Living up to a legacy is a challenge especially for this  year’s ultimate frisbee team. After last season’s results, the team is striving to live up to and even exceed last year’s success. During the 2016 season, the ultimate frisbee team fought their way to state at a tournament. The success from last year keeps the current players optimistic.

Junior Andrew Siemers believes that this year will still be good even if the team does not do as well as last year’s did. The added pressures have not diminished any of the players’ spirits.

“Last year was very successful. We made it to state as a division 2 team. It will keep expectations high. Even if we don’t make it, it’ll still be a good year,” Siemers said.

Since the team lost many players because of the seniors that graduated, they have multiple new players, many of whom are juniors and sophomores. The returning members hope that the new players will do the team well.

Returning player junior Jackson Steiner thinks that the new players will improve the team’s overall strength while adding new skills.

“This year, we have a lot of potential. We have really different kinds of plays and new, really athletic players and really good throwers,” Steiner said.

Henry Silkwood, sophomore and teammate of Steiner’s, gives a rundown of practices and how the team is working to incorporate the new players into their dynamic. Practices had started about two weeks ago just after try outs.

“You can expect a lot teamwork since a lot of people are new. We’re just building up our skills and working on team bonding,” Silkwood said. “Basically, we start with drills to work on our skills then the coach talks to us about strategies. The end is just like pickup games to use all the skills we’ve learned.”

Silkwood feels added weight other that living up to the goals that resulted from last season.

“At practice, there’s a lot of pressure to do good and to work your hardest, sprint, and try really hard because the coach is there and he’s watching you,” Silkwood said.

The team’s first game of the season was last Sunday, March 12th. It did not turn out the way they had hoped it would.

Steiner believes they picked up a little in the game but lost it in the end.

“In the first game, we started off on a really bad note, but we started bringing it back. We did end up losing. They had a really athletic team,” Steiner said.

Siemers has hope that this game will help the team build so that they are ready for whatever the next game brings.

“The first game was good for setting a precedent for the rest of the season, and it is a really good learning experience to help the team work together. It was kind of like a sample,” Siemers said.

Games are typically held on Sundays.