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Men's ultimate: Inspired by land shark, Elis prepare for WilliamsTwo weeks ago, the land shark, the mascot of the men's ultimate team, made its first appearance of the year at a party in the JE sextet. In the spirit of the Saybrook Strip and other venerable Yale traditions, one ultimate player took off his clothes and hoisted himself onto the shoulders of the other ultimate players. His teammates then lodged a disc in a strategic crevice and paraded their "land shark"--fin and all--around the JE courtyard.Daniel Sharman '73, the captain of the first ultimate team, conceived of the idea of the land shark to motivate his fledgling squad. Twenty-five years later, the land shark remains a rallying point for the ultimate team, which has made great strides since Sharman's time. The team has qualified for the national tournament three of the past four years, and it made an impressive showing in the Coffee Cup Tournament last weekend. Led by captains Jason Choy, BK '99, Andrew Mackie, BR '99, and Webster McBride, BK '99, Yale defeated Princeton and Dartmouth. Wesleyan handed Yale its only loss, a 14-13 defeat, but the game was memorable for a spectacular catch by Chris Barnard, JE '99. According to Choy, "He came from the corner of my eye, across my field of vision, and he leapt--completely horizontal to the ground--to grab the Frisbee." On Sat., Oct. 24 and Sun., Oct. 25, the team will be in Williams for the Purple Valley tournament, where they will compete against Brown and Harvard, the top teams in the Ivy League. According to the captains, "We shredded this tournament last year." Yale reached the finals, iwhere they lost to a team of alumni all-stars. This year the ultimate team hopes to finish first at Williams and work its way to the national tournament in Boulder, Colo.
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