Michigan Ultimate Sectionals

While this blog normally deals with the major sports, I would like to take some time writing about a sport that is far from major. This sport doesn't have a professional league, isn't sanctioned by the NCAA, and doesn't even have referees. I am talking about a sport that has quickly become one of my favorites, Ultimate Frisbee.

Most people are familiar with Ultimate only as a pickup sport, but many don't know that there are Ultimate leagues across the country and the world. I stumbled into the world of Ultimate while in college when one of the players that I was playing pickup with twice a week invited me to join the team at Western Michigan. Thus I entered the realm of competitive Ultimate that most people, other than those playing in it, don't even know exists. In the US leagues are governed by the Ultimate Players Association, or UPA, and are broken into a college and club season. Club ultimate is split into divisions that include Open, Womens, Mixed and Masters, while the College season has only Open and Mixed divisions. The college season is played in the spring and every year teams compete in three tournaments to crown a national champion: sectionals, regionals and nationals.

This past weekend college Ultimate teams from all across the state of Michigan descended upon Kalamazoo for the Michigan Ultimate Sectionals, with the top four teams moving on to the Great Lakes Regional in Boomington, Ill. Coming into the weekend it was known that traditional powers Michigan State and Michigan would place 1st and 2nd, leaving two bids to regionals to be fought for among the remaining teams, namely Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan, Michigan Reserve, Calvin College, and Hope College.

Wind can play a major factor in Ultimate, and that was very evident during Saturday's games; none more so than WMU's Dark Horse vs Hope College. With neither team able to score an upwind point (when the offense scores while throwing into the wind), the two teams traded points and the game ended with Hope scoring a downwind point to win (due to the fact that Hope won the opening flip and thus got to be on offense first). It was a tough loss for Dark Horse, but its all a part of the game.

While the majority of my time was spent watching my alma mater and former team, Dark Horse, I was able to watch some other games, including the championship game of Magnum (Michigan) vs Burning Couch (Michigan State). These two teams went into the weekend ranked 11th and 12th in the nation, adding to the already fierce rivalry that these teams have. Couch controlled the game for most of the contest, taking half at 8-5 before eventually leading 13-10, however Magnum made a comeback, evening the score at 14 all and forcing a winner-take-all Universe Point. State scored to take the game and the section, ending a string of sectional wins by Michigan.

Another major rivalry was renewed this weekend, as the always heated game between crosstown foes Dark Horse and the Ultimate Buzz of Kalamazoo College was played Sunday morning. The game was hard-fought, with many momentum shifts, but in the end the Buzz ended a string of three consecutive losses by defeating Dark Horse 13-11, and reclaiming the Alyson Cup (a rivalry trophy given to the winner of each Dark Horse/Buzz matchup).

The weekend ended with Michigan State, Michigan, K-College, and Michigan Reserve moving on to regionals. Dark Horse's dreams of regionals ended when they finished 6th, which was not a major surprise given the amount of youth on the team. However, losing only two seniors and with a strong showing by the recruits of this past year, Dark Horse is primed to make several regional runs in the next few years. Next up for the top four is a trip to Bloomington where they will attempt to be one of the top two teams that gets to compete for the championship at nationals in Madison, WI.