ULTIMATE NEWS A publication of the Ultimate Players Association
Vol. 25 No. 2 – Summer 2005
College Championships HS Westerns & Easterns COMPLETE COVERAGE INSIDE
Ultimate Players Association 741 Pearl Street, Side Suite Boulder, CO 80302
SUMMER 2005
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FEATURES Team USA Preps for the World Games
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How the team is gearing up for Germany
Table of Contents
Innovation Grants for 2005
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Cool ways Ultimate is getting around this year
Gallery: 2005 College Championships
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Selections from photographer Matt Lane
Become a UPA Board Member!
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2005 College Championships Open Division Women’s Division
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Spirit Awards, Stats, & Callahan Awards
Do you have a vision and a passion for Ultimate?
Spreading Ultimate in Our Schools
Youth Championships 12
How the UPA is reaching out to P.E. teachers
Sanctioned Event Coverage: LiveLogic Texas Shootout The hottest tourney of the year
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High School Westerns Coverage High School Easterns Coverage UPA State High School Championships
Using the Web for Your League
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Looking for ideas to improve your league or organization’s web site? Check out Pittsburgh
IN EVERY ISSUE Letters
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Seven on the Line
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League Outreach Update
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Women’s Outreach
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On the cover: Texas’ Cara Crouch lays out on defense against Stanford’s Hannah Griego in the 2005 UPA College Championships semifinals. This page: Hannah catching the goal, followed by Cara offering her worthy opponent a hand up. Cara won the 2005 Callahan Award in the women’s division. Her Texas team lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Stanford. Photos by Matt Lane.
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Team USA Preps for Germany deciding factor. “I think I scared my teammates half to death talking about Japan. It was like playing four tournaments,” says Dominique Fontenette, the only player on the 2005 Team USA roster to have played at the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan. “Woman for woman, man for man, we can match up. It’s going to boil down to fitness.” Teammates in California’s Bay Area have been running track workouts twice a week. The more isolated players have their own routines and the team e-mail list is not only for logistics but also The athletes are being pushed by a means to keep teammates up to themselves and coach Ted Munter, date on individual workouts. but the greatest challenges have come from the players’ own team- In Atlanta and Seattle Team USA mates. “You’re guaranteed to be had the good fortune of scrimmagguarding or guarded by someone ing against some of the top club who’s at the top of the sport,” says players in the country. Players on Watson. the team report great things about the communities and the opponents The team has had three week- that have come out to support the end-long practices, in California, team. “The organizers have been Atlanta, and Seattle, and each out-of-control awesome,” says one tested the athletes’ endurance. Jessi Witt. “Everyone from the guy Because rosters are so small in who brought us sandwiches in AtGermany, conditioning will be the lanta to our opponents.”
Team USA
The U.S. national Ultimate team has been practicing for months and with two tournaments under their belts they are set to arrive in Duisburg, Germany for the 2005 World Games. As only 11 players will go to Germany, weekend practices have been rigorous, as have individual training regimens. But the caliber of players selected to Team USA fits the bill. “This is the best group of athletes and best group of individuals I have ever played with,” says Bart Watson, one of 10 men on the team.
Gwen Ambler Tully Beatty Scotty Conway Deb Cussen* Will Deaver Jeff Eastham Dominique Fontenette Kati Halmos Ron Kubalanza* Angela Lin Mike Namkung* Alex Nord Miranda Roth Stacey Schoemehl Chase Sparling-Beckley Kirsten Unfried Bart Watson Jessi Witt Josh Ziperstein Ted Munter (Coach) *Captains
Jeff Eastham echoed the sentiment, saying “Everyone’s been very supportive. Our opponents always wish us luck in Germany.” The first scrimmage in Atlanta showed signs of promise but it was still See TEAM USA, page 8
Team USA still needs your help! Team members have borne signifi cant personal expenses to get to practices, tournaments, and the World Games in Germany, and giving to the UPA’s ongoing fundraising campaign is a great way to help the team.
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Supporting the team is easy! Team USA merchandise— including T-shirts, discs, and hoodies—is available online: www.upa.org/wg2005 or www.gaiaultimate.com
Tax-deductible donations and frequent fl yer miles are also great ways to contribute! If you are interested please e-mail ed@upa.org or call 1 (800) UPA-GET-H. Thank you!
Matt Lane P Official Photographer of the 200 6
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http://www.mat
Opposite page: (clockwise from top left) Two players go up for the disc in the Carleton-Texas women’s quarterfinal. Texas’ Huay-Zong Law collides with Brown’s Ben Wiseman in Friday pool play. Stanford’s Enessa Janes in the final against Washington. Colorado’s Alex Snyder makes a grab against Dartmouth in a close pool play game. Julie Erickson of Rutgers making a catch against Texas in Friday pool play. Michigan’s Ryan Purcell lays out for a catch. This page (clockwise from above): Dylan Tunnell of Georgia hucks against North Carolina in one of three pre-quarter games that pitted regional rivals against each other. Brown’s Neale Mahoney makes a late-game endzone D in the final against Colorado. Dan Miller of Wisconsin laying out on defense against Colorado’s Josh Ackley in a hotly contested quarterfinal.
Photography 05 UPA College Championships
ttlanephotos.com
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TEAM USA continued from page 4
a close one, USA won 15-13. In Seattle, playing against a combination squad of Sockeye and Riot, the team won 15-7.
evening entertainment for scores of youth players. “This team is so much younger and there’s so much more enthusiasm,” said Fontenette, comparing the current team to the The Seattle game appropriately older, more established team of complemented UPA High School 2001. “Walking in I didn’t expect Westerns, where the game was the us to gel so much, but we have.”
Left: Chase Sparling-Beckley reaches for a disc at Team USA’s scrimmage against the Sockeye/Riot combo squad. Above: Team USA huddles up before the Sockeye/Riot game. Below: Alex Nord lays out for a goal just beyond the reach of Sockeye player Danny Trytiak. Photos by Bil Elsinger.
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With better organization and better preparation already underway, this year’s team is also looking to improve upon another aspect of their game: bringing home the gold. At the 2001 World Games the Americans was bested by Team Canada. This time, however, Canada won’t be the only threat. “I feel like every team has a shot,” said Witt. “As countries they’re not as deep as the U.S., but every country has 11 spectacular players, so every team’s a threat.” The sport of Ultimate is growing rapidly in Australia, for one, and the team from Down Under will be looking to upset. With experience on the international scene at tournaments like WUGC in Finland and Club Worlds in Hawaii, and a burgeoning university league, Australia is looking to supplant European countries as the dominant also-ran, with the goal of challenging the North American clubs in coming years.
Letters Team USA’s commitment isn’t going unnoticed either. Fontenette was working through a surgery rotation in medical school during the first weeks of training. “I was working 14 to 16 hours a day and then hitting the treadmill. I was lifting a lot of weights,” she says. Her colleagues’ curiosity would be piqued by her limping around the hospital. “The doctors would ask why was I limping, and then I would tell them I was in Seattle or wherever for the weekend, and all of a sudden it’s much more legitimate.” Despite the team being officially separated by First Team or Alternate status, the entire team insists they are one team. “The alternates are out there busting their hump and it’s nothing but more love for this team,” says Watson. “We want to win gold, and [the alternates] are a part of that,” added Witt. “When I’m on the field there’s not really a difference between us. They’re psyched about the team.” With commitment coming from all players, the 19 players practicing and training all have one goal in mind—bringing home the gold medal. “Ted’s created a team feel, having us all buy into the fact that when we bring home gold, it’s not the 11 people who are in Germany but the entire team who has earned it,” says Watson.
Uglimate Revisited Sixteen years ago New York played Tsunami in a memorable Open Nationals final. Except for two “greatest” plays, this final is not remembered for outstanding plays or intense drama. It’s memorable because of the continual stoppages of play and the ridiculous number of foul calls (over 60). It was so bad that many prominent players began wondering if Ultimate was becoming “Uglimate.” Today little seems left to wonder. In the once-spirited College Division, in which foul calls were extremely rare, this year’s open College Championship final had over 80 calls. Are the current players that much more aggressive, causing them to foul more? Or have they concluded: forget “the spirit of the game,” in order to win we need to take advantage of the rules? We don’t think that players necessarily want to play in an unspirited way. Nor do they want the game to be interrupted by continual ticky-tack foul calls and contested calls. We think that players and coaches are following what they believe to be the most effective strategy to win games. Unfortunately, the current foul calling system has contributed to the belief that teams gain competitive advantage when they both call and contest many plays. That is a problem of the system and we believe that a relatively simple change may work to reduce this disturbing tendency. To that end, let’s simply add a disincentive to the rules that penalizes players when they make bogus calls. It’s so easy to do. In games that have observers, such as the finals of all Championships, just one small change needs to be made: when observers are brought into deciding a call, have them track which player’s call or contest they overrule. Observers’ jobs are basically to decide whether the offensive or defensive player made the “bogus call.” Now they will assess a penalty to the player who made it. If a player gets two penalties in a game, they have “fouled out” and may not play for the remainder of that game. Obviously, this will completely change the foul-calling strategy. Players will have to be very confident about making a call, especially if they already have one overturn for the game. It will no longer be strategically advantageous to make bogus calls or contests. But what about those close calls? Players may be hesitant to even make those. We count that as an additional benefit. If it’s so close that a player is hesitant to risk being overturned we’re happy to see play continue. That’s as it should be. But this is just a theory. Rather than extended discussion of how it might actually play out, we ask that events using observers simply give this foul call system a try. The best thing about the system is that when it’s working well it will be transparent. Legitimate calls will be made as they should be. The occasional contested call will be resolved as usual. But there will obviously be many, many fewer calls of all types. The best winning strategy will be to engage in honest, spirited play and that’s what we all want for ourselves and for our game. We encourage players and coaches, experienced and new, to review the “Ten Things You need to know about SOTG” at http://www.upa.org/spirit/10Things. — Steve Courlang and Dan “Stork” Roddick, with support from Tom Kennedy, Suzanne Fields, Larry Schindel, Robert “Nob” Rauch, and Andy Borinstein The authors and supporters of this letter are comprised of four Ultimate Hall of Famers, two prior UPA Executive Directors, former Board Members, and four former National Champions.
Members may submit letters to the editor by e-mailling upa_newsletter@upa.org. We encourage all submissions relating to the sport and the organization, as well as the magazine itself. Letters must be exclusive to the magazine and may be edited for length or content.
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Become a Member of the UPA Board of Directors This October, the UPA will hold elections for four members to the organization’s Board of Directors, one representative each from the Central and South regions, as well as two at-large representatives.
What qualifications are required to serve on the Board? It is desired that a prospective Board member have a mix of some of the following qualifications:
Why does the UPA have a Board of Directors? A Board of Directors is a requirement for non-profit status and is mandated by the UPA bylaws. The UPA Board is comprised of six regional representatives (one elected by each UPA club region) and six atlarge representatives (elected by the membership as a whole) who each hold three-year terms. The Board meets each twice a year to conduct required business, in January and mid-summer. In addition, the Executive Commitee holds conference calls on a monthly basis. Some of Board’s main activities include: setting UPA policy by officially adopting visionary proposals; hiring and oversight of an executive director to be responsible for headquarters, staff, and UPA operations; fiscal responsibility including passing an annual budget; nominating responsible future Board members; and representing the membership’s desires for the future of the sport. Why become a Board member? Being a Board member is a great honor, but it’s not without its responsibilities. Being a Board member is an opportunity to give back to the sport, and it’s the best way to ensure that areas of Ultimate you are passionate about (e.g., city leagues or collegiate women’s Ultimate) are represented when important decisions are made. Consider how Ultimate is growing in several directions at once: Youth, College, Club, and Leagues. Within each of these categories, there are challenges for the UPA: recruiting players, helping players and teams develop, providing better services (e.g., expanding series play), and identifying ways to bring more women into the sport. Simultaneously, there is an ongoing tension between the UPA’s mandate to grow the sport while upholding the Spirit of the Game, which currently revolves around arguments for changing the basis of the game by implementing referees/observers, which the Board must continually review. Finally, the UPA Board works to increase sponsorship and media visibility at all possible levels of the game to raise Ultimate’s profile and provide extra means to enhance current programs and events. As a member of the Board, your personal vision of how Ultimate should grow and further solidify its base can directly impact policy and day-to-day operations.
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Professional skills: The UPA is also a business, and professional experience is useful, especially as we grow into a larger, more mature organization. In particular, those with financial, managerial, longrange planning, or entrepreneurial experience are encouraged to apply. Good organization and communication skills: In addition to communicating with other Board members and UPA volunteers, you will be expected to be in contact with the general membership. You may also be in charge of ad hoc or standing committees. A passion for the sport of Ultimate: Whether as a player, coach, or simply a fan, being involved with the game makes the work easier and more fun. Substantive experience in one or more of the UPA’s current focus areas: This year, we are particularly interested in adding people with deep understanding of the following areas to the Board: • Collegiate Ultimate (including intramural) • Elite-level club Ultimate • League organizations (small local and large regional) • Youth Ultimate • Web technology Familiarity with non-profit organizations: There are a lot of things that make non-profit organizations fundamentally different from corporations. Familiarity with the unique aspects of a non-profit is helpful, especially grant writing and fund-raising. Access to email: Most of the work the Board does is over email, so access to email and the web is essential. We expect Board members to check email no less than three times a week. Interested? If you want to have a say in how Ultimate grows, and have the time to commit over the next three years, please e-mail us at upa_committee_nominating@upa.org or check out http://www.upa.org/files/upa/Board/Board_guide.pdf for more information. If you know someone who would make a good candidate, let us know. We’ll follow up to ensure that the best possible Board candidates are running this fall.
ULTIMATE NEWS Ultimate Players Association 741 Pearl Street, Side Suite Boulder, CO 80302 1-800-872-4384 www.upa.org • info@upa.org
President ELIZABETH MURRAY Executive Director SANDIE HAMMERLY Editor MICHAEL DEGNAN Board of Directors DEIRDRE ABRAHAMSSON PAIGE ANDERSON KATE BERGERON KRISTEN DAILEY TODD DEMETRIADES JEFF DUNBAR PERI KURSHAN ELIZABETH MURRAY MIKE PAYNE TOMMY PROULX CHRISTIAN SCHWOERKE ERIC ZASLOW UPA Staff MELANIE BYRD, Outreach & Membership WILL DEAVER, Championships MICHAEL DEGNAN, Media & Communications TIM DORAN, Program Assistant SANDIE HAMMERLY, Executive Director KITT HODSDEN, Contract IS Programmer KYLE WEISBROD, Youth Development For a complete list of UPA contacts, please visit www.upa.org.
Ultimate News is the official publication of the Ultimate Players Association. All ideas expressed in Ultimate News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UPA. Ultimate News assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Advertising Complete rates and specs are available online at www.upa.org/sponsors. Change of Address Ultimate News is not forwarded by the post office. To update your address, visit www.upa.org/members.
Seven on the Line This issue’s Seven on the Line asked the following question to the players on Team USA: What have you accomplished or learned as a player since being selected to Team USA? As a team? Since I started playing with the World Games team, I have learned how to look for the small things on the field that make a team more complete. I’ve always played to make the big strike, the big defensive play. On this team, I am starting to look for lower profile ways to make our game stronger. Being there for the dump and swing, looking for shorter passes to move the disc, the things that make a good team great. Not that I’ll ever stop loving the huck. Alex Nord
Having to look across the field at practice and realize that there was no defensive slacking to be had. Every individual brought it and brings it, all the time both on and off the field, contrary to Ron’s beliefs. Team USA ain’t no thing but a chicken wing, with hot sauce. Kati Halmos
That I’m from the old school and a 58 second 400 ain’t bad for 37 and Wilmington ain’t close to nowhere. Tully Beatty
I have learned that the better you are as individual athletes, the more effective a conservative style game is. It may seem like it is a good idea to take risks when you have unstoppable cutters, but in fact, if you have people that can get open whenever they want to, there is no need to try chancey throws. Team USA becomes great when we are 100%. Josh Ziperstein
Since being on Team USA, I feel like I have gotten much more used to different styles of play—the horizontal stack, clam defense, etc. It’s been great to play on the same team with so many players I’ve respected for so long. Every player on this team is so talented that I feel like at practices, we’ve all been able to play at a level higher than any of us have ever experienced. Miranda Roth
I have learned to play much more conservatively with the disc. That comes partly from playing with so many new people, and not knowing exactly what they are going to do at any one time. However, a much bigger reason is knowing that turnovers will be very costly in terms of wasted energy during the World Games itself, due to the small roster size. Jeff Eastham
I’d say the biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of spacing. With so many great athletes on the field, every extra inch of turf matters. Even the best club games feel pretty wide open in comparison to a Team USA practice. I’ve also learned a dangerous little dance known to a select few as “big fish, little fish...” Bart Watson
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Ultimate: Alive and Growing in Schools Across the Nation by Chris O’Cleary In October 2003 UPA’s Youth Development Program began attending State and National conferences in the fields of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation in an effort to promote our sport and to encourage professionals to include Ultimate in their curriculum and recreational programs. At these conferences we give a presentation on Ultimate, usually about an hour long, where we show a video, demonstrate basic throws and catches and lead them through a brief teaching sequence that they can use to assist them in teaching Ultimate. We also set up an exhibit booth where folks can come by to pick up information, discuss their experiences with Ultimate, and get feedback from the UPA representatives about how to improve their program. Much to our surprise and delight, we have noticed that in these two short years we have evolved from answering the question, “What is Ultimate?” to hearing educators exclaim, “My students love Ultimate!!” This program has been extensively supported and funded by Wham-O, who has also been involved with distributing over 3,000 instructional kits each containing eight instructional discs, a rule book, and the UPA’s Middle and High School PE Curriculum. Wham-O has also produced a new UPA approved Ultimate disc which is packaged with Ultimate 101, a 35 minute DVD which gives a simple and comprehensive view of the sport, and a UPA membership form. We flighttested Wham-O’s new disc by playing disc golf through the alleyways of downtown Chicago, into a 20-mph headwind. The Frisbee held up well as it drove through the biting Chicago wind. This brand new disc and DVD are now available in sporting goods stores all over North America. This affordable and accessible package means that people who are shopping
to pick up a Frisbee to throw in the park will now have the means to play real Ultimate. It also means that educators will now have a visual aid in teaching Ultimate so that students can more easily understand what structured Ultimate looks like. The week of April 12-15, the UPA sent three representatives. Kyle Weisbrod, Chris O’Cleary and Barbara “Bubba” Denision, and WhamO’s David Waisblum, to the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s (AAHPERD) National convention in Chicago. AAHPERD is recognized as the nation’s most influential organization in the field of physical education. AAHPERD’s mission is to aggressively promote fitness programs as well as to design and implement curriculum standards in America’s schools. It is also the largest organization of professionals supporting and assisting those involved with all specialties related to achieving a healthy lifestyle. What that means to the UPA is that this is the place to promote Ultimate and convince people to incorporate Ultimate in their curricula. For every single person we contacted, there were potentially hundreds more that would be impacted simply because these are the people who are in leadership positions as teachers, professors, department chairs, and recreation directors. The UPA’s participation in the conference enabled us to distribute information and materials into the hands of the people who teach our teachers and our youth.
We learned at AAHPERD that schools across the nation—from elementary schools to the college level—are now teaching Ultimate and it is being received very well by both students and teachers. During the three days of the convention we registered over 650 people as contacts for the UPA, gave away 100 Wham-O Ultimate discs with DVDs, plus an additional 500 Ultimate 101 The UPA is planning to attend the following AHPERD DVD’s, and raffled conferences during the 2005-2006 school year: off a dozen teaching Minnesota Lake of the Ozarks, MI Central District kits, all generously Rochester, MN November 11-13, Broomfield, CO donated by WhamOctober 14, 2005 2005 March 3-5, 2006 O! We also gave a demonstration Florida North Carolina California of Ultimate in the Lake Buena Vista, FL Greensboro, NC Garden Grove, CA exhibition hall October 15-17, 2005 November 16-18 March 9-12, 2006 which was mobbed Washington Illinois National by people and one Shoreline, WA St. Charles, IL Salt Lake City, UT of the most popular October 21-22, 2005 November 17-19, April 25-29, 2005 activities of the 2005 week! All we had Wisconsin to do was put a Janesville, WI Southern District little plastic in their October 26-28, 2005 Virginia Beach, VA hands, give them Missouri March 1-6, 2006
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some basic instruction, allow them to play and our sport sold itself. Ultimate appeals to teachers because of its cardiovascular benefits and low cost, but we know it’s also just plain FUN!! During the demonstration, our enthusiasm for our sport and dedication to the Spirit of the Game (SOTG) inspired people to teach Ultimate because of its simplicity as well as the component of teaching life skills and character-building through sport. Because Ultimate is growing so rapidly we must be especially mindful of teachers and other new players learning how critical SOTG is to our sport. Teachers need to understand that Spirit of the Game doesn’t just mean the absence of referees—it means that players take responsibility for themselves on the field in a competitive setting by officiating the game as fairly as possible and showing respect for their opponents. One of the growing pains the UPA will face in the next decade is addressing this issue in an effective manner. Though we spent only three days in that convention hall, the impact that we made will last for years to come. We sort of felt badly for the booths next to us because, while they were basically empty, we had folks lined up to discuss how great our sport is and how much fun it is to teach and play. Each day we gave a few informal demonstrations as we tossed the disc around obstacles in the exhibition hall. Fellow conventioneers would join us by calling for the disc and showing off their skills. This year’s AAHPERD convention drew over 8,000 professionals and was the largest National convention to date. The UPA and Wham-O were right there in the middle of the action working together to lead and assist educators in bringing our sport into the mainstream. Kyle Weisbrod’s vision of how to effectively bring school systems and the UPA together is now being realized and will help to bring our sport to the next level. The UPA’s Youth Development programs’ arms have been extended and are embracing people from around the world to enjoy our fine sport. Chris O’Cleary has been a UPA member since 1984 and has taught physical education for 15 years.
Sanctioned Event Recap: LiveLogic Texas Shootout By Asher Price If basketball could go from a humble sport with peach baskets for hoops to a multi-million dollar business, why can’t Ultimate, conceived in a New Jersey parking lot, become a pro sport with shoe deals? For a brilliantly blue, if a little steamy, weekend in Texas, Ultimate players were competing out of something more than love of the game. With a $3,100 purse at stake, six of the nation’s top teams touched down in Austin in mid-May to face off in the LiveLogic Texas Shootout. In the end a small, elite squad from Boulder’s Johnny Bravo beat a contingent from Atlanta’s Chain Lighting. Bravo had overcome the heat—LiveLogic had some pleasant 80-degree weather—and a tough field of elite teams (five of the six teams had competed in last season’s Club Championships) to come away with the cash, which was presented in a ginormous cardboard check by tournament organizer Sean McCall. “We’re going to Sizzler, we’re going to Sizzler!” chanted one player. The tournament’s primary sponsor was LiveLogic, a Dallas-based consulting company specializing in data analysis. “It seems like Ultimate has a lot in common with us,” Jon Crowell, a consultant at LiveLogic, said. “Our values are integrity and having fun, with excellence and passion.” After the success of the Shootout, further sponsorship next year is a “foregone conclusion.” (For more about the company, check out www.livelogic.net) Even though the tournament fell early on the club calendar, teams brought their core members, tested a few new players, and put legs to work in the late spring competitive test. The first half of the tournament consisted of round-robin play, and was dominated by the Santa Barbara Condors. (Condors went 5-0; Bravo, 4-1; Chain, 2-3; Doublewide, 2-3; Michigan’s Big Ass Truck, 2-3; Dallas United, 0-5.) That set up semifinal rematches of Condors-Chain and Bravo-Doublewide. Chain surprised a
large Condors squad with a stifling trap zone defense, defeating them 13-8. It didn’t hurt that Chain made only two turnovers the entire game. In the other semifinal, Bravo took advantage of Doublewide’s miscues to take a 13-9 win and knock the home team out of the competition. The final pit a fit but weary Chain team against Bravo. Chain leapt out to an early 2-0 break, but Bravo reigned them in to take half 7-6. After a trading of points, Bravo pulled away to win 12-7. The tournament had observers available for the finals: With money on the line could the game remain spirited? But the two squads, which elected to have only linesmen, engaged in competitive, fair play. Any observers would have been relegated to, well, mere spectators. In one sequence, tight plays at both ends of the field involving Bravo’s Jason Brask and Chain’s John “Kid” Hammond could easily have ended in fouls. But after picking themselves off the ground neither player bothered to make a call. There was even room for some humor. After ill-advised, errant hucks by both teams on a lengthy point, Bravo captain Mitch Schminke admonished players on both squads: “Okay, you don’t throw deep, and you don’t throw deep.” Had no money been at stake “the game would not have been played any differently,” said James Emerson, Bravo’s lanky, quick-throwing handler. After the check was awarded and players began to depart, some local middle schoolers squared off in their own feisty game of Ultimate. (Austin players have begun coaching Ultimate in schools around town.) One, in very Austin fashion, was an 11-year-old with a full-on mohawk. With a little work on his forehand, and a tad more tournament money, he could be the next Dennis Rodman.
Top: Kevin Gaffney of Doublewide with a point block. Middle: Jason Simpson of Chain Lightning laying out on defense against the Condors’ Taylor Cascino. Left: Charlie Stavlo of Doublewide and Mitch Schminke of Johnny Bravo get airborne. Photos by Matt Lane.
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2005 UPA Innovation Grant Recipients by Mary McDowell This year’s award recipients focus on everything from recruiting in isolated areas to spreading the word about Ultimate via alternative fuels. In keeping with the program’s emphasis on innovation in audience and method, these projects set the standard for original thinking! Alaska Ultimate Clinics ($250) – Glen Anderson The Fairbanks Ultimate Club will be holding a series of local Ultimate clinics which will be offered to the public free of charge. There will be three clinics beginning in May held over three consecutive weeks. The first clinic will be for women only ages 16 and up, followed by a clinic for Juniors ages 13-18 and then a final clinic for the general public (ages 18 and up). Clinics will be held at the Soccer complex or at the UAF fields
Project Scoresheet ($50) – Jim Parinella Project Scoresheet is a grassroots effort to record, compile, and analyze ultimate statistics at all levels of the game. It builds upon existing statistical systems in ultimate (primarily RUFUS) and other sports. The following projects received youth instructional kits (valued at $90) to assist with their youth projects: High Tech High Ultimate Emily Hardy Youth Ultimate Program Brevin Balfrey-Boyd Lake Wales HS Allison VanHook High School Ultimate Rob Junge Columbia Ultimate Players (CUP) Justin Plassmeyer For more information on the 2005 projects, visit http://www.upa.org/grants/winners.shtml Keep an eye on the UPA web site for the 2006 Innovation Grant Program calendar at http://www.upa.org/grants. The 2006 Request for Proposal will be released late in 2005.
Flik’D DVD Magazine ($250) – Michael Hall Flik’D is an Ultimate Frisbee DVD Magazine. Each issue will contain several “articles” or short documentaries of tournaments, teams, events and Ultimate culture, package together in a slick DVD package with motion graphics and steamin’ hot tunes. Our pilot issue will be the means by which we attract investors and distributors for full production in regular 6 month releases.
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Through the UPA’s Innovation Grant Program, enterprising advocates of Ultimate can receive up to $500.00 in funding for projects that promote the sport in innovative ways or that target new or atypical populations. In spirit, the program’s focus is on spreading the word about Ultimate, with an emphasis on originality. For more information about the Innovation Grant Program, including details of the application process and past winners, please visit http://www.upa.org/grants.
The Big Green Bus ($500) – Aekta Shah This summer 15 Dartmouth College Ultimate players are driving across the country in a school bus converted to run on vegetable oil. Our mission is simple: to interact with as many people as possible on our cross-country journey and share with them our passion for Ultimate and our knowledge about alternative fuels.
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League Outreach Committee Update by Melanie Byrd, Director of Membership & Outreach Since the National League Conference last November, the UPA has continued to move forward with the planning and development of the UPA’s outreach program. If you have been following the progress of the UPA outreach program, you are aware that $20,000 was set aside for the outreach committee at the beginning of the year. The short-term goal of this committee is to act on the knowledge gained from the 2004 league conference in providing immediate benefits and create momentum toward the longer-term goals of growing the sport of Ultimate and increasing the Spirit of the Game. With these goals in mind the committee is working to determine how these funds should be allocated. The committee, created in spring of 2005, has continued to work on identifying and describing the optimal relationship between the UPA and the other local/regional Ultimate organizations. Ideas for development and funding have been narrowed down so that the committee can focus on priorities for the outreach program. Currently the committee has identified several projects or ideas that they have determined to be important to league and outreach development. These include 1) creating a manual of “best practices” as a resource for the local organizers, 2) technology tools for registration, web tools, templates, etc., 3) examining the possibility of an affiliate or recreational level membership, and 4) helping to host regional league outreach conferences. The committee plans to spend the next several months discussing and researching possibilities for implementing these ideas. While there are still a lot of things remaining for the committee to do, they have determined that we can begin moving forward on some projects. More specifically, we will immediately begin progress on the development of a resource manual which will be a useful tool for leagues and organizations. It may include ideas and “how-to” information for various topics such as drafting for league teams, finding/buying fields, dealing with conduct issues, organization, tournaments and much more. It could also cover any number of topics that were presented at the conference. While the manual may be in the works for a while, our goal is to have an initial version available by the end of 2005. In addition to the manual, the UPA would like to once again begin exploring options for additional conferences. Rather than another national conference, the goal this time would be regional conferences hosted by local organizers and supported by the UPA. These conferences could be adapted to address local issues and would likely be within driving distance and, therefore, provide an opportunity for smaller and younger organizations to get involved. The UPA is excited to continue the progress of communicating with league organizers throughout the country and wants to continue on a path of development for the programs and benefits 16
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we can offer the non-series player and organization. If you have any questions regarding this committee or would like to contribute in some way, comment, or otherwise provide input, contact the Outreach Director at melanie@hq.upa.org. Resources http://www.upa.org/outreach view past articles/updates and follow the progress of the UPA outreach program ultimate_leagues-subscribe@yahoogroups.com join the e-mail forum for league organizers or melanie@hq.upa.org
Host a UPA Event! The UPA is looking for host sites for its 2006 Club Championships and High School, College, and Youth Club Championship events in 2007. The interest and cooperation of fired-up local Ultimate organizations are essential to pulling off UPA championship events that are a highlight of the Ultimate year. Running a championship tournament with the UPA can be an exciting, challenging and yet very rewarding experience. Benefits include: exposing the Ultimate community to your little part of the world, exposing your little part of the world to some amazing Ultimate, financial opportunities for your club and your city (form partnerships with the local convention and visitors bureau or sports commission), and the intangible rewards that come with teamwork and the smiles on the faces of Ultimate players as they chase their dreams on the fields that you set up. 2007 Events • High School Easterns and High School Westerns (mid-late May). Bid deadline 12/31/05. • College Championships (late May). Bid deadline 12/31/ 05. • Youth Club Championships (mid-August). Bid deadline 12/31/05. • Club Championships (late October). Bid deadline 5/31/ 2006. We look forward to hearing from you about bringing championship Ultimate to your town! For questions and/or to submit a bid, contact UPA Championship Director Will Deaver (will.deaver@upa.org). Visit www.upa.org/host for more information.
2005 UPA College Championships May 27–29 • Corvallis, Oregon
Open Division by Craig Remillard
Looking at the Stanford and Wisconsin lines, no one could tell who would own this point. The sun that had been simmering the players at 90 degrees all day was dropping to the west, but despite the oncoming shadows the accumulated sweat and pain of the past 10 hours was evident. Now it was double game point in a game that had seen climbs and tumbles by both teams throughout. The 14 men faced each other down, trying to put up fronts of invincibility, barely having the reserves left to stand without hunched shoulders. That scene was endemic of the excitement this past Memorial Day weekend. Pool play heartbreaks on Friday; pre-quarters pitting regional rivals against each other on Saturday; and quite possibly the most exciting open final ever played—this UPA College Championship had it all. Stanford versus Wisconsin was only one of many nailbiters in pool play. Wisconsin’s Dan Heijmen was part of an unstoppable handling corps, finding Rodrigo Valdivia deep several times to keep the lead to 13-10. Stanford’s swarm found a way to rise above though, keeping hold of the disc. James Herbert, cramping with every exertion, scored a point late, then found Josh Wiseman with a hammer for game, 16-15. SUMMER 2005
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Pool B, was, in fact, the site of many a barnburner on the day. Wisconsin’s first two games against Harvard and Wisconsin went to the tense end. Harvard’s 6’4” Steve Kolthammer had a series of endzone skies and layout D’s to lead a late Red Line comeback against a Hodag team whose deep game was not connecting, but Wisconsin’s wiley handlers managed to weave enough for the 1513 win. In the second round, Wisconsin took on Ontario’s Queen’s University, a newcomer with something to prove. The final score was 15-11 after two hours and dozens of calls. Even the last game of the day between Queen’s and Harvard, possibly the two shallowest teams at the tournament, proved lively, 1511 Queen’s. Both teams had been blown out earlier by Stanford, Queen’s 6-15 and Harvard 8-15, and the pool implausibly followed course through all the bends to hold seed. The two Great Lakes region teams, Michigan and Michigan State, turned implausibility into a tragic art. Both teams employed bloodyglove-tight man defenses only to see the games slip away. Michigan, in Pool A, faced the University of Washington in the early morning. Magnum’s Ryan Purcell and Dave Collins scored with deadly accuracy within twenty yards, but Washington’s superb athletes owned the rest of the field, as the Sundodgers eked out a 15-12 win. Magnum later let a tired and sloppy North Carolina team woo them into an air battle. Despite several big pulldowns by
Nick Slovan, Michigan couldn’t seal the game against Darkside jumpers like Zach Washburn and Eric Kirkham and it ended UNC, 17-16. Michigan State Burning Couch matched the late-game letdowns of its cross-state rival. MSU’s depth should’ve helped late in the day, but the Texas team they drew in the last round was just as bottomless, hammering a 15-13 nail in the coffin. They even put up a respectable 10 points against a Brown juggernaut. But the most profound tough luck had already come while playing Carleton. MSU rode Ryan Carnizales’ energy and Tom Worsfold’s deft airplay to a lead at 16-15 but CUT’s Jacob Goldstein and Chris Rupp scrapped for the last two points to win, 17-16. Pool D also supplied a couple thrillers between its top three teams. UCSD wound up losing 17-15 to UBC, but went down like an ice cream cone on a hot day, making a mess even after they appeared to be licked. Repeatedly UBC’s Morgan Hibbert, Oscar Pottinger, and company pulled a handful of points away, and repeatedly the Squids found a big play—Scott Davis bookending a D with a goal to tie at 6’s, Adam Bunn’s Callahan goal, Adam Desjardins’ footblock down 9-13. UBC would go on to a game against Georgia, who was at that point playing on a bitter diet of swallowed pride after an early blowout loss to UCSD. The game had virtually no chance to impact their seeding, but Jojah managed to keep ahead until Hibbert and Georgia’s Dylan Tunnell started a duel for the last few points as huck after huck
went up to the sprinting giants. Georgia won, 15-13. The spectators were even treated to an upset or three as pools jostled rank. Washington came off its long battle with Michigan to face a North Carolina team that had just warmed up with a quick loss to Colorado. UNC sophomore Zach Washburn manned the point with smooth, low backhands hitting Eric Kirkham and Elliot Murray in stride. Washington’s Gabe Pedersen and Matt Bauman made some plays, but couldn’t outbomb Darkside’s howitzers and fell 15-11. Carleton’s second round did not go as planned either. Tired from their marathon against MSU, CUT trudged over to hear chants of “Texas, Texas…. Yeeeeee Haaaaaw!” from their better-rested opponents. Mike Natenberg and company dominated this one, 15-8. The upset of the day went to a UCSD team that nobody had seen after a rain-soaked earlyseason home tournament turned into nearly a month of school probation for the Air Squids. In the first round against a jetlagged Georgia, Jake Chang and Ryan Slaughter repeatedly threw short, long, and in between to cutters like Scott Davis and Adam Desjardins. UCSD had very few turnovers in a 15-6 beheading of their pool’s top seed. Of course, a few games went quietly. Colorado and Brown cruised through their respective pools. Colorado struggled a bit with its offense, but managed to always produce
Photos this page by Matt Lane except where noted otherwise. Previous page: Stanford’s Robbie Cahill bids on defense but cannot catch Grant Zukowski of Wisconsin. Photo by Andrew Davis. Top left: Texas’ Daniel Noll makes a catch on Brown’s Reid Hopkins in pool play. Photo by Andrew Davis. Top center: Michigan’s Andrew Brix throws past Elliott Murray of UNC. Top right: Michigan State’s Ryan Carrizales marked by Carleton’s Seth Cooper in Friday pool play. Above: Colorado’s Adam Simon and Wisconsin’s Jimmy McMurrary in the quarterfinals. 18
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another weapon when needed—be it Martin Cochran’s and Beau Kittredge’s tremendous cutting, or Colin Gottlieb’s buttery throws. UNC’s deeps managed 10 against Mamabird, Michigan’s D 9, and Washington’s Pedersen and Drew Siler kept the Sundodgers within 1 at half en route to a 5-point loss. Colorado did not escape the day unscathed, however, as Cochran, a valuable deep and respected teammate, broke a rib and punctured a lung in their final game of pool play. For Brown, pool play was just another day at the office. Texas’ Dave Melancon and Mike Natenberg made it respectable after an 8-3 half, but in the end fell 15-11. Even dangerous Carleton only mustered an early run and a 15-9 final. On the other side, things played out as scripted for Pittsburgh’s En Sabah Nur, dealt a tough flop against UBC, UGA, and UCSD. The respective scores of 15-5, 15-11, 15-10 belied some big plays by Dave Vatz and Brent Bellinger, but the outcomes were seldom in doubt.
Saturday of
the College Championships began with a few storms a-brewin’. By sheer dumb luck, the field was set up with three Regional matchups. Whatever the teams’ relations with each other off the field and in the early season, there would be no love lost between brothers. Georgia squared off against the UNC and the teams played this game like any good Atlantic Coast battle, intense and exciting to the end. Georgia pulled out to a big lead early on handlers Dave Neder’s and Dusty Smith’s crisp short passing. But UNC’s Washburn, Chris Donahoe, and Josh Torrell drilled away at the lead late with an exciting chain of skies, point blocks, and layouts. Darkside’s hole proved too deep, though, and Georgia advanced 15-13. Washington and UBC had already traded several games on the year, but this one was for bragging rights. UBC took half 8-7 on a charge sparked by a couple key plays from senior Colin Green. The intensity ratcheted up in the second half as the teams traded points and leads. It came down to a winner-take-all point. Sundodgers Drew Siler and Ryan Winkelman got pieces of consecutive Thunderbird swing passes to get the disc, and Washington punched it in to end the 17-16 battle. A few fields over, Carleton and Wisconsin were repeating a Central region showdown legendary if only for its propensity for repetition. The Carleton sideline went wild when Rupp wrist-grabbed a zinger for half 8-7, but the game was not over. In the second half, Wisconsin’s handler weave was complemented
by Rodrigo Valdivia’s long runs and the gritty defense of Grant Zukowski. They quickly pulled away to a 15-11 victory. Although lacking any preconceived notions, Texas versus Queen’s, was no less discwarpingly intense. Texas was deep, relying on a mix of breaks, hucks, and short cuts to keep defenses off balance. Queen’s style was about taking what was given and making plays. Mothership’s Adam Melnyk threw a crossfield hammer to Greg Seaton early to go up 4-3. The teams continued neck and neck, but TUFF’s Graham Robinson was able to go breakside for game point, 16-14. After the pre-quarters, the first round of consolation games was played. The extra game took its toll on the prequarterfinal losers. Queen’s Mothership was simply unable to get any kind of momentum against Michigan Magnum, losing 15-4. UBC met Harvard, getting out to a quick start but eventually forcing some difficult, unwarranted throws. Harvard’s Will Chen took advantage, picking up trash and piloting the Red Line to a 1211 victory. Michigan State shook off North Carolina 15-11. Darkside put up a fight until the end with subs like Thanveer Gadwal making plays in lieu of exhausted starters. The lone survivor from the front bracket was Carleton, who jumped on Pittsburgh’s En Sabah Nur, shaking off the fatigue for a 15-12 triumph. The Michigan teams eeked out wins in the 9th place games, Magnum 17-15 over Carleton and MSU 15-13 over Harvard. In the 13th place games, Queens forfeited to Pitt and British Columbia blew out North Carolina 15-2.
Photos this page by Andrew Davis. Above: Colorado’s Colin Gottlieb goes up and over Washington’s Chris Forsberg. Colorado would go on to win by a score of 15-9. Below: Brown’s Neale Mahoney gets a D block against Stanford’s Mark Sherwood in the semifinal.
Texas hoped to bring some momentum into its quarterfinal against bye winner UCSD Air Squids, but the Squids went up 2-0 with a 60-yard huck from Adam Desjardins to Scott Davis. San Diego kept on running, going up 4 at half. TUFF’s Jonathan Daugherty managed a nice sky of Desjardins late in the game, but it wasn’t enough. San Diego coasted, 15-9. Washington unluckily drew Brownian Motion for its quarterfinal opponent. The Sundodgers threw a zone to rest up, which Paul Vandenberg shredded with a hammer to Alex Bowman. Down 4-3, Brown broke it open with ruthless efficiency, seizing on some sloppiness by UW to make a run. In a few minutes, it was 10-5, at which pointthen it was just a matter of time. Brown moved on, 15-6. In a repeat of last year’s quarterfinal, Wisconsin gave Colorado a fight to remember. Colorado’s Adrian Keyes got steps on his man going long to put Colorado up 4-1, but the Hodags refused to fold. Wisconsin’s deep runners went bomb for bomb throughout, like Ted Tripoli’s 50-yard huck to Zukowski out of half. Colorado managed the last run in this one, See COLLEGE OPEN, page 23
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2005 UPA College Championships
Women’s Division by Lindsey Hack and Katherine Wooten
May 27–29 • Corvallis, Oregon
On Friday morning it was sunny and hotter than most were expecting in Corvallis, Oregon. There was minimal wind during the early rounds but it picked up a bit for the final round and continued on Saturday. Teams with smaller rosters were worn down by the heat on Friday, and the conditions allowed skilled teams to advance through the wind. Pool A Stanford, Washington, MIT, Cornell Stanford was the heavy favorite in this pool after a big tournament win at Centex and narrowly escaping disaster with a 10-9 win over Washington at Northwest Regionals. Stanford has more experience on this stage, however, with a semifinal appearance last year and winning the title just twoseasons ago. MIT is a team that is familiar with the College Championship scene with a quarterfinals finish in 2004 and a 2005 resume that included a win against Carleton. Cornell traveled quite a bit this year—to tournaments, that is—but experienced many losses to high quality teams. Both the 1v2 and 3v4 games were picked as possible upsets by many fans at home and in Corvallis. Washington appeared to be the most athletic women’s team in Corvallis, using breakmark throws, dumps, and big backhand hucks at appropriate times. Miranda Roth was versatile, spending time behind the disc and catching deep when needed. They cruised past Cornell and MIT using defensive schemes including a four-person cup. KrissAnn Schmitz was a clutch receiver for UW and Melina Coogan added consistent throws. The Stanford game was exciting to watch as UW came out fired up, shredded the Superfly cup, and ran away with the game 15-9. UW looked poised to make a serious run for the championship. Stanford had a difficult time on Friday beginning with round one vs. MIT. MIT’s Nancy Sun broke the mark effortlessly, had great reads, and hucked at pivotal times. At 11 all Stanford began to hustle more on D and opened a lead to 14-12. Enessa Janes and Lauren Casey connected to end the game, 15-12. Stanford handled Cornell efficiently but many had already begun to question Stanford’s prowess after their loss to UW and the close win over MIT. MIT continued to improve, cruising in the Cornell game 15-5. Kristen Spekkens had an impressive layout but that and the throws of Rachel Robinson were not enough to catapult these ladies or Cornell ahead of MIT. Washington won the pool ahead of Stanford, MIT, and Cornell, respectively. Pool B NC State, Iowa, Brown, Texas A&M Even though NCSU was the favorite to win this pool, many expected Iowa to give them a run for the money. Iowa’s loss at Central Regionals to Carleton was surprising considering their dominant performance throughout the spring. NCSU had a few impressive wins themselves despite never traveling off of the Atlantic coast. Wins against Texas, Georgia, UNC, and Virginia gave NCSU the leg up on this pool going into Friday. Brown made quarterfinals this year and was not going to go down easy. Texas A&M came out of a region that only hosted eight teams at their regional championships and the national caliber competition would be all new to them. 20
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Above: Enessa Janes of Stanford skies two Iowa defenders en route to a 1510 quarterfinal victory. Photo by Andrew Davis. Below: Carolyn Matthews of Colorado makes a trailing-edge layout catch in the endzone during a late-game comeback against Dartmouth. Colorado was down 13-9 before storming back to win 16-14. Photo by Matt Lane.
Iowa dominated the second half of the marquee 1v2 game by cleaning up their game a little earlier than NCSU. Molly Doyle did what she could to keep their hopes for winning the pool, but Iowa capitalized on huck turnovers. Iowa continued its domination over the other teams in the B pool and cruised to a 3-0 day. NCSU went big and they went often. Generally, this worked against most teams—especially Brown and Texas A&M. Brown’s defense did not have an answer for the perfect flick hucks of Doyle or the consistent receiving of Nicole Chauvigne. Rebecca Simon of Brown appeared to be one of the few Brown players that did not crumble against the Carolina straight-up mark. Brown took half 8-3 against Texas A&M. Through the sound handling of Shannon McLaughlin and Christina Choffel, A&M clawed their way back into this game. Unfortunately it was not enough and Brown began
to do what they do best—dump, swing, continuation throw down the break side. Brown pulled off this game 15-12 and the pool finished Iowa, NCSU, Brown, Texas A&M Pool C Texas, Carleton, Purdue, Rutgers Texas was the clear favorite going into pool play. Even though they experienced losses to NCSU, UNC, Wisconsin, and Iowa, their impressive showing at Centex earned them a lot of respect. Carleton, on the other hand, was 2-9 before Sectionals and pulled off a huge win against Iowa in the Central Regionals finals. Although Carleton is notorious for peaking later in the season, they may not be as powerful as their Central Region competition as some would like to think. Purdue won the Great Lakes region in a dominating fashion, but besides a loss to NCSU (13-10) hadn’t played any national caliber competition. Rutgers traveled quite a bit for the season and was looking to use that
Above: Miranda Roth of Washington lays out for a catch against Stanford in a 15-9 pool play victory. Photo by Andrew Davis. Below left: Texas’ Amanda Berens throws a backhand out of her own endzone in a semifinal game against Stanford. Photo by Matt Lane. Below right: Purdue’s Michelle Groscost throws a flick under the extended arms of Carleton’s Kate Clark. Photo by Matt Lane.
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experience to pull off a win in Corvallis. Texas looked extremely athletic during pool play and seemed to make up for a shortage in handlers just good old fashion hustle. Purdue put up a fight for the first half of their game with fast disc movement, both laterally and downfield. Unfortunately, Purdue forced too many dumps near their own endzone. On the turn, Texas was efficient and scored immediately from 20 yards out a great majority of the time. Carleton came out strong and secured a relatively painless win over Rutgers. Linda Dolan of Rutgers had a handful of beautiful flick hucks and Stacy Sarvis put it deep often to the receivers of her spread offense. Carleton was just too deep and Chrissy Lee moved the disc around effortlessly. The Carleton-Purdue game was exciting to watch during the first half. Purdue’s Katie McKain kept Brickhouse alive with a huge layout D that eventually led to Purdue tying at 5’s. Carleton capitalized on Purdue’s miscues and despite the running of McKain and Michelle Groscost, the game was over after first half. Carleton sealed the game with a huge layout D by Chrissy Lee that was nearly a Callahan. There was a slight wind this round, and Rutgers threw a four-person cup when Purdue was going upwind. Purdue moved the disc without trouble but had enough drops to keep things close, taking half 8-7. In the second half, Purdue stopped dropping the disc, became more effective poaching Rutgers’ isolation looks, and went on a 7-2 run to close out the game. Pool D Colorado, UC–Berkeley, Dartmouth, Northwestern Colorado had a semifinals appearance against Stanford at Centex and barely lost after being up 8-7 at half. They also experienced a pool play loss v Iowa after being up all game as well. Despite these two notable losses, Kali emerged victorious out of a tough Southwest region and had the firepower to inflict damage in Corvallis. Cal wasn’t counted out that quickly though. Appearing to peak at the right time, the Cal Pie Queens finished second in a very tough Northwest region. Led by Kath Ratcliff, California was poised to make noise. Dartmouth was also no stranger to the national scene and winning the Northeast was no easy task. Northwestern returned to the national stage with a solid core of athletes, but their inexperience proved evident.
A highlighted game for Friday was Colorado-Dartmouth. Kali came out slow on defense and Dartmouth took advantage. Lakshmi Narayan was sending big hucks to give Dartmouth the 13-9 advantage. Kali then began to realize that they may actually lose this game. Carolyn Matthews of Colorado made a pivotal layout grab in the endzone that switched momentum. From there, Alex Snyder, Anne Pogoriler and Shalini Low Nam take over and seal the deal, resulting in a16-14 Colorado win. Colorado took this pool, but not without a fight against Cal. The Pie Queens’ Ratcliff has superb throws and Natalie Wu adds consistency to a solid offense. Cal appeared to be a pretty strong team, but not as deep as Colorado. The Queens did roll to victories against a tired Dartmouth team and an inexperienced Northwestern team. Vanessa Tarjado and Candice Tse worked the disc for Northwestern, but it was not enough to overcome any of their opponents on Friday. Pool D finished Colorado, UC–Berkeley, Dartmouth, Northwestern. Saturday Elimination Rounds In the Carleton-Brown game both teams showed up, played big, and left it all out on the field. Becky Craig from Carleton scored early to put her team up 3-1 with a toe-in grab. Brown’s Cate Brown answered back with a jaw-dropping, full extension layout grab for the score. Both teams fought and the score was practically even the whole time. Rebecca Simon and Cate Brown were doing most of the hucking for Brown and Chrissy Lee was doing it for Carleton. Maia Pinsky had some inspiring D’s and was the foundation of Carleton with tireless cutting and huge layouts. To tie it at 15’s, Pinsky hucked to Michelle Blank for the score. On the following possession, Simon hucked it and called a foul. Foul overruled—Carleton disc. A Carleton player cut in for the disc and Simon made a monstrous layout D 20 yards out of the endzone. Simon wound up catching the score and winning the game, 16-15, sending Brown to the quarterfinals.
The Purdue-NCSU game was a rematch of the Terminus finals from March. Purdue hung in there early with an offense that seemed to be running more smoothly with the cooler weather. After bringing it to 6-5 NCSU, State went on a little run that was highlighted by Molly Doyle throwing cross field breakmark backhands for scores. Teresa Rouse of State helped with pivotal D’s, including a handblock in the point that started the run. Purdue tried to come back with hucks from Top: Texas’ Amanda Berens grounded after a catch. Above: NC State’s Amanda Hobbs Michelle Groscost and, although they worked, the Purdue gets her hand on the disc before Purdue’s Michelle Groscost in pre-quarter action. Photos backfield was too tired from Friday’s heat to consistently by Matt Lane. make the long cuts. 22
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See COLLEGE WOMEN’S, page 24
COLLEGE OPEN continued from page 19
winning 15-12. Georgia had started off the tournament slowly, but got better every game. They went up early 3-1 against Stanford, but Bloodthirsty’s Robbie Cahill managed some good breakside throws to take half 8-6. Georgia had trouble in the second half with bad decisions, Stanford with execution, and they found themselves under a capped game at 12-12, double game point. After several turnovers by both teams, Stanford’s Mark Sherwood threaded an inside-out flick to James Herbert to gutwrenchingly advance to the semifinals. Stanford coach Dan Maidenberg looked a little unsure before the semifinal, knowing his team would face a Brown squad that hadn’t yet been tested. “I don’t think they’ve seen a team with our speed, top to bottom,” he said. Brown coach Nathan Wicks smiled, saying, “Sure, they have that … but they don’t have our superstars.” Brown went straight to its chief superstar, a 70-yard downwind huck to Ziperstein. Things fell apart for Bloodthirsty soon after, despite some nice playing by Herbert and Nick Handler. Ziperstein saved one trailing huck early with a fingertip layout, and then a floating one on the goal line over Nan Gao later. Everyone on Brown seemed to get a turn at breaking Stanford’s back—even freshman Mike Vandenberg, who roared coming down with a D near the end, and Colin Mahoney, who ripped a floater
out of the air despite a freshly sprained ankle. Brown went on to win handily, 15-7. UCSD was running smashmouth all weekend and telling everybody about it. No one expected them to be in this game, but there they were lining up against the defending champs in the semis. “We’ve had to do lots of make-up for [the probation], and we’re peaking a little bit later than we otherwise would’ve,” said Squids’ coach Andy Sammons. There was a stiff wind for the semifinals, and the teams started out trading. Desjardins was playing well for the Squids. On one play he stepped into a throwing lane in the UCSD cup to pick off a pass and threw a crossfield forehand through the wind to Ben Morrissey to tie the game. Colorado had trouble with the Squid zone, which Desjardins exploited with several flat, fast backhands that seemed to defy the wind to settle into receivers’ hands. With the Squids leading 10-7, there was a lull in the wind, and Mamabird used it to go upwind to Rick Hodges. The teams then played cat and mouse, trading upwind points as if to see who would flinch first. Colorado’s Josh Ackley finally lofted a downwinder in Hodges’ hands to tie at 13. Colorado turned it around just in time, as Jolian Dahl got a D going downwind leading to an Ackley goal, 15-13. Mamabird advanced, but they may have spent they’re allotment of late-game providence doing so. See COLLEGE OPEN, page 25
Above: Ryan Winkelman of Washington lays out for a defensive block in prequarters. Morgan Hibbert’s strip call was upheld. Photos by Matt Lane. Right: Dylan Tunnell of Georgia skying a UBC player for the D. Photo by Andrew Davis. SUMMER 2005
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COLLEGE WOMEN’S continued from page 22
In the MIT-Cal match-up, Berkeley continued to throw zone and got some tight points, taking the first half 8-2. The second half was the same game, with Cal throwing zone and MIT working it well, except that MIT began to chip away at Cal’s lead. Down 4-9, MIT’s huge run late in the half catches up to and surpasses the Pie Queens for the first time during the game. At 14-11 MIT the sidelines are out of control and Cal thinks they’ve blown the game. But Kath Ratcliff and Co. decide to turn it up again. Spectacular D’s, patient offense, and some mistakes by MIT give the Pie Queens one point, then another, then another. Suddenly it’s tied at 14’s. The Pie Queens get the turn and the score, and they dig out the next point. This one’s a heartbreaker for MIT, but a fantastic game for the fans (and for Cal). The Pie Queens move on with a 16-14 win. Dartmouth had their best game Friday in the first round against Colorado and they looked ready to give Stanford another good game. Stanford goes up to a 4-0 lead early, but some of the points are battles, and Dartmouth starts closing with some nice shots from Lorraine Ferron and Lakshmi Narayan. Stanford made a lot of turnovers but was resting their big players for later in the day. Dartmouth played all heart and made some great grabs. Enessa Janes had some trouble running the offense without the rest of Stanford’s all-star cast, but Superfly still powers through the game to reach 15 before Dartmouth can make it too close. Final score: Stanford 15, Dartmouth 10. Quarterfinals From start to finish Colorado dominated Brown. It appeared that Brown was mentally and physically drained from their pre-quarters game and did not have much left in the tank. Colorado looked crisp and led by Carolyn Matthews they appeared poised to head into the semifinals at full speed. The Washington–N.C. State game was very close at the beginning, with the score after six points tied at 3’s. Washington was using their small,
but effective, four-person cup to try to stop NCSU’s big game. Molly Doyle and Jo Vidales broke the zone many times with hammers over the top, but the continuation cuts were not there to advance the disc fast enough. Washington seemed to power through this game and Miranda Roth was making things happen. The rest of the cast at UW is equally solid. Carla Fowler, Melina Coognan, Jackie Williams, Erin Gallagher, and KrissAnn Shmitz are only a handful of the players that contribute regularly and confidently to team. Washington took this game 15-9. Cal came out strong against Texas with Kath Ratcliff leading the troops. Looking fired up, Berkeley made it 6-1 and Texas called a timeout to take away their momentum. The next points were big, as Texas went on a 7-1 run to take half 87. Cal would not score again, as Texas steamrolls the rest of the game to win 15-7. For Texas, Cara Crouch, Tina Woodings, and Lorig Hawkins worked well behind the disc, and Tessa Nichols brought down some huge scores in the endzone. Lisa Short was probably the player of the game though, with no fewer than seven or eight sweet D’s for Texas. Iowa was probably the fastest team at the College Championships this year, making their quarterfinal match-up against Stanford a fun one. Superfly jumped to an early 4-1 lead, but Iowa never got upset and they keep their heads throughout the game. Stanford took away Iowa’s speed with a good zone, and even though this wasn’t the strongest aspect of Iowa’s game, Mary Oppold, Tammy Kampfe, and Mackenzie Henryson have solid throws and worked it patiently for some good scores. Iowa gave the zone right back, getting D’s in the middle of the field and taking the score to 5-3. The next point Iowa remembered that they are faster than Stanford and got offensive flow going to keep Stanford on their heels. They pulled within one, 5-4. Then the maturity and experience of Stanford kicked in. Superfly got the disc in Jenny Burney and Crystal Cook’s hands and ran away with this one to advance to semis, 15-10.
Semifinals Texas might have been the most athletic team of the tournament. But when it is windy, being able to out-run your defender does not help as much in the zone. Throws are much more valuable and Stanford had plenty of those. Stanford finessed their way into the finals with sound handling in a stiff wind that Texas was notorious for having a hard time in. Superfly looked better and better with each passing round—they were ready to finish where they left off last year.
All day it had been windy, but during this round the wind picked up and was particularly strong. Washington came out against Colorado with their four-person cup. Washington’s drops and miscommunications in the cup led to an early 3-1 Colorado lead. Alex Snyder and Carolyn Matthews were the main handlers for Colorado and had perfect low break throws through the cup. Matthews was always moving around and Top: Washington’s Miranda Roth lays out for a catch over Stanford’s Jenny Burney. Photo by Matt Lane. gave the UW cup a hard time. At 6-3 Kali it Above: Stanford Superfly, 2005 UPA College Champions. Photo by Andrew Davis. appeared that Colorado may run away with it. 24
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See COLLEGE WOMEN’S, page 28
COLLEGE OPEN continued from page 23
Championship Game Brown coach Nathan Wicks studied the match-ups the finals would produce. “I think there are a few players we can rattle. They’re not accustomed to teams that can match up with them,” he said. Colorado coach Catt Wilson countered: “The starters match up well, but... we’ve got a lot of guys after them that they might have trouble with.” The matchups were quite impressive on paper—Callahan winners Ziperstein versus Ackley; premiere big men Colin Mahoney versus Beau Kittredge; gutsy handlers Dan MacArthur versus Colin Gottlieb. And so on down the lines.
Mahoney, sprained-ankle-be-damned. The two teams traded points to 11-8, and the pressure was getting tighter on Brownian Motion to make a run. Suddenly, Will Arnold and Colin Mahoney came through with two straight pulldowns on floaters in the endzone. A few points later Arnold got free for a 50-yarder to tie the game at 13’s as the cap went on. Game to 15. In the words of Wicks, games like this often come down to whose superstars make the plays at the end. Neale Mahoney closed on a huck, arcing and twisting over Josh Ackley’s shoulder to bat it away. Then Ziperstein managed to track a twice-batted disc for the goal. Colorado gave and went for the next one, but Alex Bowman pushed a backhand 70 yards around his mark to MacArthur for the game and the championship, 15-14.
Both team brought out their bread ‘n’ butter early. Ackley out-juked Ziperstein for the first score, but Ziperstein broke away for the 55-yard answer from Paul Vandenberg. Colorado broke to 3-1 thanks to several big defensive plays. The Brown offense clicked into uber-efficient mode. Mike and Paul Vandenberg found the break side around the Colorado marks, and Ziperstein was his usual goal-creating self. He also registered a shocking block by plucking a deep throw out of the air in front of Kittredge and Colin Mahoney. Kittredge virtually took over the game for Mamabird, scoring half his team’s points at the 8-5 break.
Ziperstein reflected on how his team came back to win. “You’ve got to have confidence that you’ll score eventually in those situations. I think, in the end, we wanted it more.” That line of desire may be a fine one, but Brown crossed it to earn its second championship. For the some of the teams that came here, this was the peak of an Ultimate lifetime; for others is was just a stop on the road to what Brown experienced today. They will battle again to be in Columbus, Ohio, next year. Until then, Brownian Motion holds the title of UPA College Champions.
Out of half, things looked a little bleak for Brown as Colorado got a turn and scored another point. Brown’s defense finally got on the board to pull within 2 thanks to some full-extension grabs by 6’6” Colin
Craig Remillard played Ultimate at Tufts University and has covered the open division at the UPA College Championships for the last two years.
This page: (clockwise from top left) Colorado’s Justin Salvia throws past an attempted footblock by Brown’s Ben Galeota-Sprung. The “17” inscribed on Salvia’s arm honored Colorado’s Martin Cochran, who punctured a lung in Friday pool play. Josh Ackley, winner of the 2004 Callahan MVP award, with some 1,500 fans as backdrop. Dan MacArthur and Colin Gottlieb take a breather between calls. Josh Ziperstein after catching a thrice-tipped disc for a goal and Brown’s first lead of the game at 14-13. Photos by Matt Lane. SUMMER 2005
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2005 UPA College Championships Spirit Awards / Stats / Callahan Award Open Division – Individual Winners British Columbia – Tyler Hislop Brown – Jonas Levi UC–San Diego – Maclyn Eick Carleton – Nolan O’Brien Colorado – Mike Davidson Georgia – Ben Bain Harvard – Steve Kolthammer Michigan – Mike Swiryn Michigan State – Zach Hickner North Carolina – Chris Donahoe Pittsburgh – Stu Kellner Queen’s-Kingston – James Miller Stanford – Benjamin Dean Texas – Michael Natenberg Washington – Alexander Smith Wisconsin – Jim Foster
Women’s Division – Individual Winners Brown – Catherine Brown UC–Berkeley – Tracy Tietge Carleton – Sarah Cadwallader Colorado – Julia Scott Cornell – Kelly Ruggles Dartmouth – Aekta Shah Iowa – Mackenzie Henryson MIT – Angela Tong NC State – Emma Davis Northwestern – Kira Kleaveland Purdue – Margaret Sietsema Rutgers – Stacy Sarvis Stanford – Hannah Griego Texas – Amber Alderman Texas A&M – Emily Riley Washington – Kara Marie Lowe
Women’s Division Team Spirit Scores Average Score 1 Rutgers* 4.4* 1 Texas A&M 4.4 3 Stanford 4.3 4 Dartmouth 4.2 5 MIT 4.16 6 Northwestern 4.0 7 Brown 3.8 7 Colorado 3.8 7 Cornell 3.8 7 Texas 3.8 11 Carleton 3.6 12 Washington 3.5 13 NC State 3.0 13 UC–Berkeley 3.0 15 Iowa 2.5 16 Purdue 2.0 Average Division Rating 3.64 * Rutgers won the tie-breaker (highest scores given). Rank
Team
Open Division Team Spirit Scores Average Score 1 Harvard* 5.0 1 Pittsburgh 5.0 1 Stanford 5.0 4 North Carolina 4.8 5 Michigan 4.66 5 Michigan State 4.66 7 Carleton 4.33 8 Georgia 4.0 8 Queen’s-Kingston 4.0 8 Texas 4.0 11 Washington 3.66 12 Colorado 3.6 13 Wisconsin 3.33 14 Brown 3.25 15 UC–San Diego 3.2 16 British Columbia 3.0 Average Division Rating 4.09 * Harvard won the tie-breaker (highest scores given). Rank
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ULTIMATE NEWS
Team
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Left: Men’s Callahan Award winner Josh Ziperstein (center), flanked by runners-up Mike “Tank” Natenberg and Oscar Pottinger. Right: Women’s Callahan Award winner Cara Crouch with runners-up Enessa Janes, Nicole Chauvigne, Nancy Sun, and Rebecca Simon. Photos by Scobel Wiggins.
Championship Game Stats Women s Final
Open Final Brownian Motion
Stanford Superfly
Player 2 – Josh Ziperstein 5 – Alexander Bowman 7 – Benjamin Galeota-Sprung 8 – Reid Hopkins 9 – Michael Pozar 10 – Dan MacArthur 17 – Neale Mahoney 20 – Will Arnold 24 – Michael Vandenberg 25 – Paul Vandenberg 27 – Colin Mahoney 31 – Jarrod Lynn
Assists 3 2
Unknown
1
1
Totals
15
15
1 1 1 4 2
Goals 7 2
D’s 3
TO’s 2 1
1 2
2
2 1
1 1
3
2 2
8
1 1 2 4
Goals 1 3 6 1
D’s
TO’s
3
1 1 1 3 1
1 3 4
3 1
Totals
2 2 4 1
1
3
6
15
15
8
22
Assists
Goals
D’s
1
1 1
TO’s 1 3
1
1
16
Washington Element Assists 2 3 4 1 1 2 1
Goals 1 2 1 1
D’s 1 1
TO’s 4 4 3 1
9
4 2
1 1
Unknown Totals
Assists
Unknown 6
Colorado Mamabird Player 2 – Colin Gottlieb 10 – Adam Simon 20 – Josh Ackley 25 – Justin Salvia 43 – Jason Buckingham 50 – Beau Kittredge 60 – Jolian Dahl
Player 5 – Katie Berk 6 – Ruth Emerson 7 – Enessa James 10 – Hannah Griego 11 – Lauren Casey 12 – Lauren Schneider 14 – Jess Guh 19 – Shirley Wu 22 – Crystal Cook 23 – Jenny Burney 33 – Christina Contreras
3 14
14
8
17
Player 23 – Lisa Niemann 4 – Jane Kaufman 7 – Frances Riordin 9 – Kara Lowe 11 – Heather Brown 12 – KrisAnn Shmitz 16 – Emily Grad 17 – Melina Coogan 24 – Susan Shortreed 25 – Miranda Roth 37 – Jackie Williams 42 – Carla Fowler 48 – Erin Gallagher
1
4
2 7 1
1 1 2 1
1
1
2
Unknown Totals
1 2 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 3 2
12
12
5
24 SUMMER 2005
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COLLEGE WOMEN’S continued from page 28
But the Washington women go on a run with Jackie Williams making sick grabs in the endzone, Fowler breaking the mark, and Gallagher getting D’s on poor Colorado decisions. Colorado fought back and at 12-10 Washington, Kali’s Anne Pogoriler had a devastating foot block on Roth. The disc bladed about 30 feet in the air, coming down behind Roth. Roth turned, launched, and caught the blade one handed to keep the disc alive. The crowd erupted. Eventually, Washington finished the point and further distanced themselves from Colorado. Washington opened up their rotation even more and Gallagher made an improbable, one-handed, full extension, layout grab in the endzone to put Washington up 14-11. UW scored the next point and moved onto Sunday. Championship Game The weather on Sunday was overcast with a slight wind. No brutal sun like Friday, no brutal wind like Saturday. These teams had split their last two match-ups and a close one was expected by the fans in attendance. Both teams had their respective men’s squads cheering them on from the stands—Stanford Bloodthirsty with their signs and voices; Washington’s Sundodgers (and, it seemed, the greater Seattle metropolitan area) with their UW-purple bullhorns. The Stanford ladies looked poised and ready to avenge their earlier loss this weekend to the UW ladies. The UW ladies looked confident that they could pull out another win with their all-star cast which included twelve graduate school students—including one Miranda Roth. The game started out with multiple turnovers and Stanford got up to an early 5-2 lead. Hannah Griego of Superfly did the best job out of all defenders on Miranda Roth. She challenged every catch, every throw, and it was not until UW decided to send Roth deep did the fun begin. UW began to use their four-person cup and pressured Stanford’s solid handlers just enough to get turns. Melina Coogan of UW is a great target in the endzone and tied the game at 7’s. After half, it began to become apparent that UW needed to make fewer unforced errors near the endzone if they wanted a shot at winning. The Superfly cast of Lauren Casey, Enessa Janes, Cook, and Jenny Burney was too solid and consistent to give UW the turns they needed. UW did begin to go deep to Roth, where she is pretty much unstoppable, to keep the game close. Despite a stand out performance by Roth, it was not enough to give UW the edge in this game. Stanford went on a 4-2 run later in the game with highlight catches by James and Contreras. Jackie Williams of UW made an amazing toe-in grab for UW to make it 14-12 Stanford, but it was too little too late. Quite appropriately, during the next point, Griego of Stanford made an extraordinary layout grab in the back of the endzone to hand Stanford the 2005 UPA College Championship.
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Opposite page: (counterclockwise from top left) Enessa Janes and Hannah Griego of Stanford celebrate a win against Texas in the semifinal. Photo by Matt Lane. University of Washington’s cheering section. Photo by Scobel Wiggins. Jenny Burney and Lauren Casey of Stanford go up against Miranda Roth of Washington in the final. Photo by Matt Lane. Women’s runners-up Washington Element. Photo by Andrew Davis. This page: All photos by Matt Lane. (clockwise from top left) Miranda Roth of Washington laying out in the final. Colorado’s Colin Gottlieb. Will Arnold of Brown attempting a catch against Colorado’s Jason Buckingham. UC–San Diego’s Ryan Slaughter surrounded by the Colorado cup. Jen Lau of Stanford making a grab in the final. Janice Trinidad of Texas shows off her Lone Star State haircut.
SUMMER 2005
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UPA High School Western Championships Skagit River Park, Burlington, Wash. Hosted by DiscNW Girls Coverage by Calvin Overstadt
Open Coverage by Jordan Price
The inaugural UPA High School Western Championships was a showdown of talented young women in the Pacific Northwest. If the players coming from the region are any indicator, the future of Ultimate is full of promise. The tournament took place at the Skagit River Park in Burlington, Wash., home to many Ultimate events from the 2004 UPA College Championships to the annual Emerald City Classic. The weather was variable all weekend, from cool air under overcast skies, to scorching heat and sun, to wind and rain. “Welcome to Seattle in the spring,” noted tournament director Ryan Seguine.
Sixteen teams came to Seattle to battle for the right to be the first ever High School Westerns champions. Ultimate is growing rapidly in the western regions of the U.S. and Canada and this was evident to even the most casual of spectators. Teams hailing from as far away as Hawaii gathered for a great weekend of Ultimate, and a great weekend it was. With upsets, comebacks, and some very talented high schoolers, the tournament was a great success.
Eight teams came to battle it out and going into the tournament it was difficult to predict how results might shake out—many of the teams rarely get to play each other. Despite burgeoning high school leagues and regional tournaments becoming popular, anyone who said either pool at Westerns would be easy to pick was a liar or a fool.
Simply put: The Northwest School (Seattle, Wash.), with the overall No. 1 seed and the talent to match it, dominated their pool from the first game on. Armstrong (Plymouth, Minn.) threw zone defense at them in the first round, and it was patiently tackled by NWS’s offense. Casey Ikeda, Ben Vigus, and Jeremy Norden played strong all weekend, and they got off to a great start in this match-up. Though Armstrong connected on a few hucks, and despite stellar play from Stephen Lederman, NWS was too dominant on a number of runs. Amidst a 5-0 run in the second half, Vigus put a deep huck to Sam Kittross-Schnell who laid out to make the score 12-5. Armstrong would only score one more.
Saturday Pool Play In Pool A, two teams shined above their round robin counterparts: Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) and York House (Vancouver, B.C.). Entering the tournament as the No. 1 and No. 6 seeds, respectively, these teams dominated all opponents on the weekend with the exception of each other. Their pool play game in Saturday’s first round was close, with Nathan Hale beating York House 9-6 in a defensive slugfest. With occasional wind, both teams threw zone and man defenses with varying degrees of success. As would be the case all weekend, York House’s speedy defenders and receivers would keep them in the game (and help crush lesser teams), but the skills were unable to stay with Nathan Hale’s in the end. Nathan Hale had little trouble dissecting the defenses offered by South (Minneapolis, Minn.) or St. John’s–Ravencourt (Winnipeg, Man.), defeating them 15-3 and 15-1, respectively. Nathan Hale’s game against SJR was never close. Led by standout Shannon O’Malley, who scored 3 of 5 goals to take a 5-0 lead, Nathan Hale ran the show. SJR’s miscues led to too many drops amidst Nathan Hale’s zone defense and the game soon became a blowout. York House had similar experiences, defeating SJR 11-2 and South 15-2 on great disc movement and defense from Tory Hislop, Andrea Chang, and Natalee Sinclair. Meanwhile in Pool B, overall No. 2 seed Churchill (Eugene, Ore.) lost two close games, to Cretin-Derham Hall (Minneapolis, Minn.) 10-9 in the opening round and to Seattle Academy 10-7 in the second. Churchill played solid zone defense early against Cretin-Derham, with hot bids and a handblock to fire up the D, but Cretin-Derham was able to take care of the disc on offense. Smooth handling from Kaite Siemers coupled with downfield cutting by Kyra Ayo Caros allowed Cretin-Derham to eke out a victory. Clutch See WESTERNS GIRLS, page 40 30
ULTIMATE NEWS
Pool Play
In Armstrong’s next game they jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Alameda (Alameda, Calif.) and capitalized on several miscues by their opponents. But at 4-2 Armstrong, Alameda’s Shane Harris began to fire his team up. “No more jogging! No more giving up!” Alameda’s cup-crashing on offense and big bids began to pay off, as they hung with Armstrong for the entire half. Several brutally long points wore down both teams, but Kyle Wilkinson and Tommy Sanchez were still hustling on both sides of the disc for Alameda. At 7-6 Armstrong the soft cap horn went off, and Alameda managed to put one in for the tie. Game to 9. After scoring once more to get 8, Alameda pulled deep and the Armstrong catcher dropped the pull. Alameda put the disc in the endzone for the game and one player exclaimed, “That was the best game I have ever played in my entire life.” Armstrong was unable to keep up with Crescent Valley (Corvallis, Ore.) in their final pool play game, and CV won 15-8. In Pool B Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) coasted through their first two rounds before facing off agaisnt Cretin-Derham (St. Paul, Minn.). Both teams were playing well, including nice defensive efforts from Cretin-Derham’s Peter Stassen and Andy Vik, but Nathan Hale went up 5-3 early. Smarter offense and great grabs brough C-D back in the game at 5’s and they took half 87. Nate Castine and Nevin Root were playing out of their heads for Nathan Hale and kept a slim lead (2) for most of the second half. Castine on one point brought down a huge huck short of the goal and tossed it in for a score to make it 12-10 C-D as the cap went on. Game to 14. Cretin-Derham was able to bring it to 13-12, See WESTERNS OPEN, page 44
UPA High School Eastern Championships Turner Valley Soccer Complex, Pittsburgh, Pa. Hosted by the Community for Pittsburgh Ultimate Girls Coverage by Tina Jerzyk
Open Coverage by Kevin Cramer
Ten teams traveled to Pittsburgh May 21-22 to participate in the girls division of the 2005 UPA High School Eastern Championships. The deciding factor throughout the weekend was experience: polished throws, disciplined defense and effective deep games separated tournament champion Amherst (Mass.) Regional High School and runner-up University School of Nashville (Tenn.) from the rest.
As the UPA High School Eastern Championships drew near a close on Sunday, May 22, tournament director Matthew Bourland found himself picking through various bags of raisins, pretzels, granola, and crushed M&M’s. He was in search of the optimum combination of salty and sweetness that would eventually constitute the world’s perfect trail mix. After thoroughly shaking the contents of the Ziploc bag in his hand, Bourland tasted his creation and smiled. “Tournament must be running pretty well if I’ve been able to concentrate on trail mix for the last twenty minutes.”
In their finals match-up, Amherst Regional High School jumped to a quick 7-1 lead, capitalizing on efficient offense and a slow start from University School of Nashville’s usually dominant deep game. Senior Emily Baecher and sophomore Amber Sinicrope anchored Amherst’s offense with accurate hucks, hammers, and break throws. Excellent defense and interceptions from senior Hazel Crowley also played a key role in Amherst’s quick start. Down 7-1, Nashville mounted a comeback led by Laura Masulis’ throws and Alison Douglass’ skying defense and endzone receptions. Middles Francis Wright and Rose Dorch helped open the field and take some of the attention away from Nashville’s two star players. Nashville brought the score to within five points, but the comeback started too late. Amherst scored its last two points with flair. Junior Chelsea Murphy completed a huge inside-out forehand to senior Southey Saul to set up the 14-7 goal. On the ensuing possession, senior Emily Damon toed the line for a full layout reception and then threw the game winning pass. After the game, Amherst co-captains Baecher, Spring Greeney and Dory Ziperstein credited their tough pre-Easterns competition for their win. “We played a hard season, competing mostly against boys’ teams and college teams,” said Greeney. The season included a first-place finish at the Lemony Fresh Spring college tournament. Ziperstein said she was proud of Amherst’s performance against college teams. “We were invited to a college pre-nationals tournament for New England teams and beat both MIT and Dartmouth, who qualified for nationals,” she said. Of the championship game against University School of Nashville, Baecher said, “It was a great win. Nashville came out hard and has very hard-core, great players. This was the most fun finals could be.” No. 3 – Amherst JV The performance of the JV team predicts a strong future for ARHS Ultimate. The team lost only to Amherst High School and University School of Nashville, and their smallest margin of victory was 5 points in a See EASTERNS GIRLS, page 33
And the tournament did run well thanks to Matt Bourland and the many volunteers from both the UPA and the Pittsburgh Ultimate community. Even the sometimes unpredictable western Pennsylvania weather cooperated. The sixteen open teams that made the trip to the Turner Valley Soccer Complex outside of Pittsburgh May 21st & 22nd could not have asked for nicer days. The weekend was mainly sunny, and the few passing showers that sprouted up came at the perfect time to cool off the heat of the afternoon. Pool Play: Saturday Teams came out gunning in round one with some of the best games of the day taking place early. In Pool B, No. 1 seed Columbia (Maplewood, N.J.) got a huge scare from No. 3 seed LC Bird (Chesterfield, Va.). The Virginians came out and stunned a slow starting Columbia team, taking half 8-5, but in the second half Columbia made a large comeback. The play of the round occurred on a long, hanging backhand huck with Columbia up 11-9. Columbia’s 5’5” Mike Rubin was boxed out by a much taller LC Bird player but still managed to sky over the defender’s back to come down with the disc and a 12-9 lead. LC Bird couldn’t recover and lost a hard fought game 13-9. Pool D saw the first universe point of the tournament with another No. 1 seed, University School of Nashville (Tenn.) being pushed to the limit by HB Woodlawn (Arlington, Va.). With the score 9-9 and the pressure on, both teams stepped up on defense with multiple layouts that swung momentum back and forth. In the end, Nashville got a fortunate bounce when a Woodlawn player leapt to D a long forehand huck and swatted it forward into the hands of a waiting Nashville receiver. A subsequent short flip for a score and Nashville found itself with a hard fought 10-9 victory. Also in round one, Pool C No. 1 seed Northfield–Mt. Hermon (Northfield, Mass.) survived a late run by No. 3 seed Madison West (Madison, Wisc.) to pull out a 12-9 victory. Round 2 saw perennial powerhouse Amherst (Mass.) Regional HS see its first action against host team Fox Chapel (Pittsburgh, Pa.), and even See EASTERNS OPEN, page 33 SUMMER 2005
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HIGH SCHOOL EASTERNS
Photo: William ‘Brody’ Brotman
Easterns Team Spirit Results
Photo: William ‘Brody’ Brotman
Girls Division Rank 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 9
Photo: Albert Ip
Photo: Albert Ip
Team Amherst JV HB Woodlawn Andover Memorial Chapel Hill Stuyvesant Beacon Nashville Amherst Varsity Columbia Average Division Rating
Average Score 4.67 4.64 4.3 4.29 4.17 4.17 4.0 3.96 3.86 3.86 4.19
Open Division Rank Team 1 Andover 2 Memorial 3 Amherst 3 Scarsdale 5 Hopkins 6 Beacon 6 Madison West 6 Northfield Mt. Hermon 6 Woodward 10 Lexington 11 Nashville 12 LC Bird 13 HB Woodlawn 14 Fox Chapel 15 Wissahickon 16 Columbia Average Division Rating
Average Score 4.6 4.5 4.17 4.17 4.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.96 3.75 3.42 3.33 3.0 2.92 2.83 3.8
Easterns Individual Spirit Winners
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ULTIMATE NEWS
Open Amherst – Ben Mew Andover – Jason Westgate Beacon – David Silverman Columbia – Jard Emmens Fox Chapel – JC Yambao HB Woodlawn – Pete Ketchum-Colwill Hopkins – Andrew Schock LC Bird – Michael Clapman Lexington – Katie Shafer Madison West – John Bergen Memorial – William Yu Nashville – Bud Ries Northfield Mt. Hermon – Rusty Ingold-Smith Scarsdale – Richard Hwang Wissahickon – Preeti Nalavade Woodward – James McNash
Girls Amherst Varsity – Emily Damon Amherst JV – Jenny Tiberio Andover – Jackie Booth Beacon – Ashley Brichter Chapel Hill – Elena Steponaitis Columbia – Vanessa Low HB Woodlawn – Liz Houston Memorial – Eyleen Chou Nashville – Laura Masulis Stuyvesant – Nancy Ma
EASTERNS GIRLS continued from page 31
EASTERNS OPEN continued from page 31
shortened game against regional rival Andover High School. No. 4 was their defensive star, at one time accruing five blocks within one threepoint span.
though Fox Chapel came out pumped, Amherst eventually took them apart in methodical fashion, 15-3.
No 3. – Columbia High School (Maplewood, N.J.) Led by Vanessa Low, Columbia had enough depth to hold off most competitors. Low served as the primary handler, as well as a key cutter, defender and deep receiver. The team worked comfortably against any zone it faced, relying on consistent, strong popping from Judith Garber. No. 5 – HB Woodlawn (Arlington, Va.) HB Woodlawn plays with spirit. Even in its worse losses, the tireless cup anchored by Ana Brown continued to sprint and the team continued to post late-game rallies. HB Woodlawn does best when it can capitalize on deep defensive stops from Emily Boone. Against more experienced teams, however, HB Woodlawn’s offense struggled. No. 5 – Memorial High School (Madison, Wisc.) Shouting cheers inspired by their home state’s dairy heritage and dancing on the sideline, Memorial used sophisticated defenses to disorient their opponents. The team rotated between three-person cup, four-person cup and man defenses, often switching during a point. Memorial is led by popper, receiver and defensive star Nicole Powers and handler Leah Kammel. No. 7 – Chapel Hill (N.C.) Chapel Hill played most of the weekend with a very short bench, sometimes fielding only seven players in a game. Their handlers worked well against zone defense, and their receivers were reliable. However, with so few players, Chapel Hill was not able to keep up with other teams on defense. No. 7 – Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.) With several players capable of making long passes, Stuyvesant relied on a huck and play zone strategy. Against teams of equal caliber, their cup frequently forced turnovers, generating excellent field position. More experienced teams, however, were able to intercept Stuyvesant’s deep passes and score on fast breaks. No. 9 – Andover (Mass.) High School Andover High School features a core of experienced handlers and is led by phenomenal, all-out play from No. 17 who routinely laid-out for what appeared to be impossible catches. The handlers were able to walk the disc up the field against zone defenses but the team was frequently unable to score from midfield or closer. No. 10 – The Beacon School (New York, N.Y.) Beacon High School is led by a core of poised handlers including No. 1 and No. 8. However, this team’s inexperienced poppers and deeps struggled against the zone defenses they faced most of the weekend.
The most competitive game of Round 2 was between Wissahickon (Ambler, Pa.) and Madison (Wisc.) West. Wissahickon’s Andrew Ip flipped a break mark high release backhand to tie the game 9-9 and send it to universe point, but Madison received the pull and worked it downfield, eventually taking the game 10-9 on a short backhand from Georgia Bosscher to Eric Reynolds. Round 3 saw the first upset of the day when in Pool D, No. 1 seed Nashville succumbed to the speed and athleticism of No. 2 seed Hopkins HS (Minnetonka, Minn.), 15-5. In another minor upset, Pool C No. 3 LC Bird knocked off No. 2 Madison Memorial 15-8. Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.) came out hot against Fox Chapel and built a 3-0 lead before Fox Chapel’s J.C. Yambao hustled back from a layout attempt in the end zone to make a point-block from behind the thrower, momentarily sparking the Foxes who came back to tie the game 3-3. Woodward responded with a Chris Marshburn to Robert Norback score to break Fox Chapel’s three-goal spurt and eventually won out 14-8. The top game of round 3 ended up being between Woodlawn and Beacon School (New York, N.Y.). Woodlawn had been down 10-6 and seemed destined to walk off the field with a loss until they decided to clamp down the defense. Drew Raines led the defensive charge by leaving the ground on multiple occasions. With the score 13-13, Alan Kolick lofted a lefty flick over everyone from the right sideline to the back left corner that Raines pulled down for the 14-13 victory. Round 4 saw the top teams step up and separate themselves from the rest of the field as Pool C No. 1 Northfield–Mt. Hermon (NMH) used long backhands from Ryan Schwartz to top No. 2 Wissahickon 15-6. Pool A No. 2 Woodward Academy came out fired up against top-seeded Amherst. The battle of the sidelines was as intense as the actual game early in the match. Both teams came out strong, but a layout D by Amherst’s Ben Mew off an attempted dump shifted the momentum and led to the first upwind score as Amherst took a 4-2 lead. From that point on, Amherst rolled, 15-5. In Pool B, No. 1 Columbia smoked No. 2 Madison Memorial 15-3. The most entertaining game of the round came between Scarsdale Hellfish (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and Madison West. Scarsdale’s Dave Meyer boxed out his defender on a long huck that led to the tying goal to make it 11-11, but Madison answered back to get the win when Jack Beyler managed to pull down a bomb from Eric Reynolds as the Scarsdale defender layed out over his shoulder from behind. At the end of pool play, Amherst, NMH, Hopkins, and Columbia all went undefeated, earning the top seeds and byes into Sunday’s quarterfinals. The play-in games saw four tough match-ups with Nashville’s Brutal Grassburn taking on Lexington (Mass.) High School’s Hucking Fooligans. Nashville’s Craig Stewart made a leaping lefty grab between two defenders against the sideline and tossed to a wide-open receiver to send Nashville off and running at 3-1. Lexington’s Garrett Bernstein See EASTERNS OPEN, page 42
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Results: 2005 UPA State High California (Northern) 1. Alameda 2. Castro Valley 3. Terra Nova 4. Hercules 5. Georgiana Bruce Kirby Prep 6. York School 7. Bitney Springs 8. Acalanes 9. Foothill Middle College 10. De La Salle Spirit: Acalanes
Colorado 1. Grandview 2. Lakewood A 3. Cherry Creek 4. Denver East 5. Broomfield 6. Arvada West 7. Heritage 7. Colorado Academy 9. Arapahoe 10. Jefferson County Open School 11. Fairview 11. Denver North 13. Lakewood B 14. Monarch 14. Silvercreek 16. P.S. 1 Spirit: P.S. 1
Georgia 1. Paideia Varsity 2. Woodward Varsity 3. Heritage 4. Paideia JV 5. Woodward JV 6. Milton HS 6. Paideia Groove (Girls) 8. Woodward WAFU (Girls) Spirit: Woodward WAFU 34
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Top left: Michael Perez of Alameda makes a grab at the Northern California State Championships. Top right: Brian Scott of Alameda. Above: Tommy Sanchez watches teammate Brian Scott lay out for a grab. Photos by Andrew Davis. Left: James McNash of Woodward Academy throws against a Paideia opponent in the Georgia State Championship finals. Photo courtesy Eileen Murray.
h School Championships Massachussets Open: 1. Amherst Regional 2. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional 3. Milton Academy 4. Masconomet Regional 5. Nipmuc Regional 5. Lexington 7. Newton North 8. Boston College HS Spirit: Lexington Girls: 1. Amherst Regional Varsity 2. Amherst Regional JV-A 3. Andover HS A 4. Masconomet Regional 5. St. Johnsbury Academy (Vt.) 6. Amherst Regional JV-B 7. Andover HS B Spirit: Andover HS B
Minnesota Open: 1. Hopkins 2. Armstrong 3. South 3. Cretin Derham Hall 5. Eden Prairie 5. Bemidji 5. Cathedral I 5. Henry Sibley 9. Como Park 9. Mounds View 9. Northfield 9. Cathedral II Other teams: Edina, Central, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie II, Southwest Pennsylvania
Top left: Leah Kachelmaker of Hopkins/Eden Prairie reaches for the disc in the Minnesota State Girls HS Championship game against Alex Chlebec Cretin-Derham Hall. Top right: Peter Moskul of Armstrong and Justin Kaminsky of Hopkins leap for a disc in the Minnesota State Open HS Championship finals. Above: Minnesota Girls champions Cretin-Derham Hall (white) with runners-up Hopkins/Eden Prairie. Below: Minnesota Open champions Hopkins. Photos by Dave Gregg.
Spirit: Northfield Girls: 1. Cretin-Derham Hall 2. Hopkins/Eden Prairie 3. Cathedral 4. South High Spirit: South High
Continued on next page SUMMER 2005
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2005 UPA State HS Championships (Cont.) Pennsylvania
Virginia
Wisconsin
1. Wissahickon 2. Cheltenham A 3. Fox Chapel A 3. Bethel Park A 5. Pennsbury A 5. St. Joseph’s Prep 5. Mt. Lebanon 5. Penn Charter 9. Allderdice 10. Hampton 11. Lancaster CDS 11. Moravian Academy 13. Pennsbury B 13. Bethel Park B 15. Cheltenham B
1. HB Woodlawn A 2. LC Bird A 3. Cave Springs 4. LC Bird B 5. HB Woodlawn B 5. Flying Hellfish 7. James Monroe 8. Woodside
Open: 1. Memorial 2. NT Team Ill 3. Madison West 3. Edgewood 5. Community 5. Oconomowoc 7. Memorial – B 7. Memorial – C
Spirit: Hampton HS
New Jersey 1. Columbia A 2. Hillsbrough 3. Middletown 4. Princeton High School 5. Highland Park 5. Watchung Hills 5. Montgomery 5. Ridgewood 9. JP Stevens 9. Manalapan 11. Cinnaminson 12. West Windser South 13. Columbia B 13. Columbia Girls Spirit: Columbia Girls
New York 1. Pittsford-Sutherland 2. Beacon 3. Scarsdale 3. Canisius 5. Fayetteville-Manlius 6. Fieldston 7. Stuyvesant 8. Beacon JV Spirit: Scarsdale
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36 ULTIMATE NEWS ULTIMATE NEWS
Spirit: James Monroe
Washington Open: 1. The Northwest School 2. Nathan Hale 3. Seattle Academy 4. Lakeside 5. The Northwest School - B 6. Roosevelt Spirit: Seattle Academy Girls: 1. Nathan Hale 2. Northwest A 3. Seattle Academy 4. Lakeside 5. Northwest B
Spirit: Memorial C Girls: 1. Memorial A 2. Memorial B Spirit: Memorial B
Missouri (incomplete) 1. Rockhurst 2. DeSmet 3. Lexington
North Carolina (Postponed)
Spirit: Nathan Hale
The UPA State High School Championships have expanded from a mere two tournaments in 2003 to eight in 2004 and 13 in 2005. For further information and coverage on the State HS Championships and the UPA’s Youth Ultimate endeavors, please visit www.upa.org/youth.
Women’s Outreach – College Growth Reaches a New High! Melanie Byrd, Director of Membership and Outreach Melanie@hq.upa.org
Many communities have been, and still are struggling to bring more women into their local Ultimate scene, start new women’s teams and just encourage more women to play. While this will continue to be a challenge for some, players and organizers should know that the number of women players and teams are indeed increasing. In fact, for the last two years the women’s college teams have increased by 16% each year (and the percentage of growth exceeded that of college open teams in 2005). This year we introduced the college women’s team starter kit and over 25 have sold since the beginning of the year. Out of those, eight succeeded in starting new college teams that participated in the College Series. (Keep in mind that although the kit is geared towards college players, many people purchase it to help with new girl’s high school and women’s club teams as well.) If you would like to learn more about the Women’s Starter Kit visit http://www.upa.org/outreach/womens Following is a story about one of the many new women’s teams that got their start in 2005.
College of Wooster – Betty Gone Wild
women on our team were (and are) very close and some of us did not want to stop playing with each other. Finally, even if all that did not hinder us, how could we possibly put a team together that was able to play in a few short months? Before spring semester started the three women that played in Open with the men had expanded to four but in the last month of the fall semester, RamJam did a lot of recruiting, especially of women. Members of the team held back their excitement about the possibility of being able to field a women’s team until we saw how many of these women actually came to practice on the first day of class in our blustery Ohio January. On that cold day in January, men and women aplenty showed up to condition and work on throwing. It seemed that, if these women continued to come to practice, RamJam was going to have enough women to split off a separate team. And, they did continue to show up—whether they just liked the people, were avoiding homework, or experienced love at first sight with Ultimate, the College of Wooster had a dedicated group of up and coming female Ultimate players. As would prove true the rest of the season, the men and women conditioned and practiced both separately and together. For the first month, the women focused almost entirely on throwing (many of the men helped teach the new women how to throw) and conditioning, although we did drill and scrimmage with the men. We also did a lot of teaching on chalkboards (the
by Emily Hilty Last year at this time, I was a member of the College of Wooster’s Open Ultimate team, RamJam. I was one of three women who regularly attended practice and tournaments. While I will always be a member of RamJam, I also claim allegiance to another team: the Wooster women’s team, Betty Gone Wild. There were many motivations for starting a women’s team. First of all, RamJam had grown considerably in size and skill in the past two years. The women were getting frustrated knowing that they were good players, but were, more often than not, unable to demonstrate that while playing open. Tensions had begun to develop between team members because of the disputed role of women on the newly competitive team. Also, the women had the opportunity to combine with another team to play in the women’s division and had found the experience rewarding. Finally, who wouldn’t want to spread the love of Ultimate to more people, especially women? However, there seemed to be many obstacles to establishing a women’s team at our school. The size of our school (1800 students) seemed foreboding, especially because there are large state schools that cannot consistently field a women’s team. And, even if we did have enough to field a team, was it feasible to practice with eight or nine women? Secondly, the three women of RamJam had been playing Ultimate for only one to three years respectively. I know I often questioned if I was qualified or capable of teaching and coaching Ultimate. Also, there was some hesitation about splitting from the men in general. The men and
stack, zone, etc.) and provided the rookies with web resources to improve their knowledge of the game (UPA, the Ultimate Handbook, CSTV games, etc.). During this time, we also made our club team official by school standards by getting our charter approved, obtaining an advisor, and receiving funding. After the first month of school, we began playing and drilling a lot more, almost always with the men. We played outdoors when possible, in gyms, and once a week at an indoor turf facility. We attended one co-ed, indoor tournament in mid-February. While that tournament did not go especially well, all the rookies benefited from playing in and watching a tournament for the first See WOOSTER, page 39 SUMMER 2005
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LEVERAGING THE WEB IN YOUR ULTIMATE COMMUNITY by Matthew Bourland In the UPA’s ongoing efforts to reach out to local leagues and organizations, Ultimate News is pleased to offer the second of four feature articles geared towards league organizers. The Community for Pittsburgh Ultimate (CPU) created a community-driven, informational site with simpler upkeep and less oversight and upkeep than many traditional league web sites. Looking back after taking over the Pittsburgh Ultimate website four years ago, we’ve learned by the trial and error a lot about developing a virtual Ultimate community, some of which may be useful to other community webmasters. When I first started playing in Pittsburgh Ultimate, there was one growing summer
league, a web site with a schedule and standings page, and a mailing list you could join to receive announcements about pick-up in the city. Like many cities, as the number of leagues and teams grew, the amount of news and information grew faster than a single volunteer could keep current under that basic model. Out of this mess, new volunteers emerged with the goal to create league software to automate much of the process and make the webmaster’s duties more manageable. The end result was leagueweb—a set of CGI scripts that allowed for the creation of a comprehensive web site generated by a simple text file backend. According to leagueweb creator Jason Short, “The first priority was to make it easy for people to use the web site—a simple interface requiring no logging in. This came at the expense of making it harder for the authors to edit things, but at the time it
was a great step forward.” The end result was an interconnected community web site automatically interlinking league pages, team pages, and (eventually) player profile pages. By having their own space on the website where they controlled the content, members of the community gained a sense of community ownership. As more people submitted player profile pictures and filled in the gaps of archived league data, it became easier to match a name to a face, and the community grew stronger as people felt like they knew more people. With time, league pages became filled with weekly articles written by volunteers, and people were checking the web site for more than just their league schedule and standings. As the league portion of the site grew, we faced increasing problems with communication in the Ultimate community. The distribution list became filled with off-topic chatter, and with spam starting to infiltrate our mailboxes it became clear we needed an alternative communication tool. Alongside the distribution list we created a bulletin board as a place for the average community member to post his or her thoughts without cluttering everyone’s e-mail. However, the terrible navigation and lack of user authentication rendered this experiment a failure, and sent us looking for a better solution.
The Community for Pittsburgh Ultimate (CPU) web site has profiles for players who submit biographical information. Users can follow intuitive navigational links to move between players, leagues, and teams.
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The better solution came in the form of installing phpBB, a highly customizable open source bulletin board package. Aside from the obvious benefits of being able to moderate and organize discussion, the bulletin board became a behind-the-scenes backbone of city-wide organization planning with its private discussion forums. Where e-mail had been used to keep players informed about their club teams, the bulletin board allowed community members to be informed about all aspects of the community. No longer was the success of a project so tied to the knowledge or insight of one key volunteer—with searchable archived discussion, a new volunteer could be thrown into the mix and easily catch up with
an archived handbook in place. One subtle (but key) decision was requiring registrants to use real name usernames. The benefit of having a poster’s picture appear next to their post was enormous in increasing the feeling of belonging and the inability to hide behind a screen name kept the tone of discussion respectful. CPU President David Lionetti says, “The online bulletin board has become the major communication backbone of our community. As Pittsburgh Ultimate grew, both in terms of overall numbers and opportunities to play, we were at serious risk of splintering off into smaller sub groups. The bulletin board with limited anonymous access and player photos has been essential not only as a communication tool, but more importantly as a community builder.”
Where does the future of our virtual Ultimate community lie? An upgraded and more powerful leagueweb (using PHP/SQL), a fully functional photo gallery, and complete team and league archives are in the works. While we certainly don’t have all the answers, we have learned one thing through our experience: to create a great online community you need to put the burden of the content in
the hands of many—everyone has a say and everyone feels like they belong. Matthew Bourland is the webmaster for CPU and the tournament director for the UPA High School Eastern Championships 2005 and 2006. At press time his CPU summer league team, Touché, was 6-1.
There’s more online! Check out these links for more information on the web sites discussed in this article: http://www.pittsburgh-ultimate.org – Community for Pittsburgh Ultimate http://sourceforge.net/projects/leagueweb – CGI scripts for Ultimate leagues http://www.phpbb.com – open source discussion board package
WOOSTER continued from page 37
time. It also gave the veterans experience being the dependedupon player and coach/teacher. It takes practice to be able to play well while helping all your players learn and play well, too. Both the men and some of the women of RamJam attended High Tide this spring. The women combined with UMass-Amherst to compete in the Women’s Division. High Tide was a great experience, and brought us back to Wooster excited to get this team off the ground. We started having separate practices more often and always matched women when we did play with the men. The men also gave their time to help us work on zone offense and defense, as we did not have enough players to fully scrimmage each other. We attended our first tournament as Betty Gone Wild two weeks before Sectionals. It was a windy, cold six-team tournament hosted by the University of Michigan’s B-team. Despite the conditions, it was a great experience. While we had never played before as a complete team, we discovered that we could play well together and went 3-2 for the weekend. Two weeks later, Betty Gone Wild attended Sectionals finishing third out of eight teams, with a record of 4-3. The only teams to which we lost were the well-established teams of Oberlin and Ohio University. This guaranteed us a bid for Regionals. The experiences of participating in Sectionals and Regionals in our first year as a team are two memories that will not soon be forgotten by RamJam or Betty Gone Wild. Despite the initial hesitation about starting a women’s team, the founding of Betty Gone Wild this past semester turned into an awesome experience. We have an amazingly bonded group of women and a great support system in our men. If not for this group of hard-working, dedicated women who immediately developed a love for the game, and the patience and generosity of the veterans of RamJam (both women and men), the achievements of this past semester would not have been possible.
Some tips from Betty Gone Wild: •Recruit all year—we gained two women in the last three weeks of school. •Play wherever you can—we played intramural Ultimate as a women’s team to get practice playing together and against varying opponents. •Realize that in college women’s Ultimate, a lot of players and teams are in the same position that you are—just beginning. •Be patient and encouraging. •Make the team official at your institution—the less money your players have to pay, the more likely they are to commit. •Use all resources available—e-mail both the sectional and regional coordinator in your area for advice, e-mail addresses, and tournament information; the internet; and the open/men’s team at your school •Go to a tournament before you are sure that you are ready. •Buy the Women’s Starter Kit from the UPA—it is worth way more than $40 and you get your money back when you go to Sectionals. Good luck with your own team! Java/J2EE Developers Needed
The Freedom to Achieve Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Exciting, small, growing company seeks Java/J2EE developers. Candidates must have ability to obtain Secret/Top Secret clearance. You will be part of the full product lifecycle and work in an open, team-based environment...and yes, there will be time for Ultimate! To apply please submit resume to John Capozzi at: john.capozzi@platinumsolutions.com or 703.471.9793 x 215 Visit our website: www.platinumsolutions.com Relocation assistance provided.
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WESTERNS GIRLS continued from page 30
play down the stretch from Patty King, including throwing a score as the cap went on and getting a D on double game point, allowed Raging Safari to win. The Northwest School (Seattle, Wash.) had a relatively easy morning session, defeating Seattle Academy 15-1 and Cretin-Derham 11-3. After two devastating losses Churchill was unable to keep up with eventual pool champions The Northwest School (Seattle, Wash.), going down 141 despite solid efforts from Rebecca Sheridan and Valerie Grosscup. Quarterfinals The eight-team format used at Westerns was moderately relaxed as tournament formats go. After three pool play games the teams went directly to quarterfinals, played on Saturday evening, meaning extra sleep on Sunday and even a round off. York House went up early on Seattle Academy with great throws and impressive offensive flow. York House didn’t have any trouble with Seattle’s zone defense, moving downfield with ease. Playing tight, honest man defense, York House made offense too difficult for Seattle’s cutters and throwers. Errant throws and untimely turnovers allowed York House to take an early lead and never look back, winning 15-4. Meanwhile, The Northwest School was dominating South two fields over. Superior athleticism and crisp passing gave NWS an early 3-0 lead. South was looking to huck early and often, often from the hands of Stephanie Fleischer, but they were misfires more often than not. NWS didn’t look impenetrable, as some miscues and fatigue began to set in, but their four-person cup was too much to bear in the end. NWS advanced to the semis with a 15-1 drubbing. Nathan Hale had little difficulty with Churchill in their quarterfinal. Taking half 8-0, Nathan Hale got solid defensive efforts from Elizabeth Arakaki and benefited from close line-watching and toe-dragging to roll to a 15-1 victory. Cretin-Derham played St. John’s–Ravencourt in the last quarterfinal and had little difficulty with SJR’s defense. Solid O from Meg Hennessey and Erica Baken led purple to victory, 15-4. Though SJR was able to stay in the game until 9-4, Cretin-Derham made many fewer mistakes in the second half and went on a 6-0 run to end it. Sunday Semifinals York House and Nathan Hale continued to roll in the semifinals, defeating Cretin-Derham and the Northwest School (respectively). Nathan Hale, whose core team members comprised part of Yale Secondary’s national HS championship team in 2004, was relatively unchallenged in the
semifinal, cruising to a 15-6 win. Nathan Hale jumped out to a 5-0 lead as they capitalized on offensive miscues by Cretin-Derham. Hucks and layout defense from Nathan Hale’s Shannon O’Malley bolstered strong performances from Alyssa Weatherford and Claire Suver. Though the other semifinal was close early on, and despite a late run by NWS, York House took the game 14-8. Stellar play on both sides of the disc was seen from York House’s Tory Hislop (a world champion with the Canadian junior girls’ team last summer) and Natalee Sinclair. Tory was often everywhere on defense, and Natalee was ruling the skies. For the Northwest School, Elise Hale-Case was playing good offense, along with teammates Emma Fuller and Nassim Huertas, but they could not stop York House’s roll to the finals. Championship Game The final pitted Pool A’s top two teans against each other in a rematch of each’s closest game of the weekend. Would York House be able to bring it? Or would Nathan Hale’s roll continue? Nathan Hale came out throwing zone D and forces early errors by York House to take a 3-0 lead. Claire Suver, a senior who will be attending the University of Washington next fall, facilitated Shannon O’Malley’s receiving abilities and the two players shined in this game. Their supportive cast, including Drew Johnson and Fiona McKibben, ran good defense and smart offense. Not every throw was an accurate one, as bad decisions sometimes turned into great catches for Nathan Hale, but York House seemed to be having their share of turnovers as well. York House was again led by the able play of Tory Hislop, Andrea Cheng, and Genvieve Leaf, but their defensive efforts, while spectacular at times, were usually not enough. Turnovers proved costly for York House, as they began losing steam at 6-3 Nathan Hale. Drew Johnson connecting with O’Malley deep and other fine plays led to York House implementing a box and one zone D, but Nathan Hale shares the disc too well. It was five points before York House scored again, with Hislop throwing to Natalee Sinclair for a rare York House goal. York House continued variations on zone defense but was still struggling late. Overthrows and drops plagued York House, and Claire Suver bookended the final point—getting an interception, passing, and cutting for the endzone—to put the last nail in the coffin. York House has many quality players, and the speed to match most any team, but windy conditions allowed Nathan Hale’s skilled players and deep roster to coast to a 15-5 victory, notching the first ever UPA High School Westerns victory. Additional reporting by Schuyler Charf, Neva Cherniavsky, Eric Darst, and Mike Degnan.
Youth Championship Events – 2005 and Beyond UPA Youth Club Championships – Minneapolis, Minn. – Aug. 13-14, 2005 UPA High School Easterns – Pittsburgh, Pa. – May 2006 UPA High School Westerns – Boulder, Colo. – May 2006
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HIGH SCHOOL WESTERNS
Girls Division Spirit Rankings Rank 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 7
Team Minneapolis South Cretin-Derham Seattle Academy The Northwest School St. John’s-Ravenscourt Churchill Nathan Hale York House Average Division Rating
Average Score 5.0 4.33 4.17 4.0 3.9 3.58 3.5 3.5 4.0
Open Division Average Score 1 Hawaii Prep* 5.0 1 Crescent Valley 5.0 3 The Northwest School 4.75 4 St. John’s-Ravenscourt 4.5 5 Lakeside 4.42 6 Seattle Academy 4.4 6 St. George’s 4.4 8 Cherry Creek 4.33 9 Nathan Hale 4.1 10 Cretin-Derham 4.08 11 Minneapolis South 4.0 12 Alameda 3.93 13 Rockhurst 3.83 14 Churchill 3.5 15 Armstrong 3.3 16 South Eugene 2.4 Average Division Rating 4.12 * Hawaii Prep won the tie-breaker (highest scores given). Rank
Team
Individual Spirit Winners Girls Churchill – Rebecca Sheridan Cretin-Derham - Patty King Minneapolis South – Stephanie Fleischer Nathan Hale - Hana Kawai The Northwest School - Natalie Holmes Seattle Academy - Claire Mauksch York House - Alannah Johnston St. John’s-Ravenscourt – Claire Lefevre
Open Alameda – James Clark Armstrong - Jon Masler Cherry Creek – Elin Franzen Churchill - Jeff Chandler Crescent Valley - Alex Renn Cretin-Derham - Paul Berowski Hawaii Prep – Ben Honey Lakeside – Sam Keller Minneapolis South - Jim Aspholm Nathan Hale - Ian Shives The Northwest School - Paul Fields Rockhurst – Chris Guggisberg Seattle Academy - Matthew Knowles South Eugene - Sam Barber St George’s - Henry Jue St John’s-Ravenscourt – Krish Mulchand
This page: (clockwise from top left) Maggie Fisher of Nathan Hale hucks against St. John’s–Ravencourt. Rebecca Sheridan of Churchill throwing against The Northwest School’s Emma Fuller in Saturday pool play. Patty King of Cretin-Derham’s Raging Safari bids on defense as Val Grosscup of South Eugene makes a catch in Saturday pool play. Photos by Bil Elsinger.
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EASTERNS OPEN continued from page 33
came from his short deep position in the zone to D a floating lob pass that led to a goal to cut the Nashville lead to 5-3, but in the end Nashville was too much and pulled away 15-7. Madison West and Madison Memorial came the whole way to Pittsburgh to play a cross city game and Madison West came out rolling, taking half 8-3 before Memorial’s Omar Almagri took over, making a D then being rewarded in the endzone for the score to cut it to 10-7. But in the end West’s Eric Reynolds had a long forehand dagger to put Memorial away 13-11. The LC Bird Skyhawks played better than their seed all day and did so again v against Wissahickon. Both teams traded points as well as elbows and shoves as the game got heated. With the Skyhawks leading 10-9 at the hard cap, Keenan Watson toed the sideline after a left handed snag and tossed a curving forehand to the end zone for the 11-9 win. In the battle of the Woods, Woodlawn vs. Woodward Academy, Woodlawn finally showed some weariness from competing in two intense universe point games, and after keeping it close for a while, finally succumbed 15-10. Zach Cohen’s flying layout D sparked
Woodward Academy midway through the first half, and they never looked back. The tournament favorites—Amherst and NMH—really didn’t break a sweat all day. Surprises of the tournament included underrated Hopkins who used their speed to blitz through pool D without much of a test, and the LC Bird Skyhawks who gave Columbia all they could handle, then knocked off Wissahickon to advance to the quarterfinals. Sunday: Quarterfinals Easterns resumed on Sunday to more beautiful weather and once again, the early games provided healthy amounts of drama, including a classic between Madison West and Hopkins HURT that was the most hotly contested battle of the tournament. Underdog Madison West came out hucking, using the height of Matt Krueger and Jack Beyler to their advantage to take half 8-4. When they scored the first point of the second half to take a 5-goal lead, the sideline could smell the upset. Sometimes however, a fortunate bounce changes momentum. When a forehand by Hopkins’ Dave Fruchter was altered by a defensive deflection and off the hands of
intended receiver Yosi Kakou, it didn’t look good for HURT, but Avi Mash was in the right place to run down the tip and cut the lead to 9-5. That play inspired Hopkins and set off a 4-goal run, highlighted by a flying layout D by Michael Arenson that led to the tying goal. The Hopkins sideline exploded with shouts of, “We’re not going home!” and “Every sprint we ran for three months is paying off right here!” Hopkins went up 10-9, but Madison answered back on a huge individual effort from Krueger who went up between two defenders, tipped the disc, laid out on the sideline, then got up and tossed a forehand goal to send the game to universe point. After Hopkins took the pull and flowed to within a yard of the goal line, Madison’s Kane McDermott came through on defense, running down a short push pass to the end zone and swatting it from behind. Hopkins didn’t pay for their impatience, however, getting the disc back at midfield after the Madison handler was distracted by a pick call and point-blocked on a behind the back dump attempt. Hopkins worked the disc upfield and Fruchter hit a wide-open Andrew Schock for the goal and a dramatic, come-from-behind 11-10 victory. After the game, Hopkins’ coach echoed the
This page: (clockwise from top left) Amherst Regional HS, 2005 Easterns open champions. Amherst Regional HS, Easterns girls champions. University School of Nashville, Easterns girls runners-up. Columbia HS, Easterns open runners-up. Photos by Michael Smith. Opposite page: Andrew Hollingworth of Amherst Regional HS and Campbell Morrissey of Columbia HS lay out in the Easterns final. Photo by Albert Ip. 42
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significance of the win. “This is the greatest victory we’ve ever had. We were down by five, but still believed. And to have it come against such a spirited team, our border rival. Just a beautiful game on both sides.” The other quarterfinal match-ups didn’t quite equal the drama of the Hopkins vs. Madison West game, but showed solid play all around. Woodward Academy matched up against Columbia, and the early turning point came with Columbia up 3-2. Woodward forced a turnover on the goal line and had the tying goal in sight, but a break-mark forehand zipped behind its intended receiver and out the back of the endzone to nullify a golden opportunity. On the ensuing possession, Columbia’s Michael Johnston went vertical to sky his defender and give Columbia a 4-2 lead. Johnston later had the play of the game, making a layout D, then after four players couldn’t quite climb high enough for a floaty backhand in the endzone, Johnston came from nowhere to dive and snag the overthrow an inch from the ground to put Columbia ahead to stay. The final score was Columbia 15, Woodward 8. The wet morning grass seemed to affect the Nashville vs. Northfield–Mt. Hermon game the most, with many early slips and turnovers.
Nashville went up 4-3 off an upline backhand, but Northfield stormed back, and when Charlie Stalla sprinted down off the pull to break up an open give and go on Nashville’s second pass out of the end zone, Northfield took control at 6-4. Nashville’s David Martin sat a forehand just over the Northfield defender and into a waiting receiver’s hands to cut it to 6-5, but Northfield eventually won the turnover battle and pulled away 15-9. Amherst took on upstart LC Bird in the last quarterfinal, and it was surprisingly close in the first half. LC Bird cut the Amherst lead to 7-4 when Tray Rives saved possession by laying out on an overthrow near midfield, leading to a goal, but Amherst’s Darden Pitts took back momentum with a layout D that led to his own goal and an eventual 15-7 victory. LC Bird impressed in defeat, however, playing a very competitive game versus the defending champions. Said LC Bird captain, Tray Rives, “I think we surprised a lot of people with our performance. We scored the most points against Amherst so far in the tournament. We’re definitely satisfied.” Semifinals Columbia and Northfield traded points back
and forth in a very evenly contested match. With the Northfield zone pinning Columbia in the back of their own end zone, the Columbia handler lofted a desperation dump at stall 8 that caught a gust of wind and hung in the air long enough for Northfield’s Rusty Ingold-Smith to leap and take the disc away for the Callahan goal and a 4-3 lead. Columbia rebounded to take the next point and eventually the halftime lead 8-6. In the second half, Columbia took a 12-9 lead, but when a Ryan Schwartz endzone D led to a Kalin Thompson to Chris Weyers goal, Northfield was within one at 12-11 at the soft cap. Columbia responded by going ahead 13-11. The game ended in dramatic fashion as Columbia’s Mike Rubin put up a forehand that was nearly caught by an NMH defender, but his attempt to swat the disc instead of grabbing it didn’t turn out as planned. The deflection sailed over the front cone of the endzone, and Columbia’s Evan Padgett reversed direction to lay out backwards for an incredible goal to send Columbia’s sideline swarming on to the field in celebration of their berth in the final. Amherst was dominant in their semifinal match against a weary Hopkins team, rolling to an 8-0 halftime lead. While Hopkins matched See EASTERNS OPEN, page 46
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but Nigel Peltier went up the line for a quick strike and the game, 14-12. A great treat of a game for fans and players alike. Hawaii Prep struggled against their opponents all day, forcing turnovers and having difficulty against zone defenses. This pool went to seed. In the C pool initial seeds hardly meant a thing. St. George’s (Vancouver, B.C.) went 0-3 in pool play despite having two very close games with Seattle Academy and Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.). In the St. George’s–Seattle game we witnessed one of the best individual match-ups as St. George’s Russell Street and Seattle’s Mark Knowles faced off. Street’s speed and throws kept his team in most games, and Knowles’ size and poise made this a great game to watch. And it was only the first round! On the other field Churchill was quietly amassing quite a record, allowing no more than 6 points in a game and using their skilled throwers to break down most any defense. Great D from Daniel Force and a talented handler corps threw hucks, hammers, and off-hand breaks for which most teams were not prepared. Aggressive marks and frequent bids to the body gave Churchill a bad rap over the course of the day, but the Lancers seem to chill out once Observers were brought in. Rockhurst beat seed, going 2-1 in pool play and defeating Cherry Creek to earn a quarterfinal berth. In Pool D another Oregon team was winning; this time it was South Eugene. After a somewhat shaky start against Minneapolis South, and a cool 12-8 victory over Lakeside (Seattle, Wash.). Solid defensive play from #7 Eli Friedman helped their cause. In the closest pre-quarter match-up, Cretin-Derham defeated Seattle Academy in a 15-13 barnburner, sending the locals to the consolation round. Mark Knowles’ steady leadership was not enough to thwart the Minnesotans’ defense and ability to capitalize on turnovers. Other prequarter games sent Rockhurst, Lakeside, and high-spirited Alameda to the quarterfinals. In the quarters The Northwest School continued its trend of dominance by crushing Cretin-Derham 15-3. Big bids from NWS’s Casey Ikeda and sound offensive principles kept the game short and the passes crisp. The rain began to pour down, making it even more difficult for Cretin-Derham to adjust. Two fields over Lakeside took an early but slim lead on Churchill. Lakeside’s zone defense was pourous against Churchill’s crafty throwers and aggressive popping. Churchill got some impressive play from Cam Bray, scoring a goal on a forward layout in addition to other offensive contributions. Lakeside’s turnovers cost them the game in the end, losing 14-12. Churchill made it to the semifinal round, but was left wondering how many close games they had left in the tank. South Eugene opened an early lead on Rockhurst, going up 4-1, but the Hucklets would not give up so fast. Rockhurst began throwing zone defense and testing their deep game—which they found to be in working order—to bring the score back to 6-5 South Eugene. Great defense from players like Andy Huffman kept Rockhurst in the game, but the wet conditions meant both teams were turning it over plenty. South Eugene was able to hold onto their slim lead and, through a series of grueling points, extend it to take half 8-5. Trading points out of half Rockhurst found itself down 10-7 and under a time cap. Impressive layouts from South Eugene’s Eli Friedman were no small part of their success on both sides of the disc, and the Axemen were able to clamp down and put in two more scores for the game, 12-7. The fourth quarterfinal match-up pitted one of the most skilled teams (Nathan Hale) against one of the streakiest (Alameda). The question was: which Alameda would show up, the scoring, cheering team, or the team struggling to put it in the endzone? Both, as it turned out. Some tremendous defense was coming from both squads: by Ian Shives of Nathan Hale, but also from Tommy Sanchez of Alameda. Nathan 44
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Hale’s zone was not working as effectively as they would have liked. Patience—a virtue Alameda didn’t always exhibit over the course of the weekend—was the key for their handlers. Three to four Alameda handlers were passing the disc around with short dumps, cup-popping, and lateral passes. The strategy worked and kept the game close while Nathan Hale was scoring with relative ease. Big grabs from players like Patrick Lenon and Nate Castine for Nathan Hale put this game away in the end, despite great efforts from Alameda. One semifinal was down to the wire; one was not. Care to guess which was which? The Northwest School’s defense was stifling every offensive opportunity from South Eugene. The bids from NWS on D were something to behold: any time a NWS player was able to bid, he did so. On the Axemen side of things, Eli Friedman continued his strong performance on the weekend with plenty of layouts himself. Richard Fuller complemented Friedman’s defense with some of his own. In the end though NWS was too strong. With players like Casey Ikeda and Jeremey Norden—a tall, savvy player—running the show, few teams could challenge them. Fittingly, Norden caught the game-winning goal and sent South Eugene to the spectators’ area for the finals. Nathan Hale–Churchill was a closer game, to say the least. Solid play from Eli Janin and his receiving core kept Churchill in it to win it. Big grabs, however, from Nathan Hale’s Nate Castin and defense from Lucas Olson held a slim lead through the first half. Despite some contentious plays, the teams’ attitudes remained amiable—to their credit. With big hucks, endzone defense, and layouts from all sides, the game came under the cap at 10 all. Churchill’s Jeff Chandler scored to make it 11-10 Churchill and they pulled for game. A sweet, blading flick from Nigel Peltier brought it to double game point. Churchill worked it back upfield and Tyler McNie wound up scoring the last goal. Final score: 12-11 Churchill. The Northwest School was ready and waiting for Churchill, but the Lancers from Oregon were not ready to roll over. Defiant in the face of the clean-cut NWS players, Churchill went into the final with their heads held high. The Northwest School took a quick 2-0 lead and Churchill called a timeout. The first half didn’t exactly go Churchill’s way. Big hucks from players like Casey Ikeda and big grabs from receivers Jeremy Norden and Payton Lunsford enabled NWS to take half 8-3.
Above: The Northwest School on the line in the Westerns final. Opposite page: (clockwise from top right) Nathan Hale, Westerns girls champs. The Northwest School, open division Westerns champs. Hawaii Prep, open division Spirit winners. Open division idividiaul spirit winners. Churchill Lancers, open division runners-up. York House, girls division runners-up. A van spotted at the Westerns tournament hotel Monday morning. (Kidding! This was actually Friday afternoon. Ultimate players were not responsible.) Photos by UPA.
But Churchill was not going to relent and in the second half demonstrated some of their skill and athleticism. Behind Churchill’s offense was senior Eli Janin, who spent most of his time around the disc, and senior Tyler McNie, who brought down more than one jaw-dropping grab. The best play of the game, indeed perhaps of the weekend, was on a deep NWS huck being tracked by not one but two NWS receivers. Churchill’s Janin busted downfield, trailing his man by a step or two, but closing the gap quickly. In the endzone, as spectators prepared to watch Northwest take a 10-4 lead, Janin made a chest-high layout between the two receivers to deny a goal. Though the occasional stellar play continued for Churchill, it was simply not enough. NWS was deeper and better rested on this day, and their hucks and speed killed Churchill towards the end. Giving chase was sometimes foregone to conserve energy and the looks of exhaustion were apparent on many Lancers’ faces. Thanks largely to Janin, who will be attending the University of Oregon next year, Churchill came within 4 at 10-6, but only mustered one more. Several errant throws from Churchill were used to NWS’s advantage and they put the game away 15-7. The Northwest School won the first ever High School Westerns and has the talent and depth to maintain their success for some years. The sophomore class at NWS (yes, sophomore) is loaded with talent like Ikeda and Norden, and Seattle is a great place to play Ultimate. Additional reporting by Schuyler Charf, Neva Cherniavsky, Eric Darst, and Mike Degnan.
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the Hurricanes point for point for much of the second half, Amherst was just too much and used Darden Pitts’ layout defenses and crossfield hammers to coast to a 15-5 victory to head to the final versus Columbia. Championship: Amherst Vs. Columbia The atmosphere for the final game was incredible, with both teams and their fans pumped and creating sometimes deafeningly loud sideline chatter. Downwind hucks ruled the first few points. Evan Padgett climbed over his defender off a Michael Johnston backhand to give underdog Columbia a 10 lead. With the score tied 2-2, Amherst’s Darden Pitts came from his deep position in the zone to leap and swat a crossfield hammer out of bounds. This led to a Robin StewartDiMartino to Sam Burnim upwind goal and started a monumental Amherst roll. Amherst used solid handling from Stewart-DiMartino, Burnim, Christian Foster, and Sam Kanner as well as a suffocating endzone defense set up by Pitts’ consistent 90-yard pulls to roll out to an 11-2 lead. Columbia went on a small run themselves, scoring three straight goals, highlighted by a great air battle between two of the east’s top players as Columbia’s 6’6” Eddie Cooney came down with the disc against Pitts to prevent a sure goal. Pitts answered back,
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however, with a laser crossfield hammer to Christian Foster to end Columbia’s mini-run. Down 13-5, Columbia began to go over the top of Amherst’s zone with hammers and scoobers and closed Amherst’s lead to 137 when Steven Panasci was left uncovered after a turnover and caught a wide open goal. With Columbia’s sideline going crazy, Amherst actually seemed a bit flustered, uncharacteristically turfing throws. Columbia capitalized with Evan Padgett hitting his younger brother Zander with a long forehand to cut the lead to 13-8, and after a turnover, the elder Padgett caught a goal from Rubin to slice Amherst’s once-mighty 9-goal lead to 4. With Columbia’s excitement building in a suddenly competitive game, Amherst’s Andrew Hollingsworth soared at midfield to snag a Columbia huck with a receiver breaking wide open behind the stack. This key defensive play started a break the other way and led to a Kanner to Foster goal, ending Columbia’s run. In the end, Columbia couldn’t recover, and after a drop at midfield, Pitts capped the game and the championship with a hammer to Foster, 15-9. Amherst once again showed dominance, but Columbia showed incredible resilience and provided their fans with a few incredible moments they won’t soon forget. Congratulations to the Amherst Regional High
School Hurricanes, the 2005 High School Eastern Champions. Congratulations also to Andover High School’s Golden Gophers for winning the open division Spirit Award. We’ll see you back in Pittsburgh next year for the 2006 UPA High School Eastern Championships.
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SUMMER 2005 IF IT HAPPENS IN COLLEGE SPORTS, IT HAPPENS HERE.
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