USAU Championships 2011 – Sarasota, FL

Chain Lightning returns to Sarasota again this week to vie for ultimate’s toughest title to win. Following its Southern regional victory, Chain comes in as the 4th seed out of the 16 North American teams that have earned their way this far. Games start Thursday, continuing through to Sunday’s final.

news and coverage links:
USAU score reporter for schedule and results

Expert Picks: Open Club Championships
The Warm Up: Open Preview – 2011 Club (Chain comments begin ~19:00)
USAU Open Preview – 2011 Club Championships
Likewise Skincare MVP Award Finalists (with Chain’s Dylan Tunnell as a finalist)

South Regional: CHAMPS, 7-0; 15-11 over Doublewide in the finals

UPDATES:
Chain scores last 3 in a strong second half to take the top spot!
Chain took half 8-7
now in finals vs. Doublewide, both teams already qualified for nationals
Chain wins semis 13-7: 9-2 run to close
Chain up 8-5 over Tanasi at half in semis

Chain over Six Pack 15-7, on to semis vs. Tanasi
other side has DW vs. Uproar (with 2 Chain alums, Brandon Perales and Will Moore)

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After Saturday’s play in Little Rock, Chain sits at 4-0, having outscored their opponents 60-12. A nice day, but all it really means is that the Atlantans held onto the 2nd seed, lining up the potential showdown with top seed Doublewide in the finals – assuming both squads advance through the morning’s first 2 playoff games.

If Chain beats Six Pack in the quarters, they’ll likely face another sectionals opponent in Tanasi, who pushed Doublewide a bit yesterday after pushing Chain at sectionals in September. In more common formats, regionals brackets lead to the 1-2 match in the late morning with no games prior. Today’s scenario may gauge teams’ depth, and Chain does seem likely to have the tougher semis opponent (though this sometimes leaves the winner sharper for the next game.)

South Regional schedule and scores
Leaguevine for South Regionals (tournament teams twitter updates aggregated)
Chain Lightning’s twitter (@ATLchain)

Tremendous shots from Chain games in Santa Cruz over Labor Day courtesy of (and rights reserved by) Rodney Chen:

more here: beakertehmuppet / Rodney Chen’s LDUC pictures on flickr

South Regionals schedule and scores
Chain Lightning comes in as the underdog, the 2 seed behind Doublewide, with the top three regional finishers advancing to the USAU Championship in Sarasota at the end of the month. The weekend marks a return to the fields in Little Rock where Chain won the Regionals in 2006, a performance that was precursor to the team’s first appearance in the national semi-finals.

the weekend:

-Saturday pool play: Space City Eclipse (9 a.m.), Freaks Uv Nature (11:30), Space City Ignite (2 p.m.), cross-over game for Sunday seeding (4:30)

-Sunday playoffs: quarters begin at 8 a.m.

regionals previews:

Skyd preview
“Doublewide out of Austin has won 3 of the last 4 Regional Championships over Chain Lightning of Atlanta. Both clubs are amongst the elite programs in the country but they haven’t played this year to date. Chain has been ranked in the top 5 in Skyd’s Power rankings all year and Doublewide only dropped from 3rd to 7th after a poor showing at Labor Day.”

USAU preview
“…[Chain has been] focusing instead on their game and making to Nationals the old fashioned way—through “Efficiency, throwing as few passes as possible, putting teams in the dog house, and having fun.”

East Coast Sectionals: champs, 5-0; 15-10 over Tanasi in the finals

In the longest streak of its kind for club ultimate, Chain Lightning has never lost, not once, at sectionals, claiming the title every year since the team’s inception in 1982. Sectionals weekend this year in Chattanooga proved no different, though Tanasi has emerged as a consistent presence over the last few years, with a great chance to return to Nationals. For Chain, it was a good start to the USAU Series, advancing to Regionals as one of the top seeds.

Saturday had only 3 games, with convincing wins over Voodoo (Knoxville), Slow Country Boil, and Duel (Nashville). Before playing Tanasi in the finals Sunday, Chain won the semis 15-7 over fellow Georgians Six Pack, an athletic team with heart.

results from the USAU score reporter

Some nice shots from sectionals from one of Chain’s most faithful photographers, Christina Schmidt, including rookie Michael Arenson getting off the ground:

Will Lokke with the hammer block

Jolian Dahl extends on the forehand release

Rookie Michael Arenson going way up

Arenson finishes at high altitude

Nick Lance rises for the catch, trailed by Russell Snow and Ben Spears