Ultimate Frisbee Championships at SRSC

The 2015 USA Ultimate Atlantic Coast D-1 College Women’s and Men's Regional Championships will be held at the Smith River Sports Complex this weekend, April 25-26.  Games will start at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. This event is free to the public.

There will be a total of 16 men's teams and 12 women’s teams competing with three men's and one women’s teams qualifying to represent the Atlantic Coast region at the National Championship tournament May 22-25, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"Competition wise, we expect some hard fought battles on the field. For most teams, this is the last tournament of their season. [For the men], the Atlantic Coast region features several nationally ranked teams - UNC-Wilmington ended the regular season ranked No. 2 in the country, while North Carolina-Chapel Hill finished ranked No. 7 and Maryland finished at No. 15. Those three teams will look to earn berths to the championships. On the women's side, Virginia has had a strong season, finishing No. 7 in USA Ultimate's national rankings, and they will look to fend off challengers from Maryland, UNC-Wilmington and Clemson," said Dave Branick, USA Ultimate Men's College Director.

Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone.  Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds.

"The facility is a great fit for our event, providing a centrally located site with expertly maintained fields and all the amenities an organizer could ask for," Branick said. "Billy Russo and the staff at Smith River Sports Complex do an amazing job coordinating with us each year and make running an event of this size as stress-free as possible. We're blessed to have Smith River Sports Complex located in the heart of our region, making it an ideal site to host regional championship events."

"Ultimate is governed by a code called Spirit of the Game, which places the responsibility for fair play on the players. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play," said Branick.

Women's Teams:

1. Clemson

2. Delaware

3. George Washington

4. Georgetown

5. James Madison

6. Liberty

7. Maryland

8. North Carolina-Chapel Hill

9. North Carolina-Wilmington

10. North Carolina State

11. Virginia

12. Virginia Commonwealth

Men's Teams:

1. American

2. Appalachian State

3. Clemson

4. Delaware

5. George Washington

6. Georgetown

7. Maryland

8. North Carolina- Chapel Hill

9. North Carolina-Wilmington

10. North Carolina State

11. South Carolina

12. Towson

13. Virginia

14. Virginia Commonwealth

15. Virginia Tech

16. William & Mary

For more information visit www.SmithRiverSportsComplex.com or call (276) 638-5200.  To learn more about USA Ultimate visit www.usaultimate.org.