COLLEGE STATION, Tex. -- North Park Allihopa, the women's ultimate frisbee club team from North Park University, placed third nationally at the USA Ultimate Division III College Championships this past weekend. North Park Allihopa features three current student-athletes in Vikky Young (softball), Kajsa Meyer (women's volleyball), and Ellie Manderfeld (softball).
USA Ultimate press release:
"In the best kind of Cinderella story, no one is able to pick who it will be. That definitely happened this weekend in the women's division. The second-time D-III Championships qualifiers, North Park Allihopa, the 14th overall seed, found themselves facing the top seeded heavy favorites from Bates in the semifinals this afternoon. Allihopa arrived in Texas with a roster of 12 people, went 1-2 in pool play, squeaking into their pool's final spot in bracket play, and got two huge upsets in the pre-quarterfinals yesterday afternoon and the quarterfinals this morning. Running almost exclusively a zone designed to preserve their legs, they overtook third-seeded Williams in the quarterfinals and fifth-seeded Middlebury in the quarterfinals. But they finally ran into a wall they couldn't tear down in Bates. Cold Front was too much for them to handle early, and understandably tired in their seventh game of the weekend, couldn't find the energy they needed to put together a comeback. But they did cement themselves in the public eye. Everyone will be excited to see what they can do next year."
About the D-III Women's Ultimate College Championships:
The Division III College Championships is an annual event held for teams from colleges or universities whose student populations of 7,500 or less. The D-III Championships were first held in 2010 as part of ongoing efforts to create additional, high-level playing opportunities for college teams and to better tailor competitive opportunities across the college division.
How do teams qualify?
Teams qualify by competing in conference and regional championship events held around the country. Bids are awarded based on regular-season rankings, which are calculated using USA Ultimate's rankings algorithm.
In a case where there are not enough teams to hold a regional event, Division III teams can qualify for the Championships through their conference championship.
If there are not enough teams in a conference to hold a separate D-III conference championship event (i.e., Southwest women's), teams qualify for the Championships based on final end-of-regular-season rankings.
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