The women’s ultimate frisbee team started practices earlier in August and are preparing for their fall season. The Shield sat down with junior captain Samantha Strunk to hear more about her reason for joining the team and the team’s plans for the year.

The Shield: How long have you been a member of the team?

Strunk: This is my third year. I joined my sophomore year (and became a captain) my second year.

The Shield: What position do you play on the field?

Strunk: I’m a cutter. The cutter is the person that essentially moves the disc down the field. They are running vertically up and down the field to move the disk from one end zone to the other.

The Shield: How did you find out that there was an ultimate frisbee team available?

Strunk: My boyfriend, he played his freshman year.

The Shield: Once you joined the team, what made you stay?

Strunk: It’s nice to get out and meet people. It’s an easy sport to gain friends and it’s a fun way to workout. We do a lot of running.

The Shield: Was it easy to form friendships on the team?

Strunk: Oh yeah, pretty much when I came to Evansville I was coming by myself. I’m from five hours away. It’s a nice little community of people.

The Shield: Do you have a favorite part of the sport?

Strunk: The girls. There was only one girl who was on the team when it first established. It’s nice to join a group of girls that we all have no idea what we are doing. Just kind of learning.

The Shield: Did you expect to enjoy it when you first started?

Strunk: No, I really didn’t. I thought that I would just come out to a few practices, just to let my boyfriend know yeah, I tried it. I ended up loving the girls.

The Shield: Is the team rebuilding this year or do you have a solid group?

Strunk: We’re pretty consistent with our rookies. We are pretty consistent with the same group of girls, it’s not really for everyone. We’ll see many faces throughout the year.

The Shield: How many competitions does the team participate in?

Strunk: We do either two or three each semester. The motto pretty much for ultimate is just the spirit of the game. It’s a bunch of college students, going out and playing ultimate for an entire weekend. You get to meet new people.