This year, the UW is dominating the competition in one ultimate sport: Ultimate Frisbee.

The Washington women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, called Element, is the best women’s team in the United States and second in the league to the University of British Columbia (UBC). The team is ranked second overall in the Ultimate Players Association and is headed to nationals for the first time since 2005, when UW finished second overall to Stanford.

“I was actually playing for the team the first time we went in 2005 when we went the first time,” coach Miranda Roth said. “There are a couple of the girls on the team back then. Most of these girls have never been before. I expect them to be very excited.”

They certainly are.

“Oh, hell yes,” player Jillian Goodreau said when asked if she was excited for nationals.

The University of British Columbia has been playing tight with the UW all season, only picking up the No. 1 ranking after coming in first place in regional play.

“It’s a big deal to get to nationals, especially from our really, really competitive division,” graduate student Kate Everitt said. “There were a lot of good teams we had to get through to get here.”

Last year, the UW’s team lost by a double game point in overtime to the tournament’s winner, Stanford, and did not make it to nationals.

Sixteen teams across the country will descend on Boulder, Colo., May 16-18 for nationals. Teams are selected by region, and each region sends between one and three teams based on a number of factors, including the size of the region and how the teams did in the tournament last year.

The UW, UBC and UO will be representing the Northwest region. They will face tough competition, such as UCLA and Wake Forest, when they get there.

Despite this, Coach Roth wants the team to play its best.

“I want us to achieve competitive greatness. If that means winning, that means winning, and we could definitely win,” Roth said.

In addition to playing for the championship, the UW would also like to win the prestigious Callahan and Spirit Awards. The Callahan Award is roughly the Ultimate Frisbee equivalent of the MVP for most other sports, and the Spirit Award is for the player who most embodies the spirit of the game.

Senior Lisa Neimann is the UW’s nominee for both events.

“We’ve got a lot of respect and love for Lisa,” player Lindsey Wilson said.

Neimann was reluctant to comment about the award, saying she felt “slightly embarrassed, but very honored.”

Sadly, the season was not all positive.

The team had to deal with the tragic loss of team member Sarah Plants to cancer. To honor her, the team added the number 24 and the word “heart” to their shorts. “The season is for Sarah,” Roth said.

Ultimate Frisbee is a relatively new sport. It was invented in 1968 by Joel Silver, who started the first team in 1970 at Lafayette College. The sport has steadily built popularity since then.

The rules of the game are similar to a combination of soccer and football. Players start the game with a “pull,” which is similar to a football kickoff. The receiving team can either catch the Frisbee or pick it up when it stops. However, if they drop the pull, the other team takes the Frisbee. Once on offense, the team must attempt to move the Frisbee into the other team’s end zone without letting it touch the ground or go out of bounds. This gets the team one point. Games are usually played to 13 or 15 points.

There are two main positions on any team: handlers and cutters. Handlers, similar to NBA point guards or NFL quarterbacks, handle the Frisbee and look to pass to their teammates. Cutters are similar to NFL wide receivers. They seek to get open down the field and score points.

Because it is such a competitive sport, players need more than one style of throw to get the Frisbee around their defender. Players usually throw in one of three ways: the backhand, which is the classic Frisbee throw, the forehand, which is the opposite of the backhand, and the hammer, which is when the thrower throws the Frisbee from over her head. The hammer is used least frequently, as it is hardest to catch.

What makes ultimate Frisbee unique, however, is that it is self-officiated.

“We’re self-refereed. You have to be respectful of one another,” Goodreau said. “You have to take responsibility for your play and the other person’s play.”

Despite the obvious temptation to cheat, most teams live up to the spirit of the game, she said.

Element players really like the sport and the team.

“Ultimate is my new favorite thing ever,” senior Laura Holcomb said. “I used to do crew and I still play soccer, but I am totally addicted to Ultimate.”

Holcomb, who hadn’t played before coming to college, said that a lack of experience shouldn’t deter prospective players.

“Go for it. Try out. Don’t let anything hold you back,” she said.