The Humboldt State women’s ultimate frisbee squad recently capped a successful season in Davis with three wins at the Northwest Regional Championships.

The Lady Jacks, who were seeded eighth out of 16 teams, defeated Sonoma State 14-5, Oregon State 13-3 and UC Davis 13-7 before being knocked out of the tournament by Western Washington by a score of 14-11.

Over the course of the season, the Lady Jacks won 12 out of 22 games and, according to head coach Mary Burke, are on the verge of being a national contender next year.

“They’re on the brink of success if they can get more recruits,” Burke said. “I think we have all of the skills to play that at the best level. They showed that in Davis.”

Some of the athletes who were instrumental for HSU this season included sophomore Alina Kagan and captains Amy Lowe and Lizzy Dostal, with Kagan and Lowe repeatedly hooking up for scores.

“Kagan has incredible accuracy and distance on her throws and Lowe is a great receiver,” Burke said. “The pair of them did some damage this year.”

Burke added that Dostal impressed while also helping HSU put competitive tournaments on its schedule.

One of those events was the Sean Ryan Tournament, which was held at UC Santa Cruz in November and was won by the Lady Jacks as they defeated host UCSC in the championship.

With wins like that, Burke is hoping her athletes can continue to build on what they’ve started this year and believes the key may lie in how well the new players respond to the frequent subbing system instituted this year.

“We had a subbing rotation with groups of three that made playing time relatively equal,” Burke said. “And it’s been really successful because they’ve been able to open up and do the best they can.”