Bo Li, #77 of Cornell, is a defensive handler in his senior year of Mechanical Engineering. He and Brian Grundy make up the one two experienced punch on the D line. For all of you Settlers Players, watch out, because that game is just too darn simple. Look for Li to play big minutes for Cornell in Boulder.
How were you introduced to Ultimate?
I learned how to play ultimate at a summer camp called CTY during the summer before high school. I didn’t really get into ultimate until I was invited onto the high school team my Sophomore year. One of the captains picked me out during gym ultimate 2 weeks before HS states. We finished 2nd in the state (NJ) right behind Columbia that year. That tournament was what really got me into ultimate. I found ultimate to be a perfect combination of other sports that I liked.
What was your sports background before Ultimate?
I ran varsity track and competed in all 3 jumping events all through high school, so I was well built for ultimate. I also had a natural ability to read the disc, so I was a great deep receiver during my early career.
What was your journey like with Buds ultimate so far?
I chose my colleges based on 2 things, ultimate and good engineering schools, so I applied to Cornell and Michigan as my primary choices. I’m glad I chose Cornell. However, when I first arrived at Cornell, I was an offensive cutter on a team where the average cutter height was about 6’2″. I’m 5’10”. I made the Buds my Freshman year, but didn’t really shine until Junior year. After a fractured ankle during Regionals of my Sophomore year, I spent most practices and the summer improving my throws. It was also that summer when I finally figured out how to play defense. When I came back in the fall, I became a D-line handler, which is what I have been since.
I practice with the Buds on average about 5 times a week for 2 hours each. On weeks that we have less practices, I will usually do my own workouts during a day we have off. When the weather is nice here in Ithaca (almost never) I usually bring a disc to campus with me and throw with someone between classes. I’d say during my Sophmore and Junior year, I spent about 5 hours a week throwing outside of practice. On the field, I mostly rely on my breaks rather than hucks to get the offense moving. On D, I like to use my body position to throw off other players’ cuts and layout if I have to.
What do you do outside of Ultimate?
I study Mechanical Engineering, which takes up the majority of my time. With classes and homework combined, it takes up about 50-60 hours a week, which doesn’t leave much time for anything else. I spend most of my free time playing board games and a little bit of Starcraft. Some of my friends and I are… “hardcore” board game players, so we tend to play stuff that most people haven’t heard of. We no longer play Katan because it’s too simple and our record for a game of Monopoly was 17mins.
Do you plan on playing club for a long period of time? In what ways will Ultimate translate into your life out of college.
I think I will always be involved in ultimate one way or another because I just love playing it too much. I’m worried about leaving college because I already don’t get enough ultimate during the summer even with club and summer league. After I tore my meniscus last summer, I couldn’t play, so I spent most of the summer teaching ultimate at rec centers in Philly.
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