USA Ultimate

Brittany Winner previews the Mixed Division at the 2014 National Championships in Frisco, Texas.

2014 Nationals Mixed Division: Event page Mixed Division Schedule #NationalsTX @TripleCrownTour

 

Pool A

A1	A2	A3	A4
San Francisco Polar Bears	Atlanta Bucket	Seattle Seattle Mixed	San Francisco American BBQ

While, despite a fourth-place finish at Southwest Regionals, the Polar Bears have earned their spot as the overall one seed, the rest of the teams making up Pool A could arguably be considered wild cards (no pun intended) in regards to how their trip to Nationals will pan out.  Bucket returns to the National Championships after a year off in 2013 and boasts the addition of former Chain Lightning and World Games stalwart Dylan Tunnell along with an undefeated record through the regular season and series.  

Seattle Mixed also looks good on paper, earning their first trip to Nationals with only three losses on the year, but take these records with a grain of salt – both Bucket and Seattle Mixed played almost exclusively within their respective regions, and it will be interesting to see how they fare against other regions this weekend.  The Polar Bears shouldn’t have any major concerns, but don’t be surprised to see some changes in the bottom three teams of this pool after games have ended on Thursday.  

Like Bucket, American BBQ earned their bid to Frisco after missing out on Nationals in 2013.  Their 14th-place finish at their one TCT event (the Elite-Select Challenge at Colorado Cup) may not be indicative of their potential, however.  The team notched early season wins against Blackbird and Mischief, but perhaps more importantly, the team fought their way through a tough regional, beating 7 Figures in pool play before dropping into the backdoor bracket.  On Sunday, they garnered wins against the six seed (twice) and the five seed in order to secure the final bid from the Southwest.   BBQ may be hitting their stride at just the right time; look for #22 Sarah Carnahan to create some tough match-ups for opposing women.

Pool B

B1	B2	B3	B4
Minneapolis Drag'n Thrust	Boston Slow White	Seattle D'oh! Abides	Columbus Santa Maria

Of the four pools, look for Pool B to be the one that most plays to seed; Drag’n Thrust should be able to maintain the top spot. Slow White did upset Drag’n at the Pro Flight Finale, but the Minneapolis-based team will be looking to bounce back from that performance and defend their national title.  

Seeded second in the pool, Slow White has plenty of experience to draw from with 20 sanctioned regular-season games – half of those games were against teams who are also competing in Frisco.  

Conversely, D’oh! Abides played only 10 sanctioned games prior to the series and will be depending on experience gained off the field – one of the older teams competing at Nationals, over half of their rostered players are over the age of 31.  

The four seed in the pool, Santa Maria is making their first Nationals appearance after earning the lone bid from the Great Lakes, a region that has sent a different team in each of the last three seasons.  The women on this crew may be young, but they are not short on experience. The Columbus-based team has recruited several of the reigning college champions from Ohio State Fever to round out their roster, led by captain Paige Soper and 2014 Callahan winner Cassie Swafford.   D’oh! Abides and Santa Maria will face off in the final round of games on Thursday, and it will be interesting to see which will trump the other: the experience of veterans or the ambition of youth. 

Pool C

C1	C2	C3	C4
Ames Chad Larson Experience	Los Angeles 7 Figures	Philadelphia AMP	Austin Cosa Nostra

In stark contrast to the B pool, Pool C has the most potential to see some shake-ups before the end of the day on Thursday.  This pool features three teams that faced each other at the Pro Flight Finale in Seattle and another that brings with them a strong, undefeated regular season.  It’s arguably the pool with the most parity from top to bottom in the mixed division and is the only pool made up entirely of experienced Nationals teams.  This will be at least the third consecutive year at Nationals for each of the four teams, and each has placed in the top 10 at least once.  The four teams will be looking to better their previous finishes, and each has something to prove.  

After coming in as the overall one seed a year ago and finishing sixth, this season AMP has a 3-10 regular-season record against other teams that also qualified for Nationals, and only one of those wins was by more than one point.  A tough pre-quarters loss in 2013 will have Cosa Nostra motivated to make it back to quarters this year in Frisco.  

A balanced 7 Figures team will be looking for their best finish yet at Nationals, but their relative lack of regular-season games against top-level teams may come back to haunt them. They won the Elite-Select Challenge – Colorado Cup in early August, but their only two games against Nationals teams on the weekend were a 10-9 win over Santa Maria and a curious landslide win 13-5 over Blackbird in the final.  

Last but certainly not least, The Chad Larson Experience will continue their hunt for that elusive national championship.  CLX has a World Championship title under their belt, but will 2014 – marking the team’s eighth trip to Nationals – be the year they finally claim the U.S. title?  One thing is certain – if you’re looking for a good game to watch in the early rounds, just head over to the Pool C fields. 

Pool D

D1	D2	D3	D4
San Francisco Blackbird	San Francisco Mischief	Boston Wild Card	Portland The Administrators

Last year, Pool D’s overall four and five seeds belonged to two Boston teams: The Ghosts and Slow White.  This year, it’s the same story with a different city.  

Mischief and Blackbird, the second mixed team to add a World Games alum to their roster in former Revolver star Mac Taylor , are two of the four Nationals teams hailing from San Francisco, and they are undoubtedly familiar with one another even though the two have only faced off twice this year.  Blackbird won both matches – a semifinal victory at Colorado Cup and the Southwest Regional finals – by a small margin.  Mischief will surely be looking forward to a last-round rematch against their local rivals, but they shouldn’t overlook Wild Card in their second game of the day.  They’ve had some ups and downs this year, but they’re still one of last year’s semifinalists and another team with lots of regular-season games.

Wild Card gained valuable experience at the U.S. Open in July and the Pro Flight Finale at the end of August, not to mention their appearance at Worlds.  If they can capitalize on that experience and put it into play in Frisco, they could put together a solid run throughout the weekend.  

Rounding out the pool, The Administrators formed around a core of players from 2013’s Engine45 squad and have achieved what last year’s edition could not: a trip to Nationals.  The mixed community was abuzz when the Northwest Region was awarded three bids, but The Administrators have earned their chance to perform on ultimate’s biggest stage, and many will be interested to see how the weekend plays out for them, as well as for The Administrators’ fellow first-timers Santa Maria and Seattle Mixed.  

Games to Watch

Round Two (11:15am – 1:00pm, Field 14): 

Blackbird vs. Wild Card  Both teams will need to be ready to go for their first game of the weekend.  It will be the first time the two teams meet this season and will be a sneak preview of other great match ups in Pool D.

 

Round Three (1:30 – 3:15pm, Field 14): 

CLX vs. AMP  AMP will be looking to avenge two regular-season losses to CLX, as well as set the tone for their weekend.

 

Round Four (3:45 – 5:30pm, Field 11): 

Bucket vs. Seattle Mixed  Each team has proven their prowess within their region, but what will happen when the two face-off?

 

Round Five (6:00 – 7:45pm. Field 16): 

D’oh! Abides vs. Santa Maria Santa Maria will be looking to even the score with Slow White and D’oh! Abides over the course of the weekend, after losing to both teams by one point in the regular season.  Their final-round match up on Thursday against D’oh! is sure to be a great one.

 

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