Dannevirke smallbore rifle shooter Lachie McNair fired his way into the New Zealand secondary school team last weekend, at No 2 in the rankings.
Lachie and three young Dannevirke High School shooters did us proud at the TSNZ inter-secondary schools inter-island match in Palmerston North.
The quartet of Dannevirke young guns represented their schools in what was a challenging competition.
Samantha Bradbury, Livvy Blake and Jordan Adie represented Dannevirke High School, while Lachie represented Palmerston North Boys High School, (PNBHS).
The competition involved 22 teams of three shooters from secondary schools around New Zealand competing for the title of top school.
After the results of the inter-school competition, the top 12 shooters competed in the North/South clash on Saturday, with the top 12, including Lachie, representing New Zealand in a postal match against the England secondary school team.
For 16-year-old Lachie. shooting is very much a family affair, with both mum and dad, Ruth and Robbie, having represented New Zealand.
Ruth competed at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994 and Kuala Lumpur in 1998, as well as being Oceania and world champion.
Robbie has also represented New Zealand at Oceania games. And sisters Stephanie and Caley are coming up through the ranks.
"The four Dannevirke shooters shot well above their abilities as they were shooting against much older and more experienced shooters," Ruth said.
"Considering these shooters are still eligible for another two years in this competition it was a great opportunity for them to compete at national and international level so close to home.
"They could be quite a formidable combination in the future."
And after the postal shoot on Sunday, the Kiwi team members won't know if they beat England until next year, when the English team begin their next season.
"We hold our breath until the English season gets under way," Ruth said.
"The scores are kept quiet until then."
Lachie has been shooting for just two years, but told the Dannevirke News one of his targets at the start of this year had been to make it into the New Zealand team.
"Our Dannevirke Smallbore Rifle Club is really strong and we've heaps of young shooters doing well," he said.
"I love the challenges and enjoy meeting new people while competing."
Lachie said last weekend's competition had been "pretty tight".
"There were a lot of shooters close to making the North and South Island teams."
Dannevirke High School's Samantha Bradbury was 13th in the North Island schools, narrowly missing selection for the North Island team by less than a hair's width (1 inner bullseye).
She was placed 26th overall.
Fellow DHS shooters Jordan Adie and Livvy Blake were placed 46th and 57th respectively.
The PNBHS team was placed sixth overall, with the DHS team 17th.
"There was lots of pressure in the competition and I was up against people who have been shooting much longer than me and who are way more consistent," Lachie said.
"I'm still trying to do things properly."