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It's no toss-up: South Eugene's gender-diverse ultimate frisbee team dominates national championship

Members of the South Eugene Gender Diverse/Girls Ultimate Frisbee Team and their trophy.
Marcus Kauffman
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Marcus Kauffman
Members of the South Eugene Gender Diverse Ultimate Frisbee Team and their trophy.

The South Eugene Gender Diverse Ultimate Frisbee team has won the High School National Championship. To clinch the win, they beat Roosevelt - a Seattle team - 15-to-4 in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday night.

During the 2-day competition, the Eugene high schoolers had to beat teams from Virginia, Maryland, Utah and elsewhere.

Going up
Jesse Donohue
Ella Koury makes a catch at the national championship.

A lightning storm interrupted play for a half hour, plus there was a downpour just before the finals game. That was followed by a rainbow - “rather appropriate,” according to the official broadcast of the game by “Ultiworld.”

Eleni Kauffman completes a catch at the championship event in Richmond, VA.
Marcus Kauffman
Eleni Kauffman completes a catch at the championship event in Richmond, VA.

“There was no doubt by the tournament’s end as the gender-diverse squad put together the greatest performance in the tournament’s history,” read the summary on the Ultiworld website.

“Not only did South Eugene win every contest on their path to a 6-0 weekend, but it was also utter domination. Their final point differential for the tournament was +71, averaging an 11+ point margin of victory. In every game, South Eugene was able to reach 15 goals, even in conditions that generally limited the field from getting to the final number before the cap.”

A parent who attended the championship event, Julie Polhemus, wrote a summary noting that the South Eugene High School Boys team earned a spot in the tournament with only one loss across more than 20 games in their season. While they “surprised higher-ranked teams with their solid play”, the boys team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by “eventual champion Lone Peak, and finished tied for 5th place.”

Polhemus also wrote that the South Eugene Girls Team transitioned to its gender-diverse name after coach (Rachelle) Depner was approached by then–South Eugene player Soju Hokari. Hokari suggested the team change its name to better accommodate the makeup of its players.

“Senior and co-captain Arenaria Cramer, in talking to (Oregon Public Broadcasting), said that, ‘In a time when trans people are constantly ostracized and discriminated against, especially in sports, now is really good time for us to have a safe place and a safe community to excel in and to be exactly who we are.’”

Copyright @2022, KLCC.

Born and raised in Eugene, Anni started at KLCC in 2000 as a reporter and co-host of Northwest Passage. After graduating from the University of Oregon, Anni moved to New York City. She worked in education for several years before returning to her true love, journalism. Anni co-founded and co-hosted Dailysonic, a narrative-based news podcast. She interned at WNYC's On The Media, then becoming WNYC's assistant producer of Morning Edition.
Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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