VIDEO: Men's ultimate team to compete at nationals

Western Washington University's men’s ultimate team, Dirt, is headed to nationals for the first time in the team’s history. The team was one of 20 in the nation to qualify for the Division I tourney, which takes place May 22 to 25 in Milwaukee, Wisc.

“Nationals will provide us the top-level competition we've been looking forward to all season,” said team member Seth Kotzman this week.

The team won Northwest regionals this past weekend in Walla Walla, qualifying for nationals despite injuries and financial struggles.

“The weather was perfect for us, and our schedule for the day really favored us,” Kotzman said. “Coming into regionals, we finally had a mostly healthy roster, and a lot of players stepped up and had an amazing weekend for us.”

WWU beat the University of Washington, 13-10; University of Victoria, 13-8; Boise State University, 13-10; and Montana State University, 13-7, on Saturday. On Sunday, Dirt also beat Whitman College, 13-7 and went on to win the championship game, 15-12, against the University of British Columbia.

The wins avenged earlier losses to UW, UVic and UBC at the conference championships two weeks ago.

Nationals will be a good opportunity for younger players on the team to push themselves, playing against other top players in the U.S., Kotzman said, adding that he hopes the team's success will encourage more high school players to come to Western to play for Dirt.

“Outside of the sport itself, the people I get to interact with through ultimate really drives me to keep playing,” he said. “Ultimate does a great job of blending competition and social aspects, and there's no community like the ultimate community.”