2011 Preview – University of Northern Iowa ammUNItion

[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”]School Name: University of Northern Iowa
Team Name: ammUNItion
Captains: Jon Pagel, Charlie Hubbard
Coach: Tim Morrill
Year Founded: 2001
Jersey Colors: Purple, yellow, black
Score Reporter[/stextbox]

How did you get involved with Ultimate at your school?

Jon Pon Pagel: I played 4 sports in high school and have always been active.  I have also ran two marathons since being in college.  One summer I played Ultimate Frisbee at the Iowa Games with a bunch of friends from my youth group.  We met some people and they happened to play at UNI.  So my freshman year I started going to practice and fell in love with the sport!

What is Ultimate at your school all about?

Jon: Right now we are all about have fun while being competitive at the same time!  Our program has grown tremendously in the last 3 years as we used to not even submit a bid to Sectionals, now Conferences, they were so unorganized.  Now though we have made it to Regionals 3 years in a row and look to continue to grow and get better.

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

Jon: Last year was a little disappointing.  Although we made it to Regionals, we ended up getting last.  It was the weekend of graduation for our school so a number people couldn’t make it.  The highlight of the season was probably scoring the first two points against Minnesota and the following game beating North Park at Frostbite in Missouri.  The weather was terrible and we played so bad on Saturday.  Sunday though we got some good wins and we were much more intense!

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

Jon: Well, I always love playing against the better schools from our state (Luther, ISUC, IHUC) because they are a good challenge and benchmark for us.  But I would consider our rivals to be Grinnell and I love playing against them.  I am always confident we can beat them and I am sure they think the same about us.  My sophomore year at Sectionals they took us to half something like 7-2.  We were really pissed and upset not only about losing, but to Grinnell!  The second half we came out on fire, got some incredible d’s, and ended up blanking them to win 13-7!  It was a huge turnaround and an incredible game to be a part of.

Tell us about your captains.  What do they bring to your team?

Jon: This year our captains bring teamwork, organization, and a desire to build upon previous years.  Because of that, our team is pretty young and very excited about the future and what can happen!  More importantly, I think I and the other captain bring good leadership.  It is amazing how fast a program can collapse due to a lack of leadership.  But because of what we bring to the table, our team is as strong as it has ever been.

Are there players on your team who deserve consideration for Callahan, All-Region, or Freshman of the Year?

Jon: Well, I wouldn’t say we are quite to that level. In a few years though you will be hearing the names of people like Nathan Wiemers, Robbie Dennis, and Jonathan Beavers.  They are young and have the fire to improve and get better every day.  No doubt in my mind they won’t be great some day.

What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower?  As a receiver?  On D?

Jon: You will see Charlie [Hubbard] making a lot of the big throws for our team. He has been playing the longest and has the best deep throws on the team.  Our best receiver is Ethan Levine who has mad ups and skys people all day long.  But we have other really good players like Trent Cooper and Kam Winsor who are extremely fast and quick, few can D them up.  People with layout D on our team is nearly everyone.  It is hard to single one person out because everyone is so good.  Not to name names but Jake Boyle, Sam Marner, Isaac Floss are just a few.

Who’s a player you have to watch more carefully to see how valuable he is to your team?

Jon: Not to be selfish, but I think that is myself ha ha.  I am not a flashy player and my skills are still improving a lot.  I have some deep throws but they aren’t amazing.  I may go a whole game without any one great play but I feel that our team plays better when I am out there.  Maybe because I am just an unselfish player and don’t like to get a lot of attention, I don’t know.

How does your team bring new players to Ultimate up to speed?

Jon: That is a great question!  We like to get them to as many fall tournaments as possible and throw with them as much as we can.  I don’t think there is anything in ultimate like experience and nothing is more valuable than that!  Therefore, getting them to tournaments and letting them see everything that we talk about first hand is invaluable!  So we put a lot of emphasis on that.

What does your team like to do on offense and on defense?

Jon: If I told ya I would have to kill ya, no just kidding.  We don’t have many secrets!  We like to keep things simple, but we are also very effective.  We like to mix the Ho stack with the Vert stack on offense and we are a huge man defense kind of team.  Lots of teams like to throw zones on people, especially on windy days.  However we feel that we are so athletic that we can shut people down with man d.

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

Jon: You bet!  We have our outcome goal as to finish top 10 in our region which is totally possible!  We have other process goals that will help us get there but that is the bulls eye on the target you could say.

What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?

Jon: We have been to tournaments and have been practicing right up until the end of the semester.  We have started out “off-season” lifting and I am super excited to see the benefits of it.  We are gonna be stronger, more explosive, and better athletes because of it!

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

Jon: We actually haven’t really gone over it yet.  The plan is to go to one over spring break and then another one somewhere before conferences start up in April.  The spring break tournaments have always been fun with the weather being somewhat of a gamble so I am looking forward to that a lot!

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

Jon: We go through our warm up routine and we have some cheers that really gets my blood pumpin!  You will just have to come see us play if you want to hear them

What song would you pick for the soundtrack to your team’s 2011 highlight video?

Jon: Well even though it isn’t my favorite song, we have been talking a lot about Jay Z’s On to the Next One

Bear, ninja or cowboy?

Jon: Ninja.  You can’t kill what you can’t see

Who’s going to win the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships?

Jon: Good question…I’m gonna say my boys from Colorado.  They seem due for one

Where do you see AmmUNItion in the next 5 years?

Tim Morrill (coach): AmmUNItion is on a steady up-slope toward becoming a National’s caliber team.  The 7 young guns, Jordan Q, Spencer Ross, Garrett G, Trent $, Jonny Beavers, Robby Future and Nathan W  possess the will, determination and fire to become elite athletes.  This team has adopted the “on to the next one” mentality and are continually striving to become faster, stronger and smarter.   The College Ultimate scene better look out for Ammo, as this team looks to rise to the top of the Central Region one lifting session, one tourney, and one season at a time.