Local ultimate frisbee club wins tourney

MACOMB, Ill. ? The Iowa/MUM Flyers Ultimate Club won the Western Classic Ultimate Frisbee tournament hosted by Western Illinois University and held Saturday-Sunday in Macomb, Ill.

Ultimate is a competitive sport where teams of seven players attempt to string passes together to sprinting receivers in a soccer-size field until they score, or turn the disc over, and switch to defense with no time breaks in between.

The Flyers went undefeated the first day of play with just one substitute available out of eight players. The team included experienced older players, recent Maharishi University of Management graduates and athletic rookies.

On Sunday, the team reached the finals with the help of five more players that drove down for the playoffs. The Flyers came back from a tough 12-14 deficit in the championship game and beat the Southern Illinois University Alumni 15-14.

?We deployed a disciplined zone defense that carried the day for us on Saturday,? said captain Brian Faulkner, ?It was the German offense that allowed us to reach the final and that?s thanks to Joel?s vast experience in the game. Everybody did an amazing job of sticking with the game despite the exhaustion and high level of intensity.?

The German offense uses three players to handle the disc, one main receiver and three deep receivers.