Anya Schoeld
Sports Editor
Jaden Lash, a freshman majoring in Elementary Education at PLU, is enjoying his first year on campus. Aside from classes, he is kept busy as a barista at Old Main Market and participates in the PLU Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. He accredits much of his comfort on campus to his time spent on the Frisbee team.
“The team sometimes goes out to maybe a theater performance or something like that as a team, so definitely it’s helped me engage with the PLU experience more,” he said.
Lash got involved in Ultimate Frisbee when in high school, playing scratch games with friends. Once accepted into PLU, he found out about the Ultimate Frisbee on campus and looked for a way to become part of the team.
Now he participates in weekly practices and mostly plays in an offense position as deep cutter.
“When trying to go for the frisbee, I usually try to go downfield, I try to go far. I just have a lot of fun with it. I like to think I’m pretty fast or at least shifty, so I think that kind of helps.”
He said he enjoys learning new skills and playing at a more advanced level. He specifically points out his improvement in throwing and his appreciation for the strategies within the game.
Lash recounted one of his favorite memories, a game in Oregon. He said it is one of his favorites because he had fun getting the chance to try something he’d never done before. “I was in the back, but I was open, and so one of the captains, Blake, he’d pointed to me to go over to the side and I got thrown the disc, and I think that was one of my first points.”
According to Lash, the PLU Ultimate Frisbee team consists of about 20 players led by three team captains: Reece Painter, Nicholas Etzel and Blake Clapp. Lash spoke highly of the captains, especially of their ability to work together as co-captains and their individual strengths as leaders.
Lash said Painter is skilled at demonstrating effective play and athletic skill. Etzel is great at encouraging and coordinating the team and is always ready to provide help where it’s needed. Blake, who leads well through his tips and attention to detail, helps teammates recognize their strengths and what areas they can improve.
The Ultimate Frisbee team is part of why Lash has been able to connect with so many people and events on campus, he said. “I always have a lot of fun. Even outside of actually playing Frisbee, you have a group of guys always doing things where they hang out with each other, maybe a game night or something. So if you want to get connected, that’s what this is.”
Lash said the team has a strong bond, even receiving visits from now graduated players from time to time, and that is one of the reasons Lash recommends anyone interested in participating to give it a go.
