Well, the final semester of college ultimate is fast-approaching (for me, not the world..)
This semester Melee played Harvest Moon, where we ended up going 3-1 on Saturday (we had a brain freeze/inability to de blady throws). Then, lost a close one to A&M first thing Sunday knocking us out of the (poorly designed) single elim. championship bracket.. SO i constructed my own consolation bracket for the knocked out championship bracket teams on sunday where we won out and finished approximately fifth overall. good times can always be had in costume :)
we went as zoo animals.. i was a penguin of course! they're the best.
We also played at CCC in Conyers, GA (nice to not have to drive all the way out to athens!!!) and the weather was good (ended up in short sleeves both days and tight-less).
We went 2-1 on Saturday, solidfying our appearance in the Championship bracket and crushing our "9th seed" coming in. After our loss to Michigan we learned you have to finish games. Being down two after half getting to start on O we were perfectly poised to strike back. I like knowing what we were able to do against last year's Nationals finalists. We lost first thing Sunday to a Florida team who I will concede caught ALL their stall nine bailout hucks. Props. Came back from being down 8-4 in our second game Sunday to win it 15-11? It was fantastic! Then, lost by a few in the 5th place game to Virginia with no legs left.
Playing with even subbing was an important part of the Fall season for our team. Finishing 6th at CCC this year given we were the only ones doing even subbing in the champ bracket is totally fine with me. We grew a lot. Everyone learned they have a role to fill. Not to mention, all 17 people that went out to the tournament had one (or more) ridiculously sick plays. These include: hand blocks, layout hammer catches, skies, etc.
We need to nurse our injuries and take better care of our bodies. Our team as a whole does a poor job of that. We need to up our fitness yet again.. winter break is the time to kick it up NOT slack off. Our winter workouts will probably be killer again this year, like always.
We've got the last week of class then our finals week. then December 13th I reclaim my sanity from grad school briefly and throw myself in to travels and fitness for the five weeks I don't have to be learning. wahoo.
I hope everyone throws a lot, runs a lot, and gives themselves the opportunity to recover both mentally and physically. We've also upped the number of hours we spend practicing in the hopes it will put us back where we need to be nationally.
This Spring is so important to me, since it's my lost shot at college nationals. I hope Melee accomplishes all it's capable of and that we don't fall short of the prize this year. From what I saw at CCC this will be another one of those seasons where the teams in the finals have worked hard and pushed through but there's no clearly dominant force. I think it'll be up for grabs again like last year.
College ultimate is an experience you only get once. I hope no one takes it for granted. Having captained on the coed club level, it's completely different. The women we play with in college are friends for life. I hate every time they graduate, and I'm about to join their ranks.
Melee Love XO
Libs
ps the B team this year is a smaller group than it has been the past couple of years but they're dedicated and that's all it takes. I hope they have some success recruiting going in to next semester and that the number that stay on in to next year is bigger than from last year. The depth of a program is really important for the development of both the A and the B team.
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