The sport of ultimate frisbee began in 1973, but it would not come to SLU as a club sport until 1998 when a co-ed ultimate frisbee team was founded at SLU with the name SLUUT(St. Louis University Ultimate Team). In 2001, there were enough women playing to split the team in two for a men’s and women’s team. The 2001-2002 school year was the inaugural season for SLULU(St. Louis University Ladies Ultimate). The women’s team formed under a dedicated group of women who had played for the coed SLUUT. SLULU has made ultimate frisbee a popular club sport at SLU ever since.
During the 2003-2004 season, SLULU was under the leadership of Shannon Nealon. The team competed at Harvest Moon in Arkansas, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and Huck Finn in St. Louis. The end of this season left SLULU with many gaping hole in its roster with the loss of many experienced players…many of them playing for the team since its inaugural season. The 2004-2005 season sent SLULU packing to Wisconsin for a campout on the playing fields of Whitewater. The cold of a Wisconsin October was not enough to stifle the fun of campfires, stargazing, and of course, lots of ultimate. The team took a small group of just nine girls, including five new inexperienced players. However, they managed to play strongly, winning half their games. They also competed in Harvest Moon in Arkansas, Frostbite in Springfield, a rainy and cold Huck Finn in St. Louis, and a new April tournament in Indiana called Wild Women of the Midwest. The Smith family kindly let fourteen girls invade their home all weekend and devotedly cheered the team on to several victories that weekend.
During the 2005-2006 season, SLULU played in numerous tournaments under the leadership of team captains Shannon Nealon and Sarah Krumrey. Katie Richards acted as President for the club. In October 2005, the team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for Harvest Moon. SLULU succeeded in winning their bracket and finishing first in the tournament. The new freshmen quickly polished their skills in amazing fashion and were the determining factor in the team’s success at Harvest. In March 2006, SLULU took a team of 9 girls to Frostbite in Springfield, MO. Despite the lack of numbers and experience, SLULU managed to play competitively against the teams they faced. The stellar zone defense held things together for the small team on numerous occasions. They also had enough energy left to successfully devour the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet at Cici’s later that night. The month of March also found SLULU competing at Huck Finn where the team won five of eight games. Then it was back to Fayetteville the first weekend of April for Ozark Sectionals to compete against seven other teams contending to make it through to the National Tournament the following month. All the teams qualified for the Regional Tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma. SLULU contended strongly in Sectionals, only losing to Truman, which placed them in second for Sectionals. During Regionals in Tulsa, SLULU won its first 3 games. Their fourth game against Texas A&M was a one point loss and eliminated their chance to have a first round bye the next day. Day 2 of Regionals started with a close(and very muddy) match against Truman State. SLULU quickly pulled ahead, but ended up losing to Truman, placing the team in the loser’s bracket for the remainder of the tournament. SLULU continued to play hard their last two games and won their way to a 5th place finish out of ten teams. It was the first time the team had competed in the UPA tournament and it served to fuel the desire of the team to compete hard the next season and continue to place higher and higher.
The 2006-2007 team is currently forming under the leadership of team captains Sarah Krumrey and Kara O’Malley. SLULU is working to build on their success and experiences from the previous season and make the team better than it has ever been!
For information about the history of the sport of ultimate click here!
Written by: Jessica Lorentz
