A considerable group of both Gustavus students and recent alumni continued a tradition of frisbee this past weekend in an all-day event atop the hill

One of the largest sporting events on the Gustavus campus took place this past weekend thanks to months of hard work by the Ultimate Frisbee captains. A record sixteen teams from the Midwest and beyond travelled to a pleasant-yet-breezy St. Peter to compete in what is now regarded as one of the best Ultimate tournaments in the Midwest. Senior Captains John Bussey and Nate Ebnet tag-teamed a planning and organization process that occupied valuable hours for at least three months.

“Pretty much all of our conversations and interactions with each other for the past month revolved around Ultimate,” said Ebnet. The two had to reserve field space, hire Campus Safety officers, ensure an athletic trainer would be on hand, mark fields, organize the Saturday night concert and contact teams to participate, among other important errands. After all the hard work, Bussey reflected on the success of the weekend.

“It went really well,” said Bussey. “A couple of teams had to cancel last minute, but besides that, the tournament went really smoothly.”

The two teams that did not show up (UND and Critical Point) made for a hectic Saturday morning for Bussey, who had to reconfigure the pre-tournament pools and tournament bracket after weeks of working on each. The only other mishap occurred Sunday, as the newly formed Gustavus B-team, full of Bussey’s close personal friends, did not show up.

This unfortunate absence did not affect the mood of the A-team, also known as The High, who went on to win the tournament.

The High defeated Minnesota State University, Mankato 13-10 in the final, ending the season on a “high” note.
“We made huge progress this year,” said Bussey. “We got shut out by Mankato at the beginning of the year, so beating them to win this tourney was great.”

The team took a serious approach to conditioning this winter by running track workouts three times a week. This really paid off during the seven ninety-minute games played this weekend.

“The athleticism of the players has really improved in the four years I have been playing here,” said Ebnet. “It is no longer a sport reserved for longhaired hippies. Ultimate now attracts some extremely talented athletes, and conditioning is increasingly important.”

Despite The High winning it all, perhaps the best team on the hill was the Gustavus Alumni team. Full of the best Gustavus players from the past eight years, the alumni team easily defeated Mankato on Saturday, but was forced to forfeit its semifinal game versus Mankato on Sunday due to plane departure times. The devotion of alumni for this program was evident, however, as past Gusties travelled from across the country to enjoy this tournament. Players came from diverse places, including Denver, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and other distant cities.

The devotion that these visits show seems to be growing, thanks to the leadership of Bussey and Ebnet.

“There are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of Gustavus Ultimate,” said Bussey. “For example, we have a youth tournament in a couple weeks which should increase interest in Gustavus Ultimate.”

Ideas like this really show the interest these players take in their sport. It is this leadership that has helped Thrill on the Hill become a respected Ultimate tournament.

“I was thoroughly impressed with the organization of The Thrill,” said Senior B-teamer Jorge Munoz. “It is astonishing how much work these guys have put into the program this year.”

With the season now over after a very successful Thrill on the Hill Tournament, Bussey has found closure to his college career.

“Ultimate has defined me here at Gustavus,” said Bussey. “The end of this weekend was more of a graduation than May 31 will be for me.”

While the team may be losing two superb leaders in Bussey and Ebnet, the program now comfortably falls into the able hands of returning captains Pat Gaetz and Erik Huemiller. Each hopes to continue the progress of this up-and-coming program.