The Fiasco That was Regionals 2011

The week before Regionals, SOL had no idea what was going on thanks to the fact that the fields in Appleton pulled out and suddenly we were without a location to play on. A shout-out goes off to our fearless Regional Coordinator Mikey Lun for pulling off a very successful tournament weekend.


And now down to business...


"For the first time in years, SOL walked away from Regionals without tears or any disappointments whatsoever. That is huge coming from this team. Every single SOLmate played to the best of their ability and left it all on the field. I could never be more proud of this team. We may not have made it to Nationals this year folks, but just you wait. SOL has the potential to become a powerhouse team in the next few years. As a primarily freshman/sophomore building team this year SOL saw just a glimpse of that potential. I cannot wait to follow SOL's journey next year." - Kathleen Nottingham


Regionals Day 1:



The wind was king this day at Blackhawk fields in Madison, WI. During warmups our dear Princess Estelle was defeated by a deadly flying disc and had to make a quick visit to the dentist. Her royal highness returned ready to play but not without showing off her beautiful new clean tooth! (love you Estie)




Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya

For the first game of Regionals, it was windier than ever. This game mainly consisted of Luther and SOL trading downwind points all day every day. This pattern continued until hard cap went off and Luther was ahead in the end. Both teams played well, but I'd say SOL worked the disc more. We came so close to scoring upwind but weren't able to pull it off in time. Luther's Freya won this time.

Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja

The windy conditions continued as SOL played our next game against the Minnesota Ninja women. A very similar pattern of trading points happened yet again with that darn Megan Nimmo chucking it downfield, making SOL work the disc back up repeatedly :P The Ninja's had a really good team this year, especially with Christie Dosch coaching them. They've improved quite a bit and SOL had fun playing against them. SOL came out on top for this game with a score of 9-8 over Ninja.

Eau Claire SOL v. Iowa State Women Scorned

SOL and Scorned have a friendship that knows no ends. We love us some Women Scorned. This game was again very influenced by the wind. Scorned had a strong handler line and was able to work very well upwind. Luckily our zone defense was able to keep them at bay. In the end hard cap went on and Scorned came out on top. SOL finished the game with an awesome upwind score so we still felt like champions in the end. B.Gart also decided to debut her rapper self to give Scorned a nice little cheer.

Eau Claire SOL v. Wisconsin Bella Donna Crossover Game

Bella was out for blood this game since their defeat at Conference a few weeks ago. They dominated the game and pulled ahead faster than SOL was able to keep up in scoring. In the end Bella got away with the game, but SOL was already thinking about the next day and how we could play to the best of our ability.

SOL arrived back at Mamma Bray's house for a delicious meal of the most amazing lasagna we've ever tasted. At least that's what Samara, our official Lasagna Connoisseur said. Our delicious meal was soon followed by a secret SOLmate exchange and our traditional Saturday regional bonding activity. We headed for bed but not soon after listening to Brit get her pre-sleep munchies on, listening to Browndog's strange breathing sounds, and making sure Princess had a snore-free place to sleep.



Regionals Day 2:

The sun came out this second day of Regionals. No tooths were knocked out and SOL knew we were going to have a blast.

Eau Claire SOL v. Luther Freya

Our first game was once again against Freya. But this time, with different fields and a crosswind, SOL was able to play our game and come out with a win. We were able to maintain control up to and after half. SOL maintained control of the game and won! We also discovered that getting that disc upwind was indeed possible and capitalized on that.

Eau Claire SOL v. Iowa State Women Scorned


SOL went into this game knowing we had to win again in order to play in the backdoor game to go to natties. Scorned came out and definitely earned a win against us. Their team is really strong this year and we had fun playing each other as the underdog victors of our conferences.

Eau Claire SOL v. Minnesota Ninja

SOL and Ninja played a shorter game so we could watch the backdoor game of Scorned v. Bella. We had more fun than ever playing these ladies again and dominated the game with Emily calling out scoring lines like no one had seen before. That darn Megan Nimmo really likes to chuck that disc. So we had to figure out ways to shut her down and keep the disc near the Ninja end zone. In the end SOL came out with a win for 5th place overall. We gathered together in happiness and extreme satisfaction with our performance over the weekend.

We then proceeded to watch Iowa State defeat the Bella Donna's for the 3rd bid to Natties. Extreme celebration was had.

When everything was done, SOL drove over to our favorite chinese buffet. I smiled to myself because that is where I ate my first and now last post-tournament meal with SOL. It was a good finish to my years with SOL. We learned quite a few things about our team during this meal. Schneids is deathly afraid of the sound of chopsticks rubbing together. Brit demonstrated the sound of chopsticks banging against everything everywhere. A family of walrus took over half our table. Schmal thinks that baby squid taste like chicken. And Mitchy looks hilarious with these. 

The weekend could not have been more complete without Kathleen mooning someone on the road. We all drove safely back to Eau Claire after probably the best weekend SOL ever had together.

SOL Regionals 2011

Megan Schneider- FOTY 2011

As a returning player the Fall is the time to meet, recruit and teach anyone interested in joining Ultimate. You get a feel for which players will stick with it and which players will probably leave your team shortly. Since Day 1 Megan "Schneids" Schneider was one of the recruits you had no doubt would stick with it. Her positive, bubbly and competitive nature kept her with this team without any previous Ultimate experience. As much as it was a good decisoon for her, it was an even better decision for Sol. 

Often times new players are unable or unwilling to fully committ to whatever practice schedule their new found college team has adapted. Schneids did not fall into that category as she has been one of the most committed players on Sol since her first practice. Starting a new sport there is only room for improvement and she has improved tremendously since the Fall season. 

Schneids has been able to discover a love for Ultimate and really invested her time and energy to be able to contribute in a significant way to our team. Her energy and positive attitude alone make her an irreplacable member of Sol. Her ability to cut, pop, play defense and throw are only added bonuses of her presence on our team. She has become one of our strongest defenders, and as a freshman that's a big deal. Her ability to get open and read deep discs is impressive.

You can have the ability to perform every skill in Ultimate flawlessly but none of that is important if you do not have the heart to care. This is something that Schneids has every time she steps on the field. It's something that can never be questioned. Having the heart and refusing to give up will get you further in Ultimate than having the best throws, being the fastest or jumping the highest. Megan Schneider has the heart and luckily for her has the Ultimate skills to make her a great candidate for Freshman of the Year.

Pat Niles- COTY 2011

"One of my former High School Coach's once told me 'The people you respect the most are the people you feel like you can say anything to'. The ability to openly speak your mind, whether it's a positive or negative thought, creates an often rare respect between two people. Having the ability to play under and lead with Pat Niles has presented me with the opportunity to push myself to be a better leader." - Brit Gartner

For the past 3 years, the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire Women's program has fallen just short from making it to Nationals in the game to go. Last year, Sol felt that with the strong players we had that it was our best shot at Nationals in our programs short history. We didn't make it and graduated our 3 best players. With a shallow roster, graduating 3 players put Sol in a position for 2011 to be a rebuilding year.

I guess in some ways this year has been a rebuilding year. But the height we have rebuilt to in one year is much higher than every single person would have thought possible. Pat has been a great Coach for Sol. You can track the progress this team has made all year. Pat has helped us to focus on improving within each game and when one tournament ends focus is directed to the next. He knew it would take a lot of work to push each member of this Ultimate family in order to help us continue being one of the best teams in the North Central Region. He has pushed us to refuse being complacent. Nothing you have done up to any point you are at matters in the big picture if you do not continue to improve and perform better each time. His willingness to put in countless hours planning weekly practices and monthly timelines of where we need to be has helped put Sol in the position we currently find ourselves in—D-I Lake Superior Conference Champions.

Pat once told our team, "If the outcome of the game was determined by the name on your jersey no one would play Ultimate. There is always a team that is "better" and should win. You play Ultimate because there is always a chance your team can win." He cares about the individual progress that each of the ladies on Sol has been able to make this whole year, just as much as he cares about the success our team hopes to achieve. Pat's enthusiasm for pushing our team to reach the highest level we can reach makes each girl on this team thankful for his willingness to continue coaching Sol. To me, the difference between a group of people that can call themselves a team and one that can call themselves a family is that they have a prominent desire to be around each other outside of the required time for their activity. Sol has generally been a close team from the previous two years I have been a member. This year has honestly been the closest I have ever seen our team, thus making us truly a family. Pat has been a big advocate of us spending time with each other all year with his participation never being questioned, as there is no chance he would miss out! Helping us understand how important it is to actually care about and get along with each of your teammates has allowed Sol to mesh not only off the field, but also while playing.


 Every College Ultimate player makes many sacrifices, but coaches give up just as much as their players—Pat being no exception. Giving up weekend plans to be at tournaments, spending money out of pocket to help pay for travel/food/lodging and giving up weekday plans to be at practices. Pat has gone above and beyond those expectations in planning practices, coming early and staying late to help on an individual level, and attending far too many hours of dance practice to help our team reach every goal we set (even the non-ultimate goal of repeating as CenTex Dance Champions). All of these actions have helped build the Sol family. Pat Niles has done great things with Sol this year—try to tell me that you would have picked Sol to win their Conference and have come this far since the beginning of the season, because I doubt you can.

Pat Niles made a decision to coach our team this year after considering a move to the Twin Cities for a new job. We appreciate his choice to stay with our team and help us grow together this year. Pat Niles is known as many things. World Champion. Top notch singer and dancer. Best friend. Ultimate lifer. Yet to SOL he has been all of those things as well as a great coach.

Thanks Pat. We love you!

Breathing < Success (SOL=2K11 Conference Champions)

The weekend of Conference (previously known as Sectionals) had come. Sol did what we could with lower numbers at practice than you might hope for in the week leading up to a big tournament to prepare ourselves for the teams we would face in the Lake Superior Conference. With 7 teams attending (Madison, Milwaukee, Marquette, Stevens Point, Whitewater, Madison B and Eau Claire) and only 2 bids to Regionals there would be no room for mistakes this weekend. With the second seed entering the weekend, getting upset by one team could have led to Sol not qualifying for Regionals- an unthinkable idea for all.

After much chaos caused by Mother Nature herself and wandering around Appleton's Fox River Mall instead of playing games on Saturday, we were left with a one day format to be played Sunday. A big thanks must go to Robyn Fennig and Scott Sawinski for doing all they could to make Conference happen! With only one day to get things done instead of two our team knew we had to commit to executing each point and come out strong.

Our Sunday was to start against UW- Miwaukee Black Cats- a team we faced a few times in the fall and they definitely challenged us so we were expecting the same this time around! It was go time!! Our first point of the day was filled with a lot of zone from both teams and many punts in hopes of getting better field positioning. It lasted 40 minutes and may have been the hardest I have had to work as a deep-deep all year. Usually when points last long it is hard for the sidelines to stay in the game since they are not actually on the field, but it can be said with complete honesty that each player on our sideline was in that point till the second we scored. It felt awesome and made each players job much easier to have someone constantly talking to them. Sidelines have not been our strongest all year, but I think this single point helped each player realize HOW HUGE SIDELINES ARE IN ULTIMATE!! After that point was scored (and the time limit of the game was halfway up...) Sol was able to keep the flow going scoring 5 more before hard cap went on and the game ended with a final score of  6-0 Sol.

Our next two games of pool play were against Marquette Moxie and Stevens Point. After establishing a flow in the Milwaukee game we were able to carry that over into each of these. Our friends on Shockwave were able to sneak one in against us making that games final score 11-1 while the ladies of Marquette were able to put 2 up against us making that final score 10-2.

Winning our pool put us in a position to play the Bellas in the first place game- winner goes to Regionals and loser defends their 2nd place spot in the backdoor game. After playing 3 games leading up to this we were feeling really confident in our play. Our handlers were meshing better than I can remember for multiple games in a row, our cutters were always open when the handlers had a look through the cup and OUR SIDLEINES were still ballin outta control. Bella won the flip choosing to pull with Sol starting on offense. We were able to take the first point causing much excitement within our sidelines! Sol was then able to put in 2 more to go up 3-0 to start the game! It's always good to go up right away in every game, but even more important in games versus teams like the Bellas. It's a team who historically Sol rarely beats. We started to realize that placing first was possible and put our foot on the gas to keep rollin till half where the score was 8-4 Sol. With the Bellas fighting back and making the score 8-6 with hard cap on we knew we had won the game with one point left to play. Going to the line we were fired up and excited to have one more point to score again, but unluckily for us the Bellas were able to take the last point making the final score 8-7. Sol was able to hold on and win with a huge upset.

A smart man (by the name of Pat Niles, world champion) once told our team that "If the outcome of the game was determined by the name on your jersey no one would play Ultimate. There is always a team that is "better" and should win. You play Ultimate because there is always a chance your team can win." On that day we played a team that looking at the name on each teams jersey's we should not have beat. But on that same day we played them and it was our day to win facing much competition from the Bellas.

Great job this weekend Sol! Take the time to think about all the things we have done together to get our team where we are. We were not the same team as we were in the fall, at the Iowa scrimmage or even Midwest Throwdown. 10 days till Regionals 2k11. The biggest tournament of your life to this point. Don't let up now, breathing is overrated anyway.

SOLove <3

SOL defeats Madison at the DI Lake Superior Conference!!!

A full recap will soon follow....