I'll be posting my thoughts on Sean Ryan and SoCal Warmup soon. For now, I thought it'd be fun to kick off some thoughts about the upcoming college season and the region where I coach. Despite being one of the smallest regions in terms of the number of teams, the Southwest has produced quality women's teams, and the top teams have been rivaling the best in the nation. With three spots to Nationals this year and a growing number of quality teams, it will be an interesting battle in the spring.
1. UC Santa Barbara - They are currently missing Katie Barry (shoulder injury) and Andrea Romano (studying abroad). Steve Dugan wasn't at either Sean Ryan or Socal Warmup. Despite all this, they won Sean Ryan and their two losses were by a combined three points. They are going to be better than they were last year. I think the Regional title (and arguably the National title) goes through the Burning Skirts. Breakout candidates include Milena Jovanovich and Marie.
2. USC - I think teams 2-4 are a step below UCSB, and the three bids to Nationals will almost certainly go to three of the top four. I'm giving the nod to the Hellions because I think USC has the athletic edge over BLU and will be able to use a deeper bench than Kali. If you think my opinion is crap because I coach the Hellions, I encourage you to come up with your own top 10 list. Like UCSB, USC returns almost their entire lineup from last year, including 2007 FOTY Lindsey Cross (Screech).
3. UCLA - The women of Westwood are going to be a top-tier for years to come. They lost some big-time talent last year (Taz, Gizmo, Fresh, Kix, Cosmo, Petree) but they have 11+ returners and a large B team to draw from. They also benefit greatly from the additions of Freshman-of-the-year (FOTY) candidate Cailey Marsh (Northwest High) and Krisztina Jozsef (NYU). Marsh is a critical addition to their handling line, which will be adjusting to life after the departure of Sanan and Banks. 2006 FOTY Karisa Tang, Lauren Sweeney and Shira Greenbaum will be picking up some of the handling slack.
4. Colorado - I haven't seen them this year so this is mainly a guess based on their personnel. They no longer have Julie Fast and Sam Johnson, but they remain very potent with Courtney Verhaalen, Brenna Hokanson and the Waughs. Hokanson got some valuable club experience with Bad Larry and looked very good at Regionals. There may be some bumpy patches as they adjust to a coaching change (Mike Whitaker has left and Tina McDowell is now handling the reins), but their strong performance at No Wisconsequences indicates that they are for real. They have lost in the game to go in the last two years and they will be very motivated to get back to the College Championships.
5. Claremont - Claremont's win over UCSB at Sean Ryan was the big surprise on Saturday. They have a large squad this year featuring a lot of new faces. Erica Baken, a graduate of Hopkins High and a member of the Juniors Worlds team, is a major addition and will rival Cailey Marsh for SW FOTY. Their lack of depth keeps them from breaking into the top four, but as they already proved at Sean Ryan, they are very capable of pulling off an upset. Kate Bayliss is poised to have a big season.
6. UCSD - The Psychos are the big mystery this year after a one-year suspension. They have several talented returners including Jen Jacobsen (Sir Robin), Andrea Cardenas (Ferris) and Amy Chang (Meeko), but it does seem that the suspension hurt the development of their rookies. I think depth is a big issue for them, but they do have the knowhow to build the program back up to national caliber. The potential reemergence of President's Day as a national venue will be a big help to their program. I think they are probably closer to CSULB than Claremont right now, but that could change quickly.
7. Cal State Long Beach - The ladies of No Regrets have built a good foundation for something great in the future. The school is a bit of a sports factory and the recent success of the men's team doesn't come as a big surprise. Long Beach seems like a perfect fit for a strong Ultimate program, and with another good rookie class or two, CSULB could enter the national picture in the near future. Gerene, Patty and Theresa (T-Bone) provide stability on the offensive end and deserve a lot of credit for building this young team. They definitely remind me of where USC was when Tracy and I first came on board two years ago.
8. Arizona - Scorch is going through a pretty sizable rebuilding effort having graduated a slew of players including Julia Tenen, Simrit Khalsa and Jodi McCloskey. Leading the team this year is Caitlin Wright who is critical to running Arizona's offense. On a side note, I have a great deal of admiration for programs like Colorado and Arizona who have been successful despite their geographical isolation. Both teams really deserve a lot of credit for their dedication.
9. Cal Poly SLO - I've only seen them play a couple points this fall, but they have consistently solid for the past few years. A good amount of the credit goes to their coach Jessup Ferris, whose quiet demeanor belies his valuable contributions to women's Ultimate.
10. Caltech - Snatch is at the top of the next tier of teams which includes Colorado State, UC-Irvine, Occidental and UCLA-B. Caltech has brought on Alex David to coach them which will help them to overcome some of the shortcomings that come with being a school with a very small female student population. Caltech could jump up to the next tier if they can get more consistent numbers at tourneys.
