UNCW's Women's Ultimate Frisbee Club Team, Seaweed, took first place at the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) Atlantic Coast Regional Tournament on April 25-26. The team defeated their rival UNC 13-12 in the finals, with an overall 5-0 record. The win comes mere weeks after the Seaweed won the North Carolina Sectionals Tournament. The Seaweed are ranked 8th in the nation by the UPA with a 25-6 record. The team attributes its success this year to competing at one of the most prestigious Ultimate tournaments, the Stanford Invite; running countless sprints after practice; and following the guidance of their coaches Danny Wrenn and Nikki Zeldin (both former UNCW players).
At one point in the finals, the Seaweed was tied with UNC 12-12. The UNCW women intercepted and senior Lia English threw a long pass downfield. As the disc hovered in the air, junior Kelly Tidwell jumped over two UNC players to catch the disc. After this game-saving grab, UNCW was able to make two more passes to win the game. Tidwell said, "I saw the disc and told myself I had to catch it. I leapt and closed my eyes. I never wanted anything more."
Now celebrating Seaweed's 20th anniversary, the team has been awarded a bid to compete in the 2009 UPA College Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on May 22-25. UNCW's Women's Ultimate Frisbee team has a rich history with the UPA Championship. They were National Champions in 1992 and 1996, and earned a spot to the tournament almost every year from 1989 to 2001.
"Our team is very excited about this opportunity to play against the best teams in the nation and to bring UNCW back to Ultimate's highest competition," said senior Elise Bardsley, a co-captain of the Women's Ultimate Team.
Media Contact:
Sara Casey, Seaweed Ultimate Frisbee co-captain, Sec6002@uncw.edu or 704.907.4620
Joy Davis, UNCW Marketing and Communications, 910.916.8603 or davisjc@uncw.edu
