Aaron Johnson
Most Washington University students are accustomed to explaining (time and pain-staking time again) to outsiders that WU is not in fact located in the state of Washington. This spring, however, the WU women’s ultimate team (WUWU), is working hard to bring a little of that old WU spirit right back to Washington… the state, that is.
Nationals are being held in Spokane, Washington this year, and WUWU is looking to qualify for a second straight year. But first WUWU heads to the regional tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas on April 27-28-a tournament which they must not overlook.
“I think the season is going really well,” said junior co-captain Catherine Cheng. “I think we have a pretty solid group. Everyone is improving. I think we have a great chance of going to nationals.”
Coming off a very successful season last year in which they competed at nationals against the top 16 teams in the country, WUWU is enthusiastic about the way this year’s season is going.
“I’m enjoying it as always,” said senior Kristen Wittle. “I feel like the team is doing pretty well this year. We’re a fairly new team. This is our third year. We have a few people who’ve been around for a few years and have the skills, and we have some new people who have the spirit and the drive.”
The team will need that combination of experience and spirit as they finish out their year. They suffered a disappointing loss at the WU-hosted Huck Finn tournament in March when they fell in the semi-finals. However, WUWU will not let such losses dampen their spirits as they work towards regionals.
“We’re working on our fundamentals,” said Cheng. “Especially playing in the wind-it is our biggest weakness.”
“Individual players learned the extent of their own skills,” said junior co-captain Suzanne Wikle. “And we really learned how to work together as a team, especially this past semester.”
The team has to be prepared as it faces competition from all over the states of Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. In Ultimate, there are no divisions like other varsity sports, and WUWU faces teams from schools of all sizes. They expect their toughest competition in Little Rock to come from the University of Texas. However, the team has many weapons in its arsenal that it can use against UT.
“We have really good defense,” said Wikle. “We don’t have one outstanding player, but everyone contributes a lot.”
This team attitude spills over into all that WUWU does. The women claim the team experience is one of the best parts of playing ultimate. The team is close and spends time together on and off the field.
“It’s a really varied group,” said Cheng. “It’s a good variety. We’re a lot closer [than last year], and we’ve been having more fun at tournaments.”
WUWU expects things only to get better in the future as players become more and more experienced with the game. The team has only been in existence for three years, but they continue to grow, recruiting any woman that wants to play, from freshmen to grad students.
“We’re losing a couple of key players, but we have a couple of new players who look pretty good,” said Cheng of the team’s outlook for next year. “It looks pretty good; we still have a core group of people.”
The team encourages anyone interested to try out for the squad next year. Experience is not required, especially since ultimate is such a young sport. Wikle warns those interested not to be concerned if they have never played before.
“I think a lot of girls don’t come out because they don’t know how to play,” said Wikle. “Nobody does. We teach them. No one should be intimidated by not knowing how to play.”
“It’s really easy to learn and a lot of fun,” said Cheng. “It’s a good way to meet people. You can throw anywhere or anytime.”
“The team is just fun,” said Wittle. “The sport is great; the girls are great.”
Despite the more light-hearted attitude, WUWU is still a team of fierce competitors, and, if all goes as planned, the season will culminate in an invasion of Washington state by the ladies of WUWU.
“We’re at the point where things are starting to come together, and I just can’t wait for the energy that comes with regionals,” said Wittle. “It’s a different level. I’m excited to see the team come together. I can’t wait to see what happens and how we pull together as a team.”
Contact Liz at [email protected]