twelve axe handles, Robin Hood poached Prince John’s deer and when Maurice J. Thompson’s guns were taken away after the Civil War, he created archery as a modern sport by publishing “The Witchery of Archery.”

Now, the Osakis High School archery team is continuing to wield heroism through bows and arrows.

Making it their goal to place at state, the archery team astoundingly took 3rd place, qualifying them for nationals.

Twenty out of the 30 Osakis Archery Team members loaded their quivers, wrist guards and bows into a bus and traveled to the National Archery in Schools competition held in Louisville, Kentucky on June 9.

Competing against 1,577 archers from 32 schools and 20 states, Osakis out shot all previous predictions of their success. The Osakis Archery team placed ninth out of 32 schools in their division.

All standings aside, head coach Shad Schmidt considers the students’ ability to work as a team their greatest success.

“It was amazing to have so many qualify that had never even shot a bow before joining the team,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt would like to thank the impressive array of businesses that made the teams success possible.

First National Bank of Osakis, the Nelson Men’s Club, the Viking Sports Men’s Club, Osakis True Value, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, the Douglas Area Trail Association, the Miltona fire department, Karrow Jewelers, Brenton Engineering, the Osakis VFW and the Osakis School all supported the team financially.

It truly is surprising to see a team garnish so much community assistance and to have such a successful first season according to Schmidt.

The team certainly deserves the support and reward for their talent and commitment, putting in over three hours of practice each week Schmidt added.

Apparently, heroism and the “witchery of archery” are alive and well in Osakis.