Ultimate finishes third at BatesThe men's and women's ultimate frisbee clubs had an exciting weekend. TRON, the men's team, played in a tournament on Saturday, and the two teams combined for a competition on Sunday.

On Saturday, at U. Mass-Amherst, conditions were tough. It was raining and cold all day and there was more than an inch of standing water in some places on the fields. TRON played five solid games, but came away with only one win, an upset against Skidmore College, whom TRON has beaten twice in the last three weeks. Saturday's stars included Tom Gage '03 as well as Ari Browne '05 and Noah Browne '03.

On Sunday, at Bates College, the ultimate teams were considerably more successful. The tournament was co-ed, meaning that there had to be five men and two women per team on the field at all times.

The first game against Colby College was clearly a mismatch. From the beginning Colby had difficulty matching up with Brandeis, and TRON quickly jumped ahead. Brandeis went into halftime leading 7-2. A highlight of the half came when Co-captain Gabe Reif '04 made a diffucult grab in the endzone for a goal. The second half was similar, as Colby was unable to string together enough passes to get into the endzone. Brandeis quickly capitalized, scoring goals to Rachel Kane '05, Jane Partensky '06 and Dena Leeman '06. The game ended with the score 13-3 in favor of Brandeis. Adam Sheps '03 played especially well, scoring multiple times.

In the second game, Brandeis played Bates College B, but they were no match for Brandeis. After the first half, TRON led 6-1 and went on to win 11-6.

After two fairly easy games of pool play, Brandeis was caught off-guard by the strength of its next opponent, Bowdoin. Both sides used zone defenses, and the two teams exchanged points until it was 4-4, when Bowdoin made a change in their zone defense. They brought defenders in to clog the middle, forcing Brandeis to make much riskier passes. While many of these passes were completed, too many were either blocked or redirected by the wind. Bowdoin went on a run and won the game 13-5.

After that discouraging loss, Brandeis played its next game against Bates A for third place in the tournament. Bates used a European style offense, which utilized give-and-goes and quick, short passes. Brandeis realized Bates' strategy quickly and proceeded to shut its offense down.

With great defense by Co-captains Yoni Resnick '04 and Joshua Vaughan '04, as well as Ari Kahan '04, Len Pader '05 and Anton Prybish '05, Bates had difficulty bringing the frisbee up the field. Brandeis was able to capitalize with strong all-around offense and a couple of incredible grabs. The first of these came when Resnick leapt over two Bates players to catch a hanging throw in the endzone. Then, to finish things off, Rachel Kane caught a deflected hammer in the endzone for an upwind goal. Brandeis won by a score of 12-7.

"This was a rather monumental weekend for Brandeis Ultimate Frisbee, for it was the first time TRON . joined forces with the new women's team (captained by Vanessa Anik '05). The results were great as the Brandeis team took third and came away feeling great and looking forward to more opportunities to play again," Reif said.



Tennis holds first tournament



The tennis club held its first tournament of the year on Sunday. This was a doubles tournament featuring 17 teams. It was single-elimination, with the first team to win a set advancing to the next round. In the final, the team of Matt Lenore '05 and Roman Nadgor '05 defeated the team of Allan Sternberg '05 and Jason Kramer '04 by a score of 6-3. Lenore and Nadgor jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Sternberg and Kramer rallied to close to make it 5-3, before Lenore and Nadgor closed it out.

"The tournament was a great chance for us (Matt and I) to get to play some tennis against our fellow Brandeisians. The final match was a well-played one, and we managed to come out victorious against our strong opponents," Nadgor said.

"We both had a great time playing and I hope that the tennis club will put on more of these types of matches in the future," Lenore said.

The winners received a gift certificate from House of Sports on Moody St.



Gymnastics looking to expand



The gymnastics club is looking for new members. Practices are once a week, and upcoming events will include a cartwheel-a-thon and a campus-wide handstand contest as a fundraiser.

There are currently about 30 members of the team, 15 of whom are regulars, and a wide range of skill levels, from those who have never participated in gymnastics before they came to Brandeis to those that have been competing United Sates Gymnastics Federation for years. Club president Eliza Agrest '03 has considerable experience, having started gymnastics in Russia when she was about four years old. She later competed in the USGF until the age of 14, when she quit. She did not start again until she came to Brandeis.

For more information, e-mail genetix@brandeis.edu.