On the grassy fields of Birmingham, Stack, who began playing ultimate frisbee in ninth grade, dashes down the field.
Senior Katie Stack, who started playing ultimate frisbee during the pandemic, is now the girls frisbee team’s co-captain and a member of the world champion team.
“Over COVID I’d play with the high school girls team and the coaches Billy and Lisa taught me everything. They were my starting place,” Stack said.
Stack credits her coaches, Billy Hodges and Lisa Meeden, for her success in frisbee. However, her dedication to learning and wanting to get better at frisbee was also key. Now, Stack is known as a leading power on the field.
“Katie is a great captain and leader on the field. She always makes sure we have a plan before a point and is really great at helping us score and brings a great spirit to the game,” sophomore Juliette Loyd said.
Stack’s priority was softball when she started high school, but she opted to focus on ultimate frisbee once she started playing, according to Meeden.
“Katie has been an integral member of our team since she joined the team as a freshman,” Meeden said. “Her main sport was initially softball, but once she started playing ultimate she decided to focus solely on that. She was always staying after practice, working on trying to improve her throws, and she got better really quickly.”
Stack’s commitment and extra hours led her to the position of a handler, who initiates the offense. She is als a talented puller, the position that ‘kicks off’ by throwing the disc from one end zone to the other to start off a defensive point. According to Meeden, Stack is also recognized as having one of the best hammer throws—an upside-down throw that can said over the defense for a score in the back of the end zone.
“Sometimes during a game, when Katie hucks the disc—a ‘huck’ is a very long throw to open space towards the end zone—the opposing coach will exclaim out loud, ‘That’s an amazing throw,’” Meeden said.
Her talent does not go unrecognized. After vigorous tryouts, Stack made the U20 (under 20) Worlds team for 2024, which was the United States’ mixed frisbee team.
USA Ultimate, in fall 2023, invited 200 athletes to try out for the U.S. National Team ahead of the World Junior Ultimate Championships scheduled in 2024. From that pool, 72 athletes—24 on each team, men’s, women’s, and mixed—were selected to represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Birmingham, England in summer 2024.
Stack traveled to Birmingham, England to play on the world stage of ultimate frisbee from July 20-27, 2024. Her USA Mixed U20 came home with the first place medal.
“It was so intense,” Stack said. “They were the best players from all over. The final was against Canada, and I remember we were super nervous, but we found our pacing and, at the end, we knew we had the game.”
Moving forward, Stack hopes to be able to use this experience to help shape her into an ideal captain for the girls team.
“I’ve been captained by such great people,” Stack said. “They’ve set such a good example and I’ve been able to pick up things from many captains to be the most ideal captain for my teammates.”
After a transformative experience, Stack hopes that this year Strath Haven can get invited to nationals again, like last year, and even win states again.
“It’s been insane,” Stack said. “I didn’t think I’d be anywhere close to where I am now. I’ve progressed so much and I’m so grateful.”
