For the third consecutive year Prince George Disc Sports members took part in the 2013 Art Hawkins Great Canadian Ultimate game along with 26 other communities across Canada.
The marathon game began Friday in Yellowknife (7 p.m. PST) and travelled through 22 cities across the continent before reaching Prince George at 8 p.m. Saturday.
There were 27 players who showed up at Rainbow Park where they were divided onto either Team Red or Team White. Participating cities keep a running tally of the score through social media, mostly Facebook. After the portion of the game in Calgary ended they passed along the score to the players in Prince George, which had White leading Red 228-216.
After a few close battles early on, Team White took a 162-161 lead in Waterloo, Ont., and they didn't relinquish it again to earn a 252-233 win over Red when the game finally ended under the midnight skies in Nanaimo.
Team White has won the last two Art Hawkins Great Canadian Ultimate games, having earned a 288-285 come-from-behind win in 2012.
In Prince George, the defensive play of Team White was too much for the Red side to overcome as the Whites won the game 11-7 with the accumulated total to pass on to Vancouver at 239-223.
Points are scored in ultimate when one team gets the disc into the end zone, earning a single point.
Team Red had a 115-114 lead after the game left Ottawa and were able to increase their advantage to 130-122 in Kingston, Ont. The eight-point lead was maintained in Parry Sound, Ont., as the game moved to Toronto with Red ahead 142-134, but the Whites closed the gap to three points (151-148) in Toronto and then took the lead for good in Waterloo.
The Red teams in Winnipeg, Regina, Moose Jaw, Sask., Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, Alta., Edmonton and Calgary couldn't keep up with their White counterparts. All games went on as scheduled this year except in Halifax which had to pass due to poor weather conditions.
Greg Jonuk, organizer of the Prince George game, said the game is designed to bring awareness to the sport of ultimate. Players are encouraged to make a donation when they arrive to play of $2 or more. The money is collected from each city that hosts a portion of the marathon ultimate game and goes to support boys and girls charities in Canada.
In Prince George the spring league has a record-high 135 players participating on eight teams. Games are Thursday nights at Rainbow Park.
Jonuk said the sport is growing more popular these days among young people.
"High schools are beginning to teach ultimate more then ever these days so the awareness of the sport is growing," said Jonuk.
The Prince George spring league began six years ago. There are two games each Thursday at 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. at the Spruceland Traditional School fields.
