AU's Men's and Women's Utimate Frisbee teams kicked off their seasons this past weekend at the club regional sectionals in Fort Bellevore, Va., with the men placing sixth.
The tournament, which pits local club teams against each other, featured the men finishing sixth overall and first among all colleges participating. This marked the first time they made the club regionals, making their success in uncharted waters even more impressive.
The women did not win a game, but walked away from the tournament encouraged.
"We're still a very young team who's improving rapidly," said sophomore Kim Dowgiallo. "We didn't win, but we played well and we're happy with that." Dowgiallo said she's seen improvement in the team over the two years she's been involved and that she aims to be very competitive during her college career.
On the men's side, their victory is even more impressive because they did it without one of their stalwarts, junior Seth Graham, a starter for the past two years, who is spending the semester studying abroad in South Africa.
"Seth's a big part of their team, so that's real good that they won without him," said Dowgiallo.
The teams will try to ride the momentum over their fall season, which is much shorter than the spring season. Next up is the Haverween Tournament at Haverford College in Pennsylvania on Halloween weekend. There, the men will look for another impressive finish, and the women will try and improve upon their finish in Fort Bellevore.
After Haverween, the teams are off until the spring, which is highlighted by a spring break trip to Savannah, Ga., to participate in the High Tide Tournament against teams from all over the country.
This marks the seventh year of competition for the men and the fourth for the women.
"At this point, we're a motivated group of novices working towards establishing ourselves for the future," Dowgiallo said.
