CORVALLIS, Ore. (U-WIRE) -- At Oregon State, throwing a Frisbee isn't limited to sunny days. It's a year-round activity for players of all levels.

In fact, OSU has two new world champions in Ultimate disc after the sport held its World Championships Aug. 1-8 in Turku, Finland.

Tara and Andy Neill, two OSU alumni and Corvallis residents, were part of Team USA in the mixed category.

"They are both fabulous athletes and great representatives of the USA," said Joshua Greenough, the Ultimate Players Association college director. Greenough played against Andy Neill in 2000.

Team USA went to Finland favored to get take the title from defending world champion Canada.

"It was an awesome tournament, being able to play against so many different countries and making new friends and representing the U.S. in such a positive way in such difficult times," said Neill about the world tournament.

After being undefeated during the series, they got the gold medal by defeating Canada, 17-13 in the final.

"I was fortunate enough to score the final point of the tournament and consider it one of the best moments of my career," Neill said.

The next big event involving OSU will be the national club championship in Sarasota, Fla., at the end of the month.

Last weekend, the Northwest regionals in Blaine, Wash., decided the fate of Axe and Schwa, two strong contenders in a field that included past and present OSU players. Schwa will represent the state of Oregon in Sarasota.

The annual college nationals will be held in May in Corvallis.

Thirty-two of the best college teams in the open and women categories in the nation will all gather on May 27-29 at OSU to compete for the national crown.

The event will bring around 1,000 players, staff and fans from all around the country for a weekend.

"We had to put together a 15-page proposal, regarding everything from medical staff to food distribution", said Kenny Faase, OSU men's team coach and tournament director.

The selection process was competitive. Several factors played in favor of OSU and Corvallis.

"Really nice facilities, strong community support of Corvallis college players and alumni; their enthusiasm went a long way," Greenough said.

Top-ranked college teams surely helped, too. Both OSU men's and women's teams are part of the Northwest Region, the most competitive in the nation. The men's team, N21 Beavers, will face several national contenders like N2 California, N3 Stanford and, of course, N18 Oregon on the road to nationals.

The region has been performing really strong lately.

"The Northwest region gets three bids to nationals, a first in eight years," Faase said. "OSU men's team is trying to build itself into a premium national contender."

The last time the OSU men's team got close to a national title was in 2003. That year, there was only one spot to the nationals for the Northwest region and it was all decided during the regional final between OSU and Oregon. In the classical repeat of a Civil War previously won by OSU during the season, Oregon's win qualified them for the nationals.

OSU is one of the few colleges in the nation to have two men's teams playing intercollegiate. Practices starts in the fall and tryouts for the "A" team are held at the beginning of winter.

While the A team plays competitive, the B team is more geared toward learning how to play and having fun.

The N18 Diva Disc, OSU women's team, will also have a strong schedule on their hands. The team will likely cross the path of defending national champion UC-Davis in trying to get a bid to the nationals at home. They hope to return nine of their 12 players and expect to be recruiting, also. Getting players to travel for tournaments can be difficult.

Fall practices are open to students of all levels. Men's team practices are held at Peavy on Mondays and Thursdays at 4 p.m., while women's practices are held at South at the same time.

(C) 2004 OSU Daily Barometer via U-WIRE.