Lincoln Plews
Contributing Writer
The women’s ultimate team, Betty Gone Wild (a reference to the Ram Jam song “Black Betty”), is headed to their first ever USA Ultimate Regional Championships after going a perfect 5-0 in the Conference Championships this past weekend in Gambier, Ohio.
The women started the weekend off with force, shutting out the Oberlin College B team 15-0 and defeating Xavier University 15-7.
The team’s first challenge came against Kenyon College in a 12-11 victory that would be their closest match of the day. They then beat the Oberlin A squad 11-8 and defeated Kenyon again 15-6 to take the Ohio DIII Conference Championship and secure their spot in the Regional Championships.
Captain Abby VanLeuven ’14 credits the team’s success to their positive attitude and supportive atmosphere. “We have always had great spirit and a great attitude but this year the amount of positivity and fun that we have on the field is what really helped us win,” said VanLeuven.
This weekend’s wins were a culmination of what has been an overall great season for B.G.W. The team has defeated several Division I schools (including Ohio State and Saint Louis University).
The team is taking advantage of Ohio’s recent erratic weather to prepare for the Regional Championships, putting extra practice into throwing in the wind or the rain.
“In Frisbee, scoring upwind points is pretty crucial but also incredibly difficult, and we scored five or six per game on the last day,” said VanLeuven.
The Regional Championships will be held April 26-27 at Penn State University. Wooster will again face Kenyon and Oberlin, who qualified in the second and third spots, as well as several yet-to-be determined teams from Pennsylvania. If Betty Gone Wild emerges as Regional Champions, they will compete in the National Championships on May 17-18 at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.