Praying Manti educate first-years

The women's ultimate team failed to capture a single victory in their Club Sectionals tournament.

The Praying Manti went 0-5 against four club teams and one college team, but improved throughout the day. Nineteen women made the trip to Cincinnati.

"We improved throughout the day," senior Brooke Wilkerson said. "The first game was rough, but by the fifth game we were playing pretty smooth."

For the ten first-year Manti that made the trip, the game was their first. It took awhile for the women to feel like they were in synch. The tournament was in many ways just about getting the first-years into the game.

"Our freshmen definitely did a good job," Wilkerson said.

The Manti were shutout in their first game, 11-0 to Sisters in Sin. The team managed to get one point in a 11-1 loss to an Ann Arbor, Mich. club team.

By the third game the team was ready to challenge Lexington, Ky. for victory. Led by sophomore Shawn Margles and her superb layouts the Manti played strong against the Kentucky women, before falling 9-7.

The women ended the day with a 10-4 loss to Ohio University and a 11-1 creaming at the hands of Valudisc, a Cleveland club team.

Against Valudisc, sophomore Abby Sullivan had an amazing lay-out grab in the end zone. It was a disc not even intended for her, but Valudisc called the grab back.

The games were nearly overshadowed by the cheers that followed.

The women start each cheer as human airplanes encircling their opponents before delivering a dynamic song. In addition to a nice, "With or without wind," song based on the U2 song, the team performed a controversial Spice Girls cheer.

The cheer went "So tell us how you hunk, how you really, really hunk, how you hunk, how you D, how you lay, how you really, really play," according to co-captain senior Sadie Thorin.

Wilkerson said, "I found the cheer nauseating."