One of the great handlers of the 2011 season and he’s only a freshman. Don’t take Ian lightly, because despite his youth, he almost has a decade of experience. Consider yourself warned.
1) How did your ultimate career start? Do you have any idols or heroes?
I started play Ultimate in middle school with Kennedy Middle School in Eugene, OR. I had heard about it through my best friends Trevor Smith who had a Frisbee obsessed youth pastor. I was pretty into track and field then, but both of them convinced me to play and I’ve been in love ever since. As far as ultimate idols go both Luke Johnson (the obsessed youth pastor) and Spencer Wallis (coach in high school for a year) have been key on my success in ultimate. Both of them taught me how to be my best on and off the field.
2) What is your sports background and how did those skills transition into ultimate?
As a kid I tried to do it all, track, basketball, soccer, football, but most of my background is from ultimate. I’ve been playing for 7 years and haven’t really needed to transition into ultimate.
3) Tell us about your Oregon ultimate career.
Playing for Ego has been incredible. It’s a great environment in that it combines all the pleasures of ultimate while being incredibly competitive. I came in from Churchill High School not knowing exactly what to expect, I had practiced with Ego a couple of times, but I hadn’t yet experienced the pressure of try-outs or high level play. Once Spring came I was ready to blow up and do my job. Obliviously my Oregon career hasn’t been long, but its been the most exciting and most rewarding.
4) During your years with Ego, did you play any club? If so, did that experience help make you a better college player?
Dylan and I both are in the process of trying out for Portland’s team Rhino. So the gained experience from that is yet to come.
5) You guys thrive a lot on energy. What does playing for Oregon mean to you?
Playing for Oregon means a lot, I love having the opportunity to represent my school as well as my team when I step on the field. By having this self-placed responsibility on my shoulders every time I play I feel I owe it to my school and team to give it my all, all the time.
6) What’s the plan after college? Do you plan to stay involved in ultimate?
That’s a long ways away. I’d love to include ultimate in life after college, but it’ll all depend where I end up, what I end up doing and how much time I’ve got. It may be too hard to let go though.
7) What was it like being thrown right into the mix? Did you feel a lot of pressure?
Scary at first but the leadership on this team is amazing; they allowed a fairly seamless transition between high school and college disc. It helped that both Dylan and I have had a great background to keep going, but at the end of the day I didn’t feel much pressure.
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