In June, the South Eugene Ultimate Frisbee teams competed at the National Championship in Rockford, Illinois. The South gender diverse Ultimate team, which plays in the girls’ division, won the national championship for the third year in a row—a so-called “three-peat.”
“It really has been an unforgettable experience, and just an amazing journey,” said South junior Lily Yao, who is on the gender diverse team. “As a team, we’ve worked for this all year.”
Yao has been on the Frisbee team since her freshman year, and talked about the hard work the team has put in.
“Being on this team that has been one of the top teams in the nation for the last several years, it almost feels normal working for the goal,” Yao explained.
She looks forward to the upcoming season, though did mention that “we’re going to have a pretty downsized team.” Many seniors graduated last year, including the co-captains from the last two years.
The South open team, which competes in the boys’ division, placed fifth overall, and were also the Spirit Champions for the second year in a row. The team will see some shifts in the coming season to adapt to the loss of many 2024 seniors who graduated.
“This year a lot of our players are going to have to step up into more prominent roles on the team if we’re going to have any chance to perform well,” South senior Rio Long said, adding that it’s “definitely going to be a transition year, and we’re going to have to adapt a lot to the loss of our seniors.”
Long is optimistic, however, about the younger up-and-coming players.
“We have a really large and talented freshman class,” Long said, something the team lacked last year.
Since the team has only had a few practices, it’s too early to tell for sure what the outlook on the season is for the open team. However, “hopes are still there that we could put together a good season,” Long said, “especially in the West, where a lot of our competition has lost a lot of core players, as well.”
The teams are looking for new people, and welcome interested students to try practices Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, 4-6 p.m.
Article by Aria Lynn-Skov