‘Dream come true’: Summit girls and boys Ultimate going to Nationals for the first time

(Update: adding video, comments from Summit Ultimate players and coaches)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- For Summit Ultimate, this years teams are breaking records and fulfilling past team's missed chances.

Both the boys and girls teams from Summit will head to Salt Lake City next week for the Ultimate (Frisbee) Nationals.

These teams had to prove they were one of the best 16 teams in the country just to make nationals.

Both of them did just that at a tournament in California, and now are doing something no team in Central Oregon has done before.

The Summit girls are the first team from Central Oregon to make Nationals.

Coral Reed is a junior captain on the team and is excited for the opportunity. 

“That kind of intensity at a tournament is just so awesome to play in and see,” Reed said. “I think we’re all stoked for it, and it's going to be really awesome."

For Jessica Schueler, Summit girls head coach, she knows it's no small feat. 

“I’ve been coaching for nine years, and so this is a dream come true, to finish out the season,” Schueler said. 

The Summit boys made Nationals in 2019, but couldn’t go due to graduation.

With Covid and then some younger teams, they haven’t had another chance, until now.

Senior captain Will Chiapetta cannot wait to make the most of the opportunity. 

“Super-excited to give it all we have,” Chiaptta said. “We've worked for it for a while. Done lots of practice out in the snow, three days a week, and we’re ready to go show everybody else how hard we’ve worked.”

The team is relatively senior-heavy, with a good mix of experience, according to head coach Rick Melner.

“We actually have some guys that played a bunch of soccer, so it translated pretty well,” Melner said. “They’re soccer players and Frisbee golfers, of all things, so they already knew how to throw, and they’re great athletes.”

Meanwhile, the girls are loaded with sophomores. But Reed is still confident in her squad.

“I trust all my teammates, and I think we're going to do our best and do great,” Reed said. “There’s definitely a lot of competition there, so it's going to be very challenging. But I’m pretty confident that we can do well, and we're going to play our hardest.”

Both teams head to Salt Lake City next week.

The girls second-place finish and boys-third place finish at the “Spaghetti Western” tournament in California last month has given both teams confidence they can do some damage in Salt Lake.