Record Breaking Year for Youths

At the 2016 Indoor Nationals held in Louisville, KY on March 19 and 20 there were nine young archers who emerged as record breakers. In the junior division there were eight high scores that were beaten and one that was tied. Katie Szymanski, Kate McDonald, Alyssa Artz, Brazos Brooks, Jeremiah Foster, Alex Gilliam, Sydney Simmerman, and Bryan Ramierz all placed record breaking scores. Jacob Pettit recorded a score that tied with the previous highest score.

Katie Szymanski - Cub Female Bowhunter Freestyle

Katie is 11 years old and in the sixth grade. She has been shooting archery for three years, and the last two she has been shooting competitively. She practices two to three times a week. Katie loves archery because it's fun, challenging, and it gives her self confidence!

"I was really excited when I won Nationals," Katie said. " I knew I broke the old record because we looked it up when I broke the Wisconsin state record this year."

Katie shot a 600, 114x. The previous record was 600, 94x and it was shot in 2014.

Kate McDonald - Cub Female Freestyle

Kate is 11 years old and in the sixth grade. She has been shooting for three and a half years. Kate practices six days a week during indoor season, and she has a lesson once a week with her coach, Michael Braden. Kate likes archery because it is a sport for individuals, but you can still have teammates. She likes to hang out with archers she knows at tournaments and she likes to meet new people on the line too.

"I didn't know that I broke the record! It's really exciting, especially because it's my last year in the cub division, so it's nice to leave like that," Kate said. " I worked really hard to get to where I am now, and it feels great to hold this national record."

Kate shot a 600, 116x. The previous record was 600, 115x and it was shot in 2014.

Alyssa Artz - Cub Female Freestyle Limited Recurve

Alyssa is 11 years old and in the fifth grade. Alyssa just began shooting just over one and a half years ago and she shoots at Lancaster Archery Academy. She practices about four days a week and about one to two times a week with her dad coaching her. Alyssa is in a JOAD class and she shoots league at her range. She spends around eight to ten hours at her range a week! Alyssa likes archery because it is fun. She likes to travel to new places and meet new archer from all over the country. She enjoys the challenge of trying to repeat her shooting form on her recurve bow.

"I was very excited to hear that I broke a national record!" Alyssa said. "I was unaware of this during the tournament because I was focusing on my shooting form and several new changes my coach had made. This was my first NFAA tournament so I didn't know what to expect!"

Alyssa shot a 588, 60x. The previous record was 583, 52x and it was shot in 2015.

Brazos Brooks - Cub Male Barebow

Brazos is 11 years old and in fifth grade. He has been shooting archery for almost two years. Brazos practices about three to four days a week. He likes archery because it is a lot of fun and he gets the chance to meet a lot of new people and travel around the country. His next goal is to try to win at 3D Nationals in Redding, CA this year.

"I did not have a clue [at the tournament] I broke a record," Brazos said. "But it is very exciting and I am shocked! I did not even shoot my best that weekend."

Brazos shot a 569, 40x. The previous record was 542, 25x and it was shot in 2015.

Jeremiah Foster - Cub Male Bowhunter Freestyle

Jeremiah is 10 years old and in fourth grade. He doesn't remember exactly when he began shooting archery because he has always been around archery. Although Jeremiah began shooting in local range tournaments at around 3 or 4 years old. To practice for a tournament Jeremiah usually shoots about two to three times a week in the summer. Jeremiah loves everything about archery and especially that he can shoot with his family. His goal is to shoot in the professional division when he turns 18 years old.

"I feel great and so excited to have achieved what I have at my age," Jeremiah said. "I will be working and hope to break my own record next year."

Jeremiah shot a 600, 118x. The previous record was 600, 114x and it was shot in 2015.

Sydney Simmerman - Youth Female Freestyle Limited Recurve

Sydney is 14 years old and in eighth grade. Sydney has been shooting since she was three years old. She practices about four to five days a week. Sydney likes archery because it is an independent sport, but the camaraderie of the sport is amazing. She really enjoys the challenge, and how there is always room for improvement.

"I honestly didn't expect to break a record!" Sydney said. " But my coach said he wouldn't be surprised if I did end up breaking a record. I am extremely happy with my performance at Indoor Nationals and I am ecstatic about breaking the record!"

Sydney shot a 576, 46x. The previous record was 569, 33x and it was shot in 2014.

Bryan Ramierz - Youth Male Bowhunter Freestyle

Bryan is 14 years old and in eighth grade. He has been shooting archery for seven years. He usually practices about four to five days a week. Bryan likes archery because of the opportunity to travel to new places and meet new people. His favorite feeling is the feeling you get on your last 10 arrows, especially when you've had a clean round up until then.

"I was thrilled to hear that I broke a national record," Bryan said. " When I arrived at the tournament my goals was to shoot a 300, 120x. Although, I was not able to reach this goal I was still very happy with my shooting over the course of the weekend."

Bryan shot a 600, 116x. The previous record was 600, 104x and it was shot in 2015.

AlexGiliam

Alex Gilliam - Young Adult Male Freestyle Limited Recurve

Alex is 15 years old and in the tenth grade. He has been shooting archery for four years and generally practices six days out of the week. He likes archery because it is a sport that doesn't require you to run all the time, but it does requires more training, concentration, and focus than most sports.

"It felt great breaking the record!" Alex said. "I knew I broke the record at the tournament."

Alex shot a 592, 64x. The previous record was 592, 58x and it was shot in 2014.

Jacob Pettit - Young Adult Male Freestyle

Jacob is 17 years old and junior in high school. He has been shooting since he was eight years old. Jacob started shooting through the 4H program and he joined JOAD three years ago which motivated him to shoot competitively. He practices about two to four times a week, depending on his schedule. Jacob likes archery because of the mental side of the sport. He likes to be in pressured situations where he can see how well his equipment performs along with how he's thinking through it.

"I knew I had either broken or tied the record by shooting a perfect score," Jacob said. " But it feels great that I tied with the record knowing that all my hard work had paid off."

Jacob shot a 600, 120 x. Jacob is tied with the previous 2004 record.

< Back to all news