Kurtis Mundell owns about 20 Frisbees, some of which he keeps in his car for “emergencies.” His favorite is one he swiped from a competitor in Seattle, Washington. It’s white with black print and a submarine graphic. For an ultimate Frisbee player, stealing Frisbees from other teams is common practice.

Cal Poly’s ultimate Frisbee team, called SLO CORE, was started in 1978, 10 years after Joel Silver, the film director, started the first ultimate Frisbee team in New Jersey. Originally the game reflected football rules, but after awhile, Silver and cofounders Bernard Hellring and Jonny Hines changed the rules to include other sports like hockey and soccer. Other schools became interested as the rules got out, and on Nov. 7, 1970, the first interscholastic game was played. Two years later, the first intercollegiate match took place in 1972 between Rutgers and Princeton, according to UltimateFrisbee.com.

“When you get a brand new Frisbee, before it gets kicked or scuffed up, it’s just great,” Mundell said.

Although it is one of Cal Poly’s more obscure teams, the sport is played in more than 50 countries worldwide and regularly by nearly one million people in the US. There are also scholarships for ultimate Frisbee players from colleges like Carleton College and from the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Currently there are about 60 players on the Cal Poly men’s team, and though nearly half are rookies, all of them are apt to steal a Frisbee, Dominic Sheehy said.

“There’s a circulation,” he said. “If you buy one and bring it to a tournament, there’s a good chance it will get stolen.”

He added that players do have to be sneaky about it.

“The rule is if there’s a lone Frisbee, you can walk over, play catch and sneak it under your shirt,” he said.

SLO CORE currently competes in the open collegiate division of the Southern California section and Southwest region of the Ultimate Players Association (UPA). They will play three tournaments in this quarter. The name stands for San Luis Obispo Comrades Of Radical Energy, which Mundell said comes from the nearby power plant. Teams formed in the 1970s took names describing something controversial in their region, he said. UC Santa Barbara’s team is called Black Tide because of the offshore oil spills located there.

A common misconception Sheehy wanted to dispel is that the game is for benchwarmers from other sports.

“It’s not just a bunch of hippies,” he said. “At the highest level, the athletes could easily compete at any sport.”

About half of the players on the men’s team are engineering students, but all colleges are represented.

Co-captains Mundell and Sheehy have both been playing since they were about 15 and attending Vacaville High School.

Mundell, a mechanical engineering senior, said the sport requires a lot of sprinting, endurance and, most importantly, hand-eye coordination.

“You can make the sport as complicated as you want,” Mundell said, “but ultimately you have to be able to catch.”

What really makes it unique is that it’s not solely a sprinting sport but also not only an endurance sport. It’s a hybrid, he said.

Mundell said one of the best parts about the team is the camaraderie.

“The thing with a frat is you have to pay all this money or go to mandatory meetings to be involved. With this, you just have to run around and play ultimate,” he said. “A lot of the guys on the team are my best friends.”

Not only do players stay fit and meet people, but they also have fun. Sheehy, a computer engineering senior, said the ultimate Frisbee lifestyle is his favorite part about the sport.

“It’s not a cutthroat thing,” he said. “The best teams are having a lot of fun.”

Paul Van Bloemen Waanders, women’s ultimate Frisbee coach  and mechanical engineering graduate student, played on Cal Poly’s team for five years, at which point a player’s eligibility expires. He loves the sport so much that he is now coaching the women’s ultimate Frisbee team, which was formed in 2004.

“It’s not because of the game, although the game is fantastic. It’s because of the people,” he said.

Van Bloemen Waanders said that while most people think of ultimate Frisbee as a college sport, it’s actually universal.

“People think it’s a local, beach, like college sport. When in fact, you can’t go anywhere without seeing one. It’s literally everywhere,” he said.

Both Mundell and Sheehy play on club teams, the level above collegiate teams, and Sheehy hopes to play on an elite team in the Bay Area after graduation. The teams there are some of the most competitive worldwide.

Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., players will throw Frisbees on Dexter Lawn, but in practice and competition the game isn’t just people tossing a Frisbee around; there are rules. Seven players from each team complete on a 70 by 40 yard field; a normal game lasts about one and a half hours. It’s similar to football in that the defense throws the Frisbee, called a disc, to the offense, with both sides starting on their respective end zone lines across the field. If the offense completes a pass to a team member inside the defense’s end zone, they score one point; the game ends when one team reaches 15 points. It is a no-contact sport. Handlers are usually the two or three players who throw the best. The rest of the players are called cutters; they catch the Frisbee. The official disc is a 175g Discraft Ultra-Star, which is heavier than a standard Frisbee. For more information about the game and rules, go to UPA.org.

Mustang Daily’s “For the love of the Game” highlights Cal Poly club sports. For information on coverage, contact Brian De Los Santos at mustangdailysports@gmail.com.

Brian Waterbury. Image courtesy of coachwaterbury.com

The 40th annual Brian Waterbury Memorial Rock to Pier Fun Run is this Saturday. The six-mile race runs along the beach from Morro Rock to Cayucos Pier. It begins at 7:30 a.m with the low tide.

“You’ve got the serious runners; the families with moms, dads, and kids; high school teams training cross-country; people from all walks of life,” Morro Bay Recreation Supervisor Karen Sweeny said.

There are 15 age groups, ranging from under 10-years-old to over 80. The top runners usually finish in about 30 minutes; the slowest take around 2:30. A course sweeper will make sure no one is left behind.

Ed Cadena holds the men’s record with a time of 30:44; Linda Somer Smith holds the women’s at 34:53.

Brian Waterbury and his Cal Poly running teammate Terry Record founded the Morro Bay to Cayucos Fun Run. Thirty people attended the first race in 1970; it’s expected about 1,000 will race this Saturday, Sweeny said.

“It’s the right distance and close to home,” said Stan Rosenfield. “It’s well-organized and the people are great. It’s a beautiful race. You run along the beach, and it’s gorgeous.”

Rosenfield met Waterbury at the 1972 race and the two worked out several times a week for around 25 years. He also helped Waterbury start the San Luis Distance Club in 1973. Rosenfield and his wife Elaine will both participate in the race this year.

When Waterbury died of cancer on May 15, 2003, the San Luis Distance Club asked the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department to rename the race in his honor.

“That was truly a gift that will be forever and ever,” Waterbury’s widow Sue said. The race is part of his legacy, she said.

Brian Waterbury graduated from Cal Poly in 1972. Soon after, he married Sue, who he met when Sue’s roommate offered to trade dates with her. Brian taught mathematics and computer science at San Luis Obispo High School for 30 years. He was also the cross-country and track coach. During his free time, Waterbury competed in over 400 races.

“He was energetic, very encouraging. He had high expectations and he helped you achieve them,” Sue said. “He was always laughing. He was a fun person to be around.”

Brian’s family will be attending the race, as they have done consistently since 2003. His daughter Vikki and his granddaughter Kelsi will race. Vikki has run the race every year since her father died.

Sue was never much of a runner, but is always waiting at the finish line, she said.

“When we first got married, we decided to take a running class at Cal Poly. He started running backwards and laughing,” she said about Brian’s attempt to get her to love his hobby.

In addition to the race, Waterbury’s memory is honored by a $1,000 scholarship from the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation. The recipient is always a cross-country and track athlete and a strong math student graduating from San Luis Obispo High School. The money goes toward the recipient’s first year of college.

Jenna Kingma was the first recipient in 2004; Julia Uytteewaal is the 2009-10 recipient.

The Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department will spend about $21,000 on this event, said Sweeny, who has organized the event since 2003. The profit from the event, estimated to be around $4,000, will go toward youth sports programs in Morro Bay, she said.

Participants can register at the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department (1001 Kennedy Way) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on July 10 for $20, or for $30 at Morro Rock from 6:30 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. on Saturday.

Race packets for those who register before or on Friday will be available for pick up at the Morro Bay Recreation and Parks Department on Friday from 4 p.m to 7 p.m. All participants can pick up their packets Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:15 a.m.

Shoreline Calvary Chapel will be serving breakfast at Morro Rock from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It is free for registered racers and $5 otherwise. A band called the Mud Skippers will provide entertainment.

There will be an awards ceremony following the race at 11 a.m. at Morro Rock. All finishers will receive ribbons, and the top three racers in each age division as well as the top female and male runner will be given medals.

Buses will shuttle participants and spectators from the finish line back to Morro Rock parking lot every 15 minutes beginning at 8:30 a.m. Parking is free at the Morro Bay parking lot.

In the academic environment, students revel in the fact that they can let their responsibilities go during their quarterly breaks. However, the student-athlete isn’t as fortunate because they are responsible for keeping their body in shape despite being away from the competition.

All students ease into the quarter with at least a couple lectures before their first exams, but athletes are put to the test right away. They return back to their respective playing grounds, athletes are asked to pass a rigorous fitness test.

Each sport has a different test, evaluating different aspects of fitness. They also differ in the way each coach conducts the assessment. Some tests are designed to be a guideline, some a standard and others a requirement. A standard is stricter than a guideline.

Coaches have a difficult decision to make when determining the weight of each fitness test. It’s difficult to sit someone aside because of fitness, when their skill and intelligence of the sport makes up for that loss.

“We don’t like to do anything formal like that,” soccer head coach Paul Holocher said of the requirements. “But we just want them to understand that we strive for year-round fitness.”

Junior soccer player Josh Didion echoed his coach’s understanding that fitness is just a small part of what makes a good player.

“Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses,” Didion said. “But altogether it’s not about just your fitness. It’s about your skill.”

On the other side of the coin, mapping out specific expectations and sticking to those numbers provides a level of seriousness about the test, senior soccer player Julianne Grinstead said.

The point of the test is not only to keep the players in shape, but make sure they maintain discipline and avoid susceptibility to injury.

“It gives people motivation when you’re not at school and when you’re going home to stay in shape,” Grinstead said. “If people come back from breaks and they’re not in shape and everybody’s on different levels it makes it real hard to play and work together as a team.”

Just like a fitness test isn’t the sole factor in determining a good player, being fit alone won’t get a person through the test. A lot of it is determined by the mental strength of a test subject, Didion and Grinstead said.

“Some people are more fit than they think they are, but mentally they’re weak,” Didion explained. “And some the opposite.

“You push yourself past to a point that you don’t think that you can go,” Grinstead said.

The Beep Test is one of the most popular tests used to assess fitness levels. The women’s basketball team uses it, but has different requirements for each position.

During the test, players run 40 yards back-and-forth. A person makes it to the next level if they touch the line before a beep sounds. With each level, the time increment allowed to make it back across decreases.

For the basketball team, guards are required to make 12 levels, swing players are required to make 11, and post players need 10. The men’s soccer team has a similar version.

The difference between a men’s fitness test and a women’s fitness test is slim, but there is a perception that one is more demanding than the other.

Grinstead thinks they are the similar, but said that men are naturally in better shape. So, they have a more demanding test. The men’s team is asked to finish their two-mile run 30 seconds faster than the women.

“Men can maybe take the aggressive hardships on the body,” Didion explained. “You know, running the two miles is really hard on you’re legs.”

However, it’s equally difficult for both parties.

“They’re kind of different, but we all have to pass them,” Grinstead said.