<st weekend, two of Carleton’s frisbee teams – CUT and Syzygy – competed at the national college ultimate frisbee championships. The three-day competition was held in Boulder, Colorado.
CUT entered the tournament seeded sixth. On Friday, they played three games against Dartmouth, UC – Santa Cruz, and CU Boulder. Dartmouth, a spirited team with their first nationals appearance in some years, was the first game of the day. Dartmouth was lead by Carson Thomas, Carleton class of ’06 and CUT alum. CUT came out strong against this opponent, never trailing the entire game. The team battled to take half 8-4 and later won 15-5. Santa Cruz was ranked higher than Dartmouth, but wasn’t much more of an obstacle. CUT again came out strong and rolled to a 15-7 victory. In Friday’s last game, CUT would face national powerhouse, CU Boulder “Mamabird.” Mamabird’s studs are all 6’4 or so and CUT had problems matching up with their height. After a close game, Mamabird pulled away, defeating CUT 15-8. Still, CUT advanced to the upper bracket, with three potential games the next day.
Saturday morning, CUT faced Pittsburgh. With solid offense and clutch plays by a few underclassmen, CUT won a close match 14-12, advancing to the quarterfinals to face Georgia. With ringing cow-bells provided by the parents and shouts from everyone on the team, CUT found itself in the closest game it would play all tournament. They went down right away by a few points but fought back to take half 8-6. The teams traded points the rest of the game, again carried by the offense before CUT won 15-13, reaching semis for the first time since 2003. Florida has only two players not over 6’0, and this proved difficult for CUT’s shorter defenders. Unable to be an effective force in the air, CUT fell out of it’s game, losing 15-6. Though suffering a hard loss, CUT finished the season tied for third in the country, breaking seed, and looks forward to next year.
Carleton’s women’s team, Syzygy, also had an overall successful tournament. Seeded eleventh, Syzygy would prove to the nation that they were indeed seeded too low. Facing Northeastern on Friday morning, Syzygy handled the game rather easily, cruising to a 15-7 lead. Next facing higher-ranked Oregon, Syzygy easily put them down, smashing Fugue 15-5. In Friday’s last game, Syzygy faced eventual national champions British Colombia. Though they played well, Syzygy could not handle the speed and accuracy of UBC, losing 15-8, also advancing to the higher bracket on Saturday.
Syzygy easily won their first game on Saturday, tearing down Michigan State 15-3. In the quarterfinals, Syzygy faced the top seed UCLA, a perennial women’s national powerhouse. Syzygy played a great game, in slightly windier conditions, and fell to the Bruin Ladies 15-8, tying for fifth place overall. Syzygy is returning a strong team and looks forward to the fall.