This past Saturday and Sunday, in Ames, IA, the springtime air was filled with a different aroma. “What’s that smell? It’s Grinnell!” shouted the Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. The men’s team, the Grinnellephants, traveled to Iowa State University to play in the sectionals tournament. After a challenging round of pool play on Saturday—where the Grinnellephants went 2-2—their 3-1 record on Sunday qualified them for the regionals tournament.

The first day for the Grinnellephants, however, didn’t smell so sweet. 

“I felt on Saturday we expected to do much better than we actually did,” said Glenn Clark ’10. “It was really frustrating. We didn’t even beat ourselves, physically, we just beat ourselves mentally.”

After winning their first game against Luther College, Grinnell fell to the University of Omaha-Nebraska (UNO) in a close match. Grinnell went on to win against the University of Iowa B team, and then lost to Iowa State University.

“We really didn’t play well,” said Andrew Otto ’10. “We were just kind of disappointed with how flat we came off.”

However, coming back on Sunday, the team had a fresh attitude and went 3-1. “I will say, despite Saturday, I was really proud of how we played on Sunday,” Clark said. “We came out after a tough day, lost our first game on Sunday, but then bounced back and won three in a row.”

The wins were especially sweet, considering the Grinnellephants beat UNO, who had been a disappointing loss the previous day.

Overall, the Grinnellephants finished fifth—just shy of getting them to nationals.

“We qualified for regionals, but it will be a long shot to make it to nationals,” Otto said. “We just didn’t win enough games against teams that are our size.”

Clark agreed with Otto. “We’d have to beat a lot of teams that are much better than we are,” he said.

Though the Grinnellephants consider making the DIII National Tournament a poor bet, they’re excited to play in the regionals tournament, which take place in Northfield, Minn. next weekend, May 7 and 8.