Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The University of North Carolina Wilmington Ultimate men's and women's clubs will compete for a national title at the 2010 USA Ultimate College Championships May 28-31 in Madison, Wis.

More than 12,000 student athletes on more than 700 college teams from across North America entered the USA Ultimate College Championship Series in early April. Two months later, only the top 20 men's and women's teams will be left to compete over four days for the "Ultimate" title. USA Ultimate is the national governing body for the sport of Ultimate in the United States.

Ultimate is colloquially known as Ultimate "Frisbee," but does not officially use that name because Frisbee is a trademark of the Wham-O toy company. More than 200 women's teams compete in the Ultimate leagues. UNCW has had a Club Ultimate team since 1988.

Game play in Ultimate is reminiscent of a hybrid of football and soccer. The field is bounded by two end zones, and points are scored when a player catches a disc while standing in an end zone. Players who receive passes must stop until they throw the disc, attempting to bypass defenders who must block or intercept the pass.

The UNCW women's team, the Seaweed, will go into tournament play ranked sixth in the nation. They defeated UNC Chapel Hill's team at the Atlantic Coast College Open Regionals May 8-9 to advance to nationals. The win marks the second time in two years that the women's team has won the regional tournament on its way to national competition.

Sara Casey, a Seaweed captain, said the team must face Chapel Hill again to advance at the nationals. The prospect of a rematch does not worry them, though.

"We beat them three times this season," said Casey.

The men's team, the Seamen, finished second in regional competition behind the University of Florida. As the runner-up, they will also go on to compete in Wisconsin.

The Seamen have had a successful year, with the strongest team since they won the national tournament in 1993, according to team captain Dave Macurak.

"This is the best year we've had since I've been here," said Macurak.

Both the men's and women's teams have track records of tournament success. The UNCW women were Atlantic Coast Regional Champs and N.C. Sectional Champs in 2010. The men's team is ranked 19th in the nation and was the N.C. Sectional Champ in 2009 and Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-Up in 2010.

Club teams must compete in several sanctioned tournaments each year to be recognized by USA Ultimate and receive eligibility to compete in national tournament play. The UNCW women played 30 games this season. While the team receives support from the UNCW Sport Club Program, the expense of traveling to tournaments is paid for by donors and fundraisers. Casey said the team's best supporters are the many former team members who have graduated from UNCW and remained in the region to work and open businesses.

"There's a huge Wilmington Ultimate community," she said.

The 2010 USA Ultimate College Championships return to CBS College Sports Network this year as part of the Network's extensive Alt Games: College Action Sports Championships line-up. For information on television broadcast schedules and live streaming, go to www.go211.com/thealtgames/upa/.

Media contact:
William Davis, UNCW marketing and communications, 910.962.2654 or davisw@uncw.edu

Photo captions:

Women's: Lia English of UNC Wilmington's women's ultimate club team, the Seaweed, reaches out for a long throw. The club will compete in the USA Ultimate National College Championships in Madison, Wis. starting May 28. - UNCW/Jamie Moncrief

Men's: UNC Wilmington's men's ultimate club team, the Seamen, will compete at the USA Ultimate National College Championships in Madison, Wis. starting May 28. The team last won the national championship in 1993. - UNCW/Jason Barnette