1999 COLLEGIATE PRESEASON POLL: WOMEN

The women's division may be a little tougher to rate than the men's division. There's fewer teams and fewer scouts and a lot of parity below the top tier of teams. This will change as the awareness level for College Ultimate increases.

For this poll, I believe the top 6 teams are properly identified. The next 14 are a little tougher to compare and I felt it unfair to assign them rankings or numbers. They will be listed in what is believed to be some sort of order, but don't hold me to it! We're all doing our best.

1) Stanford Will anyone stop them? Does any other team in the nation practice five days a week under the watchful gaze of coach Jen "Pie" Donnelly? How many teams consistently recruit A-level varisty players from other sports? No, No and one. The Superfly is in the midst of a dynasty without a forseeable end. Callahan winner Andrea "AJ" Johnson is back, along with star Mary Hunt Martin. Donnelly is back, despite claims that she was ready to retire. Stanford can best be compared to the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, who have won __ number of College Hoops Championships and are always favored to do it again.

2) Carleton Losing twice to Stanford by one point will keep you plotting in the off-season. Carleton is ready for revenge. Captains Jenn Wilson and Brooke Harnden are back to guide a veteran team to the promised land. Syzygy will miss graduated Deb Cussen but the senior handling core of Cindy Craig, Sharon Goodwin, Sarah Goodwin and Mizu Kinney should keep the disc in safe hands. Don't judge this team by their appearance at College Easterns: Northfield, Minnesota is still six inches under snow when they head down south. Syzygy will be ready and waiting for Boulder come May.

3) Yale Welcome back, Ramona. Anne Lightbody rejoins the rotation after tearing an ACL. And 8 starters, all of them now seniors, return for 1999. Yale is a stacked veteran squad and they will be turning heads in the division. Last year's Nationals roster of 12 has been bulked up to 20 as Captain Sarah Lieberman has recruited talented freshmen and sophomores to fill the ranks. Look out for the long game too, oh, and maybe even Vicky Chow, a top-level Godiva rookie with one year left of eligibility. However, the new eligibility rules may prevent her from playing. With or without Chow, Yale will be a team to be reckoned with.

4) Oregon Huck-machine Aurora de la Cruz may be gone, but it hasn't slowed down Judy Dozono and the Sneetches. Building on the success of last year's semifinal appearance, Oregon has beefed up their squad and brought the Green home to Eugene for Regionals. Now that Southern California has been sectioned off, the Sneetches hope for a sixteen-team Nationals, making their appearance almost automatic. Otherwise it's a match with Stanford for plane tickets. The Sneetches have already wrapped up one tournament, defeating home team UCSD at the President's Day Cup.

5) UC San Diego Call it synergy if you will, but a good women's team will always help out a good men's team. San Diego has been brewing Ultimate for some time now, and in 1999 Psycaughit hopes to capitalize and garner a spot to Nationals. Senior Captain Meg Parker leads a determined team looking to make up for a disappointing 1998. UCSD has already finished third at Santa Barbara and lost in the finals at President's Cup. They are in good position to take advantage of the redrawing and make Nationals for the first time.

6) Brown Lost at "the wrong time" last year at Regionals, missing out on a chance to join their classmates in Blaine. This year they are older, with four seniors anchoring the offense, and wiser behind coach and noted club veteran Lori Parham. Senior captain Shana Cook, another off-season Godiva player along with Parham and Shelley Ratay, hopes to make a strong showing at Nationals with Disco Inferno's improved and heightened offense. She'll have to guide the team past a difficult region. In addition to Yale; M.I.T., Dartmouth and Tufts all have enough talent to make for a competitive year.

The next group

UNCW It's going to be a rebuilding year for Wilmington. Coach Andrew Zeldin will get them in prime form for May but Seaweed is only inheriting six players from last year's Nationals squad. Still, senior captains Meredith Cramer and Adell McMurtry have enough skill and determination to keep the team in contention. A little of a good thing might be just enough.

Wisconsin Captain Susan Redding is highly regarded in the region. She helped take the local Madison team to Club Nationals this fall and hopes to repeat the performance with an even stronger Panacea squad. They might surprise more than a few teams this year.

Cornell Another team in a rebuilding stage. But maybe that's just what the program needs. After making Club Nationals in 1996 the Wild Roses have been disappointing, failing to make College semifinals since. Big targets Kristi Hulett and Melanie Carr have graduated leaving a weakened offense. We'll see what 1999 brings.

Colorado Rare Air club player Heidi Pomfrett is guiding Kali in their hopes of making Nationals for the first time. So far they've had an up-and-down early season, getting pasted by UCSD at Tempe and losing focus against Las Positas in quarterfinals of President's Cup. Still, they hope to find strength in numbers and have the determination to be home and playing come May.

Rutgers Shakti came quite close to a few big upsets at Nationals in 1998. They've always carried a sizable squad and have already been to the Big Show twice. Can they bring some respect back to New Jersey, the birthplace of Ultimate?

UCSB The Burning Skirts have a long, long history at Nationals, both College and Club. The regionals redrawing might give the squad the necessary push into Nationals and then anything can happen. Made semifinals at President's Cup and are rumored to be hosting Regionals.

ECU You never know exactly how good East Carolina is going to be, but with Mike G still hanging around the program you know they're going to be, um, gritty. Last year's team may have retained more players than UNCW and could cause trouble in the region.

MIT A small and tight-knit group of Grad Students led this team to the Dance last year. It'll be tougher this time around.

Las Positas Tough girls can go far. Already conquered the President's Cup, besting Colorado before falling to champions Oregon by four in the semifinals. Might be this year's Chabot.

Georgia Tech Taking over where their Athens sisters left off. Could be the year of the yellowjacket if they can take some Georgia sass into North Carolina.

Oberlin Hosting the Great Lakes Open will help the team build along with the men's program, which is always formidable. The redrawing will give them a shot to make the ranks.

Notre Dame A steadily growing program might finally be able to make 1999 a Womb one. A rebuilding Indiana program gives them a window of opportunity.

Dartmouth The Ivy Leagues haven't looked this good since the early days of the sport. Another rising program.

Virgina/UBC/Columbia/Rice One of these teams will do some damage this year. Maybe all of them. It's just a hunch really.

Introduction
Men

Well, we were a little off in our women's predictions, failing entirely to provide props to Georgia, picking Georgia Tech instead.

ARCHIVE HOME

1996–1998 • 1999–2000 • 2001–2003 • 2004–2005

OTHER LINKS