EUGENE–When some people think of Frisbee, they think of tossing a disc on the beach or at a park. Others, like the men of the UO Club Sports Ultimate Frisbee team, see it as a highly competitive team contact sport and a chance to play teams from around the nation in search of a national title.

The UO men’s team traveled to Boston May 24—27 for the 2001 Ultimate Players Association’s College National Championships. They were the third seed going into the tournament and although they didn’t win the national title, their time in Boston was hardly recreational.

After flying in on the red-eye Thursday night, the team had a rough start against No. 10-ranked Duke on Friday morning. They pulled within two points after the half (11-13) but had a few crucial drops when Duke was at game point.

"We came out really flat that morning. We were running on very little sleep, and we let a team beat us that never should have been able to," says junior Ben Wiggins.

But the team pulled it together after the Duke game. They overcame Ohio State, 15-11, and beat Cornell, 15-12.

Playing Wisconsin in the quarterfinals was a big deal, Wiggins says, because they were ranked fifth in the nation and had lost to only two teams the whole season. Oregon beat Wisconsin 15-8 and advanced to play Colorado for the semifinals.

The Ducks lost to Colorado 11-15 and tied with the University of California at Santa Barbara for third place in the tournament. The UO team also received the tournament’s Spirit Award for their outstanding sportsmanship.

In order to be invited to the national championship, the Ducks had to play at the regional competition in Seattle, May 5—6. Normally, the top two teams in the Northwest would get to go to the national tournament. This year, the region had only one bid. Oregon beat Oregon State, the University of California-Santa Cruz and Stanford to get the bid.

This year’s UO team members, listed by hometowns, are:

BEND–Tyson Gillard, a sophomore architecture major, 62211 Deer Trail Rd.

CORVALLIS–Dylan Darling, a senior news-editorial journalism major, 734 S.W. 13th St.; and Ben Wiggins, a junior biochemistry major, 7275 N.W. Mountain View Dr.

EUGENE–Peter Goss, a master’s degree student in educational leadership, 2510 Alder St.; Josh Greenough, a senior business administration major, 1000 Patterson St.; Doug McKenzie, a sophomore undeclared major, 3554 High St.; and Justin Valasek, a junior economics major, 2580 Chula Vista Blvd.

KEIZER–Bryce Elder, a junior music major, 6627 14th Ave. N.E.

MEDFORD–Matt Guy, a senior English major, 1120 Ginger Way; and Christian Martin, a senior economics major, 5664 Cherry Lane.

NEWBERG–Mike Harris, a sophomore pre-business administration major, 820 Jacqui Court.

PORTLAND–Eric Guth, a junior environmental studies major, 2308 N.E. Rodney Ave.; John King, a junior multimedia design major, 1534 S.E. 41st Ave.; and Joe Kleffner, a winter 2001 graduate in art, 7970 S.W. Northvale Way.

REEDSPORT–Ross Ward, a senior advertising major, 2780 Greenbriar.

SALEM–Mike Freels, a senior public relations major, 2789 Weatherford Court N.W.; and Adam Schmidt, a senior business administration major, 1438 Hemlock St. N.W.

WEST LINN–Chris Thorn, a sophomore computer and information science major, 2380 Valley View Dr.

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ.–Ryan DeAustin, a senior education major.

PIEDMONT, CALIF.–Pat Holland, a junior multimedia design major, 27 York Dr.

OAK PARK, ILL.–Will Cooper, a sophomore philosophy major, 321 Clinton Ave.

FALMOUTH, MAINE–Mitch Power, a doctoral degree student in geography, 310 Gray Rd.

SAMMAMISH, WASH.–Sean Peterson, a senior French major.

VANCOUVER, WASH.–Markus Brown, a junior interior architecture major, 12010 N.W. Bassel Court.

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