2011 Preview – John Brown University Savage Skies

[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”]School Name: John Brown University
Team Name: Savage Skies
Captains: Libby Eubanks, Andrea Greene, Shannon Quintanilla
Coach: Lorenzo Bohl
Year Founded: 2005
Jersey Colors: Blue and Yellow
Website: http://www.jbu.edu/life/clubs/ultimate/women.asp
2010 Record: 21–11
Score Reporter

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Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved with Ultimate at John Brown?

Libby Eubanks: I am a senior majoring in Sports Medicine.  I started playing ultimate my sophomore year of college.  I had heard about the JBU team, and had been asked to come to a practice, but it was in the middle of the semester and it seemed weird to me to join in the middle of the season.  The next year though my friend said that she was going to an informational meeting for the ultimate team and I wanted to go with her.  I started going to practices and I now love playing the sport.

How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?

Libby: Last year was awesome.  We did really well during the spring semester, with a record of 19-5.  We went to Sectionals in Missouri (with 8 girls and were 6-2) and to Regionals in Austin, TX (with, I think 10 girls. I don’t remember our record). The highlight of the season, however, was when we went to DIII Nationals in Wisconsin.  We took 8 girls to nationals after school let out.  We had a rough day on Saturday of the tournament but played with a lot of heart and ended up winning the last game of the day.  On Sunday we won both of our games.  We ended with a 3-3 record.  We were definitely satisfied with that.  But the best part was when we were at the awards ceremony—we didn’t think we would get anything, but wanted to go for the experience.  They introduced the Spirit of the Game award and when they called out our name we couldn’t have been more excited.  We were all SO surprised that we had won anything at DIII Nationals.  We felt so honored.

Who is your favorite team to play against? Tell us about a memorable game.

Libby: Missouri State’s Bearly Legal.  We are matched very well and every time we play each other the games are very close—almost always we take it to ultimate point.  They are always extremely intense and usually frustrating.  But they are always good, hard games. One particular game at Sections in 2009 we played them while it was raining and freezing.  The game was called because of lightning so we went inside a bathroom to warm up.  Both teams wanted to just call the game, or even flip for it.  Through a series of events, we ended up having to finish playing the game, even though no others teams were still playing.  It was a miserable experience for both teams.  We ended up losing, but will always remember having to go back out to finish the game in the freezing rain.

How does your team bring new players up to speed?

Libby: We use the first semester for teaching about the game.  We work on throwing and catching, and our different team strategies.  Experience is the best way to learn ultimate, so we do a lot of scrimmaging and going to tournaments.  We scrimmage our guys team on a regular basis which helps us when we play other women’s teams because we are used to running harder during practice.

Without giving too much away, what does your team like to do on offense and on defense?

Libby: Horizontal stack and Zone D.

Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?

Libby: As a Christian team, some of our goals for each year are to be a witness to other teams.  We do our best to be good sports and have good spirit during and after games.  After every game we ask the other team to pray with us, whether we won or lost.  We want other people to see that we are different, but can still be just as competitive.  Last year our season goals included making it to Regionals and Nationals.  This year we have a very new team, but with a lot of potential, and would love to make it to regionals again.

What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring? Which one are you most looking forward to?

Libby: A few that we are planning on going to are Midwest Throwdown, Hendrix Ultimate Experience, and Frostbite

What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?

Libby: Here is one thing we do during a game when we are exhausted and can’t seem to find the strength: get in a huddle, bend and reach down to the ground and we start with a low growl and get louder and louder as we reach higher and higher in the sky.  It pumps us up and gives us energy to finish up the game.