Careful what you wish for..

It was a rainy late night practice, and the element girls were cleating up under the halogen glow of the turf field lights. Perhaps it was the late hour, deydration, or the near delerious excitement caused of the fast approaching regionals, but something caused Erin Gallagher to announce that, if Element qualified for nationals, she would shave her head.

This boldness was contagious. Soon after, Melina Coogan announced that she would get an element-inspired tattoo if the team qualified.

And why not? The University of Washington Women had never before qualified for the UPA college championships. Despite the talent that has graced the team for years prior, Washington had never in its history been able to emerge from the ultra-competitive norhtwest Region.

By far the strongest region in college women's ultimate, Element would face powerhouse teams such as Stanford, Oregon, Davis, Berkeley, UBC and Santa Cruz. Each game would be an all or nothing battle. The top three teams would continue their season to the college championships to face teams from around the nation; the rest of the teams would go home.

Element had gone undefeated at sectionals, beating long time rival UBC and earned the 4th seed into regionals. Despite this, and an enourmously sucsessfull college season behind them, tensions were high as the team travelled to Davis, California, to fight for one of the three bids. Every element girl had their mind, heart and soul set upon a bid to nationals, and their bodies ready to give it all on the field.

The second day of the tournament, the weather turned bad. Every game was an elimination game, you lose and you're out. It was grey, pouring rain, freezing. Soon it was down to one bid left, and the element girls, soaked to the bone and fighting, wanted it more than anyone.

That's why, when the team marched onto the fields of Corvalis, Oregon two weeks later, Erin with her head shaved but for a purple mohawk, and Melina's shoulder forever emblazoned with the element E, they knew that the hardest part was behind them, and the best was yet to come. Here they were at the UPA college championships for the first time, and it was blazing, sunny day.