Fugue, the Oregon women’s ultimate club team, took home the 2013 Division I national title this past weekend in Madison, Wis. Fugue went 33-1 overall this season and made it through sectional and regional play before eventually being crowned champions at nationals.
Due to a strong team defensive effort down the stretch, Fugue beat Carleton College 15-8.
Carleton had a 5-3 lead against Oregon in the beginning, but that never fazed Fugue when trailing.
“I was always confident,” said senior and standout player Bailey Zahniser.
Zahniser has led Oregon this season and was voted as a Callahan finalist. The Callahan Award honors the top five players in the nation. Zhaniser played ultimate in high school and hopes to continue to be a part of the program as an alumni.
Due to Zhaniser’s ability, she will most likely make an impact in the semi-professional club level after graduating and is already a part of a team based in Seattle.
With an impressive defensive performance from Ashley Young and Fugue’s ability to stop Carleton’s star player Julia Snyder, Oregon went on a 12-3 run and left Madison with medals around their necks.
“Ashley Young was definitely credited to changing the whole tempo of our defense,” said Zahniser.
Oregon also had great contribution on offense with 11 different players scoring for Fugue.
“We have a really deep bench and all of us are very naturally athletic and we have the will to win,” said senior Anna Almy. “When you have as deep of a bench as we do, we are able to keep going when the other teams can’t.”
The standard was set from the start of the season: to win the national title. Oregon won in 2010 and fell just short last season, earning second place. However, the storybook ending for the team did not come without its fair share of struggles.
“This year we were redeveloping, so we were focusing on defense and really trying to figure out the identity of our team,” Zahniser said. “Once we did that, our practices got 10 times better.”
During the year the team meets three days a week for three hours to practice. In addition, they have an agility practice, a track practice and are encouraged to dedicate time to lifting in the weight room.
“We almost train like Divison I athletes … and we take a lot of the training up upon ourselves to really get a lot stronger and to do what it takes,” Almy said. ”I think our discipline is something we really pride ourselves on.”
Both Almy and Zahmiser agreed that their team’s overall effort and drive led to their championship victory.
“Not every team know what it’s like to get to the top or what it takes to get to the top,” Almy said. “It’s the little sprints and team bonding. Knowing what it takes to get to the highest level, we know what we have to put into every practice to actually get the gold medal around our neck.”