The Oregon Club Sports ultimate frisbee teams performed admirably last weekend, with the men advancing to the semifinals and the women to the quarterfinals, respectively, in the San Diego President’s Day Tournament.
On the women’s side, Oregon finished second in its pool on Saturday, going 2-2, and advanced to the quarterfinals in Sunday’s pool, where it went 1-2.
The Ducks’ first game on Sunday was against Berkeley, where the women found themselves down 5-1 early, but fought hard to secure the 11-10 comeback win. Oregon then met British Columbia, which entered the tournament ranked first, and defeated B.C. 14-7.
“We had to step it up and be the best team we could be,” women’s coordinator Izzy Stohler said.
The men started the tournament finishing 4-0 in their pool on Saturday, and had continued success, placing second in their pool on Sunday by winning big games down the stretch. The Ducks upset higher-ranked UC-San Diego 13-10 and made a strong comeback against British Columbia, after being down 3-6, to pull out the 13-9 victory .
“We scored some big games against powerhouse teams,” men’s coach Joshua Greenough said.
Then came Oregon State, who didn’t cause any trouble for Oregon as the Ducks won by a count of 15-9. Next came the semifinals, with Oregon and Colorado facing off. The Ducks stayed close and made a strong push at the end, but lost 15-13. Colorado went on to win the tournament.
“The game against Colorado was huge,” Greenough said.
Oregon will soon have another chance, though, when it will likely meet Colorado again in the Stanford Invitational on March 10-11.
The women will also be traveling to Stanford on March 3-4, where the Ducks will have another chance at British Columbia, along with other top competitors.
“Everyone played better than I have ever seen them play before this weekend,” Stohler said.

Rugby teams cruise to victory
After the beating it took against Brigham Young, the Oregon Club Sports men’s rugby team was fired up to capture a win and had no trouble doing so against Washington.
The A-team dominated the Huskies, 47-6, and the B-team put on a strong performance as well, pounding Washington 27-15.
Washington only scored against Oregon on the B-team toward the end because of line-up changes that consisted of less experienced players. The men are currently 2-2 with two conference games remaining.
“We were due to break through,” coach Bob Snyder said. “It is always really nice to beat Washington.”
Oregon was satisfied to see all of its hard work pay dividends. Freshman Tim Schulze had a breakthrough game for the B-team and senior forward Jake Hays was strong for the A-team, scoring four times.
“It was reaffirming that we could put a good game together against a solid team like Washington,” Hays said.
The defending league champions host Central Washington this weekend and then in-state rival Oregon State on March 10. The Ducks will need to defeat both teams in order to advance to the 32-team national tournament at UC-Davis.
“When we play our game, we are almost unbeatable, and our chance for nationals is good,” Snyder said.
On the women’s side, the club rugby team destroyed Southern Oregon, 80-0, last weekend in Ashland. The women have a lot of new players this year and are 1-0 for the winter.
“Everyone stepped up and played very well,” senior coordinator Shelby Frail said. “It wasn’t much of a competition for us.”