The Burning Skirts did their share of torching over the weekend, but found themselves burned in the end.
The women’s ultimate Frisbee Regionals were held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,Colo. The Burning Skirts took fourth place out of a field of 11 teams.
“I’m not very disappointed, personally,” freshman Katie Barry said. “I am a rookie and am just starting out. We made lots of great plays over the weekend and overall we played well. It is really hard to come out of the Regionals as the top team.”
Of the 11 teams, only the top team was granted a trip to Nationals. That privilege went to the University of Colorado, which defeated San Diego 14-8 in the finals. The Nationals will be held in Corvallis, Ore. on May 27-29.
The tournament began with pool play Saturday. The teams were divided into two pools, one with six teams and one with five. The Burning Skirts won four of the five games in pool play, good enough to put then in fourth place heading into Sunday’s single elimination. The Skirts knocked off USC 11-0, Arizona 8-4, Colorado College 11-1 and UCSD’s B team 11-1. Their only loss in the first round came at the hands of UCLA, which downed the Skirts 9-6.
“The three captains [seniors Randi Watts, Claire Fletcher and Yael Kisel] stepped up and helped us and demonstrated tremendous leadership,” Barry said. “They helped us pull through some tough games.”
The field was cut down to eight for Sunday. New Mexico, USC and UCSD’s B team were all eliminated after the first day. The Burning Skirts crushed Claremont Mudd 15-3 in the first round, but the Skirts saw their season end in the semifinals as UCSD’s A team defeated them 15-7 en route to a trip to the finals and a second place finish. Colorado narrowly edged UCLA in the other semifinal by a 13-12 margin.
“It was emotional at the end,” Barry said. “It was the last time that Claire [Fletcher] and her sister [junior Alden Fletcher] played together. But we were excited about how the season went and how we have done. We made it to the semifinals and we are all pleased with that achievement.”
The future for the Burning Skirts looks bright. The only seniors on the squad are the three captains. The captains will have to be replaced, but there are nine juniors on this year’s roster, meaning plenty of experienced leadership remains for next year.
“Next year we will definitely be even stronger,” Barry said. “We have lots of returning players. A lot of the veterans have several years of experience and everyone had lots of playing time this year. Everyone now has some experience under their belts and we should only get better.”