As the end of October neared, Eau Claire prepared itself for the many Ultimate teams that would arrive to T some D (toss some disc). This year the Women's Division was set to have 10 teams- continuing to grow! Thankfully we were able to avoid any last minute dropouts which seemed to be the theme for our side of things last year (yikes!!) And with the addition of a few teams who would be attending the Chillout for the first time ever (Sol Alumni and friends, Wisconsin and Mankato) it looked to be a fun and competitive weekend!
Saturday
It was an awesome day for Ultimate!!! Easily the best weather the Chillout has seen in my time here so far! No rain, excessive wind OR snow. Our pool consisted of Bella, Milwaukee, Duluth and Mankato. We saw Milwaukee at Hucktoberfest and had lost to them so we really wanted to redeem ourselves with a bigger squad at the Chillout. We were able to go 3-1 in our pool, only losing to Madison(and pretty solidly losing at that...). The Fall season is awesome because each player is stepping out of their comfort zone doing new things whether they are a new player trying many different positions in a zone, a new returner learning how to be a primary cutter or a returner challenging themselves to learn to handle.
It's funny because some practices where we are missing a few girls and only have 14 or so it feels so small. I am so used to having 20 teammates around me, but as peoples schedules are busy it is hard to get everyone at every practice. Saturday of the Chillout it finally felt like a full team! Our sidelines had a lot of energy and I was getting concerned that people weren't getting enough playing time as opposed to having to play so many points like our other Fall tournaments. Finding and promoting "funtensity" was a big part of this weekend. Really demonstrating who we are as a team to all of the new girls was great (since we were a little short on numbers and/or returners the past two tournaments)!
Saturday night was a chance to hangout with the girls on a few of the other teams, or for others share a movie night! All I can really say is the Bella women are craaaaazy! What a fun group! And getting the chance to hangout with one of the newest teams of the Central Region, Mankato, was pretty sweet!
Sunday
Sunday arrived and teams were anxious for a chance to be crowned Chillout Champions and inherit the prize of a free bid to next year's tournament (previously won by Carleton). While the winners of pool play were still sleeping, enjoying their reward for winning their pool with no games till noon, two rounds of play had already finished! Sol was able to win both games and was set to face the Sol Alumni + Friends team in the semi-finals but sadly, the alumni team was short numbers as the awesome ladies that came to EC from the cities for the day on Saturday could not stay for Sunday. So that game was forfeited and we waited to see how the Carleton/Madison game would play out to see who we would face in the finals.
It was hard to chose a team to cheer for since the Carleton ladies had stayed at my house all weekend and I only came to love Elise even more but I was wearing my Bella jersey and had the chance to hangout with a few of those ladies the previous night. So I just stayed neutral, heckled and got ready for Finals! Bella ended up winning so we got ourselves ready for a rematch!
The previous day I think we only scored 3 on Bella, so improving on Sunday was our intention! And improve we did! Down a few girls from the previous day(due to the need to skydive and who knows what else...), but with about 3 of our alumni popping in to play a few points here and there we ended up losing to Bella 7-11. A much better game than the day before, but alas those Madison folk ended up with the victory and a free bid to the Chillout in 2012!
After a complete Fall season, iamsoexcited to be apart of this team and help it grow and get better all Winter long! Oh, and hangout with everyone!
Best Pasta Cooker: Kim Holub
Handler to Watch Out For: Alex Lindstrom
Most Improved Field Setter-Upper: Sarah Ramirez
Likely to Get More Reps Cutting: Meredith Bray
Get ready for indoors!!
The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Women's Ultimate Team
Monday, October 24, 2011
Fall 2011: Do It For Schneids
Welp, with the end of the Eau Claire Chillout also came the end of our Fall season. It seems too soon for that! Three tournaments in the record books and now we start looking forward to the indoor season to prepare for Spring! But for now a recap!
Hucktoberfest- October 1st- 2nd (Neenah, Wisconsin)
Club Regionals and other life commitments assisted in taking away some Sol women for this tournament, sending the ladies of Eau Claire with less players than we are usually used to. I am probably not the best person to write this recap since I wasn't there... BUT from what I have heard it was an opportunity to finally put together all the skills we had been learning up to that point in the season. We even had new players (like Oliva Lee) handling without ever having practiced at all! Ultimate is great and all but I think the thing I personally was most sad about missing was being apart of all the shenanigans that went down this weekend!!! As of last year our team has heavily gotten into pranking, and apparently all the new girls are ALLABOUTIT! Foreshadow: this year is going to be nutzo. Bad news: Schneids MC got pretty beat up and will be out till next Fall and one of our new players, Kim, severly fractured her ankle.... But I am most confident they will both continue being huge assets to Sol while they focus on healing themselves!
No Wisconsequences- October 15th- 16th (Delafield, Wisconsin)
For the past few years this has been the premiere Fall tournament in the Midwest, so once again we looked forward to seeing many different teams and really putting our newly learned zone defense to use! And that we did! It was awesome to see how quickly all girls, new and old, picked up on learning different positions in zone D. It is really awesome to see all the new girls finally get tournament experience under their belts and see returners step up from being a n00b to an experienced player.
Saturday
During pool play, we were able to go 2-2. With losses coming to half of the Saucy Nancies from U of Iowa and Northwestern Gungho. We were able to beat one of the Madison Bella Donna teams as well as Michigan State! Our pool was crazy- the 1 seed lost to the 3 seed, the 3 seed lost to the 4 seed, the 4 seed lost to the 5 seed, but the 1 seed beat the 2 seed. Main point: Fall seedings are rarely accurate. It's a lot of guesswork trying to determine which teams will be better than which so early on! Michigan State was most impressive with few ladies and lots of athletic moves! They seem to be a really fun and hard working group of women. After a long day of Ultimate with many small victoies under our belt, we headed back to the Haller residence!
A HUGE shoutout to the Haller family will be necessary. Now in my 4th year at Eau Claire I have been lucky enough to stay with this family at least once a year and they are way too nice to us EVERY TIME! They are generous people and we owe them a million thank you's. Their hospitality is outstanding! All the Sol family and friends that we have been so lucky to stay with have been too nice! Only a handful of Sol folk (including our new Coach Dan Kaler) went to the always fun tournament party. Most of us were wayyyyy too tired to make it out the door!
Sunday
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Iowa X Saucy Nancy
Feeling well rested after mostly staying in Saturday night we hopped in our cars and zipped over to the fields. First up we were to play the other half of the Saucy Nancy team. We lost by a few points the previous day to the other Saucy team, so going into this game playing better right from the start was a priority. We were able to fight for a decent lead and were able to keep them from scoring for a bit! It ended up being a close game- we won on UNIVERSE POINT! That always makes for an exciting ending and gives you a lot of momentum going into your next game!
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Illinois Menace
Up next we had Illinois Menace, a team I don't think Sol has played for some time. I must say I was for real surprised by how good this team was! They were very athletic and their throws were solid. I don't remember the final score of this game, but I think we lost by something like 3? Menace seems to be a very fun team. It looks like more of their players are starting to play Club- which is always great to see! Illinois went on to lose to one of the Wisconsin teams in the semi's, well done!
Wisconsin Eau Claire Sol vs. Winona Bad Monaz
This was another team that caught me off guard with how good they were! It was a really back and forth game as the wind was mostly upwind/downwind. Their throws were very solid against our zone. We did a really good job of adjusting on the fly with many things-especially our new players! They showed so much versatility in what they can do and were open to trying new positions they weren't as comfortable with. But hey, you learn more when you are outside your comfort zone (and learning how to play Ultimate provides plenty of opportunities for that). We ended up losing this game and finishing 7th- not too shabby with 26 women's teams in attendance!
After an eventful stop at McDonalds to celebrate our weekend of no more severe injuries (lets keep that trend going) we were on our way back to Wisconsin's most beautiful campus (Eau Claire of course). Although injuries are the least ideal thing, life always goes on. In the event of injuries I think people are given another reason to push themselves even harder. Everyone loves Schneids and since her first Sol practice she has been extremely dedicated (not an over-exaggeration). Now that she can't play for a little while each Solmate should always remember that if you feel like giving up tell Schneids that you can't push it anymore. If you could look at Schneids and tell her that (as she would probably do anything to be able to play over the next few months) you cannot do another sprint, or another push up or another rep of a drill then it is believable that you have pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could have. If you aren't to the point that you would be able to tell Schneids that you can't try harder then try harder and do it for Schneids. And remember, sometimes injuries are blessings in disguise.
Hucktoberfest- October 1st- 2nd (Neenah, Wisconsin)
Club Regionals and other life commitments assisted in taking away some Sol women for this tournament, sending the ladies of Eau Claire with less players than we are usually used to. I am probably not the best person to write this recap since I wasn't there... BUT from what I have heard it was an opportunity to finally put together all the skills we had been learning up to that point in the season. We even had new players (like Oliva Lee) handling without ever having practiced at all! Ultimate is great and all but I think the thing I personally was most sad about missing was being apart of all the shenanigans that went down this weekend!!! As of last year our team has heavily gotten into pranking, and apparently all the new girls are ALLABOUTIT! Foreshadow: this year is going to be nutzo. Bad news: Schneids MC got pretty beat up and will be out till next Fall and one of our new players, Kim, severly fractured her ankle.... But I am most confident they will both continue being huge assets to Sol while they focus on healing themselves!
No Wisconsequences- October 15th- 16th (Delafield, Wisconsin)
For the past few years this has been the premiere Fall tournament in the Midwest, so once again we looked forward to seeing many different teams and really putting our newly learned zone defense to use! And that we did! It was awesome to see how quickly all girls, new and old, picked up on learning different positions in zone D. It is really awesome to see all the new girls finally get tournament experience under their belts and see returners step up from being a n00b to an experienced player.
Saturday
During pool play, we were able to go 2-2. With losses coming to half of the Saucy Nancies from U of Iowa and Northwestern Gungho. We were able to beat one of the Madison Bella Donna teams as well as Michigan State! Our pool was crazy- the 1 seed lost to the 3 seed, the 3 seed lost to the 4 seed, the 4 seed lost to the 5 seed, but the 1 seed beat the 2 seed. Main point: Fall seedings are rarely accurate. It's a lot of guesswork trying to determine which teams will be better than which so early on! Michigan State was most impressive with few ladies and lots of athletic moves! They seem to be a really fun and hard working group of women. After a long day of Ultimate with many small victoies under our belt, we headed back to the Haller residence!
A HUGE shoutout to the Haller family will be necessary. Now in my 4th year at Eau Claire I have been lucky enough to stay with this family at least once a year and they are way too nice to us EVERY TIME! They are generous people and we owe them a million thank you's. Their hospitality is outstanding! All the Sol family and friends that we have been so lucky to stay with have been too nice! Only a handful of Sol folk (including our new Coach Dan Kaler) went to the always fun tournament party. Most of us were wayyyyy too tired to make it out the door!
Sunday
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Iowa X Saucy Nancy
Feeling well rested after mostly staying in Saturday night we hopped in our cars and zipped over to the fields. First up we were to play the other half of the Saucy Nancy team. We lost by a few points the previous day to the other Saucy team, so going into this game playing better right from the start was a priority. We were able to fight for a decent lead and were able to keep them from scoring for a bit! It ended up being a close game- we won on UNIVERSE POINT! That always makes for an exciting ending and gives you a lot of momentum going into your next game!
Wisconsin- Eau Claire Sol vs. University of Illinois Menace
Up next we had Illinois Menace, a team I don't think Sol has played for some time. I must say I was for real surprised by how good this team was! They were very athletic and their throws were solid. I don't remember the final score of this game, but I think we lost by something like 3? Menace seems to be a very fun team. It looks like more of their players are starting to play Club- which is always great to see! Illinois went on to lose to one of the Wisconsin teams in the semi's, well done!
Wisconsin Eau Claire Sol vs. Winona Bad Monaz
This was another team that caught me off guard with how good they were! It was a really back and forth game as the wind was mostly upwind/downwind. Their throws were very solid against our zone. We did a really good job of adjusting on the fly with many things-especially our new players! They showed so much versatility in what they can do and were open to trying new positions they weren't as comfortable with. But hey, you learn more when you are outside your comfort zone (and learning how to play Ultimate provides plenty of opportunities for that). We ended up losing this game and finishing 7th- not too shabby with 26 women's teams in attendance!
After an eventful stop at McDonalds to celebrate our weekend of no more severe injuries (lets keep that trend going) we were on our way back to Wisconsin's most beautiful campus (Eau Claire of course). Although injuries are the least ideal thing, life always goes on. In the event of injuries I think people are given another reason to push themselves even harder. Everyone loves Schneids and since her first Sol practice she has been extremely dedicated (not an over-exaggeration). Now that she can't play for a little while each Solmate should always remember that if you feel like giving up tell Schneids that you can't push it anymore. If you could look at Schneids and tell her that (as she would probably do anything to be able to play over the next few months) you cannot do another sprint, or another push up or another rep of a drill then it is believable that you have pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could have. If you aren't to the point that you would be able to tell Schneids that you can't try harder then try harder and do it for Schneids. And remember, sometimes injuries are blessings in disguise.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Want to Become a SOLmate???
As we are getting close to the end of Summer, the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year is about to begin! This is the best of news as the beginning of the school year also marks the beginning of the 2011-2012 Ultimate Season! If you are interested in being apart of a team full of talented, amazing and FUN women, SOL is a great competitive outlet for you! In a short time you will feel like family! We will practice 4:30-6:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays on Towers Field with an optional practice on either Monday or Wednesday (TBD). Stop by and check out what we have to offer! (Practices starting Tuesday, September 6th! Or look out for us during CUBEfest!)
Contact Bethany Mitch (mitchbp@uwec.edu), Meredith Bray (braymj@uwec.edu) or Brit Gartner (gartnebm@uwec.edu) for more information!
SOLove <3
Contact Bethany Mitch (mitchbp@uwec.edu), Meredith Bray (braymj@uwec.edu) or Brit Gartner (gartnebm@uwec.edu) for more information!
SOLove <3
Monday, May 16, 2011
SOL Awards 2011
Every year at the end of our season, members of the team receive special awards to thank them for standout things they did!
Most Improved
Lauren "Stu" Stepanik #21
Best Motivator
Samara Thompson #37
Loudest Sideline
Melissa "George" Jordan #23
Freshman of the Year
Megan "Schneids" Schneider #2
Spirit of the Game
Jess "Holla" Haller #24
Best Facials
Caty Ferris #34
Most Graceful
Kristin "Huhot" Huot #16
And introducing our 2011-2012 SOL captains:
Brit Gartner #11
Bethany "Beef" Mitch #10
Meredith "Lays Out on Her Face" Bray #32
Congrats ladies!! Looking forward to an awesome season next year!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| SOL Regionals 2011 |
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