Verheul sets National Archery record, NFFA Championships

Local young archer earns place in national record books after years of practice, discipline and competition. Martin Verheul of Ortonville, son of Todd and Sara Verheul, has earned a place in the national record books after an outstanding performance at the 2026 National Field Archery Association National Outdoor Field Championships in Yankton, SD. Verheul recorded a score of 525 points in the Hunter Round, establishing a new NFAA national record in the Young Adult Male Bowhunter Freestyle division. The national championships were held July 24–26, bringing competitors together for one of the sport’s major national events.

Following the tournament, the Verheul family received official notification from the National Field Archery Association confirming Martin’s achievement.

“Congratulations! Based on your remarkable score at the 2026 NFAA Field National Championships, you are the new national record holder for the Hunter round in the Young Adult Male Bowhunter Freestyle division,” the NFAA wrote in its notification.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that the 525-point performance was not Verheul’s personal-best score. He has previously shot higher scores in the Hunter Round. However, his performance at the national championship was the score that placed his name in the NFAA record books.

While the certificate recognizes one exceptional round, the achievement represents much more than a single weekend of competition.

Competitive archery requires an extraordinary level of consistency. Success is built one arrow at a time through countless hours of practice, technical refinement and mental preparation. Archers must learn to repeat the same shot process under changing conditions while maintaining concentration throughout an entire course.

Verheul, has been shooting archery competitively for a few years and this national record is the result of those years of dedication to the sport.

Behind the score are thousands of practice arrows, hours spent refining form and equipment, travel to competitions, lessons learned from difficult rounds and the discipline to continue improving even after successful ones.

Field archery presents its own unique challenges. Unlike shooting repeatedly at a single distance, competitors move through a course and shoot targets from a variety of distances and situations. Success requires not only accuracy, but concentration, endurance, judgment and the ability to execute a consistent shot throughout the competition.

This year the extremely high temps and super high humidity made this year’s shoot extremely difficult both mentally and physically even for the pros, caused many to drop out, but not Martin. He endured and came away with an all-time record!

Those demands make national-level achievement especially significant.

Verheul’s accomplishment also reflects one of the valuable lessons competitive sports can teach young athletes: excellence rarely happens all at once. It is developed through repetition, patience, perseverance and a willingness to continually improve.

The 525-point Hunter Round now stands as the NFAA national record for the Young Adult Male Bowhunter Freestyle division, giving Verheul the distinction of national record holder.

For his family and those who have watched his development as an archer, however, the achievement represents something even greater than the number printed on the certificate.

It is evidence of what years of hard work, discipline and determination can produce.

And considering Verheul has already demonstrated that he is capable of shooting scores even higher than his new national-record performance, his latest accomplishment may be only one milestone in an archery career that still has plenty of arrows left to shoot.