“With all eyes on the disc, four players — Cory Jennings, Lucas Woodward, Hannah Wahl, and Jillian Santi — converge in for a catch at midfield during one of the after-school Ultimate games at the Community Park.Matt Johnson / staff photosIt was one of those days that was so clear, so blue, and so crispy cold that the sun seemed to be little more than a big, shiny ice cube.On a flat, grassy field at the South Whidbey Community Park, nine high school students dressed in little more than t-shirts and jeans formed opposing lines about 60 yards apart. Then they started running and throwing a Frisbee. Since September, the students have been playing the game of Ultimate Frisbee twice a week under the tutelage of six-year Ultimate veteran Mark Wahl. Practically unknown on the high school sports landscape, Ultimate is a game of speed and endurance. Endurance is especially important this time of year, when a catching a plastic flying disc is more like catching a dull, lead circular saw blade.Miss the catch and have the disc bounce off your hand, the feeling is like trying to catch a baseball with your knuckles.Oh, it hurts, said Hannah Wahl, one of the high school players and Mark Wahl’s daughter.Popular on college campuses for about 30 years, The game is played on football and soccer fields, with teams defending football-like end zones. An Ultimate Frisbee offensive drive looks like a spread out basketball game, with players catching the disk then pivoting around defenders as they look for the next pass. There is no running with the disc, and no body-to-body contact. To score, the offensive team must complete a pass to a player in the field’s end zone.Mark Wahl, the supervisor for the after-school Ultimate games, said the sport has journeyed a long way to get to South Whidbey. It originated at East Coast colleges in the late 1960s. Television personality Bill Nye (the Science Guy) brought it to Western Washington in the 1980s. Since then, it has taken hold in cities and towns all over as former college players started pick-up games and a few Ultimate leagues in their home towns.On South Whidbey, regular Sunday afternoon Ultimate games held at Langley Middle School have started dozens of people in the sport. The games began as an almost exclusively adult sport. But during the past couple of years, high school students lured by the flight of the disc have begun showing up.Now, they’ve made the game their own. High school senior Devin Matthews, one of the regulars at the Tuesday and Friday games, said he and his friends like nothing better than a sunny day, a grassy field, and a 750-gram competition Frisbee disc.It’s our favorite sport to play, Matthews said.Michael Leese, whom fellow players acknowledge as the best thrower at the after-school games, said that with the exception of skiing and backpacking, no sport holds a candle to Ultimate.It’s my favorite field sport, Leese said.For some of the students, the game is completely new. Jillian Santi turned out for the fresh air and the company. Now, she is an Ultimate diehard.It’s a great after-school exercise, Santi said.In all, Mark Wahl said, the games have attracted about 20 different students throughout the school year. They show up in good weather or bad to learn the finer points of the game — including forehand disc throwing, which still sends a half dozen discs wobbling to earth short of their mark each game.That’s the most demanding, Wahl said of the pass.Wahl said playing Ultimate is good for preparation for college because most high school students in interscholastic sports will not go on to play those sports after graduation. Ultimate is a more accessible game since most colleges and universities have unofficial intramural Ultimate teams. But for those who cannot shake the competition bug, there are college, national, and international Ultimate championships every year.The games, which are sponsored by the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation Department, are open to all students from eighth grade through 12th. Warmups and stretching start at about 2:45 p.m. at the Community Park. The hour-long games begin around 3 p.m. “