{"id":7407,"date":"2019-05-16T10:46:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T15:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=7407"},"modified":"2019-05-16T10:47:01","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T15:47:01","slug":"sau-student-claims-national-title-in-disc-golf-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2019\/sau-student-claims-national-title-in-disc-golf-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"SAU student claims national title in Disc Golf competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Madison Chitwood, a Southern Arkansas University junior Nursing major from Van Buren, Arkansas, won the women\u2019s individual competition at the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships on March 29, 2019. SAU\u2019s women\u2019s team also won the team competition at the tournament held in Appling, Georgia, on the International Disc Golf Center\u2019s \u201cSteady\u201d Ed Headrick Memorial course.<\/p>\n

Chitwood is the first Collegiate Disc Golf National Champion in Arkansas history, a fact that has made her fellow Muleriders especially proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool,\u201d Chitwood said of the distinction. She is also proud of her team\u2019s ranking. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to go back (to Nationals) next year and defend the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was only the second trip to the Nationals for the women\u2019s team, which formed last year at SAU. They placed second in last year\u2019s championships in Augusta, Georgia, and faced Liberty University, the 2018 Disc Golf Champion, again this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The women, including Whitney Brown and Dani Hunter, got in more practice this year in anticipation of another trip to the Nationals. Brown is a senior Exercise Science major from Alexander, Arkansas. Hunter is a junior Elementary Education major from Pattonville, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure we were getting out there each weekend,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cGoing back to the Nationals was an incentive for us to do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparation and past experience definitely calmed Chitwood\u2019s nerves. \u201cI had a lot more confidence going in this year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Much of the team\u2019s success this year can be owed to the fact that SAU has a quality disc golf course. \u201cWe were well-prepared, and I don\u2019t think we could have won the national title if it had not been for our course.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAU\u2019s women\u2019s team is the only such collegiate team in Arkansas. \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal for our University,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cIt will be great for us to say, if other colleges established women\u2019s teams, that we were the first national champions in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s team performed well at Nationals also. In the championship flight, the men placed 24th out of 36 teams. Individually, Clarke Henson, a senior Human Performance major from Van Buren, Arkansas, placed 35th out of 144; Jeremy Hunter, an MBA student from Magnolia, Arkansas, placed 87th out of 144; Alex Shurtleff, a sophomore Exercise Science major from Mabelvale, Arkansas, placed 103 out of 144; and Austin Mesick, a sophomore Criminal Justice major from Blossom, Texas, placed 123 out of 144 total players.<\/p>\n

Chitwood said her skills improved by playing with the men. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to be overwhelmed when you play with the guys,\u201d she said, with a laugh. \u201cBut it\u2019s important to grow together and have a similar starting place. We just want to play and compete well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She thanked sponsors, Dr. Andy Peeks and Sarah Adcox; Dr. Donna Allen, vice president for student affairs, and Dr. Trey Berry, president of SAU. \u201cThey have been so helpful and supportive of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madison Chitwood, a Southern Arkansas University junior Nursing major from Van Buren, Arkansas, won the women\u2019s individual competition at the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships on March 29, 2019. SAU\u2019s women\u2019s team also won the team competition at the tournament held in Appling, Georgia, on the International Disc Golf Center\u2019s \u201cSteady\u201d Ed Headrick Memorial course…. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":7408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32641,7753,284,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured-layout","8":"category-homepage","9":"category-office-of-student-activities","10":"category-student-life","11":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}