Correction, May 2, 1 p.m.: An earlier version of this article stated that this will be Chaos Theory's second straight appearence at the national championship. It will be their third.
Winning five of its six games in the USA Ultimate D-III Regionals Championships this weekend at Williams, the women’s ultimate Frisbee team, Chaos Theory, secured a spot in the national D-III College Championships. The team will travel to Westerville, Ohio, on May 17 to defend its title.
On Saturday, in the pool play round of the tournament, Chaos Theory played Wellesley, Brandeis and Smith.
“Smith was the toughest game,” said Kate Powers ’17.
“They were a really good team,” agreed captain Clare Stansberry ’14. “They had a couple of really strong handlers, but we were able to shut them down. That was really key.”
Bowdoin beat Smith 13-7 after beating Brandeis 15-6 and Wellesley 15-8 earlier in the day.
On Sunday, Chaos played Bates in its first game of the championship round of the tournament, winning 15-5. The players remarked that Bates had great spirit and sportsmanship.
“A big part of Frisbee, which I think really sets us apart from a lot of other sports, is this whole idea of ‘spirit of the game,’” said Stansberry. “Part of what ultimate is about is the love of the game and promoting love of the game and good sportsmanship. Bates was hands down the most spirited team we played all weekend. They were cheering for us in our other games and we were cheering for them.”
After playing Bates, Chaos Theory played Williams and lost 10-9. They won their third and final game against Smith decisively with a 14-4 score, taking second place in the tournament.
Strong team play and key players contributed to the team’s success.
“I would say an underappreciated athlete on campus is Ana Leon [’16],” said Stansberry. “She played for the USA world team for U-19. She’s a key movement piece on the field. She can just always get discs.”
Powers agreed with Stansberry.
“She’s one of those players who makes everyone else better when she is on the field. She has great reads and knows really well how to work with other people,” she said.
Meanwhile, the men’s ultimate team, Stoned Clown, competed in its own D-III Regionals Tournament at Amherst. Clown posted a 4-3 record at the tournament and was one win away from qualifying for nationals.
In the pool play round, Stoned Clown recorded a 3-1 record, with its one loss coming to Bentley, 12-8 in its first game.
“We came out really slow in the first half, and they were up 7-2 at halftime,” said Sam Shapiro ’14. “We played a lot better in the second half, though. We scored more points than them in the second half. The game got time capped, so it was only played to 12.”
On Saturday Bowdoin beat Merrimack 13-6, and defeated Worcester Polytechnic by a score of 13-7.
The following morning, Clown played Middlebury in a close match, winning 9-7.
“It was probably one of the best games we played all weekend,” said Shapiro.
Later in the day, Stoned Clown had three games in the bracket round of the tournament. The team lost 15-7 to Bryant, before rebounding quickly to beat Amherst 15-9.
“They went up on us early, 2-0, but from there we pretty much steamrolled them. We just played with a ton of energy and a ton of fire,” said Shapiro.
In its final game of the tournament, fighting for the third and final spot to nationals, Stoned Clown lost to Brandeis.
“That game was really tight through the first half,” said Shapiro. “They took half on us 8-6, so we were right in it. In the second half we just began to get more tired than they were, basically.”
The tournament marked the end of Stoned Clown’s season.