The Carleton ultimate team hit a snag on the weekend when they took a trip down to Washington, D.C., to play in Roll Call, one of the biggest tournaments on the east coast, according to player Brent Gerhart.
 
Gerhart said the team encountered some of the worst weather they have seen in a long time. 
 
“We were driving to Maryland, it started to rain a bit, and then it got heavier and heavier and by the time we got to the fields, which were 25 miles out of Washington, D.C., some of the fields were covered with huge potholes,” Gerhart said. “Not perfect conditions and the fields just couldn’t drain properly.”
 
He said players in the tournament, which hosted 64 teams throughout the east coast, were running through ankle-deep water in some areas and after the ChessClub played one and a half games, the tournament was then cancelled.
 
“The wind got to about 50 km/h, the field conditions were the worst that Carleton has seen in the past three seasons,” Gerhart said.
 
Some teams that played in this tournament were big name teams that go to nationals every year, such as Harvard, Brown and Pittsburgh, Gerhart said. He said this tournament could show some of these teams what Carleton ultimate really is.
 
“I thought we had a very good shot to make a few upsets here and there and get to the finals,” Gerhart said. “We haven’t really played a lot this year, we have practices a lot and we are meshing really well this year.”
 
But Gerhart said he was disappointed when the tournament ended unexpectedly. 
 
“That is quite disappointing. We wanted at least six or seven games and I thought we were moving the disk better than we have been all spring,” Gerhart said. “It’s tough to drive 18 to 19 hours to play a game and a half.”
 
Up next for Chess Club are the ultimate players association (UPA) sectional nationals on the Easter weekend. There the top four teams qualify for regionals and Gerhart wants to face their rivals, Cornell.
 
“We are hoping to keep practicing, training and working hard, and getting on the field against Cornell again who are being rated now as one of the top teams in the states and pulling off another upset and repeating as 2009 Upstate New York Champions,” Gerhart said. “A lot of work has to be done to get to that step.” 
 
Before Carleton does play any games at these upcoming tournaments Gerhart wants to “make sure Carleton University is known in this part of the country again for ultimate.”