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The Triangle was well represented this past weekend in 3 club divisions of the Mid-Atlantic Region, as teams competed for a chance to move on to the USA Ultimate Club Championships in Sarasota, FL on October 27-30.
In our own "back yard" (at Cary Academy), the Master's Division featured 6 teams with guys born no more recently than 1978. Triangle powerhouse, "Boneyard" went undefeated & won another regional championship, defeating DC/Philly combo "Chesapeaked" by a score of 15-11. Raleigh-based team, "Ra," finished in 3rd place with a 4-3 record in their inaugural season, falling to "Chesapeaked" 15-9 in the 2nd place "game to go." 6th placed team, "Marauders" (formed largely of Triangle & VA players by tournament director John Boswell to ensure the region received a 2nd bid to Nationals) very nearly broke seed but lost a nail-biter against Charlotte's "Old N Busted," 15-14. Well done, gentlemen (& the rest of you too)!
Elsewhere just inside the PA border near Wilmington, DE, the Women's Division also featured 3 Triangle-based teams. Powerhouse club "Phoenix" had a perfect 4-0 record in Saturday's pool play, winning each game by 9 or more points. But they fell in the championship to DC's "Scandal," 15-12, before capturing 2nd place & another nationals berth against Philly's "Green Means Go," 15-6. Also representing our community impressively, "Sweet T" & "Ember" each held seed with 3rd place finishes in their respective Saturday pools & each decisively winning their first game in the 2nd place bracket. While "Ember" finished in 6th place after falling in the bracket's 2nd round to "Green Means Go," the ladies of "Sweet T" took down Pittsburgh's "Hot Metal" in a time-capped double-game-universe-point thriller, 10-9, before finishing in 4th place with a 14-11 loss to "Green Means Go." Triangle women captured 3 of the top 6 spots in the region!
Meanwhile at the same venue as the ladies, in the Mixed Division, Raleigh-based "WHagonweel" lost only a single game in pool play to newly formed PA powerhouse, "Termite's Entourage" who went on to earn the region's 2nd bid to nationals behind their in-state PA rival & perennial contender, "AMP." "WHagonweel" then won their first match-up in the 2nd place bracket before falling, 11-12, in a nail-biting double-game-universe point thriller against Pittsburgh's "The Muff 'n Men" and finishing in 8th place in the region.
TFDA & the Triangle ultimate community is very proud of the performance of each team that represented us this past weekend. And we look forward to the successes of 3 more teams from the Triangle (Ring of Fire, Cash Crop, & 2OS) this coming weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Open Division tournament in Poolesville, MD.
Backhoe at the 2010 World Ultimate Frisbee Championships
July 19, 2010 by Liz Willetts
Two weeks ago, the Triangle’s 13-year-old elite womens team finished 9th in the World at the end of a six day competition in Prague, Czech Republic. Backhoe also finished 4th of 6 teams from the USA, besting their 7th place finish at US Nationals last year by beating rivals Showdown from Texas and Zeitgeist from San Francisco.
Backhoe competed in 10 games for 6 straight days against a pool of 32 womens teams from 16 countries. With summer weather full-on (a consistent 87 degrees), games to 17, strange WFDF rules, and having the smallest roster in the womens division (14 players), we surely had our challenges. Affectionately labeled by competitors as a “scrappy” team, Backhoe easily pushed past the European teams but had trouble against the Japanese before holding our own against higher ranked teams from theUSA.
Our one bittersweet moment was a loss against Huck from Japan after gaining a 13-9 lead in a game capped at 15. Huck went on to win 6th place.
At the end of the championship the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) surprised the crowd by honoring one player from each division for outstanding achievements. Touting her as one of the most “effective” offensive players, our very own Becky LeDonne received an award for having the most combined assists (32) and goals scored (28) of any female in the entire womens division. Go Becky! We are so proud of you!!
All in all, we played excellent and well-spirited games against Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Russia, and the USA. WFDF put on a great tournament and the womens final was one of the best we’ve ever seen!!! Thank you TFDA for supporting us at this tournament!
Triangle’s Retro Makes Mark at National Tourney
July 20, 2010 by Thuy Brooks
It took a little convincing and some threatening, but NC was able to pull a squad together to compete in the 2010 Women’s Masters Nationals tournament on July 10–11, in Boulder, CO. We called ourselves RETRO and despite the loss of a few “younger†Backhoe ladies to the Worlds team, we were able to field a very competitive team, which included the likes of Val Kelly, Denice Cunningham, Tammy Moose, and LT!
Our first game on Saturday morning was to the #1 seed and defending champs from Boulder. RETRO tried to hang with them, but the combination of altitude and unfamiliarity with each other was too hard to overcome. As the day progressed and our lungs adjusted to the thin air, we were able to beat the rest of the teams in our 5-team pool—including a tough Atlanta team—and we’re able to break seed.
The next day, we had a fairly easy quarters, and than a tough semis matchup against the Safari-tarians, from CA. RETRO went up at half, but could not hold onto the lead and traded points for the rest of the game. The game was tied at 11s when the cap sounded, and it was now a win-by-2 game to 13, hardcap 16. The Sarari-tarians ended up winning 16-14. RETRO played a great game and everyone had a hand in the effort. We ended the weekend by playing Philly for 3rd place. RETRO was still fired up from our semis loss and took it out on Philly, beating them soundly, 15-6.
Overall it was a great weekend! We travelled to Boulder with a small group of awesome women and came away with plans to do even better next year, preferably at sea level!
Backhoe’s recent trip to Worlds was featured in the News & Observer:
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