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School Name: University of St. Thomas
Team Name: Purple Reign
Captains: Shane Smith, Greg Pfeffer, Stephen Bequette
Coach: Perry Nacionales
Year Founded: Early 2000’s
Jersey Colors: Purple, White, and Black
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Purple-Reign-Ultimate/137735189587391
www.twitter.com/PurpleReignULT
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Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved with Ultimate at your school?
Greg Pfeffer: I’m a senior. I started playing Ultimate in high school so I knew it was something I wanted to do when I got to college. I got involved with Purple Reign during freshmen orientation; one of the orientation leaders was on the team so I got some info from him.
Stephen Bequette: I’m a junior. My brother was on the team before transferring to Duluth. He’s the one that got me into it.
What is Ultimate at St. Thomas all about?
Captains: It was started as more of a fun thing for people to do; we’re taking that in a more competitive direction now, but still maintaining focus on the fun aspect.
How did PURPLE REIGN do last year? What was the highlight of your season?
Captains: We had a good team, but with the strength of our section we didn’t do as well as we would have liked. Our fall season was much better than the spring, but that’s not when it counts.
Who is your favorite team to play against?
Captains: Duluth. They’re the team most evenly matched with us in the section. A memorable game with them would be sections last spring. We lost on universe, but it was definitely a great game. We’re good friends with them off the field so that helps, it’s not like we completely hate them.
Tell us about your coach, Perry Nacionales?
Captains: We bring experience. Our coach, Perry, does a really good job of getting freshmen up to speed with how the game is played. Since he also coaches a local high school team, he’s experienced with teaching the game to guys who have never even thrown a disc before.
Are there players on your team who deserve consideration for Callahan, All-Region, or Freshman of the Year? Tell me about them.
Captains: One of our freshmen, Ethan Rasmussen, could be a strong consideration for freshman of the year. As a senior in high school he was captain of Hopkins hurt, and brings a high level of competition to the team.
What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower? As a receiver? On D?
Captains: As a thrower, Captain Greg Pfeffer can come up with the big huck or a nice break to get the play moving. As a receiver, we have multiple guys who can track down the deep ball or are guaranteed to catch it; Jacob Eglseder and Ethan Rasmussen for example don’t drop the disc. On D, freshman Jack Simpson is great. He’ll battle for, and usually win getting a huck or beat his guy under to get the D.
It’s easy to see when someone throws a huge huck or gets a layout D. Who’s a player you have to watch more carefully to see how valuable that person is to your team?
Captains: Again, we’ve got a lot of guys who answer this question. Captains Shane Smith and Stephen Bequette as well as junior Dan Rodekuhr are silent assassins. They can step into multiple roles and are solid at each.
Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?
Captains: Obviously we want to be playing our best Ultimate at the end of the season. Ideally we’ll make Regionals, something St. Thomas hasn’t done in a few years.
What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?
Captains: We’ve been playing in indoor tournaments to stay in shape with a few practices thrown in there too. Additionally we’ve been using ShakeWeight for Men and the P-90X training system.
What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring? Which are you most looking forward to?
Captains: We’ll be going to High Tide over spring break and we’ve got a couple others we’re thinking about.
What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?
Captains: We like to take a page from the “Rumble in the Jungle” by chanting “George Foreman! Bomaye!” –look it up
What song would you pick for the soundtrack to your team’s 2011 highlight video?
Captains: Prince songs. Specifically “Purple Rain” or “Pussy Control”
Bear, ninja or cowboy?
Captains: Pokey
Who’s going to win the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships?
Captains: Carleton CUT aka Grant Lindsley.
Who is the silhouette on those awesome Purple Reign sweatshirts?
Captains: Officially it’s Benicio Del Toro, but some confuse it with Prince.
Purple reigns supreme even on the bball court. The Heat ain't got nothin'.
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