Thursday, February 13, 1997
CLUB:
Improving team is ready to bounce back from shaky 0-4 startBy
Rocky Salmon
Daily Bruin Contributor
Strolling down Bruin Walk one may catch a glimpse of hovering
discs over the IM Field. The discs seemingly glide over the field
like UFOs. However, it is soon realized that these are not mere
flying saucers, rather they are frisbees.
And the originators of these frisbees are not extraterrestrials,
but the UCLA ultimate frisbee team, who collectively take the name
Smaug.
Playing on a field slightly larger than a soccer field, ultimate
frisbee has become a popular sport due to the various aspects of
the game that are adapted from basketball, football and soccer.
"The sport is more cardiovascular than any I’ve ever played,"
graduate student Chris Furmanski said. "We stress running, so it’s
a constant work-out."
Although the sport was only recently introduced to UCLA, the
club has steadily grown, and last year went 2-2 in sectionals
 losing to the eventual national champions, UC Santa
Barbara.
This season got off to a rocky start. However, since that 0-4
start, the club has turned its record around, culminating in a
tournament title at Occidental last weekend. At the tourney, Smaug
defeated Occidental and Claremont University, for the first time
ever.
"The team started with a lot of rookies, and people don’t watch
frisbee like they do baseball  so people really don’t know
how to play it," captain Mark Rubin said. "It takes a lot of hard
work to gel and every time we have played a game we have
improved."
Anchoring the team is a transfer student from the University of
British Colombia, Corey McLain. Helping McLain steady the team are
graduate students John Keyantash and Jose Garcia, fourth-year
student Joe Vu and rookies Mike Hong and Nathan O’Ded.
With this blend of veterans and first-year players, the club has
steadily improved and is looking to surprise some teams in its next
tournament at UC San Diego this weekend.
"Last time we went to UCSD we lost all of our games because of
inexperience," graduate student Meredith Reitman said. "We are now
ready to break the barrier between young teams and established
ones. We are going to show people that we are a coming-of-age
team."
The next tournament will provide UCLA with a measuring stick to
see where it stands in the district.
The club will have to face proven teams such as UCSB and
sectional runner-up Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo.
"We are doing well," McLain said, "and are ready to get revenge
for what happened earlier in this season in our first
tournament."
As the frisbees hover over La Jolla this weekend, UCLA’s
ultimate frisbee team will try to invade alien ground. The club
will try to knock off the first place Gauchos and prove that Smaug
cannot be taken lightly anymore.