The EMU Disc Golf team hosted the annual EMU Royals Fall Classic at Westover Park this past week, placing third in the event. The Royals faced the likes of NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, Appalachian State, and Liberty. Only placing behind the A teams for UNC and NC State, Jesse Longenecker led the team with a rating of 1028 and an amazing individual performance and first place finish, shooting nine under par. Eli Stoll and Theo Andreas both had a good showing on the course as well with -6 and -5 respectively in the singles. Trevor Oyer is the head coach for Disc Golf and he started the program in 2019. In an email interview, Oyer said, “Our team has been around for a number of years now, which has helped us create a strong practice structure and positive team atmosphere.”
The practice had shown and now this small private Mennonite university in the Shenandoah Valley can compete on the level of tobacco road schools that have 30,000 more students. Jesse Longenecker in particular has been a large reason for the team’s highest successes. Back in October, the men’s team got second place in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Championship and the women’s team took first. Longenecker got first place in the event for the singles. “The addition of Jesse Longenecker in the fall of 2024 has been huge in elevating our program on a different level, and raising the talent of all players on the team,” remarked Oyer. “Players on the team are close with each other, which I believe greatly benefits our scores during tournaments. Our women’s team is strong this year, specifically during team rounds.” The women’s team placed second behind Liberty, and the A team with Miriam Rhodes and Naomi Kratzer is hard to outpace.
When asked about how the program recruits, Oyer also said, “Recruiting is a weird conversation in the College Disc Golf world. There isn’t high school disc golf, so the small pool of students interested in playing disc golf in college can be widespread and unknown. Players like Jesse and Theo Andreas came to EMU for many reasons, but having them start in our program their first year of college gave our program an immediate boost.” The team will need to ride the boost they have earned over next spring with the Royal’s next event being in Lynchburg, Virginia for the Liberty Flamethrower Regional in March. For the women’s team, hopes of a National Championship will be on the horizon. As for the men’s team, Longenecker and Theo Andreas will be gone as they travel to study abroad, even though they will be gone, the team is still on the top of College Disc Golf so success is still in the team’s future.
