While the baseball and men’s basketball teams did not have an incredibly successful spring, there is one Mississippi State team that is one of the best in the Southeast. The MSU Ultimate Frisbee club team has advanced to regional play for the third year running.
The team defeated Southern Miss, Ole Miss and southeast power Auburn in sectional play to earn the berth in regionals, which takes place May 1 in Austin, Texas. The Bulldogs’ sectional includes Alabama, Louisiana and the southern portion of Tennessee.
Senior and team captain John Clemmer said the victory against Ole Miss was particularly sweet after spending the last three years being embarrassed by the Rebels.
“Ole Miss used to actually beat us every time we played them,” he said. “This is our first year that we’ve beat them. The last three years we’ve played them six times; and they beat us every time. They would always be close games, down to one point. They always rub it in our face, ‘you guys never beat us,’ but now the tables have turned a bit.”
Clemmer is a part of a group of seniors who made the push for a club Frisbee team during their freshman year, and he said despite disappointing performances in the past, he wants to go out with a bang at regionals.
“Our first year we didn’t win a game; we went 0-fer,” he said. “Last year we finished 13 out of 20. This year we’re actually making a push to make some noise because it’s our [seniors’] last year.”
The team became official during the 2006-07 school year, and senior Jonathan Graves said he has been impressed with the improvement he and the team have made in such a short time together.
“The fact that we’re going to regionals for the third time and this is only our fourth year is really a big deal,” he said. “You don’t see that very often.”
Frisbee became popular nearly half a century ago when the first disc came onto the market, but Clemmer said it is something that has not caught on as quickly in the South.
“We’re one of the newest teams in the South,” he said. “Some of the better teams like Texas have been around for 15 years plus, but ultimate is very uncommon in the South. It’s all really East, West or North, except for Texas and Georgia.”
Senior Johnson Thomasson, whom Clemmer refers to as “the team baller,” said he got his start playing right here in Starkville.
“I lived in Starkville when I was 11 in a house next to the old intramural fields,” he said. “One day, I sat on the field and watched these college guys playing this awesome sport called Ultimate Frisbee. To my amazement, they asked me to hop in the game. I’ve been playing ever since. In fact, I played in a real intramural game when I was 12, and I scored.”
Ultimate Frisbee is a 7-on-7 sport with a setup that combines basketball and football. To score a point, a team has to get the Frisbee into the hands of one of their members in the end zone without letting the disc touch the ground. However, as soon as the Frisbee hits the ground or is caught by the other team, the possession goes to the new team, who immediately begin trying to reach the opposite end zone.
Thomasson admits the team has struggled in the past, but he said he has high hopes for regionals.
“This is the third time we have gone to regionals, but I think this will be the first time we go with any expectations,” he said. “We gelled at just the right time to win some games at sectionals, and we’re running with a lot of momentum right now. Plus, in terms of sheer athleticism, we are as good as any team out there. We have some incredible athletes.”
The team practices three to four times a week in preparation for regionals, but Thomasson said anyone – experienced or not – is welcome to try their hand at Ultimate Frisbee with the club team.
“One amazing thing about this group of guys is how welcoming and inclusive they are,” he said. “Anyone who is interested in playing club Ultimate is welcome to come out to practice. We’d love some more sick athletes, but we’ll take anyone who is willing to learn the sport and run with us.”