Photo courtesy of Ariel Li ‘27.
Daisy Chain Ultimate Frisbee competed in a tournament at Smith College and at Yale College.
By Baya Jaiswal ’27
Staff Writer
Mount Holyoke College’s Daisy Chain Ultimate Frisbee team started their fall season strong by defeating three out of four competing colleges at a tournament hosted by Smith College.
The tournament held on Nov. 4 hosted four other teams alongside Mount Holyoke, consisting of Amherst College, Williams College, Vassar College and Smith College. Mount Holyoke defeated all except for Williams.
Lara Gao ’26, who joined the team last year, said she felt “super duper excited” about the win. She elaborated on what strengths she felt helped the team succeed. "I think it’s the team vibe — we do fun and silly things together, our cheer is always the loudest and we all support each other on and off the field,” Gao said.
Gao mentioned tournaments as her favorite part about being on the ultimate frisbee team. “My favorite part is the two-day … tournaments, like last year at the national [tournament], we played really hard together and also had fun living and cooking together,” she said.
Daisy Chain’s hard work and dedication brought them to seventh place at the 2023 USA Ultimate Division III College Championships last May.
Gao also commented on the dynamics of the club.“[It’s] different from … varsity [teams], we got everything done by ourselves,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, but all of these special experiences also bonded us together.”
The Mount Holyoke team then played against Boston University, Harvard College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Yale College on Saturday, Nov. 11. According to team member Anna Akter ’25, the matchups were unscored.
Gao shared her team’s goals for the year. “I think our team's goal is just like our cheer: ‘joy and intensity,’” she said. The ultimate frisbee team concludes their fall season with their final game at Williams College, where they will be competing in the round-robin tournament.
Daisy Chain will start their spring season in March.