Senior Jake Hamilton snatches the disc
Courtesy | Francesca Cella

The Ultimate Frisbee club is increasing the rigor of its program by adding weekly lifts and resistance training in hopes of returning to the USA Ultimate Division III College Championships.

“We want to be getting faster, stronger, and healthier with better athletes, and we want to try to win some games in the spring and go back to nationals,” senior and team captain Jake Hamilton said.  

The team qualified for nationals in the spring for the first time in club history. At the championships, the team caused two upsets, helping them to move up in the rankings and finish in the 13th rank in the division.

“We were the lowest seed, so any win is an upset,” Hamilton said. “I think the general opinion was that we were in by a fluke. Nobody knew about us. It was our first time at nationals. It’s just because the Great Lakes region happened to get a second bid. But we beat Berry and Franciscan, which were both ranked a lot higher than us going into the tournament.”

The team held its own as the only co-ed team in the championships, according to sophomore Maggie Phillips.

“We were the only mixed team,” Phillips said. “And the girls played. We didn’t just watch.”

Hamilton said the team builds its strategy for the advantage of the women on the field.

“We play a lot of zone defenses so we’re not having a girl guard a guy,” Hamilton said. “With a zone defense, you can guard areas rather than people, and that means you don’t have to match the physicality necessarily, you just have to be smart.”

Phillips said playing frisbee demands a lot of hard work.

“You give everything you’ve got,” Phillips said. “When you’re on the field, you’re giving 110%, otherwise you’re not on the field. I get beaten all the time –– I’m just not fast enough, or whatever –– so I just have to keep going and work a little harder next time. It has spawned some fun rivalries, like who can better the other person, or who can get the last word at this point.”

Sophomore Daniel Lo said the team leaders encourage competition within the team.

“One of our former captains, Gabe Dobrozi, said you should ‘nemesize’ your teammates,” Lo said. “What he meant by that is that you find somebody who you admire and you think is a really strong player, and then you just find a way to beat them in everything.”

Phillips said although the players are competitive with each other, they also have a very tight-knit community.

“The way our team operates is like a family -– a really big family,” Phillips said. “We started building friendship and now we’ll hang out outside of frisbee. One of my favorite things we do is to have a meal together after every practice, so we’re eating together twice a week.”

Just as every family develops crazy traditions, Hamilton said the team has started the practice of wearing colorful, baggy sag pants to build team spirit.

“Everybody’s just kind of embraced contributing in whatever shape they can, even if that just means showing up and wearing a crazy outfit,” Hamilton said

Lo said the team leaders set a high standard for dedication to the sport, particularly junior and club president Ineka Pastermack, who dislocated her knee at the beginning of the semester.

“She injured herself pretty badly, and it was a huge hit,” Lo said. “It felt like it could be a setback –– the team culture’s not going to be as good, and we’re missing our president. But straight out of her injury, literally the next practice, she just shows up with crutches and a knee brace and is like, ‘Hey guys! What’s up?’”

Both Lo and Phillips said they are playing frisbee because their resident assistants brought them to practices freshman year.

“I just started showing up to practices, and then I started making friends, and Ineka especially wouldn’t let me stop coming,” Phillips said. “She just kept bringing me to practice and making sure I was there. And then I went to the games, and I went to the tournaments, and I didn’t stop.”

Phillips said the frisbee team’s success last season was not a one-time occurrence.

“We’re not just throwing a disc around,” Phillips said. “We’re really good, and we’re going to continue to be really good. We’re not going anywhere.”