One might describe President Barry Corey as approachable, genuine or animated, but after Friday’s showing on McNally Field, another term becomes applicable: ultimate.
Corey played intramural ultimate Frisbee with the President’s Militia, made up of a mix of students, faculty and staff, in a game with Jane Austen, a team comprised of Torrey students.

Event draws crowd

The event had been hyped on Facebook for weeks. More than 170 people were planning on attending the match, according to the Facebook event, but the actual crowd was much smaller.

The numbers of attendees started at around 60 people, and dwindled as the game continued. The presence of any onlookers, however, was unusual.

“There aren’t generally any spectators during normal intramural Frisbee games,” said sophomore Jennifer Loeser, a member of Jane Austen. “It’s cool that people came out to watch and support, even if they’re not supporting us.”

Thunderous cheers from the waiting crowd greeted Corey when he arrived shortly before the scheduled start of the game, sporting his President’s Militia shorts, a Canada shirt and red Converse knock-offs.

President participates in pre-game

He shook a few hands before running through a human tunnel created by his teammates. Corey and his militia posed for a team picture before The King’s Men sang the national anthem.

The pre-game pomp concluded with the President’s Militia running through a giant sign, which read, “Go DBC. Catch the Frisbee.”

Corey was diplomatic in his opinion of the match.

“It’s going to be a victorious game today,” he said. “There definitely is going to be a winner. If I have some small part in contributing to this team’s victory, I am going to have the weekend of my life.”

Prior to the game, both teams stood in a circle for prayer. Afterward, Corey faced off against the Jane Austen captain, sophomore Kamm Akaka, to “rock, paper, scissors” for the right to choose a side of the field, or to throw or receive the disc first. Corey won, and the President’s Militia elected to throw off, using a disc specially designed by mathematics professor Matthew Weathers.

Jane Austen scored the first point of the game, but the President’s Militia answered with an offensive series between Corey, John Ojeisekhoba Campus Safety chief, Erik Thoennes associate professor of biblical and theological studies, and senior Rheggie Carranza, leading to a score by Ojeisekhoba, who was playing ultimate Frisbee for the first time ever.

“It’s lots of fun,” he said. “I used to run track, so that’s helping a lot.”
The level of play seen on the field was exciting for sophomore Brandon Segraves, who was refereeing the game.

“It’s a good game,” he said. “Both teams have had some pretty good possessions.”
Many of the faculty and staff scored during the match, including Thoennes and Weathers. Corey himself scored a few minutes into the first half, receiving a pass from Weathers and presenting Segraves with an interesting conundrum.

“I don’t know how many points to give DBC,” he said. “They didn’t go over this in the rules.”

DBC scores two points

Corey fought hard during the game, scoring two points total, but he felt the pain as a result. A spill resulted in a small scrape on his shin, but Corey seemed proud of it.
“I had to do it just to prove that I was out there working,” he said.

Joanne Jung, assistant professor of biblical studies and theology, also took her turn on the field. Normally serving as “team mom,” Jung missed a couple of catches in the end zone during the game.

She eventually scored, however, in the last three minutes. The crowd erupted with shouting, and her team rushed the field to congratulate her.

The President’s Militia won the game in the end, but most just seemed excited that the game had occurred at all.

“I think it’s pretty fun to watch,” said freshman spectator Renee Chew. “It promotes a lot of spirit and I like that. It’s just so awesome to see all those professors play and watch them take the time to come out and be with the students.”

Even though her team lost, Loeser was optimistic about the whole event.

“It’s kind of fun to gang up on DBC and the other faculty members,” she said. “It’s something you don’t get to do every day.”

Faculty presence on Militia due to snowball effect

President’s Militia co-captains Cassidy Roupe and Philip Myers simply asked Corey and the other faculty and staff to join their team..

“We originally wanted Erik Thoennes on the team because many of our team members have his class,” Myers said. “He recommended Aaron Kleist, who said he would think about it. After we had asked two, we started joking about how many we should ask. That is when things got out of hand.”

Myers said the experience of playing with Corey was phenomenal.

“Imagine having the superpower of flight,” he said. “Now imagine you are flying over Mount St. Helens, wearing one of those Matrix capes, with a flock of eagles, during an eruption, while the sun is setting on the summer solstice. That doesn’t fully capture my feelings at that moment, but I believe it comes close.”