Ultimate preps for upcoming Nationals

The Georgia College Ultimate club team, Disconnected, is excited for the opportunity to compete for a national title in the Division III College Ultimate Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., in May.

“That’d be really good for the program itself.  People can see that it is a competitive sport,” said senior history major and team co-captain Peter Crupie.

Senior marketing major and team co-captain Blake Hannah believes it won’t only benefit the Ultimate team.

“It will be good for all the club teams (if we can win this),” Hannah said.

Coordinator of Recreational Sports Bert Rosenberger agrees with Hannah.

“I think it would mean a lot to club sports in general because it would give us more notoriety and may get us more funds,” Rosenberger said.  “Organizations like SGA will be more willing to give us more money the more successful we are.”

If Disconnected is able to win first place in the tournament, it will be the first national title for any club team at the school according to Rosenberger.

In fact, it will be the first championship of any kind for any sport at Georgia College since the late ‘90s when the Bobcats took home national titles in cheerleading.

Despite that pressure, the team isn’t worried about the big stage.

“I think it is going to be sweet to play in a national tournament,” Hannah said. “Normally at the other tourneys we play in the only people watching are just friends and family.  This one will have people who are there to actually watch (the games).”

Crupie thinks that the opportunity to end their season at nationals is a big deal because of all the upper classmen on the team.

“We have eight seniors on the team, so it’s gonna be sweet to end it there,” Crupie said.

The tournament, which will be held in Buffalo, N.Y., is over 900 miles away, but they don’t think the distance is going to be that big of an issue.

“We usually get to all of our tournaments at 2 a.m. and play that day anyway,” Hannah said.

The only problem that might come into play is the environment in which they are playing.

The climate will be much different than the hot and humid climate of Central Georgia.

“Only thing that might be a problem is we are only playing a mile and half from Lake Erie, so it could be really windy or cold,” Crupie said.

After a relatively easy time in regionals, with their closest score being 15-9 against Southern Polytechnic State University, they still won’t take anyone lightly.

“We played the defending national champs (Carelton College) earlier this year, and we only lost 13-8, but we shot ourselves in the foot,” Crupie said.  “We could have won that game.”

The guys are also looking to capture some of the success the women’s ultimate team had last year when they finished fifth at nationals.

Disconnected will continue practicing to get ready for nationals which will be held in Buffalo, N.Y., from May 21 to May 22.