LEGACY Students Fly High After Big Win

The boy's team from LEGACY, Hartland's alternative high school, returned to school this week with a state championship trophy in disc golf.

The boys beat out nine other teams at the meet held Friday in Mt. Pleasant.

“It was windy, it was rainy and horrible, but still a whole lot of fun," said 18-year-old team captain Christian Hartford. “We were so happy that we ended up walking away with the gold."

Disc golf is a game much similar in rules to reguar golf where players start at tees, but instead of hitting balls down the fairway, they are throwing small, circle shaped discs into targets that look like nets. 

Hartford, who learned to play disc golf from his uncles and has been playing for six years also took home the title of individual, overall champion as well as the team award.

“I was ecstatic- I did not expect it at all,” he said.

Scott Lemay, the physical education teacher and disk golf coach for LEGACY had seen Hartford play during his gym classes when he taught a unit of it to his students and had hoped for a solid performance from his team captain. 

“I knew Christian Hartford was a very good disc golf player,” Lemay said. “I thought we had a good chance (of winning).”

Still, the harsh weather conditions and wind played a large part in Friday’s event. Players had to battle against the windy conditions and rain, with both elements affecting the accuracy and outcome of the game.

“You had to play the wind on every shot,” Lemay said. “And you had the psychological stuff- it was freezing, you were cold. Everyone had to deal with it, but Legacy obviously dealt with it better.”

Lemay says he's proud of his team for overcoming the obstacles the harsh weather provided and winning the championship. He also already plans on taking his team back next year to defend their title.

“Seven of the ten players that played this year will be back,” Lemay said. “Doing something unique and having success, I think always makes anybody feel good about themselves.”

LEGACY disc golf team members include:

Captain and Individual Golf Disc champion- Christian Hartford, Drew Nickerson, Austin Mattford, Brett Shirley, Austin Deck, Trevor Baxter, Trevor Siemen, Tyler McDonald, Tyler Moffatt and Trevor Thompson.