EMU has had a successful history with Disc Golf over the past few years. With Jesse Longenecker winning the national championship in the D1 Singles Division in the spring of last year, the Royals looked for the same type of success in early April in the nationals. When asked about the expectations for this past spring, Coach Trevor Oyer said, “For the spring semester, we did not have our two best men’s players, Jesse Longenecker and Theo Andreas, due to study abroad programs. We knew this would shift expectations for spring, but were still determined to play well in our final three events.” With the absence of two of the best players on the men’s side, the men’s “A” team for the nationals consisted of Beckham Jantzi, Caleb Metzler, Eli Stoll, and Kai Peachey-Stoner. The team came in 48th in nationals, unfortunately not having another championship for the Royals Disc Golf team. The men’s “B” got 68th in Division three and they had three players in the event: Willem Hedrick, Seth Ours, and Yuji Wenger.

While the men were not as successful, the women’s team made up for all of them. Naomi Kratzer and Miriam Rhodes are the women’s “A” team, and they placed sixth overall in the competition. When Rhodes was asked about what went well, she remarked, “Naomi and I complement each other well because we have different strengths as players. Our team’s culture and support for one another are our biggest strengths. We always look forward to attending each other’s rounds, caddying for each other, and offering words of encouragement. During our doubles rounds, support from our coaches, family, and other players on our team helped us maintain a positive attitude.” 

The women’s “A” team ended with just two bogeys sending them into sixth rather than seventh. Miriam Rhodes is a senior; however, she will be able to return next season as she said in an interview, “As a music and peacebuilding and elementary education double major, I have a fifth year at EMU! I am excited for the opportunity to have one more season on the disc golf team next year, but I am going to miss having Naomi as a partner.” The women’s team ended with the most successful nationals in program history. The women’s “B” team, consisting of Monica Ehrenfels and Rose Short, also finished 22nd. The future for this program looks bright and when asked about the future of the teams, Coach Oyer stated, “We are positioned to have our most successful seasons in our program’s history! Players will be putting in work over the summer, and we will hit the ground running in early September.”