Road to 2005 UPA College National Championship

Queen's Mothership has been a dominant force in Canadian University Ultimate, winning two of three nationals championships in the past three years. Since the spring of 2004, when a devastating loss to Delaware and a subsequent demoralizing defeat to George Washington eliminated us from the Metro East Region, the grizzled Queen's veterans have been determined to make nationals.

Our wide-eyed rookies heard the bitter tale of our defeat, and the team was forged together by a common goal - Corvallis, Oregon. We trained hard in the fall, and although glorious, our victory at Canadian Nationals was merely a stepping stone on the path to Corvallis.

During the fierce Canadian winter, we practiced indoors and burned our lungs out running track. As Regionals grew closer, our training became more urgent. Outdoor practices began just after the snow melted, and our training schedule evolved to include running Zone 5 workouts on the sporadic hills of the Canadian Shield. We grew individually and as a team, always holding distant Corvallis in our sights.

We beat rival teams Cornell and G-Dub and made it to the finals of Regionals. Pittsburgh got up on us early in the final game, but after a 12-2 run, we had made it. Laughter, tears and shotgunned beers as Corvallis was finally within our reach. Later, as we satiated our hunger with tiny White Castle burgers, we wondered if nationals tasted like fried onions. This weekend at Corvallis, we will not only taste the west-coast air. We will taste victory.