On April 8 in Marion, North Carolina, a familiar sound erupted from the Missouri disc golf club. In a field of 88 schools and over 800 competitors, all in attendance heard “M I Z – Z O U” at the North Cove Disc Golf Club as Missouri captured its second consecutive women’s college disc golf national championship.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to cry or just be happy,” women’s team captain Alexis Kerman said. “Knowing it was my last time at this stage, it was just like an indescribable feeling.”
Road to the top
In 2018, now-graduate students Jared Brabant and Quentin Borengasser founded the Missouri disc golf club. Both had been part of the Columbia Disc Golf Club and decided to form their own at MU.
The club is one of 491 student-run organizations at Missouri .
“The great thing about college disc golf is just getting to play as a team,” men’s team captain Drew Cantrell said.
The team atmosphere is what drew Kerman’s attention in 2020, as shelooked for a new competitive outlet amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Once I fell in love with it, it was kind of one of those things where I just didn’t stop playing, and I’ve just thrust my whole life into it,” Kerman said.
Cantrell, who found his way into the sport in 2016 after receiving free discs from other players, shared a similar sentiment. Once he got to Missouri in 2019, he joined the disc golf club and loved it. Cantrell has been the team captain and treasurer for three years.
Last year, Kerman and Cantrell led their respective teams to the college national championships in North Carolina, winning both.
“The theme of the week was redemption,” Cantrell said. “Throughout the entire week, we wanted the title just as bad as the year before.”
In its previous effort in 2021, the men’s team finished 20th after coming into its first nationals ranked second in the nation.
The men’s team entered the 2022 nationals as the No. 1 team in the nation, but it didn’t seem like it at the start. After Round 1, Missouri was tied for 15th at 6-under par and four strokes behind Ferris State and Northern Arizona, who were tied at 10 under. Another round later, the Tigers remained outside the top 10, tied for 11th at 5-under par.
They soon found their footing in Round 3, shooting 13 under and placing themselves three strokes behind leader Illinois State.
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