SURREY, B.C. – Trinity Western's men's disc golf team booked their Division 1 spot in the College Disc Golf National Championship after finishing second overall at the TWU Spartans National Qualifier, which was hosted at The Hills at Portal Golf Club, this weekend.

The Spartans foursome, which featured Jacob Visser, Owen Field, Zach Ruptash, and Everett Dabbagh nabbed their Division 1 place at nationals after finishing second only to Oregon State, who entered the weekend No. 9 in the national rankings and having already qualified for nationals.

Sitting in third place through two rounds, the Spartans entered Sunday's team competition one stroke back of Western Washington for the coveted qualifying spot. The Spartans shot a -10 on Sunday, which topped the field by three strokes, to put TWU into second place overall with a -21.

The men's team continually improved throughout the weekend, posting a 931 rating in Round 1 (Singles Play), a 961 rating in Round 2 (Team Play) and a 972 rating in Round 3 (Team Play).

On the women's side, the weekend featured an intersquad match between the duo of Hannah Porter and Zion White and Joyce Leung and Verity White.

Needing a sudden death playoff to determine a winner on Sunday, Leung threw in from 70 feet out for a birdie on the second playoff hole to secure the win. Leung's finish was all the more impressive after she threw in from nearly 60 feet out on the first playoff hole. 

Both women's teams finished at +29 for the three day event.

Final Men's Standings 
1st – Oregon State (A) | -24 
2nd – Trinity Western | -21
3rd – Western Washington (Axes) | -19 
4th – UBC | -9
T-5th – Western Washington (Shields) | -3 
T-5th – Oregon State (B) | -3
7th – Gallaudet | +3 
8th – Oregon State (C) | +13

Final Women's Standings
T-1st – TWU Blue (Joyce Leung / Verity White) +29
T-1st – TWU Black (Zion White / Hannah Porter) +29

QUOTABLE
Chris Hartmann, TWU Head Coach
"Our men's team continues to perform very well in the team portion of our events but seem to struggle during the first round, which involves singles play and this puts us in a position where we are trying to climb back into the race for the top spots after the first round. This is something we will talk about and then make some adjustments to our event preparation routine. If we want to compete with top 10 teams, we have start well. 

"I think this weekend was a real learning experience for the women's team members. On Saturday, they were on the course in temperatures just above freezing for just over six hours. It's exhausting mentally and physically.  The body just doesn't work the same with the cold and all the extra clothing that is required. Sometimes you just have to keep your head down and grind it out and I'm really proud of how each player rose to the occasion and did just that. 

"Overall, the event was a great success, even with having to move the venue from our home course of Raptors Knoll in Langley to a pop-up course at the last minute due to snow depth at Raptors.  We are grateful for the people at The Hills at Portal Golf Club for opening up the course for us and working with us on providing the players lunch on Saturday."

NEXT UP
TWU's women's team will now look forward to their next collegiate competition being the College Disc Golf National Championship April 2-5 in Rock Hill, S.C. The men's team will compete in the Northwest Collegiate Invitational Mar. 15-16 in Estacada, Oregon before going to nationals. 

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  

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