The Santa Barbara Condors had a rallying cry last year after winning their second straight national championship in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee.
First the United States ... then the World
They made good on that motto Saturday, defeating DoG of Boston, 14-12, in the title match of the WFDF's World Ultimate Club Championship held in Hawaii.
The Condors swept 12 matches in Honolulu, extending their unbeaten record this year to 24-0.
"After the championship last year, everyone was pretty committed to coming back and making the most of this season," said Greg Husak, who shares captain's duties with Andy Crews. "Everyone was committed to being in good shape, and we've been in stride all year.
"We knew we had pretty good people, and trained hard in the offseason and were focused, especially with the World Championships coming so early in the season."
The World Championships are held every fourth year, like the Olympic Games. The Condors plan to play four more tournaments this season, and will bid for a three-peat at this year's National Championships, scheduled for Oct. 24-27 in Sarasota, Fla.
The sport of Ultimate is played with a flying disc, commonly called a Frisbee. Although the game resembles football, there is no contact and players are not allowed to run with the disc.
The Condors' 22-player roster consists of 14 former UCSB players, including 12 ex-Gaucho captains.
"We have pretty strong ties to the university -- I played there five years, and with many of the guys on who are now on this team," said Husak, who is in his sixth season with the Condors. "We do have one guy who moved here from New York and another who came from Iowa.
"Over half the guys live in Santa Barbara, but several are UCSB alumni who live elsewhere -- gone up to San Francisco or down Los Angeles for their jobs. They've kept their connection with the team even when they've moved away."
The team's roots go back to 1974, although it didn't start playing outside competition until 1976. Tom Kennedy was the flying disc pioneer who gave the team its start.
The Condors won their first national championship in 1977, repeated in 1978 and captured their third title in 1981. It took another 19 years for them to claim another, but then they won it back-to-back -- winning both the 2000 and 2001 national crowns.
Last week's trek to the world championship began with victories over teams from Canada, Switzerland and Venezuela. Santa Barbara then faced its first U.S. opponent, beating Sockeye of Seattle, 15-9. Next came wins over New York, Finland, Great Britain, Sub-Zero of Minneapolis and Australia.
The Condors topped Electric Pig in the quarterfinals, 17-10, before topping Sockeye in a semifinal rematch, 17-8. That put the local team in the final against DoG, which won the last world championship, held in Scotland in 1999.
"They're one of our main rivals," said Husak. "They won six national titles in a row before we won the last two. They're one of the more storied programs in Ultimate, and the road went through them.
"It was fitting that we matched up with them in the finals."
The Boston team took an early 8-4 lead, but the Condors trimmed their deficit to 9-7 by halftime.
"JD Lobue and Ryan Yarbrough had some great defense, bottling up Boston's main offensive weapon," said Husak. "Blake Garnand, one of our senior players, had a key defensive play that kind of us got out of that 8-4 hole and on the right track.
"Steve Dugan and James Studarus were running the offense pretty effectively, throwing the disc long. We got the offense going through those guys, more or less."
It was a sweet triumph for Dugan, a veteran of the team who broke his wrist severely at the last World Championships in Scotland which required a hospital stay of several days.
Also contributing to the Condors' championship were Tommy Burfeind, Taylor Cascino, Shepherd Frankel, Adam Glimme, Mike Namkung, Ryan Nation, Taro Ramberg, Corey Sanford, Ted Savage, Jason Seidler, Brandon Steets, Jimmy Price, Dan Dewey, Nick Fiske and Mario Viani.
Now they've got their sights set on Nationals.
"It's kind funny to have the Worlds before Nationals, but it's because of all the northern-based countries," Husak pointed out. "It'd be unrealistic to hold the Worlds in late fall for countries like Sweden or Finland -- they need to have it in the middle of summer."
It doesn't matter to the streaking Condors. They've been hot all year long.
