ROCK HILL, S.C. – The EMU Disc Golf team made the annual journey to the Palmetto State for the culmination of their season: the College Disc Golf National Championships, hosted at Winthrop University.
 
The Royals put forth their best effort on the national stage, particularly on the women's side. The women's "A" team of seniors Naomi Kratzer and Miriam Rhodes registered a cumulative score of one-over-par to place sixth in the nation. That is the highest placing for a women's team at nationals in program history, surpassing the ninth place finish by the women's "A" squad in 2023.


Men's "A" – 48th (Beckham Jantzi, Kai Peachey-Stoner, Eli Stoll, Caleb Metzler)

• In the opening singles round on Wednesday, Metzler led the way with a score of 13-over-par on the Winthrop Lake course. Metzler's scorecard included birdies on the fourth, ninth and 18th holes. Jantzi also wound up at 13-over-par, followed by Stoll and Peachey-Stoner at 15 and 16-over-par, respectively.
• The "A" squad struggled a bit in the first two team rounds on Thursday and Friday, settling for scores of two-over-par each day.
• However, they saved their best for the final round, bouncing back with a five-under-par 56 on the Winthrop Lake course. The quartet birdied seven of the 18 holes to finish the week strong.
• Milligan University's "A" team won the national title in a cumulative score of 27-under-par, and Jaden Rye of Emporia State University took home the singles title in 11-under-par.

Men's "B" – 62nd (Yuji Wenger, Seth Ours, Willem Hedrick)

• Competing in the third division, the Royals "B" team played their Wednesday singles round on the Westminster Temp course. Wenger posted a solid two-over-par 62, with birdies on the third, 14th and 18th holes on the course. Ours went five-over-par 65, followed by the senior Hedrick at 10-over-par 70.
• In the team rounds, the "B" squad displayed steady improvement throughout the week. In the first team round on Thursday, they registered one-over-par 60 with two birdies. Then, on the Westminster Park course, they went two-under-par 57, birding the second, fifth, sixth and 11th holes.
• Finally, in Saturday's final round, the team traversed the Winthrop Meadows course in five-under-par 53, collecting seven birdies, 10 pars and just one double bogey.

 
Women's "A" – 6th (Naomi Kratzer, Miriam Rhodes)

• Playing at Winthrop Meadows, Kratzer and Rhodes turned in identical scores of eight-over-par 67 to finished the singles rounds tied for 19th. Rhodes bridied the fourth, eighth, 14th and 15th holes, while Kratzer obtained a birdie in 16th.
• The positive momentum from the singles round carried over to the team rounds. In the first team round, Rhodes and Kratzer combined for two-under-par 57 at Winthrop Meadows to rise up to seventh in the women's standings. They followed that up with another two-under-par round at Westminster Temp.
• For the final round, Kratzer and Rhodes turned in a great scorecard of three-under-par 67 on the difficult Winthrop Lake course. The duo collected five birdies, 12 pars and just one bogey to cement their top-10 finish nationally.
• The Milligan University team of Grace Sanderson and Ari Timm took home the national team title in 27-under-par, while Emily Becher of the University of Illinois won the singles championship in two-under-par.

Women's "B" - 22nd (Monica Ehrenfels, Rose Short)

• In the singles round, Short turned in one of her best singles rounds ever, scoring a 12-over-par 71. Ehrenfels completed her singles round in 32-over-par 91.
• In the team rounds, Short and Ehrenfels went five-over-par 64, 11-over-par 71, and 15-over-par 83.

What's Next
EMU Disc Golf will graduate Eli Stoll, Beckham Jantzi, Ivan Betancourt, and Naomi Kratzer from this year's squad, but they will still return several players for the 2026-27 campaign.