And The Award Goes To…

With the season complete, Captain TJ Martin dished out some player awards (as voted on by the team). Without further ado, here are your 2013 awards and award winners.

Player of the Year – Ryan Landry
Rookie of the Year – Danny Yates
Most Improved Player – Jonathan Philip
84 JCK Award (Hardest Worker) – Blake Galloway
Best Teammate – West Dickens
Play of the Year – Garris Bugg (link)
Diva Award – Trey Williams
“There It Is” Award – Brad Smith

Funnies (Courtesy of Evan Boecking):
Wes Matthews (C) – Happiest/best smile
TJ Martin (C) – Most likely to be found at taco bell/biggest impact on AU Ultimate
Brad Smith – Ron SWANSON award/worst diet
Andrew Ruffing – First person to suffer from imploding calf syndrome
Trey Williams – Best layout D’s
Stewart Boyd – Best layouts
Todd Robinson – Best huck in a game (ttown)
Chad Hobson – Tree of LIFE award/Most likely to clog a industrial size drain
West Dickens – Most underrated player award
Jackson Garrett – Team spirit award obviously
Davis Pierce – Most likely to be picked up by a heard of horses and never be seen again
Brandon Everson – Most likely to break out in song and dance
Blake Galloway – Sunshine award/dreamiest eyes
Jose Gardner – Most likely to get the most out of Spring Break
Keith Mize – Best freestyle/rapper/Best commentator/best handshakes
Stephen Robertson – Best thrower with feet
Jonathan Phillip – Diversity award
Reid Williams – SWAG overload award
Danny Yates – Math award
Michael Boroden – Best deadlift
Josh Connelly – Most likely to hurt someone on the field
Sidney Watts – Best earrings
De’Arius Martice Daniels – One hit wonder award
Mono – Best nickname award
Logan Robinson – Best mustache/Best handshake
Aaron Feick – Most likely to be doing a handstand
Evan Boecking – Sassiest Player/Most likely to get in a fight on the field

End of the Year Banquet

The Auburn Ultimate team would like to give a special thanks to the Connelly’s for hosting our banquet and other team gatherings during the year. We couldn’t have asked for a better team sponsor.

Southeast Regional Tournament Recap

Auburn concluded its season last weekend (May 3rd and 4th) after playing in the Southeast Region tournament. The top three teams of the tournament earned a spot at USAU Collegiate Nationals. The tournament featured 3 top-20 teams, all from the Florida Section – UCF, Florida State, and Florida. Perennial powers Georgia and Georgia Tech were also in attendance. From the Gulf Coast Section Alabama, LSU, Tulane, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt competed as well.

Auburn came in to the tournament seeded 10th out of 13 teams, but was looking to improve that ranking by the end of the tournament. In Auburn’s pool was 3rd-seeded Florida, 4th-seeded Georgia, and 9th-seeded Tulane. Up first – Georgia.

Having been beaten by Georgia at Tally 15-6, Auburn was definitely looking for some revenge, and Auburn couldn’t have had a better start to the game. Several early breaks and strong offensive holds helped Auburn jump out to a commanding 5-2 lead, and later 7-3. Shout out to D-line players West Dickens, Blake Galloway and Garris Bugg for incredible first half performances. With half one point away, Georgia mustered up a couple breaks, but Auburn finished it off 8-6.

Georgia, the very talented team they are, hit Auburn early with two breaks to tie the game  at 8, but solid O-line play got Auburn back on track. A couple breaks by the D-line helped Auburn jump back out with the lead. Back and forth play resumed, and Auburn broke for the game 13-11 for their first win over Georgia in… well… a long time I guess.

 

The highly emotional win, although exciting, did have negative effects for the rest of the day. There was a bit of a let down in the next game against a very good Florida team, and a lack of concentration and focus ended up costing Auburn a crucial game to Tulane. 1-2 in pool play sent Auburn into the lower bracket on Sunday. A loss to Miss St., a win against, Vandy, and a revenge win against against Tulane 17-16 in the cold and rain placed Auburn 9th in the tournament.

Central Florida, Georgia, and Florida State advanced to Nationals. Their seasons continue, but sadly, the Gulf Coast’s season doesn’t. On behalf of the Auburn Ultimate club, we would like to say thanks to the players that will not be returning next year:

Brad Smith
Chad Hobson
Andrew Ruffing
Brandon “ER” Everson
Fred Bonsack
Danny Yates

Your contributions to this program are immeasurable. This program is definitely on the rise, you all played key parts in making it that way. We have enjoyed enjoyed getting to know you guys on and off the field. You are truly brothers to us all. Much love, and WDE84.

Thank you also to Robert Martin for the photos. More photos of the tournament action can be found here.

The Rookies

Highlights from the Dothan Tournament. Rookies. We get to call them that until August.

Spring Tournament Results

The Auburn Ultimate team was very busy this spring, participating in 4 major tournaments over a two month span.

Tally Classic VIII (March 9th-10th) in Tallahassee, Florida
Freaknik (March 30th-31st) in Atlanta, Georgia
Gulf Coast Sectionals (April 13th-14h) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Southeast Regionals (May 3rd-4th) in Tupelo, Mississippi

Recap and Results:
Tally – Auburn came in seeded 12th among 19 teams, featuring heavyweights from across the country including Florida State, Carnegie-Mellon, Virginia Tech, and Georgia. In pool play, an exciting upset of Notre Dame 15-8, a loss to the 1-seed Georgia, and a win over the 4-seed Mississippi earned Auburn 2nd place in the pool, good enough to advance them to the Championship Bracket on Sunday.

There, they faced the surprising 1-seed in Pool C, George Mason. Down several breaks at half, Auburn stormed back in the second half of the game to win 12-10, advancing them to the semifinals of the tournament, and locking them into a top-4 finish. Next up was Ohio State. The game traded back and forth early, with Auburn taking a one-break lead close to halftime, but as the wind picked up and the weather changed, so did the game. Ohio State’s trapping zone, and a few drops and miscues by Auburn’s offense lead to Auburn’s defeat 11-6. This dropped Auburn into the 3rd/4th place game, matching them up with the overall #1 seed and host of the tournament, Florida State (who apparently already left the tournament cause they lost, so we’ll take the forfeit victory). Auburn earned a 3rd-place finish in the tournament, breaking seed by 9 places, with its only losses coming to the top two teams, Georgia and Ohio St.

Freaknik – Auburn came into this tournament in uncharted territory, seeded first out of 12 teams. With the tournament split into two pools of 6, Auburn Ultimate went undefeated on Saturday with wins over Georgia-B, Oberlin, MIT, and Armstrong Atlantic. Using their perfect pool play record, Auburn advanced directly to the semifinals of the tournament set to face the second-seeded team of the tournament, Emory. Down 11-9 late in the game, Auburn rattled off two consecutive breaks to win the game 12-11. Oberlin advanced from the other side of the bracket, causing a rematch in the finals. Auburn defeated Oberlin 13-8 in pool play the day before, and extended their dominance in the championship game winning 13-6. This was the first tournament victory of the season, and most players’ first ultimate tournament victory ever.

Champs

Sectionals – Coming off of two very successful tournaments, Auburn rolled into the Gulf Coast Sectionals tournament ranked 4th overall behind Tulane, LSU, and Alabama. The first game Saturday was against the one-seed of the pool, LSU. After a rough half, Auburn found itself down 7-4 going into intermission. Inspiring defense and solid offensive play got Auburn back in the game and tied it at 10 apiece. However, LSU regrouped and took advantage of a few Auburn mistakes to take the game 13-10. Auburn picked itself back up, taking games against Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi, and Mississippi State (in exciting fashion) to finish pool play with a 3-1 record.

The second place finish in pool play earned Auburn a spot in the 4-team championship bracket, where they faced defending champs a tournament favorite Alabama. Despite promising weather earlier in the week, Sunday turned into a windy, rainy, and cold day of ultimate. Less than ideal conditions and an experienced Alabama squad proved too much for Auburn, despite a great second half push. Alabama took the game 15-11, and went on to beat LSU in the finals 15-7. These top 6 teams from sectionals advanced to Regional play: Alabama, LSU, Tulane, Auburn, USM, and Miss St.

Expect a separate recap for Regionals shortly.

Help Auburn Ultimate by donating today

Help Auburn Ultimate by donating towards travel expenses, tournament fees, and jersey costs! Your money, however little or big, will be well spent through the representation of Auburn Ultimate and the hard we work we put in at every practice, game, and tournament! Thanks to everyone who supports us, wether you have anything to donate or not, we appreciate everyone that makes this club team possible.

Much love,

TJ Martin, captain

Ryan Landry, captain

Rookie Tourney Recap

This past weekend (Feb. 16th and 17th) Auburn Ultimate unleashed its large, freakish, and hungry class of rookies onto the fields of Dothan to wage war against some southern foe. And battle they did.

A bitter and windy Saturday left the Rookies with a 3-1 record along with a point differential of +37.
Game 1: Rookies vs DUDS – L(10-11)
Game 2: Rookies vs West Georgia – W(15-4)
Game 3: Rookies vs Dothan – W(15-1)
Game 4: Rookies vs Destin – W(14-1)

The Auburn D, featuring a mammoth cup and solid deep-deep play by Danny Yates (the team’s MVP on Saturday as voted on by the other teams), caused trouble to every team and gradually improving throws by the offense throughout the day lead to well-deserved blowouts. The day was highlighted by several spectacular plays, including this unreal layout callahan courtesy of Garris Bugg: 

Sunday started out as more of the same, with the Rookie zone defense suffocating the throws of Turbodawg in the quarterfinals and the Dreamstars in the semis. A rematch against a revitalized Destin team awaited in the finals. Less windy conditions allowed Destin to navigate the disc around the Rookie zone much better than before, and it was clear early on that this was going to be a fight down to the last point. Back and forth play in the first half led to Destin taking half 8-6. The Rookies responded well coming out of the intermission getting two quick breaks to tie it at 8. More back and forth play commenced, and both teams tied once more at 10 apiece. Destin scored and broke to go ahead 12-10, and with the game to 15, the Rookies needed to regain their composure. A hold by the offense and a very important break followed, tying the game at 12. Destin followed by a hold and break of their own, with the help of a few squandered opportunities by the Rookies. The Rookies gained one point back to make the game 13-14 in favor of Destin. The Rookies needed a break here to prolong the game and force extra play, and although they were able to force some turnovers, the Destin team held on for a 15-13 championship win. Auburn’s Rookies settled for a well-deserved and hard-fought 2nd place finish.

Quarterfinals: Rookies vs Turbodawgs – W(15-1)
Semifinals: Rookies vs Dreamstars – W(15-3)
Finals: Rookies vs Destin – L(13-15), good for 2nd place.

Overall, the Rookies outscored their opponents 97-36 on the weekend, yielding a +61 difference.

The team posing with a young fan.

Next Up: Cowbell Classic in Starkville, MS on February 23rd & 24th.

 

Next Up: TTown Throwdown 9

The next tournament Auburn Ultimate will be competing in is the 9th Annual TTown Throwdown. The tournament weekend is the 26th and 27th of January, and takes place in Tuscaloosa, AL. This tournament is sanctioned (meaning only players who have a USAU membership are allowed to participate) and will have an effect on the national rankings of all teams who participate. Here’s a link to last season’s latest poll.
If I’m not mistaken, TTown Throwdown 9 is not listed on USA Ultimate’s Events page [yet], nor do I know if Alabama plans to post it there. They do, however, have some event details on their own website here. Here are the teams they have listed as participating, including last year’s final rankings:

UCF (Tied for 5th at nationals I believe)
Miss State* (124th)
Auburn A*
Auburn B
Xavier (207th)
Southern miss* (144th)
Vanderbilt* (92nd)
Alabama A* (90th)
Alabama B
Oklahoma (?)
Cincinatti (40th)
Indiana (65th)
Ball State (118th)
UTC
Tennessee
Tulane* (117th)
Georgia State (166th)
LSU* (94th)
MTSU
Madison HS (We almost always get put in the same pool with these guys for some reason, they are annoying.)

[Somehow the rankings left off nearly the entire state of Tennessee]
* indicates Gulf Coast Section

Spring is Just Around the Corner

Hello to the thousands of people who check this blog everyday for something exciting to be posted. I hope you’ve had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The Spring Semester is just around the corner, which means college ultimate is about to get real again.

But before I explain what that means for Auburn Ultimate, lets recap what happened in the Fall. Auburn Ultimate traveled to two, kind of three, tournaments. First up was Itchfest, held in Nashville, Tennessee. Auburn Ultimate participated as one team filled with tons of new faces (check out the updated roster for names). Saturday pool play started at 8:30 AM. The first opponent was an inexperienced, but feisty, Rhodes College. Thanks to a barrage of athletic D’s by the rookies, Auburn cruised to an easy victory. Next up, Georgia Tech. The former Nationals contenders lost some great players but returned enough talent to get the job done. Auburn Ultimate suffered its first loss of the season, but gained valuable experience. The next game was a very exciting one as we duked it out with the always pleasant Tennessee Agent Orange. A close game throughout, highlighted by a ridiculous play by rookie De’Arius Daniels (I’m sure you’ve heard of him by now), Agent Orange was able to pull out the victory by a couple points. Captain TJ Martin decided that the next game belonged to the rookies as they faced Belmont for the last game of the day. The sidelines were wild, the vets coached up the players on the field, and the rookies, despite a difficult start, were able to make the game close by the end. Unfortunately, Auburn Ultimate fell to Belmont, leaving us with a 1-3 record on the day. The team stuck together, however, and was ready for action the next day in the Chumpionship Bracket.

During a cold, wet, and windy morning, Auburn Ultimate defeated Lipscomb, and then took care of business against Georgia State in an offensive battle with lots of great plays by both teams. Auburn was able to get the first break of the game late in the second half to pull ahead for good. The finals against Tennessee Tech proved to be more of the same. Tennessee Tech’s zone slowed down Auburn early, but veteran leadership and young talent pulled through for the Chumpionship Bracket title.

Click here, or visit the Media tab for the highlight video.

Next up on the schedule was a tournament in Tuscaloosa that I am referring to as the T-Town Warm-Up. Auburn split up into two teams, X and Y, for this tournament in order to get a ton of playing time for everyone on the team. I won’t go into great detail for this tournament as there were about 16 games total for the teams, but I will say that there was a great war going on between the Auburn and Alabama teams. Auburn X finished in 4th place, while Auburn Y finished around 10th.

Click here for the tournament highlight video or visit the Media tab.

Auburn Ultimate also kind of competed in a Montgomery Tournament with a less than complete team. Fun was had, Merry was spread, and Ultimate was played.

Now, looking ahead to the Spring. Practice will resume as usual once the academic semester begins (maybe a little before actually), and I hope everyone has been throwing, running, working out, and playing over the break. First on the horizon tournament-wise is the famous T-Town Throwdown. This will take place January 26th and 27th in the evil city of Tuscaloosa. This is the first sanctioned tournament for the team, and a lot of good competition will be represented. A lot of injured players will be returning from various injuries, and I’m excited to see us make a splash in the collegiate ultimate world. All of our focus will be directed towards this tournament in the coming weeks and I know we will be prepared.

That’s it for now. Remember, check out the videos in the Media tab, and tell your friends that AU Ultimate is about to make some noise.

The Wait is Over

“9.5/10 stalls. Great work!”
- Time Magazine

“It was pretty good I guess…Needs more skies.”
- Typical ultimate player

“What is this?”
- 98% of the American population

Who knew Time Magazine was such a fan of poorly edited highlight videos of obscure sports? Not I.

Without further ado, I give you Regionals 2012, a short film about how Auburn Ultimate overcame an 0-3 heartbreaking Saturday to finish the weekend 1-4…

 

Long Time, No See

Hey everyone! I hope y’all are having a great summer, soaking up the sun, getting all nice and leathery.

It’s getting to that point in the summer when all your summer goals of staying in shape and practicing regularly and eating right are all hanging on by a thread, just like your Auburn Ultimate jerseys (looking at you Savage). But don’t give up! The more you do now the better off you’ll be for the spring. There’s nothing worse than trying to get back into shape and wheezing that first scrimmage like a fat kid. So don’t let your body get OUT of shape in the first place.

It’s Alabama and it gets hot, and its going to get even hotter since summer (the actual season) started yesterday. So WHEN you DO go out and play EVERY WEEK, make sure to stay hydrated and take care of your body. The off-season is the best time of the year to get a leg up on the competition.

Several summer leagues are mid-season and I hope everyone is killing it out there and gaining some valuable experience. This is the time to practice your weaknesses (which we all have, don’t kid yourselves) and make them a strength by the time the season rolls around. Also, Ironmen and other clubs are about to start up so if you are interested in playing, try to contact them. I’ve heard many stories about how much better you get after just a single season with a club team, which is why I’m giving it a shot.

Its only a couple months before we are back out there on the IM fields, personally I can’t wait. So be ready to show off your leathery skin, bulging muscles, and Chad-like stamina.

A little motivation to get you pumped up. Most of you have already seen this, but its worth a 2nd or 3rd or 10th watch:

This concludes my once a month posting.
-Ryan