The Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team is heading back to nationals.
The team punched their tickets to the Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) when they won the Canadian Ontario University Ultimate Championships (COUUC) in Brampton, which took place from Sept. 19 to 20. The gold medal is the Gaels’ 12th straight provincial championship.
This year’s nationals will also take place in Brampton, this time from Oct. 16-18.
The team cruised through their first two games in pool play during provincials, beating their first two opponents by a combined score of 30-7. They then suffered a narrow 12-13 defeat to the Western Mustangs to close out day one.
However, the team bounced back the next day, beating the Carleton Ravens in the quarterfinals and the Waterloo Warriors in the semifinals to take on the Ottawa GeeGees in the final. A quick start allowed them to hold on to a 10-8 victory and win the gold at the COUUC.
In an interview with The Journal, Head Coach Pete Galbraith talked about the high expectations and standard the team puts on itself every year.
“We are certainly one of the top teams in the country. If we’re not fighting for medals, it’s going to be a disappointment,” Galbraith said. “We set the bar pretty high for ourselves and have a history of meeting it.”
As head coach of the team since 2015, Galbraith has helped the team become a powerhouse. The team has won six national championships, four under Galbraith, which is the most of any men’s program in Canada. The team is also the only Canadian University program to be at every American Division 1 national championship as well.
“We’ve got a history of success,” he said. “We have had a steady stream of guys who have national team experience, so we have been incredibly lucky to have great athletes coming in.”
One of those athletes with national experience is Dax Miller, ArtSci ’27, who also sat down in an interview with The Journal to talk about provincials and his time on the Queen’s ultimate team.
“[Beating Ottawa] was a pretty sweet victory […], everyone just did their roles,” Miller said. “We didn’t have to work too hard in the final, I mean Ottawa played a great game, but we didn’t have to overexert ourselves.”
Primarily a cutter on the team, Miller was also one of the captains of the Men’s Ultimate Team for the past few seasons before he stepped down this year to let a few junior players learn to become captain. He also said playing on the team was a substantial influence on him deciding to come back for a fifth year at Queen’s.
“I came back for the fall semester to finish up a couple courses, but a big part of coming back was I wanted one more season with the guys because it’s such a special time,” Miller said.
The team also competed in the Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships (CEUUC) this past weekend. However, the team was without a few of its key players, including Miller, who were either nursing injuries or playing for their national club teams. The team ultimately ended up losing to Western in the semifinals but won the bronze medal game.
Despite losing twice to the Mustangs this season, Miller sees it as a way for the team to become more mentally focused and not take wins for granted.
“Actually, having that loss [to Western] was just a nice moment to light a fire under our asses […]. Can’t expect a win. So, I think there was just a little bit too much confidence,” Miller said. “Honestly, probably a good thing we lost. I think we know we’re the better team.”
Galbraith also gave praise to the Women’s Ultimate Team, who are playing in a qualifier for the CUUC on Oct. 2.
“They moved up the rankings despite having I think stiffer competition, so they’re on a pathway to success,” Galbraith said.
The men’s team will look to capture their first national championship since 2023.
Tags
Men's Ultimate, OUA, ultimate frisbee
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