Illinois has done the work for me this time, providing a history going back to 1994. Check out their site at Illinois Ultimate and their history section. I have mentioned a few parts below
- Illinois had a tough time in the big old central region. They were often unable to qualify for Regionals in their early years. 1998 is marked as a turning point where the team regularly qualified for Regionals, and were seeded second in 1999 in the newly formed Great Lakes Region
- They’ve changed their name quite a few times, Big Red Ultimate, Men from Mars, FIST, now perhaps just Illinois Ultimate?
- They broke through in 2002 with a 14-13 win over Michigan after making the Regional final for the first time. Alvin Wang got the D while being down 13-12, allowing them to tie and eventually win. This was their first nationals appearance
- Since 2002, they’ve qualified for nationals 7 times. Their highest finished was tied for 5th at the 2008 Nationals. They lost to Colorado in a hard fought 15-12 game.
I always like hearing about how programs have come to prominence. If any old alumni from any team have more information, I’d love to talk.
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