In February, David Jensen expressed a dream for the William & Mary men’s Ultimate Frisbee team to make it to “the promised land of nationals.”
And now, for the first time since 2004, the team finally has.
“It’s honestly surreal because I remember my first year, the seniors told us it would just take a really strong group of guys to make it, and here we are,” said Taylor Gilman, a senior at William & Mary and one of three captains on the team.
After their home tournament in February, where the school hosted about 20 teams, W&M went on to beat Virginia Tech 14-9 at a tournament in Axton, Virginia, which qualified the team for nationals, Gilman said.
This Memorial Day weekend, the team will compete against other Division I college ultimate teams across the nation in games that will be streamed on ESPN online and ESPNU.
Putting in the work
A week in the life of an Ultimate Frisbee player on a nationally qualifying team is more than just running around a field with friends, though.
There are about 27 members of the team, known as Darkhorse, that have been putting in the work both during and outside of practice this year to make themselves competitive on a national level, Gilman said.
During practice, which usually lasts a few hours, the players go over various plays and techniques. The team also routinely gathers to watch hours of prerecorded games to analyze opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to team-designated time, Gilman said many members hold to a strict health regimen on their own and have made extra efforts to improve their strength and endurance.
All of this work happens while students also are preparing for the end of classes and getting ready for summer break.
“It’s been interesting coming off the crazy high of making it to nationals after all of our work and then going back to your dorm to study for finals,” said David Hill, a freshman on the team.
A bond for success
With 12 of the 27 members graduating this year, the team says it’s bittersweet to have finally made it this far with a group that means so much to each other.
The seniors on the team have worked over the past four years for this moment, and part of their success as a team is the bond that they share, they said. Many members credit their time on the team for making their experience at William & Mary more enjoyable.
“It’s what people know us for,” Hill said. “Some people have frats — we have ultimate.”
Hill is one of many new members on the team this year who the older members credited with helping get them to nationals finally. While the team had progressively been getting better each year, Gilman said the group of freshmen were instrumental in the team’s success.
Freshman Jonny Malks, for example, already had professional Ultimate Frisbee experience as a member of D.C. Breeze. Malks will only be able to watch his team from the sidelines during nationals, though, because of a broken wrist he suffered when he collided with an opposing player during the qualifying game.
“I was in urgent care when I saw the tweet from my team members that we had won the game and were going to nationals,” Malks said. “And in that moment I didn’t feel the pain, I just smiled because I knew all of my friends were celebrating.”
The national tournament will be May 25 through 28 in Milwaukee.
Fans of Darkhorse can follow updates from the team on Twitter at @WMUltimate.
