Disc Golf | 4/7/2026 4:17:00 PM

Collegiate Disc Golf
#1 Emporia State Hornet D1 Men
#1 Emporia State Hornet D2 Men
& #2 Emporia State Women
at Collegiate National Championship
Wednesday-Saturday, April 8-11 
Winthrop University • Rock Hill, S.C.
Results: www.pdga.com/tour/events
Championship Info: CollegeDiscGolf.com
Complete Notes in pdf

CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN APRIL
Emporia State has qualified five squads for the Disc Golf Collegiate National Championships in Rock Hill, S.C. The Emporia State men's D1 and D2 teams are both ranked #1 in the nation while the women are ranked #2 nationally.
Individually defending national champion Atlanta Krueger is ranked #1 in the country while newcomer Isabella Parker is ranked second in the nation. Madeline Joiner is ranked #10 to give the Hornets three women in the top ten.
For the men Carter Ahrens is ranked #1 in the country for Emporia State. Micah Tatro is ranked #6 and TJ Reel is ranked #8 to give the Hornet men three people in the top eight.
 
THE COACH
Eric McCabe is in his fourth season as the inaugural coach of the Emporia State competitive disc golf team. An Emporia native and the 2010 PDGA World Champion, McCabe led the Hornet men to a national runner-up finish in their first year while the women placed 16th nationally. He has led every team during his three years to at least a Top 16 finish in the nation with a national runner-up in both the men's and women's team standings and an Individual national champion.
From 2001-16 McCabe won 84 PDGA sanctioned events with 173 top three finishes. He has five top-25 finishes in PDGA World Championship competition, 13 top-25 finishes in other majors, and placed in the top-25 of 54 National Tour events during his career.

THE FORMAT
After practice rounds during the day on Monday and Tuesday, the Opening Celebration will be held on Tuesday evening at Winthrop Coliseum.
Discs start flying on Wednesday with singles competition at 7:30 a.m. with men's DI at Winthrop Lake, DII at Camp Canaan, and women at Winthrop Meadows.  The women's Final 9 is set to tee off at 3:00 p.m. from Winthrop Meadows. Team competition will be held for all three divisions on Thursday with tee times set to begin at 7:30 a.m. and the men's DI singles Final 9 set for 3:00 pm. Friday will see all team competition with the final team rounds set to begin on Saturday morning. 

ABOUT THE HORNETS
The Emporia State men's D1 and D2 teams are both ranked #1 in the nation and the women are #2 nationally in the College Disc Golf Power Rankings heading into the National Championships.
Carter Ahrens is ranked #1 in the College Disc Golf National Rankings and has 33 career PDGA wins with cpollegiate singles titles at the Jayhawk Boom at Bloom as well as The Collegiate Presented by Innova Discs this year.
TJ Reel is ranked #8 nationally and has 11 career PDGA wins, including the Powercat Invitational last October.
Jaden Rye is not ranked in the College Disc Golf National Rankings but does have 54 career PDGA wins including a win in his first collegiate event, the ESU Conference Event in February.
Tyler Ahrens is not ranked in the College Disc Golf National Rankings but has five career wins in the PDGA, all of them at the junior level.
Atlanta Krueger is the defending national champion and top ranked player in women's college disc golf.  She has 34 career wins in 68 PDGA events with three collegiate wins this year.
Isabella Parker is ranked second in the nation and has 183 career wins, all at the amateur level with a title at the Florida Collegiate Classic in January.
Madeline Joiner is ranked #10 nationally and has 17 wins in 36 competitions including the Jayhawk Boom at the Bloom event in February.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
The top five men's D1 teams are Emporia State followed by North Carolina, Milligan, North Carolina State and defending national champion Cincinnati. The Bearcats have won two of the last three national titles.
In the women's national rankings defending national champion Liberty is #1 followed by  Emporia State, Milligan, Utah State and Ferris State. The Hornets were the national runners-up last year with Milligan finishing third last year.
In the D2 men's rankings Emporia State is followed by Ohio State, Liberty, Cincinnati and Colorado School of Mines in the top five. Defending national champion North Carolina Charlotte is ranked #11 this season.
  
AT LAST YEAR'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Emporia State's women's team finished at the national runners-up to highlight four top 15 finishes for the Hornets at the Collegiate Disc Golf Championships last year in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Hornet Gold team of individual national champion Atlanta Krueger and teammate Madeline Joiner had the best round on Saturday at the Canaan Riverbend Disc Golf Course, shooting three under. They finished at -15 for the tournament but could not catch Liberty's duo of Cami Lazo and Grace Wilson who were two under on Saturday and -21 for the four day tournament. 
The Emporia State Black team of Maya Ringgold and Rebekah Thompson gave the Hornets a pair of top ten finishes in the women's competition.  They shot +2 on Saturday and were +13 overall. 
Avangelena Campbell and Grace Watson finished in 26th place out of the 30 teams, shooting +73 over the four days.
The Emporia State DI men's team of Justin Farrell, Cade Kohlmeier, TJ Reel and Micah Tatro finished in a tie for 11th overall.  They birdied #18 to go six under on the day Canaan Riverbend and finished -18 in the championships.  Cincinnati shot -33 over the tourney to win their second national championship in three years.  Defending national champion UNC-Charlotte shot -29 to finish second at the Championships.
Isaiah Esquivel, Joshua Sterner, Caden Stucky and Grant Yoder went -18 in the DII competition for the Hornets to finish tied for 14th in the nation.  They shot -3 on Saturday at Westminster Park.
The Emporia State club team of Jacob Clark, Wyatt Clark, Zachary Dyer and Jarrett Halliday finished at -6 for the tournament after shooting five under on Saturday. They finished tied for 50th overall in the DII competition.
Earlier in the week Atlanta Krueger won the women's first individual National Championship while Cade Kohlmeier finished third in the men's individual singles competition.