UPA 2003 COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
University of Oregon
Website: http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~bwiggins/ultimate/
Coaches: Markus Brown
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Players: | ||
| 1 - Ben Wiggins | Senior | 5' 10'' |
| 2 - Dan Johnson | Senior | 6' 5" |
| 3 - Roy Van Cleef | Freshman | 6' 1" |
| 4 - Shaun Londahl | Junior | 6' 0" |
| 5 - Markus Brown | Senior | 6' 1" |
| 6 - Will Cooper | Senior | 5' 10'' |
| 7 - Ben Parrell | Sophomore | 5' 9". |
| 8 - Justin Grishkin | Graduate Student | 5' 10" |
| 9 - Matt Guy | Senior | 6' 0" |
| 10 - Seth Wiggins | Sophomore | 6' 2" |
| 11 - John King | Senior | 5' 11" |
| 12 - Doug McKenzie | Senior | 6' 1" |
| 14 - David Berney Needleman | Freshman | 5' 7" |
| 15 - Nephi Perry | Junior | 6' 2" |
| 21 - Jeremy Forrest | Senior | 5' 11" |
| 22 - Pat Holland | Senior | 6' 0" |
| 28 - Jeff Trench | Sophomore | 6' 3" |
| 42 - Rusty Thorn | Senior | 5' 9" |
| 44 - John Knorek | Freshman | 6' 1" |
| 66 - Justin Valasek | Senior | 6' 2'' |
| 80 - Jon Wiebe | Senior | |
The Oregon Ultimate team was founded in 1981 by none other then the Henry Callahan. Led by Callahan, Oregon valued the "spirit of the game" and grew to become a strong college team. Reaching Nationals out of the vaunted West in 1985 and 1986, Oregon won the National Championship in 1992. After '92 the team entered a period of decline, where anemic results prevailed.
In 1999 all of that changed when two outstanding players and leaders arrived, Josh Greenough and Ben Wiggins. The duo of Greenough and Wiggins bestowed the team with the title EGO, and helped lead it to a series of strong seasons and a berth to the 2001 College Championships by beating rival Stanford for the one bid out of the Northwest Region, and placing 3rd at the Championships.
2002 began with high expectations. With both Greenough and Wiggins returning to captain the team, EGO looked ripe for a repeat trip to Nationals and to make a concentrated effort on returning to the podium a decade after Oregon's only trip to the top. But the season ended in disappointment when the team failed to qualify after a deflating loss in the Regional final and a burned out effort in the backdoor game.
This year EGO has rebounded. Fielding its strongest team to date, Oregon has played well in many tournaments, including winning President's Day. Again the 2003 EGO has had to come out of the Northwest Region with only one bid to Nationals. After beating Stanford in the semi's, 15-12, Oregon took down the strong Sectional rival Oregon State, 15-10.
Will this be the year that EGO recaptures the crown? Will Oregon repeat as Spirit Award Team Champions, as they did in 2001? We can only wait and see, stay tuned...