Many players on the Whitman Ultimate Frisbee team have a raw dedication and passion for the sport.

On the men’s side, first-year Colin Smith also plays for Rhino, a club team based out of Portland, Ore. Smith started playing ultimate during his first year in high school, not knowing much about the sport. Since then, Smith said, “Ultimate has become one of the most enjoyable things I do. It’s definitely worth the time commitment, and I had a really tight group of friends who I played with in high school.”

Smith makes the drive from Walla Walla to Portland to catch about half the practices for Rhino. Three Whitman ultimate players: first-year Jeremy Norden, senior Micah Jarnot and senior Jonathan Loeffler: also play for Voodoo, another Portland based club team.

In the fall, practices are mostly pick-up style, with guys and girls playing together about three times a week. The ultimate season officially starts in spring, and the men’s and women’s teams practice separately to work towards the Ultimate Player’s Association hosted tournaments: sectionals, regionals and nationals.

“Our goal is to get as close to nationals as possible. We play against a lot of national caliber state schools, like the University of Oregon, and it’s hard to play against them because the schools are so much bigger,” said Smith.

Several members of the team have already played a tournament in Santa Cruz. Although the team doesn’t have a coach, the captains are organizing several trips around the northwest, as well as a possible trip to Atlanta.

“The fall is less of a time commitment and more laid back than the spring,” said Jarnot. “Another thing is, a lot of people who join the team didn’t play in high school, so all of the starters are kind of on the same page.”