The Alfred State archery team competed with nearly 500 archers from 49 colleges at the USA Archery Collegiate Target National Championships. Captain Adam Winter led the Pioneers in the competition held in East Lansing, MI.
Winter headlined Alfred State’s performance, setting a new team record of 669 in the Men’s Fixed Pins division at the outdoor 50-meter distance. His score landed him in the top ten and surpassed the previous team record of 665.
Head Coach Greg Sammons credited Winter’s relentless preparation for the breakthrough. “The frequent wind gusts and damp temperatures were not the ideal conditions for breaking records. Adam had set a goal to do exactly this, trained hard to make it possible, and then stayed focused to accomplish what he’d set out to do.”
Winter’s score earned him the ninth seed heading into the individual head-to-head elimination bracket where he successfully advanced through three rounds of competition and was the last archer still representing any college or university from the East region. In the quarterfinal round Winter’s run ended in a close 137-131 match against another top-ten-ranked competitor from Texas A&M.
In mixed team competition, the longtime partnership of Brianna Fagan and Adam Winter lost a face-off against the mixed team tandem from University of Pikeville. The match saw the close of Fagan’s five-year archery career shooting for Alfred State. She finished the weekend in style, serving as the live color commentary in the broadcast booth during the live broadcast of the event’s gold medal matches for her division on Sunday.
In the men’s fixed pins team elimination rounds during the quarterfinal round, the trio of Winter, Joe Matthews, and Devon Moises fell to the University of Pikeville.
The National Championships marked the conclusion of Alfred State Archery’s 2025–26 season. Upon returning home, Winter was named the team’s 2025-26 Shooter of the Year, and first-year archer Joseph Matthews earned the team’s First Year-Rookie of the Year.
With their returning roster remaining nearly intact, the Pioneers now turn their focus to preparation for the 2026–27 campaign.