USA Ultimate

Midwest Throwdown was founded in 2008 as a way to build college women’s ultimate in the South Region.  Since 2009, the Washington University Women’s Ultimate team has run the tournament, building it both in size and competitiveness with the help of their friends on teams such as Wisconsin and Colorado.  This year, the tournament featured a 12-team Division I and a 20-team Division II, and included four 2010 College Championships Qualifiers- Wisconsin, Northwestern, Washington University, and Colorado. 

Saturday morning greeted teams with frigid conditions and pouring rain.  The rain cleared by the middle of Round 1, but temperatures stayed low throughout the day, creating muddy playing conditions. 

In Division I, Wisconsin pulled out a universe point win over Colorado, while Washington University took care of business in their pool.  Everything went to seed except for Iowa upsetting Northwestern, winning 10-5 after going up 6-0.  Grad student Robyn Fennig provided significant firepower on offense, creating matchup problems for teams and opening up opportunities for other Iowa players such as Chelsea Twohig and Katie Johnson to make some big plays as well.  Northwestern threw a mix of man and zone defenses in an attempt to stop Iowa, but despite Lien Hoffman and Sara Miller’s strong all-around play, Iowa took Pool B.

In Division II, Minnesota and Luther cleaned up nicely, each earning spots in Sunday’s championship bracket. Grinnell, Texas-B and Carleton College-B also had strong days, showing the increasing depth of women’s ultimate in the South and Midwest.

Saturday was capped off with a Without Limits skills clinic led by some of the most accomplished players and coaches in the Midwest.  Those who braved the freezing conditions were treated to a variety of skills sessions from throwing long to handler offense to breaking the mark to fitness / speed training.  Washington University coach Melissa Gibbs said, “Being a part of the clinic gave me really warm feelings inside on what was a brutally cold day outside.  I got to see the sparkle of fresher college players who were so hungry for something more, they were ready to sacrifice one more hour before warmth and food and sleep.  They dedicated themselves to NOT let their opportunities pass them by.”  Hendrix captain Reena Badyal elaborated on what this opportunity meant for her young team, “Midwest Throwdown, along with the skills clinic, was the boost of positivity and motivation that the Hendrix Sugar Gliders needed. Even with the weather conditions, we had an incredible experience playing with teams across the Midwest who were just as excited about playing ultimate as we were. We're glad that we were able to participate in the clinic as the one-on-one time with the coaches gave us the opportunity to ask questions not only about the game, but also about being a team player and leader.”

Sunday brought much more pleasant conditions, with the sun warming things up nicely by the end of Round 2.  The day started off with pre-quarters, giving the top Division II teams the opportunity to play into the championship bracket.  One of the most interesting games of the round was Ohio State v. Wisconsin Eau-Claire.  Both teams are building programs and are lead by young, talented players Cassie Swafford and Brit Gartner, and dedicated coaches Deanna Ball and Pat Niles.  Swafford was one of the most outstanding cutters of the weekend, and Gartner will be helping her teammates build upon the foundation that Fennig has left behind post-graduation.  Quarterfinals featured Wisconsin v. Ohio State, Colorado College v. Northwestern, Iowa v. Iowa State, and one of the most exciting games of the weekend- Washington University v. Colorado.  Washington University and Colorado are new regional rivals in the South Central Region, so this early matchup was a preview of what could very well be an elimination game at Regionals.  Colorado captain Shannon Waugh, said, “Our game against Wash U this past weekend was the most exciting game of the tournament.   We were down pretty significantly at half, but we came out the second half ready to run with their speedy handlers, and we went on a big run at the end of the game with our zone D… We have a ton to work on, and we are only going to get better and better each time we play together.”

In the next round, Wisconsin bested Northwestern and Iowa beat Colorado to set up a North Central finals game.  The finals game was a fun one to watch with athletic plays made on both sides of the disc.  Wisconsin was playing without standout Al Ellis and captain Emelie McKain was playing left-handed after injuring her throwing hand earlier in the weekend.  Wisconsin’s offense was much less dynamic without these two players at full capacity but they quickly went up 2-0 and had the disc in the redzone with the opportunity to win the first game to three.  An unfortunate turnover led to the first Saucy Nancy score before Rebecca Enders made a nice catch to put Bella Donna up 3-1.  Wisconsin would stretch the lead to 5-2 before Iowa went on a run of their own to tie it at 5s.  Iowa would then break again to make it 6-5 before Sara Scott hit Becca Ludford deep to tie the game at 6s.  On the next point, McKain made the play of the game with a chest-high layout D in the endzone to give Bella the disc back.  However, her effort was wasted as Iowa took half 7-6.  Another Scott huck and some impressive hops from Jenny Gaynor would tie the game at 7s.  Yet another McKain layout D would get Bella the disc back, but a Wisconsin throw would hit the observer for a turnover, and an Iowa timeout, a hard cap horn, and a Twohig score in rapid succession gave Iowa the win, 8-7.

After the win, Fennig said, "Midwest Throwdown 2011 gave Saucy Nancy its first opportunity to see some of the best contenders not only in our region (North Central) but also in the South Central, Great Lakes and the newly created Ohio Valley. Seeing these top teams this early in the season will help shape our focus for the rest of the College Season. As Saucy Nancy continues to improve, we will see more out-of-region teams at Easterns and Centex, encouraging us to face new challenges, ensuring we peak at the right time."  Both Iowa and Wisconsin will be attending Women’s College Easterns this coming weekend and will square off against Atlantic Coast favorites North Carolina and North Carolina-Wilmington.  Stay tuned to USA Ultimate for a preview of that event later this week.

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