2011 Club Regionals Preview: Mixed Week 1
USA Ultimate
Posted: September 30, 2011 11:50 AM
The Central Region performed well at the 2010 Club Championships, as their 4 bids resulted in 2 semifinalists (CLX and Drag'n Thrust), a 5th place finish (Overhaul), and a strength bid to the 2011 Club Championships.
This region is really a two-horse race this year, with CLX and Drag'n Thrust once again solid bets to be in the semis in Sarasota. CLX has picked up Polar Bears founder Bob Liu, where he now plays with his sister.
The rest of the field sees a depleted Overhaul trying to rebuild after last year's decent showing, a Steamboat team that had been looking good until getting pushed around by almost everyone at Heavyweights, and a few other teams with about equal chance to make a run. Good bets to play up are Stud Muffin, with youth and a lot of good energy, and Gambit, bringing talent and a maddeningly Chicago-esque inconsistency.
This 2 bid region looks extremely difficult to call.
wHagenweel is looking to build on last year's trip to Sarasota, but two losses at sectionals to a largely unknown Cahoots squad has them as the 2 seed at Regionals.
AMP has qualified for the past 5 Club Championships, but finds themselves as the 8 seed after losing the section to Termite's Entourage.
The Capital Section representatives all could be dangerous. Renegade had a quality season, Death by Jubilee looked strong at Sectionals, and even Ambiguously Grey can tout a quality win over 2010 semifinalist Drag'n Thrust.
Tough to say who comes out of this one.
Defending champions Polar Bears definitely have their work cut out for them, with the typically hellacious NW gauntlet being as tough as ever this year. The Polar Bears have shed their young gun slinging reputation by playing some mature ultimate in winning the 2010 Club Championships, 2011 ECC, and for a handful of their team, a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships of Beach Ultimate.
Bigfoot has the talent and the Seattle pedigree to make a go at the top spot. Wolverines ride their Oregon sectional win to a third seed, but we shall see if they can stay there at the end.
The 4/5 overall seed is a push, really, with Blackbird looking like more of a typical Mixed all-star team (including the pickup up Anna "Maddog" Nazarov for Sectionals and Regionals), and Mischief representing a long tradition of Championship appearances. Mischief has added a bunch of studs this year, adding the likes of Matt Kissmen (Flycoons), Chris Farina (Slow White), Drew Kim (Funk, CTR), Sally Mimms (Nemesis), Rachel Habbert (Stanford), and Kari Deleeuw (Fury), and Karen Brimacombe (Fury, Riot).
Eats, Throws, and Leaves gave Bigfoot all it could handle in the WA section finals, and have been competitive against top competition all year. Seeing the Big Sky Sectional champion Mental Toss Flycoons as the 3rd seed in their pool is a testament to the depth of the region this year.