Sports

Ultimate Newcomers Look to Sustain Dominance from Past Seasons

With only six returning players, the Andover Ultimate Team has many new faces. And after two stellar seasons, the team has a lot to live up to. But Coach Scott Hoenig feels confident that the team will still be successful this season. Last year, the team was ranked second in the New England Prep School Ultimate League and 18th nationally with 18 wins and six loses. Two years ago the team won the league championship. Captains Matthew Turiano ’08 and Eli Grober ’09 will lead the team this year. Both made the varsity team two years ago, and their experiences in big games and tournaments over the past two years give the team confidence. Other returning players are Andrew Richardson ’08, Thomas Smyth ’08, Malik Jenkins ’09, and Duncan Crystal ’10. The Ultimate team boasts 10 new players this year, including three seniors, one upper, three lowers, and three juniors, “We definitely have some young players with a lot of talent and even some new players who haven’t played much or any Ultimate Frisbee before,” Coach Hoenig said. Jenkins agreed, “We graduated over half of the great team last year, but the new talent looks promising, so it looks like we’ll be a pretty strong team this season.” Jenkins continued, “We’re not only aiming to play our best, but also to bring home the NEPSUL tourney trophy from Northfield Mount Hermon and to once again beat our cross-town rival, Andover High School.” Last year the team lost to both NMH and Amherst Regional twice, traditionally the strongest teams. The squad is eager to mimic its impressive past records in its first game next Wednesday against Newton North High School.