It’s been a busy start to 2026 for Carson Vroegindewey. 

The local archer has been traveling and going against some of the best archers in the country as he chases excellence. His success has earned him national recognition as he climbs up the U18 rankings, despite being younger than most of the other competition. 

Vroegindewey started the year competing at the South Carolina TSO state championships in North Charleston. While he didn’t shoot his best score, he won the state championship for his class and earned the right to compete at the Gauntlet National Championships in mid February. 

Before competing in the Gauntlet, Vroegindewey traveled to Newberry, Fla., for the USA Archery Indoor Nationals and USA JOAD Indoor Nationals. He shot over 120 arrows a day for three straight days, competing in the two tournaments. 

The grind paid off as he finished first in the recurve U18 class at the USA Archery Indoor contests and second in the same class at the USA JOAD. 

A few days after competing in Florida, Vroegindewey traveled to Kentucky for the Gauntlet. There, he competed well, but one arrow was the difference between winning the title and finishing runner-up. 

The close loss stung in the moment, but Vroegindewey's mind quickly shifted focus to coming back next year and getting even better. 

After shaking off the close loss in Kentucky, Vroegindewey had another major event in Georgia at the Southern 600, which is part of the National Archery Scholarship Tour. 

There, he got back to his winning way, finishing first in his class with a total score of 549 out of 600. In 60 attempts, he hit 14 shots in the X-ring and had another 27 arrows score 10s. His average arrow score for the competition was 9.15.

While it’s already been a busy year for Vroegindewey, he’s just getting started. He’ll be back in South Carolina this weekend, competing in the South Carolina Archery Association State Vegas Round Championships.