The Knox College Ultimate Frisbee team dominated the competition en route to capturing the title in the 20th annual Winter Whiteout tournament this past weekend.

Knox went undefeated for the tournament, including wins over Lake Forest, Western Illinois and Northern Illinois. No game was closer than 13-5.

“We had talked about winning [the tournament] as an expectation this year,” sophomore Harper Garvey said. Winter Whiteout was the final preseason event for Knox, which is ranked in the top 25 amongst Division III schools by Ultimate Frisbee media outlet Ultiworld.

Garvey said that the increased expectations have dictated a change to the team’s practice regime.

The Knox College Ultimate Club team competes with the orange-clad Knox alumni team in the annual Natalie Veneziano Memorial Whiteout Tournament Feb. 22 in T. Fleming Fieldhouse. (Courtesy of Office of Communications)

“It’s a little more formal and there’s a focus on conditioning,” Garvey said. “That should help us in the future.”

Senior James Sheppard also noted the team has increased the number of practices during the week to hone skills and structure.

But despite the impressive performance, Garvey noted the team still has a lot of work to do before the outdoor spring season starts.

“We don’t want to become complacent just because we won,” Garvey said. “The indoor game is easier without wind, and it’s been evident when we’ve gone outside in the past.”

Though trying to replicate outdoor conditions inside is impossible, Garvey said the team has had more opportunities to work on man-to-man defense indoors, something they struggled with last spring.

With the focus on the sectionals of USA Ultimate, Knox will once again face their stiffest challenge from North Park University. North Park defeated Knox in the finals of the Great Lakes regional tournament last season and is ranked seventh according to Ultiworld going into this year.

Jackson White

Jackson White is a senior double majoring in political science and secondary education. This is his third year as a sports editor for TKS. Over the course of the 2010-2011 academic year, Jackson worked for cornbeltbaseball.com, writing feature stories and columns about high school and college baseball in central Illinois. Outside of the Publications Office, he is an information assistant for the Knox College Sports Information Department and a two-time all-Midwest Conference baseball player. Jackson is the recipient of five awards from the Illinois College Press Association, including two first place awards for sports game coverage and sports page design.