By Christian Cullen, Staff Writer

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, it’s a frisbee thrown by XU Ultimate Frisbee Captain Brian Huber. Club Ultimate, also known as BLOB, had their first tournament of the spring semester this weekend. The Arctic Vogue Tournament began early this past weekend in the midst of a rain storm, but the men of Xavier Ultimate took the field to do their very best.

On this chilly Saturday morning, the frisbee was flying with grace through space. Despite the chill, the team was on fire. 

“Frisbee has one of the best cultures in all of club sports, we’re like a family, we’re always up active, supporting our teammates, doing chants,” senior Roberto Gonzalez said about the importance of team culture.

Whenever a team sends out their next line, the team chants each person’s name. When they throw-off to the opposing team, chants include “B-L-O-B Sports! Are! Fun!” and “Man I Love Frisbee!” BLOB approaches their games with a mix of competitiveness and joy of the game. 

Arctic Vogue gave BLOB a tough opening despite these games being outside of their division. It’s not just club teams that play in these tournaments, but also semi-pro teams. Despite the challenge ahead, BLOB put up a wonderful fight.

“It’s called a zone, where you have three guys up front to protect the middle and force them to the outside, with a guy in the middle, two guys on the wings and a guy back deep,” junior Christian Geary said about his team’s game plan. 

BLOB went on to finish seventh out of nine teams, dropping their first two games but rallying at the end to beat both Ohio State and University of Cincinnati’s B Teams.

“It’s been great getting to know the upperclassmen and make connections and friends. It’s just a great time,” first-year Dillon Hobein said. 

Junior Aidan Foley reflected on the team’s past experiences, citing how when the team went to a tournament in Portland last year, their van was broken into.

 “The team really came together, and I’ve never felt closer to a group of individuals than that moment. Guys were giving each other clothes, helping out with homework, really leaning on each other,” Foley said.

Senior and team Captain Brian Huber noted the exciting things coming up for BLOB. “We’ve got a really competitive tournament in Richmond, Virginia, our rival game against Butler at the end of April, and as we go into sectionals and regionals we will have our game against rivals UC and a senior night here at Xavier on the soccer field,” Huber said. 

The team ended last year ranked 20th in their division and they are hoping to make big moves this year. 

“We’re really a team for everyone. You’ve got guys who were four-year varsity athletes in high school and guys who never played sports before. We’re a bunch of guys who like to be around each other. We hang out outside of this. We care about each other and like to keep it fun. We’re a team who cares more about the experience and less about the results on the field,” Foley said.