Dartmouth Ultimate Frisbee hosted the White Mountain Open last weekend, with some of the best club teams in the region coming up to Hanover for some high-level competition.
Dartmouth's teams all had productive weekends, with the women's A-team making a second-place showing as they tuned up for Nationals.
Princess Layout, which lost to Brute Squad 15-8 in the finals, had a number of dominant performances throughout the tournament. The team's strong performance bodes well for the women's chances this weekend, when it plays at the Ultimate Player's Association College Nationals tournament, held in Corvalis, Ore.
The women are seeded ninth out of 16 this year and are looking to improve upon last year's ninth-place showing. Given the fact that the squad retained the majority of its players from last year's team and picked up a number of solid freshmen, Princess Layout's dreams could very well become a reality.
"Princess was hoping to use White Mountain as a tune up for Nationals," said co-captain Brooking Gatewood '05, "and that plan worked out perfectly. I don't think we really expected to beat Storm [another club team] and make it to the finals, but beating a solid club team only boosts our confidence for Nationals."
The women left for Corvalis Wednesday afternoon.
For the men, who only barely missed making Nationals, the WMO was the last tournament of the spring season. With a mind on next year, a number of players competed with Chuck Wagon, a local club team, to work on their game, while the rest of the team used the tournament as an opportunity to get in extended playing time.
In addition to the regular A and B squads, the open division also saw a third Dartmouth team in the field. Dubbed the "Arthritis Carriage" to the A-level "Pain Train" and B-level "Discomfort Trolley," a team of Dartmouth ultimate alumni came up to campus to play and catch up with friends. The abundance of Big Green teams made for several Dartmouth-Dartmouth matchups, with the A-team/alumni team match-up a highlight for many players present.
The Pain Train defeated the Arthritis Carriage 13-8.
In addition to competing against each other, the A-team picked up several alumni after the Dartmouth graduates were eliminated to face Q in Quarters, a Canadian club team which defeated the amalgamated Big Green 15-11.
Q lost to Massachusetts-based New Noise in the finals.
"Words cannot describe how much fun it was to both play against and with the alums and the camaraderie that was felt between the different generations of Dartmouth ultimate," men's co-captain Adam Sigelman '05 said.
While the A-teams saw success on the field against their opponents, the undergraduate and alumni B-teams found themselves overmatched by the upper-level competition the tournament drew. Nonetheless, both teams relished the opportunity to improve their games against tough competition and enjoyed the chance to test their skills against their respective A-teams.
"Our game with the [A-team] was epic," said B-team co-captain Peter "Socks" Bonanno '08. "After taking the first point and proving our dominance over them, we eased up and let them win the game so they wouldn't feel too bad."
Both B-teams were eliminated early on Sunday, but they got the chance to mix players and scrimmage with other club teams as more teams were eliminated.
In addition to the open and women's division in which Dartmouth's teams played, the White Mountain Open also hosted a number of elite club teams, appropriately playing in the "elite" division.
As the club season has its championships in the fall, many of these teams use spring tournaments as tryouts for aspiring club players, and several Dartmouth students played with Chuck Wagon for this purpose. Chuck Wagon lost to Red Tide in the quarterfinals, 13-12.
The elite division was won by Twisted Metal, which defeated fellow Boston-based Death or Glory's first team 15-11.
Dartmouth's teams fared well, but perhaps more importantly, the White Mountain Open as a tournament was a resounding success, due in large part to the organizational efforts of the men's and women's tournament directors and team presidents Doug Hannah '05 and Orsi Kuti '05.
"A big reason for the high level of competition [at the tournament] is that teams know they are going to get a fun, smoothly-run tournament when they come to Hanover. The credit for this reputation belongs to club presidents Doug Hannah and Orsi Kuti," said men's co-captain John Agan '05.
"This weekend's success was not only a tribute to the immense effort Doug and Orsi put in for this tournament, but also the culmination of nine months of [their] hard work that helped make this season great for everyone. They take care of Dartmouth ultimate the way Kevin Garrity takes care of the disc against a zone defense: with great skill, determination, and unwavering enthusiasm."
Princess Layout plays in Nationals from May 27-29 in Corvalis, Ore. Up-to-date information about the women's progress this weekend can be found through the Ultimate Player's Association website, www.upa.org.
