{"id":934,"date":"2024-12-19T16:57:26","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=934"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:57:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:57:26","slug":"pellissippi-states-first-disc-golf-team-earns-bid-to-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=934","title":{"rendered":"Pellissippi State\u2019s first disc golf team earns bid to national championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Pellissippi State’s first disc golf team is headed to the national championships this April under the guidance of Assistant Professor Leslie Adamczyk<\/strong>, far left, and Coach Brock Evans<\/strong>, far right. Teammates include, from left, Shade Powell, Clay Pittman, L.J. Griffin<\/strong> and Austin Housewright<\/strong>, who is ranked 17th in the nation. Not pictured is teammate Kellen O’Donnell<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pellissippi State Community College\u2019s first disc golf team is ranked in the top 25 in the nation and has earned a bid to the sport\u2019s national championship in April, despite being the only team fielded by a two-year school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pellissippi State is ranked 18th of 69 men\u2019s teams in College Disc Golf<\/a><\/strong> while player Austin Housewright<\/strong> is ranked 17th of 385 men\u2019s team players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like playing for a community college because no one knows who we are,\u201d said player Clay Pittman<\/strong>, who was ranked in the top 25 individual players earlier this season. \u201cThen we get out there, and they\u2019re shocked.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teammates Pittman and L.J. Griffin<\/strong> went to Powell High School, where they competed in Ultimate Frisbee against Housewright, then a student at Hardin Valley Academy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrowing up just a few miles from Pellissippi State and practicing Ultimate Frisbee there all four years of high school, it means a lot to me to be able to represent Pellissippi State in disc golf at the college level,\u201d said Housewright, adding that he plans to go on tour after he graduates from college and travel the country playing disc golf at the highest level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with teammates Shade Powell<\/strong>, who played baseball for Powell High School, and Kellen O\u2019Donnell<\/strong>, who graduated from Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, the five Pellissippi State students are taking the college\u2019s first disc golf team straight to the top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really lucked out because these guys are some of the best players in the region,\u201d said Leslie Adamczyk<\/strong>, an associate professor of Chemistry who helped start the team this fall. \u201cIt was really serendipitous.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adamczyk and Brock Evans<\/strong>, cohort and certificate program specialist for the college, are both avid disc golf competitors and wanted to start a team at Pellissippi State, which has a nine-hole disc golf course on its Hardin Valley Campus. They recruited the team members after seeing them in action at local tournaments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have had a ton of support from the administration,\u201d noted Evans, who previously coached college football at Union College. \u201cPresident Wise has been a big support.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shade<\/a>
Shade Powell<\/strong> throws a disc on Pellissippi State’s nine-hole disc golf course on the Hardin Valley Campus while Austin Housewright<\/strong> waits his turn. This hole is a par 4, with the basket 600 feet from the tee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each College Disc Golf regional qualifier is comprised of three rounds: a team round, an individual round and a final team round. Scores are based on an average of team and individual players\u2019 scores. The top scoring teams earn bids to the national championship, which will be held April 6-9 in Marion, North Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pellissippi State first competed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in November, but missed out on a bid to nationals, finishing third when only two bids were available. The team sealed their shot at the national championship in their second competition, held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Feb. 12. Pellissippi State finished fourth overall, but earned one of the three available bids because a team that placed ahead of them already had earned a spot at nationals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe shot the second best in doubles,\u201d Evans said. \u201cAnd we actually beat the No. 1 team in the country in the last round.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Pellissippi State already has earned a bid to nationals, the team will continue to compete as practice for the upcoming championships and to improve their national rankings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDisc golf tends to be a more individual sport, so the guys need more practice playing doubles and in competing in high pressure situations,\u201d Adamczyk said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housewright agreed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I like about disc golf is there’s always room to improve,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can never be satisfied with yourself because there’s always something to work on, and that’s what makes me love the game even more.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With six Knoxville-area disc golf courses and 12 more within a 50-mile radius, according to the Knoxville Disc Golf Association, the Pellissippi State team makes a point of practicing on courses similar to the terrain where they\u2019ll be competing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pellissippi<\/a>
Pellissippi State’s disc golf teammates Austin Housewright, Shade Powell, Clay Pittman<\/strong> and L.J. Griffin<\/strong>, from left, show some of their favorite discs on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, which has a nine-hole disc golf course. Not pictured is Kellen O’Donnell<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tournament in Raleigh was heavily wooded, so we practiced in Tommy Schumpert Park,\u201d Evans explained. \u201cAll the area courses offer something different.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pellissippi State\u2019s own disc golf course is only nine holes, but if the college expands it to 18 holes, the team would be able to host a qualifying tournament right here in Hardin Valley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great, getting to travel to different states and play different courses and meeting a bunch of new teams from all over the nation,\u201d Griffin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on Pellissippi State\u2019s disc golf team, contact Coach Brock Evans at btevans@pstcc.edu<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

### <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pellissippi State Community College\u2019s first disc golf team is ranked in the top 25 in the nation and has earned a bid to the sport\u2019s national championship in April, despite being the only team fielded by a two-year school.  Pellissippi State is ranked 18th of 69 men\u2019s teams in College Disc Golf while player Austin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}