With some of the top college open teams in the nation in attendance, there’s been a ton of action over in Tampa in the first two days of play. Players on the field report warm weather with mild wind. The fields are also a bit sandy. We’ve broken down this update by teams.
Colorado 6-1
The team to beat at this tournament so far is Colorado. With a 6-1 record after two days of play, they have decimated their competition, smoking last year’s champions Florida 13-5 , beating Cornell and Wisconsin 13-8 and Harvard 13-7. They did fall to CUT in the last day of game on Saturday 13-11. Regardless of that loss, Colorado looks strong, deep and talented.
Florida 5-2
The champs were fiery out of the gates on Friday walking past UNC-W and Cornell to beat Carleton 13-11. Saturday wasn’t as kind to the Gators with an upset 13-9 victory by the Hodags, followed by a decimation by Mamabird. Florida is looking alright with the loss of Brodie Smith and is relying on a good short game with quick disc movement.
Carleton 5-2
The only team to make a mark on Colorado, CUT has had an up and down weekend so far. With losses to Florida and the Hodags in the last game of play on Saturday, Carleton has been a bit sloppy with the disc, but has had their opportunities to take charge. Word from captain Alex Evangelides is that Carleton has a short squad at Warm Up, so this may not be the best indicator of what they can do.
Wisconsin 5-2
Wisconsin has been the Cinderella story of Warm Up so far with only two loses after two days of play. It’s clear that the Hodags are a young, athletic squad. Their losses were to Mamabird on Friday 13-8 and Harvard on Friday 13-8. After months of indoor, the Hodags’ throws are looking off, but Wisco made some noise on Saturday, besting Carleton 13-10 and Florida 13-9.
Harvard 4-3
Harvard has had up/down performances all weekend with victories over the Hodags, UNC-W and Cornell but major losses to some of this tournament’s big names in Colorado 13-7 and Carleton 13-4. Harvard is reportedly missing some of their talent in Adam Fagan and Andrew Vogt, leaving George Stubbs to lead Red Line to victory.
Virginia 4-3
Night Train is riding somewhat quietly this weekend with a close loss to Wisco 12-11, and a blowout victory over Harvard 13-2.
Cornell 1-6/UNC-W 1-5/USF 0-7
Cornell is showing they’re not quite able to compete with these squads, losing to everyone but South Florida 13-9 on Saturday. UNC-W is having similar trouble with their only victory over Cornell 13-7. South Florida, the tournament spoiler has yet to break through, putting up decent numbers against their competition but just not enough.
With one more day left to play, this is Colorado’s tournament to win and Wisco, Florida or Carleton’s chance to prove they’re championship material.
Comments Policy: At Skyd, we value all legitimate contributions to the discussion of ultimate. However, please ensure your input is respectful. Hateful, slanderous, or disrespectful comments will be deleted. For grammatical, factual, and typographic errors, instead of leaving a comment, please e-mail our editors directly at editors [at] skydmagazine.com.