USA Ultimate Announces Mixed Team for 2016 World Ultimate & Guts Championships
Posted: February 11, 2016 08:10 AM
Colorado Springs, Colo. (Feb. 11, 2016)—USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced today the 24 athletes who will represent the United States this summer on the mixed national team at the 2016 WFDF World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC), June 18-25 in London.
This historic announcement marks the first time USA Ultimate has held an open tryout for what is considered to be the pinnacle of international ultimate competition.
Previously, USA Ultimate’s reigning national championship clubs represented the U.S. at the quadrennial event.
"The level of play and effort at tryouts was incredible, not to mention the sense of community and spirit displayed," said mixed team head coach Jake Henderson. "Matty [Tsang] announced to everyone that these tryouts were our first practices together as the U.S. National Teams; while we may not be moving on with everyone on a specific team, the whole group is a part of the national team. We will continue building, and I'm excited for the coming months."
In all, 71 athletes were selected to the U.S. National Team in three gender-based divisions – men’s, mixed and women’s. These players are some of the world’s best and arguably represent the greatest collection of talent ever assembled. The final rosters were chosen after two weekends of tryouts that included more than 200 participants chosen by coaches from a pool of nearly 600 applicants. The team includes world champions, national champions, college champions, Callahan Award winners and more.
The 2016 WUGC is the 14th edition of the tournament which dates back to 1983. Since its inception, the United States has won 35 medals: 25 gold, five silver and five bronze.
This year’s incarnation will host 121 teams from 41 nations and feature five total divisions, including men’s and women’s masters. The U.S. will continue to be represented by the current national champions in those two divisions.
At the most recent WUGC, in Sakai, Japan in 2012, the U.S. National Team won three medals, a pair of golds in the men’s division and women’s masters division and a silver in the women’s division.
2016 WFDF World Ultimate & Guts Championships
U.S. National Team
Mixed Division
| Name |
City, State |
College |
Club Team |
| Erica Baken |
Ames, Iowa |
Claremont |
Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust |
| Lucas Dallmann |
San Mateo, Calif. |
San Francisco State |
San Francisco Revolver |
| Khalif El-Salaam |
Seattle, Wash. |
University of Washington |
Seattle Mixtape |
| Ness Fajardo |
San Francisco, Calif. |
Northwestern |
San Francisco Fury |
| Carolyn Finney |
Goleta, Calif. |
UC-Santa Barbara |
San Francisco Fury |
| Jack Hatchett |
Arlington, Mass. |
Tufts |
Boston Ironside |
| Simon Higgins |
Alameda, Calif. |
Las Positas College |
San Francisco Revolver |
| Sarah Itoh |
Springfield, Va. |
George Mason |
Washington, D.C. Scandal |
| Kelly Johnson |
Seattle, Wash. |
North Park University |
Seattle Riot |
| Sandy Jorgensen |
Washington, D.C. |
University of Wisconsin |
Washington, D.C. Scandal |
| Sam Kanner |
Berkeley, Calif. |
Carleton College |
San Francisco Revolver |
| Eli Kerns |
Alameda, Calif. |
UC-Davis |
San Francisco Revolver |
| Reid Koss |
Seattle, Wash. |
Western Washington |
Seattle Sockeye |
| Jeff Loskorn |
Austin, Texas |
University of Texas |
Austin Doublewide |
| Becky Malinowski |
Somerville, Mass. |
University of Michigan |
Boston Brute Squad |
| Brett Matzuka |
Kansas City, Mo. |
North Carolina State |
Chicago Machine |
| Chris Mazur |
Brooklyn, N.Y. |
University of Miami |
New York PoNY |
| Jack McShane |
Westminster, Colo. |
University of Colorado |
Boulder Love Tractor |
| Sarah Meckstroth |
Minneapolis, Minn. |
University of Minnesota |
Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust |
| Becca Miller |
Fort Collins, Colo. |
Iowa State |
Denver Molly Brown |
| Raha Mozaffari |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
University of Pennsylvania |
Philadelphia AMP |
| Nicky Spiva |
Washington, D.C. |
Colorado College |
Washington, D.C. Truck Stop |
| Mac Taylor |
Emeryville, Calif. |
University of Colorado |
San Francisco Blackbird |
| Robyn Wiseman |
Madison, Wis. |
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |
Madison Heist |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Erica Baken |
|
Lucas Dallmann |
|
Khalif El-Salaam |
|
Ness Fajardo |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Carolyn Finney |
|
Jack Hatchett |
|
Simon Higgins |
|
Sarah Itoh |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Kelly Johnson |
|
Sandy Jorgensen |
|
Sam Kanner |
|
Eli Kerns |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Reid Koss |
|
Jeff Loskorn |
|
Becky Malinowski |
|
Brett Matzuka |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Chris Mazur |
|
Jack McShane |
|
Sarah Meckstroth |
|
Becca Miller |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Raha Mozaffari |
|
Nicky Spiva |
|
Mac Taylor |
|
Robyn Wiseman |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.