Hammersla continues focusing on improving in competition
A Benton High School sophomore started off this year’s competitive archery season on target at the 2024 Archery in Louisiana Schools North Regional in her hometown of Bossier City.
Madison Hammersla’s 290 during the Jan. 12-13 contest inside the Bossier Civic Center was good enough for the runner-up spot in the 94-archer field. She also was the top shooter among 33 sophomores.
Hammersla, past and proud member on a three-peat national champion middle school team, was hopeful of riding that lofty finish into the major tournaments coming up. For sure, her parents will be there to cheer her and her teammates.
It’s been a great five years since she first picked up a bow and arrow, Hammersla said.
“My friend did it and I wanted to do it. I just wanted to do what she did so we could hang out more. She was having fun,” she said about Olivia Nawrocki. And so was Hammersla.
Was good at it
What’s more, she said, “I figured I was good at it.”
That explains why she continued competitive archery after her friend quit shooting.
The daughter of Joe and Jessica Hammersla added, “I think I’m just naturally good at it. I block everything else out. I don’t pay attention to anything else.”
She is thankful her parents are behind her every step of the way and also take her to tournament sites near and far.
“They encourage me to shoot and be good at it and they’re proud of me,” she said. “It’s fun. We go to a lot of places.”
“I think she’s done great,” her mother said. ”She can go without practice, pick up that bow and sling out a 290.”
The family has enjoyed traveling to the different out-of-state venues for major archery tournaments, she said, adding, it enables them to go places they’ve never been.”
Repeated Kentucky, South Carolina and Nashville trips bring them to tournaments with like-minded men, women and students. They all love to follow the arrows as they speed to the target.
“It’s like one big family,” she said, noting perhaps the most memorable was the trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Benton Middle School won the world championship in June 2022.
Whatever her daughter decides after high school is fine with her, she said.
“It’ll be up to her if she wants to keep pursuing it,” her mother said. ”I know there’s a bunch of schools that offer scholarships. We’ll just see when the time comes.”
Considering college
Hammersla said she would consider competing collegiately.
“Maybe,” she said. “I don’t know yet. It’s a long way away.”
Her top score to date, her personal best, is a 294, which she shot as an eighth-grader.
Hammersla loves competition. That competition includes going on the line to shoot against long-time teammates Savannah O’Donohue and Charli Long. Combined, the trio paced their middle school to the national and world titles in 2022.
About O’Donohue, Hammersla said, “We definitely compete against each other but we’re glad that we both shoot good for our team, that we’re able to place.”
She has fond memories of her years at Benton Middle School, which included unprecedented back-to-back-to-back National Bullseye Championships. Also, O’Donohue, Long and Hammersla were ranked 1-2-3, respectively, as the top female archers in the nation, a 2,000-student field, in 2022.
As a high school archer, she practices twice a week, usually 3-4:30 p.m., but sometimes more when there’s a tournament coming up. The practice routine includes 10 to 15 rounds each time.
Hammersla said she doesn’t bowhunt. However, she shot a compound bow for a few years while training for Junior Olympic Archery Development. She practiced with compound bows for two or three years before giving them up, she explained, “to focus on getting better with a Genesis (bow).”
In addition to her parents, she thanks her coaches. She was coached at Kingston Elementary School in Benton by Laurie Chaffin, then at Benton Middle School by Terrie Streetman. Doug Ricker coaches the Benton High School team.