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School Name: Georgia Tech
Team Name: Wreck
Name Origin: Formerly Atari, changed to Wreck in honor of the school’s mascot, the Ramblin’ ‘Reck
Captains: Leah Tsinajinnie and Kelly Kloster
Coach: Keith Raynor
Year Founded: 1998
Jersey Colors: White and Gold
Website: http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/ultimate/womens/
2010 Record: 10-10
Score Reporter
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Kelly Kloster gets up over a couple of South Carolina defenders and shows the world what "Infinite Winning" is all about.
Tell us a little about yourselves. How did you get involved with ultimate at Georgia Tech?
Leah Tsinajinnie: I’m a third year Psychology major from Lilburn, GA. I had ACL reconstruction surgery in late March, and now that I’m back on the field, I can’t wait to compete in the Series since I missed it last year. As a freshman, I was already interested in Ultimate, but didn’t know we had a team, until the captain saw me when I was playing pickup and invited me to join. After seeing how awesome ultimate is and the Wreck girls were, I was hooked.
Kelly Kloster: I am a 4th year Mechanical Engineering major and German minor from the DC area. During freshman orientation I stopped by the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee table in my mini skirt and tank top and surprised the then captain by asking how to sign up (apparently I didn’t look like Ultimate material). I showed up to the first practice and blew their minds with a layout catch and have been with the team ever since.
How did WRECK do last year? What was the highlight of your season?
Leah and Kelly: We got off to a strong start to the Spring last year by tying for the Championship of Joint Summit in Clemson (finals were rained out), but we had some crucial injuries that really hurt our numbers and talent level and ended up peaking before AC South Sectionals and finished 9th. It was disappointing after having such a high at Clemson.
Who is your favorite team to play against? Tell me about a memorable game.
Leah and Kelly: We see our neighbors, Emory Luna, often during the course of the season. We scrimmage against them as well and they are pretty much all from the Atlanta Ultimate community. It is always a fun challenge to play such a talented, but spirited team of friends like that. Last year, we scrimmaged them in the fall. Everyone’s rookies had a great time and the two teams went out for pizza together – can’t beat that.
Tell us about your coach and captains.
Leah: Keith started coaching Wreck in the fall 2009 after graduating from American University and playing for Stall 11 (and coaching the Dirty Ladies). He has a lot of passion and knowledge for the game and shows it when he is teaching us how to play and what we can do to improve. His comedic personality keeps the ladies laughing and adds the fun aspect of ultimate everyone loves.
Over the years Wreck has had numerous coaches but we are lucky enough to have Keith stick with us for a little longer than the rest. Like Leah said, his experience, fun character and dedication to the team has helped us out tremendously. We have benefited from his presence both on and off the field immensely.
Keith Raynor : Leah and Kelly work well together. Leah is bubbly and Kelly takes care of business, but they are also both fun, passionate, and positive; they put in so much time and always keep spirits up. On top of their work ethic and leadership, they are probably our two top talents, and really developing all-around skill sets.
"One of our (new) team philosophies is that having fun leads to winning more which leads to more fun, and it creates a positive feedback loop. Result? Infinite fun, infinite winning." - Georgia Tech Wreck
Are there players on your team who deserve consideration for Callahan, All-Region, or Freshman of the Year?
Keith: I have no doubt Leah is one of the most talented players in the region. Any team that plays against us will attest that stopping her big lefty hucks and sneaky breaks is a pain in the butt. She’s one of our top defenders as well. I hope the team can perform well enough to help her get that sort of recognition, because she deserves it.
Kelly: It has been fun to see the team grow as a whole. Our rookies always exceed my expectations, especially freshmen Sandhya Srivatsan with her first Callahan in her first tournament and third year Nikki Atha with all of her extreme catches. It was so much fun watching our rookies improve throughout their first tournament, particularly during each rookie point. Ultimately though, none of us would look as good in the air if it weren’t for the awesome throws we were trying to catch from Leah. Her ability to throw in any and all situations astounds me and she continues to impress me with layout D’s from out of nowhere.
Without giving too much away, what does your team like to do on offense and on defense?
Leah and Kelly: On O we keep it simple, vert stack and lots of dump swing with, of course, a beautiful huck from Leah. We are expanding into Ho-Stack though. On D we have a kick ass zone (with some traps and variations) but we love to play tough man D.
Has Wreck set any goals for this season?
Leah and Kelly: Qualifying for Regionals this year is a priority, but it isn’t our number one goal. We’d like to make the Championship Bracket at Regionals this season. We’d also like to have more fun than any team ever could. One of our (new) team philosophies is that having fun leads to winning more which leads to more fun, and it creates a positive feedback loop. Result? Infinite fun, infinite winning.
What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring?
Leah: Joint Summit (Clemson), Chucktown Throwdown (Charleston), College Terminus (Atlanta), and the college Series are all on our target list.
The series sounds really exciting to me. It’ll be interesting to see how the new Regional and Conference boundaries affect our standing. Plus we have more girls this year and hopefully we’ll all stay healthy.
Leah Tsinajinnie tosses a high release backhand against South Carolina
What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?
Kelly: Well first we have to get all the girls on the field and warmed up!! (That’s my job.) After that, nothing special; we play each game like the next, giving it our all and having fun. This has really been the first year where we have had true sideline players and it was neat to watch how they were able to help get the players on the field pumped and excited about their performance. Continuing to encourage each other and stay positive has truly proven to be beneficial to us.
Does your team have any traditions you would like to share?
Leah and Kelly: Fully costumed Halloween practice, with a costume contest and prizes. Every year we present our players with paper plate awards! These awards are taken very seriously even though some can be quite outrageous.
Which team has the best shot at winning the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships?
Kelly: Oregon Fugue for the repeat. They are stacked. They added at least two Junior Worlds girls (including Atlanta’s own Sophie Darch) and they have such a competitive atmosphere and tons of high level experience.
Leah: Plus, their jerseys are sweet!
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