5th Annual Top of Utah Classic Preview

By: Cameron VomBaur

The second week of the new US Quidditch season kicks off with the Top of Utah Classic, hosted by Utah State. Five teams will be competing in Logan for this early-season title and this article will break down each team's chances of winning, from #5 to #1.

Photo: Sofia de la Vega

Raptor Quidditch at the University of Utah

Fresh off of hosting Crimson Cup last Saturday, the Utah Raptors will look to continue building into an emerging team in the West.  In their first year as a school-affiliated squad, the Raptors failed not only to win an official game, but to keep any close to in-range.  At Crimson Cup, they secured their first win, a 250*-30 shellacking of an exhausted University of Northern Colorado, and also put 60 points on the board against Utah State, more than the 50 combined points in their three efforts against them last season.  While there’s been much deserved talk about the team’s additions from Crimson Elite, such as keeper Luke Steining, chaser Maria Stokes, and beater/seeker Nathan Liou, the Raptors don’t plan to lean on their experience as players on a more competitive team.  Rookies such as keeper Ibrahim Quraishi and beater Jensen Risko displayed a level of athleticism that last year’s squad lacked, and returners like Stephanie Glinoga and Alex Cervantes seemed to have improved with skills like passing and seeking, respectively.  Even if they don’t manage to sneak a game from the Division 1 teams they’ll see this weekend, look for the Raptors to showcase the growth that makes them a dark horse for Division 2’s Stanton Trophy.

Northern Arizona University Narwhals

Following a 2017-18 season that ended with a third-place finish at the West Regional Championship and a round-of-32 exit at US Quidditch Cup 11, historic program NAU will aim to start their season off well with a sophomore-heavy team. Longtime captain beater Adam Beller has graduated, as have beater Brandon Montes and chaser Bryan Mugge. And while quaffle player Corban Stevens will be at Top of Utah to provide veteran leadership to the Narwhals’ offense, scoring machine Colin Statt will not be in attendance. Statt and his evasiveness in driving to the hoops were key to NAU’s stunning upset of Arizona State University at WRC, and his presence will be sorely missed. In his stead, Stevens, Jacob Davis, and Sophie Collier will bring good passing and spacing to the team’s attack. If the Narwhals’ patented 2-2-2 defense can keep scores low, they may be able to score some wins. The team has a number of options in the yellow headband, including Thomas Reeker and Chris Hays, and while their 4-6 SWIM record isn’t impressive at first glance, four of those six SWIM losses came to Utah State and Arizona State, two teams with stellar SWIM records that NAU ended up defeating in-range at WRC. However, if they can’t adequately make up for the missing players that guided them to success last season, they may well end up solidly at the basement of WCC’s Division 1 to open the season.

Photo: Drew Costley

Cal Quidditch

Fresh off of a West regional championship and a quarterfinal appearance at US Quidditch Cup 11, Cal will start off their season early in the fall and on the road, starkly contrasting years past, in which the team only attended a tournament or two in mid- or late fall, and always relatively locally in northern California.  However, much like last year’s pre-Regionals rosters, this Cal won’t resemble the Cal that some expect to make a case in the spring as the top team in the region, or even the nation.  While a few familiar names like keeper Ryan Pfenning, beater Ardin Lo, and chaser Michael Seraydarian will be coming out to northern Utah, fifteen rookies will also be in attendance to bolster the team.  Consequently, the tournament may be functioning as more of a tryout for a team that knows how talented its sizeable returning class is and wants to build for the future.  Though it’s tough to say which new faces may be making an appearance come Roseville or Round Rock, players such as chaser Dara Gaeuman and utility player Ivan Avalos will try to fill the roles of Maddi Erdall (not at Top of Utah) and Jake Stanton (no longer playing).  Even with drastic differences and mass inexperience, expect the on- and off-pitch leadership of Pfenning and Lo to keep Cal playing well, especially without regional powerhouses UCLA and ASU in attendance.

Photo: Sofia de la Vega

Utah State Quidditch Club

The hometown Aggies will bring a full roster to compete against the most impressive list of attendees ever to travel to sleepy college town Logan, Utah. USQC has a full two lines of returning players after losing only two members of last year’s regional- and national-attending squads and regaining three players from year-plus-long quidditch hiatuses. After missing Crimson Cup, 2017-18 team MVP Paul Marygold will bring a physical brand of point defense and scoring. The beater trio of captain Dru Smith, Anthony Snapp, and Alli Bouwman effectively outpaced the competition in Salt Lake City, and while their hands will be full with more capable beaters this weekend, they’ll look to do the same at Top of Utah. Drive-and-dish is the bread and butter of Utah State’s offense, and with drivers like captain Cameron VomBaur and Kellan Huber, and dish threats in captain Amber Zehner and Taylor Groth, they’ll hope to keep last weeks’ momentum high. Additionally, a summer with MLQ’s Salt Lake City Hive further developed players such as beater Aaron Varga and chaser Juan Camilo into more trustworthy members of the second unit. While short-term success is bolstered by the quantity and quality of returning talent, the small rookie class is of concern for the future. However, for this early tournament, their experience and depth will give them advantage over most of the competition, and USQC’s strong beaters and seeker Kellan Huber (8-4 SWIM last season) will likely secure plenty of wins at home.

Nomads

The undisputed favorite at this tournament is Boise’s Nomads.  Coming off of a surprising USQ Cup 10 performance that saw them bow out in pool play to Bad and Rougie Quidditch Club, Nomads will be coming into 2018-19 hungry to prove that they belong in the national conversation for the community championship.  At first glance, their missing pieces this year might have them in trouble: Matt McCracken, Stew Driflot, and Joel Johnson are all highly recognizable names that won’t be with Nomads this season.  However, much of the keys to last year’s success will be appearing in Logan, including beater Brenden Bixler, keeper Nick Vandy, and Team USA chaser Mercedes Natali.  Additionally, a few recruits will be looking to impress for their new team, including standout rookies Noah Turner and Taylor Tye, as well as Cal transfer seeker/chaser Owen Egger, who will join brother Wyatt in Boise.  As always, the story with Nomads is whether their explosive athleticism will be able to outpace their penchant for earning cards and emotional play.  All of last year’s losses came in snitch range, and after losing star seekers in McCracken and Driflot, there will be a great deal of pressure on Owen Egger to finish any games still within grasp for their opponents.  The Top of Utah is the Nomads’ to lose, though, and it’d be a minor upset for any of the collegiate teams in attendance to keep it close enough for the snitch to be a factor.