Ultimte Reigns over PLU player’s life

Tyler Scott - scotttj@plu.edu

Mast sports reporter

Most students at PLU has experience with a Frisbee. Granted, the experience may range anywhere from throwing a disc to catching a disc or maybe accidentally (or intentionally) being hit in the back of the head with a disc.

“Frisbee, the actual piece of plastic, has brought so many people together,” Kendall Jeske said. “I’ve met so many people from just throwing the disc, or almost hitting people with a disc, or almost getting hit by a disc.”

Jeske, a religion major and four-year member of the PLU Reign Ultimate Frisbee team, is rarely seen around campus without a disc and he’s even been known to pull out a disc during breaks in classes.

A laidback personality and lifelong love of sports helped direct Jeske toward the Reign in his first year.

“One of the guys who lived with me in Ordal talked about going out and playing Frisbee, so I just told him I’d go out and toss with him,” Jeske explains.

The PLU Reign is a club sport with a very relaxed demeanor. Jeske explains that while the team does compete in about 4-6 tournaments each spring, “the Ultimate team is really based on having fun, running around with a bunch of friends.”

Jeske gets excited every time he sees people tossing discs around campus because he knows from his own experience the dynamic that a simple piece of plastic can add to the PLU experience.

“I have thrown with more people than I can count, just randomly on campus,” Jeske said. “I’ve thrown with Dr. Torvend of the Religion Department. I’ve thrown with President Anderson. I’ve thrown with alumni and incoming freshmen.”

When Jeske first came to PLU he considered trying out for the soccer team. He said he considers himself a decent player on the soccer field and believes that he would have loved the experience of playing for the Lutes, but after choosing the Ultimate route he has come to believe that “there’s just something different about competing on the club level. With how relaxed the ultimate Frisbee players are, I think it really fits with my personality.”

Jeske said the Reign has always been a competitive team. The players open the season at the end of February with a tournament at Stanford University in California, playing against countless teams from up and down the West Coast. The season consists of 4-6 tournaments, with each team playing somewhere between six and nine games during each weekend tournament.

Jeske likens Ultimate to football in that there is typically an offensive and defensive “line” that check in and out of the game depending on the situation. As one of the more experienced players on the offensive line, Jeske often controlled and distributed the disc as a sort of point guard on the field.

The Reign has maintained consistent success during Jeske’s time on the team, having made it to Regionals in three of his four years.

Jeske describes the challenges of competing against top teams, pointing out that the Reign has beaten the University of Washington’s Ultimate team in the past, but in the end he believes that the relaxed atmosphere of the game is one of its most appealing traits.

“We love seeing new people out at practice who are just tossing around,” Jeske said. “Come on out and see if you like the sport. If you want to learn something, we’re here to teach you. If you just want to throw it around a bit, that’s cool, too.”

As his time at PLU comes to a close, Jeske ponders what his legacy will be with the Reign.

“I would hope people would remember me as someone who helped the team and who helped teach people, someone who really played hard,” Jeske said.

“However, I have a bad feeling that I’ll mostly be remembered as the guy who got hurt a lot. At the same time, I think I’ll be remembered fondly in that role.”

Perhaps it was a bit of poetic irony that saw Jeske end his PLU Ultimate career in a cast. While playing against UW a couple of weeks ago, the senior ran into an opposing player and broke a couple of fingers on his left hand. Jeske admits that he was playing with a little extra intensity in his final tournament with the Reign, and he even convinced his coach to allow him to continue playing even with the injury.

After graduation, Jeske is looking at possibly traveling to Denver to play club Ultimate and attend culinary school. He recognizes that culinary school might not seem torelate to a Religion degree, “but it’s what I want to do at this point with my one wild and precious life. That, and play Frisbee.”

Photo courtesy of Kendall Jeske

Senior Kendall Jeske has played for the PLU Reign Ultimate Frisbee team for all of his college career. Jeske hopes to continue playing Ultimate after graduation, as well as attend culinary school.