Sophomore Tucker Albright makes a pass.

Baseball, football, and lacrosse are all established sports at Menlo-Atherton, but there is a new one on the horizon: Ultimate Frisbee.  “Ultimate” is already supported by a plethora of colleges like Berkeley, Harvard, and Oregon that have all made an impact in the young sport, and now M-A is hoping to do the same.

Ultimate Frisbee is unlike most sports, but that’s what sets it apart. The player cannot run with the 175-gram frisbee but can only throw to advance it further; the basic goal is to get the frisbee into the opposing team’s endzone. It’s very simple and easy to get involved in, Sam McClure says, “It’s a wonderful way to get exercise and learn the simplest game in the world!”

Unfortunately for the 15-person M-A team, it does not garner students P.E credits, which team Captain Sam McClure called “the biggest reason we lose players.” Even without school support and funding, the team has been very successful in recent years led by head coach Jimmy Cappels who plays at San Francisco State.

The Menlo-Atherton Ultimate team has been exceptional for a fairly young team. This year they went 12-4 and finished 3rd place in state. The likes of Gunn, Berkeley, Granada, Foothill, Terra Nova, South Pasadena, and Redwood high schools have all been beaten by M-A. Even though the team is new, like most in the Bay Area, it is on the upswing and is a force to be reckoned with.

Being a primarily upperclassman sport, the team is losing 8 seniors this year and will be carried by Co-Captains Gabriella Meffert and Hale Tussing next year. McClure says “it’s been a pleasure of mine to lead such a well-rounded and diverse team of kids,” and he encourages all kids to come out and try out for the very competitive sport. The team will remain no-cut, as everyone makes the team, until there is more school support and attention – which Ultimate Frisbee most definitely deserves.