Note: This is one of a series of articles about the top stories in OC athletics during the 2021 calendar year.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 28, 2021) – Birthed with much intrigue and promise in the fall of 2019, it took until December 2021 for Oklahoma Christian's innovative Ultimate club team to have a chance to compete in the collegiate postseason.
It proved to be worth the wait, as the Eagles – thought to be the only collegiate Ultimate team that offers scholarships – won 16 straight postseason games en route to winning the USA Ultimate Division III national title, which ranks as the No. 4 story in OC athletics in 2021.
OC created significant waves in the world of college Ultimate when the university's scholarship program was announced and implemented. The Eagles began competing in 2019-20 and appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down collegiate sports.
With most universities struggling to organize schedules for their varsity sports during the 2020-21 academic year, club sports like Ultimate often took a back seat, and USA Ultimate cancelled its national tournament for a second straight year. But that organization made a unique decision to hold its title tournament for 2020-21 in December 2021, and tweaked its eligibility rules to allow for that.
Under new coach
Garrett Taylor, OC took full advantage. Combining the Eagles' returning squad with newcomers, including a handful of graduate transfers, Taylor built what proved to be a powerhouse.
OC finished second to Missouri S&T in its first tournament of the fall, the Rookie Ride in Tulsa, but that proved to be the Eagles' lowest finish of the season. They won the University of Oklahoma's Just Plain Nasty tournament, then started on their postseason run. Ironically, they lost their first postseason game, to Truman State (Mo.) in the Ozarks Conference tournament in Tulsa.
They didn't lose again.
The Eagles avenged that loss to Truman State in the tournament semifinals and beat Missouri S&T in the title match, then took the USA Ultimate South Central Regional in Tulsa without a loss, downing Colorado College in the final. That qualified OC for the Division III College Championships in Norco, Calif.
OC received the No. 4 seed among 16 teams at the national tournament. The Eagles struggled a bit during pool play, winning their three games by a combined four points. But they turned up the intensity during the bracket-play portion of the event, never trailing while beating sixth-seeded Whitman (Wash.) 15-11, top-seeded Richmond 14-11 and third-seeded Middlebury (Vt.) 15-12.
Elliott Moore, who joined OC's team in early 2020 – right before the pandemic – and
Kyle Henke, a graduate transfer from Texas Tech, led the way for the Eagles, often combining on long throws that led to goals and fueling OC's powerful offense.
The Eagles will have a unique chance to win two national titles in one season, as they will enter the 2022 USA Ultimate event – to be held in May at a site to be determined – as the defending Division III champion.
