After placing fifth in the Elementary Girls Division at the New York State Tournament, Gina Recchio qualified for nationals. 

Gina was first introduced to archery in January. "I was just doing archery is something new in gym class and I really liked it," said Recchio. "There was an afterschool program so I told my parents that I wanted to sign up for that."

From the beginning she was a natural. "It was really easy," added Gina. "I mean just the thought of doing archery was pretty cool."

Within the first few months, she placed fifth in the state touenament at SUNY Poly, which qualified her for nationals.

"We were kind of shocked by it because she had never done it before and we didn't know what to think," said Gina's dad Matt. "We're excited. We're excited for her. It's good for her to learn something new and different. it's definitely out of our element."

"I was just shooting for fun," said Gina. "I don't really know anything like that would happen. (I'm) really excited! Well since I'm in nationals I kind a want to at least be in top five."

To prepare for the big stage, Gina enrolled in the Warrior Archery program. 

"To have an indoor range, there really isn't another one between Utica and Syracuse so to have one right here it's a great facility to be able to teach and train and work with kids," said YMCA CEO Hank Leo.

Gina’s mother, Janna Recchio, has taken on the role of coach, and will be driving to Kentucky to take her to the tournament.

The national tournament will be in Louisville, Kentucky on May 10-12.