On Saturday, April 23, and Sunday, April 24, the Keene State College Ultimate Frisbee club played host to seven teams from around the Northeast who competed in a tournament at Joyce Fields.
The University of Maine Farmington beat the Keene State College alumni team in the finals by a score of 13-8 to take home the title. Keene State College’s current team beat Franklin Pierce University to earn third place in the tournament. The other teams that participated in the annual event were from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Saint Anselm College and Bennington, Vermont.
Jared Sumner, President and Captain of the Keene State College Ultimate Frisbee club, said that there were originally ten teams expected to be in attendance for the tournament, but that a couple of the teams had to drop out at the last minute.
When asked how many times KSC has hosted the tournament, Sumner said that this was his, “second or third” tournament.
“We usually have the same teams show up, but then each year we try to build and grow the number of teams that come in,” Sumner said.
Seth Dube is another captain of the KSC Ultimate Frisbee club. Dube, who is in his second year as a member of the team, said that the club provides people with more than just competitive environment.
“It’s a great way to make friends,” Dube said. “A lot of my really good friends I’ve made through the team.”
Even though the club has a strong social aspect that doesn’t stop them from taking things seriously. Dube added that the team is definitely there to win.
“We like to have a lot of fun, but we also like to get after it and really play hard,” Dube said.
Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff
The current KSC club earned three wins and two losses on the first day of the tournament, in a round known as pool play. On Sunday, the team had one game remaining in pool play, as well as a bye, before entering the second round known as bracket play. Bracket play is when teams begin to be eliminated.
After the first day of the tournament, Dube said the team needed to focus on not beating themselves on Sunday.
“Once we make a mistake, it kind of tends to snowball and leads to a lot of other mistakes,” Dube said.
KSC was able to keep that focus and earn third place in the tournament, defeating FPU by a score of 13-7.
John McCullagh from the University of Maine Farmington said that his team has been to the tournament three or four teams.
McCullagh also said that his team went undefeated on the first day of the tournament, winning all four of their games. However, he also added that the team had, “a couple things to work on” for day two of the tournament.
McCullagh noted that his team has been around for a while, but this is his first year as captain of the UMaine Farmington Frisbee club. Since the year began their club have had several tournaments, kipping them busy throughout the years.
Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff
“We went to New York and New Jersey,” McCullagh said. “It’s hard to get to tournaments in Maine because of all the snow, so we have to head a bit south.”
He said that of the several events they participate in, Keene’s is definitely a fun one.
“It’s always a lot of fun, this is always a really fun tournament,” McCullagh said.
Kristen Tarr, another member of the UMaine Farmington team, agreed with McCullagh and said, “This is one tournament that everyone really looks forward to so we enjoy coming down.”
Crae Messer can be contacted at cmesser@kscequinox.com