Team to compete in Alabama meet

Students to play ultimate Frisbee in Mud Bowl event

By Grant Fischer
Staff Writer

The Purdue Ultimate Frisbee team will go a little farther than the intramural fields to play this weekend.

"Playing barefoot in February is nice," said Nate Hirbar, a sophomore in the Schools of Engineering. Hirbar and his teammates on the Purdue Ultimate Frisbee team will be driving 10 hours south to compete in the 20th Annual Mud Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday and Saturday.

This will be Purdue’s fourth consecutive trip to the 42-team tournament, and both the men and women expect a strong finish against the tough competition. Both college and club ultimate Frisbee teams from around the country participate in the successful fund-raiser. The Mud Bowl raises $20,000 annually for the Bread and Roses foundation in Birmingham. The Bread and Roses foundation, which is a United Way Agency, aids the homeless and abused women and children in the Birmingham area.

This trip will be Purdue’s second tournament during the spring season. The team participated in an indoor meet last month. The indoor meets during the winter season are convenient because the locations are relatively close, but the team enjoys taking the time and money to play on the soft grass in Birmingham.

This will be the second or third trip to the Mud Bowl for most of the team. Jimmy Budnick, a junior in the Schools of Engineering, is one who is looking forward to going back to compete and have a good time.

"It’s a lot of fun," he said. "We cram as many people as we can in the hotel rooms because we’re cheap. It doesn’t matter though because none of us sleep anyway."

This will be Lani Kawamoto’s third year competing in the Mud Bowl. "Last year we played well, and we learned a lot from the teams we played against," said Kawamoto.

Kawamoto, one of the more experienced players on the women’s team, looks forward to the North vs. South All-Star game held on Saturday night.

Last year Kawamoto was voted on the All-Star team by her Purdue teammates. Most tournaments don’t offer an All-Star game, Kawamoto said, but it is usually the highlight of the Mud Bowl for the participants and spectators. All the players are the best from their teams so it makes for an athletic and exciting game.

Even though it is a 10-hour drive and the competition is tough, Kawamoto said it’s one of the more relaxing and fun tournaments for the Purdue squad.

"We take the competition serious, but there is a certain team from Tennessee that we like to goof around with," said Kawamoto.

Like the women’s team, the men return almost everyone from last year’s squad. The men are also excited about the talent in their freshmen.

"There is a real good chance we’ll make it to nationals," said Hirbar.

The men finished seventh last year in the regional meet consisting of teams from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Getting to the ultimate Frisbee nationals is never easy, said Budnick. Only the first-place team in each regional meet moves on, although a few wild card spots go to the best second place teams.

"If we do good at the Mud Bowl, hopefully that’ll bring us up in the ratings," said Budnick.

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