Raleigh Pro Ultimate Podcast

While historically the Radiance have always been a collection of local talent, this off-season we signed one of the best players in the country! 

Sarah Meckstroth was born, raised and currently works in Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2012, Sarah has played with the Elite Club Mixed team Minnesota Drag-N-Thrust every summer since, including winning back-to-back-to-back USAU Club Championships in 2013, 2014 AND 2015. On the national stage, Meckstroth has either been invited or selected for Team USA at the Under-23 Championships in 2013 & 2015, at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC) in 2016 and 2020 and for the World Beach Ultimate Championships (WBUC) in 2017 and 2022. After two rounds of tryouts early this spring which narrowed the top 100 ultimate players in the country down to 32 players in the second round, as of LAST WEEK, Sarah was named to one of the 14 spots to play for the USA National Team at the 2022 World Games team, putting her in the the top 7 women-matching players IN THE COUNTRY.

Professionally, Meckstroth was rostered with the Minnesota Strike in 2020, played with the DC Shadow in 2021 and now for our Raleigh Radiance for the 2022 season! When she is not destroying everyone downfield with her deep cuts, Sarah loves spending time with her dog, hiking, coaching and traveling internationally. We talk about her growth through the Minnesota scene, how she decided to play with the Radiance and everything she's looking forward to with the season!

If you want to see Sarah play, the Radiance's first home game of the 2022 season is THIS SATURDAY, April 9th at 6:00pm at Herndon Park - we'd love to see everyone at the game!! 

Raleigh Radiance - Information and Season/Game Tickets - http://raleighradiance.com/tickets

Carolina Flyers Season Tickets - https://raleigh-flyers.com/collections/2022-tickets/tickets

AUDL Championship Weekend 11 Tickets - https://shop.theaudl.com/collections/championship-weekend-11-tickets

Have kids who want to learn from pro ultimate athletes? Check out:

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

In our first solo player interview of Season 2, we're talking to Heather Zimmerman, long-time Triangle ultimate stand-out. "Zimmy" played with UNC Pleiades from 2006-2010, before playing with Women's club team Raleigh Pheonix from 2010-2016. After a year break playing disc golf, she returned to the club scene with Durham Toro, our nationally ranked mixed team, from 2018 to present. On the pro scene, Heather first joined the Radiance last season for the PUL East Championship. This will be her first full year with the team. When she's not playing ultimate, she is a fully licensed dentist and enjoys hanging out with her cats, Calvin and Hobbes. 

The Radiance's first home game of the 2022 season is THIS SATURDAY, April 9th at 6:00pm at Herndon Park - we'd love to see everyone at the game!! We'll have another Radiance interview dropping later this week to help build hype for that game!

Raleigh Radiance - Information and (Coming soon!) Tickets - http://raleighradiance.com/

Carolina Flyers Season Tickets - https://raleigh-flyers.com/collections/2022-tickets/tickets

AUDL Championship Weekend 11 Tickets - https://shop.theaudl.com/collections/championship-weekend-11-tickets

Have kids who want to learn from pro ultimate athletes? Check out:

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

In this pod we talk to the Head Coach of the Raleigh Radiance, Mr. David Allison (DA for short). Fresh off the Radiance's victory in last years PUL East Championship Tournament as well as winning the 2021 Fall D1 College Championship with UNC Darkside, we discuss DA's coaching history, his transition to coaching the Radiance, his analysis and thoughts of the 2022 schedule and much more. 

Raleigh Radiance - Information and (Coming soon!) Tickets - http://raleighradiance.com/

Carolina Flyers Season Tickets - https://raleigh-flyers.com/collections/2022-tickets/tickets

AUDL Championship Weekend 11 Tickets - https://shop.theaudl.com/collections/championship-weekend-11-tickets

Have kids who want to learn from pro ultimate athletes? Check out:

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

In our second interview on the pod, Coach DeNardis and I talk all about the name change and logo transition from the Raleigh Flyers to the Carolina Flyers. Along with the rebrand, we discuss the changes to our home stadium, breakdown the Flyers 2022 schedule and I attempt (somewhat successfully) to get Mike to open up about other hot topics around the AUDL. 

Raleigh Radiance - Information and (Coming soon!) Tickets - http://raleighradiance.com/

Carolina Flyers Season Tickets - https://raleigh-flyers.com/collections/2022-tickets/tickets

AUDL Championship Weekend 11 Tickets - https://shop.theaudl.com/collections/championship-weekend-11-tickets

Have kids who want to learn from pro ultimate athletes? Check out:

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

In our first interviews with players from the Raleigh Radiance for Season 2, we talk to rising young stars Dawn Culton and Bridget Mizener. Fresh off a PUL East Championship victory this past fall with the Radiance as well as a D1 College Women's Championship with UNC Pleades, we talk who they are off the field, highlights from this past year, as well as why Dawn thinks people should just run faster. 

OTHER LINKS:

Raleigh Radiance Tryouts - https://forms.gle/EvnoaxyzP4e1sTbJ8

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

Welcome to Season 2 of the Raleigh Pro Ultimate Podcast!

Alex Davis and Suraj Madiraju are long-time teammates on University of Chapel Hill Darkside, roommates, best friends and most recently, rookies together on the Raleigh Flyers in 2021. In 2021 they were a part of the AUDL Champion Raleigh Flyers, the USAU Club Champions, Raleigh Ring of Fire, and just won their 2nd championship with UNC at the 2021 College Championships. Alex was also just named the Ultiworld's 2021 D1 Collge Offensive Player of the Year, while Suraj was named the Ultiworld 2021 D1 College Defensive Player of the Year. 

After an incredible 2021, we dive into their biggest moments on and off the field with each group, why they're best friends, who's underrated and overrated in the AUDL, as well as their hot takes for 2022. 

OTHER LINKS:

Raleigh Flyers Tryouts - https://raleigh-flyers.com/collections/all/products/2022-flyers-tryout-combine-registration

Raleigh Radiance Tryouts - https://forms.gle/EvnoaxyzP4e1sTbJ8

Carolina Ultimate Flight School - https://triangleultimate.org/CUFS

THE RALEIGH FLYERS ARE AUDL CHAMPIONS!!

From an 0-2 Start to the season, to tight losses to the top teams in the Atlantic Division down the stretch, to a near loss in the semifinal to a fantastic Chicago Union team, let alone a fearsome battle with their rival the New York Empire - The Raleigh Flyers overcame it all to win their first AUDL title in franchise history. 

In the afterglow of an incredible championship run, 2021 Captain Noah Saul returns to the Podcast to break down everything from the season including the highs and lows of the season, highlights from Championship weekend and much more. You won't want to miss this one!

THE FLYERS ARE BACK AT CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND!!

After beating the DC Breeze 19-16 this past Saturday, the Flyers are returning to AUDL Championship weekend for the first time since their inaugural season in 2015. As a Flyer since day 1 of the team's existence, Flyers all-time leading block-getter David Richardson and I sit down to talk through the dramatic game in DC from last weekend, discuss thoughts and predictions for this coming weekend, and much more.

Make sure to watch on AUDL.tv! The Flyers play the Chicago Union at 7pm on Friday night (September 10th, 2021), and then hopefully in the Championship game on Saturday night, also at 7pm. 

After an 8-4 season and a 4th place finish in the Atlantic, it's time for the play-offs! With a rematch against the DC Breeze this weekend and a ticket to AUDL Championship weekend on the line, we interview rookie Flyer Anders Juengst to hype us up for the game. An absolutely sensation in his first season, Anders has been racking up goals and assists with his incredible speed and precise control with the disk. Mr. Juengst, originally from Arlington, Virginia (playing high school with Johnny Malks, current DC Breeze superstar) went to UNC, playing with their college mens team Darkside from 2016 to 2021. Anders also played for Raleigh Ring of Fire in 2019, and plans to return this fall after the AUDL season is finished. 

Watch the game on Friday, September 3rd at 7:30pm on AUDL.tv for free!!

In celebration of the Raleigh Radiance WINNING the PUL Championship Series East Tournament, we talk to Captain Lyla Stanland all about the weekend. Lyla started playing at UNC-Wilmington in 2013, then beginning her club career with Sir Walter Rowdy (local mixed team) in 2016 before joining Raleigh Phoenix in 2017. Lyla has been on Phoenix since then, joined the Radiance for their premier full season in 2019, and was named a captain for the 2021 season. We breakdown the Radiance's disastrous start to the weekend against the DC Shadow, the overtime comeback against the New York Gridlock, and finally the revenge win against DC in the final. 

CONGRATS AGAIN TO THE RADIANCE ON A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!! LET'S GO RADIANNNNNNNCEEEE!!!!