Who are the best players in the Great Lakes region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
I would like to nominate Lily Hankes from Loyola Chicago Sirens for all freshman. She played four years in high school at South Burlington high in Vermont and for Equinox in 2021. She is always where you need her to be on the field, and has great field awareness. She is already so good as a freshman it’s crazy.
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I am nominating Ellie Cloe for All-Region. Ellie is a junior at Loyola Chicago for the Sirens. She has captained the squad for the past two years, both she and her team have made great strides in that time. Even though this season was hard for the Sirens, with two of their tournaments being cancelled for weather, she has stayed active in the Chicago ultimate scene and motivated her teammates to do the same, encouraging a love of the game beyond the college field. On the field she is a force, weaponizing one of the most diverse and effective throwing arsenals in the region to lead the Sirens’ offense through tough zones in the wind. Off the field she is caring and helpful to her teammates. She embodies excellence in both play and spirit.
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Lili Hobday here from Notre Dame Echo. I would like to nominate Mary Larson for rookie of the year. Never having played ultimate before this year, Mary jumped right in and quickly became a starting D line cutter. She has crazy field sense, sticky hands, and is an amazing defender. She is not scared to put her body on the line, getting lay out d’s on teams like UNC and Carleton. With less than a year of ultimate under her belt she worked her way onto our universe line, defending our opponents best players, becoming one of our most consistent cutters, and making big plays in the air. I am super excited to see her growth in the next few years. If she can improve this much in one season, I have no doubt that her ceiling is super high. She deserves props for her amazing rookie season.
I also would like to nominate Claire Hackl, Elena Dansdill, Cara Tinson, and Sydney Herczeg for all region.
Notre Dame coach thoughts:
Michigan: Tons of great players, so this list could go on, but these are the ones who were at the top of the scouting report:
Kat - (duh) great player and everybody knows her.
Calliope Cutchins - Really solid handler with great hucks. She improved her hucks lot from last year and gave them a consistent threat to push the disc deep.
CJ/Celia Flory - Again, great handler with good hucks. Performed well under pressure and took good care of the disc.
Sophia Harvey - Excellent athleticism and matches up well on defense with every team’s top cutter. Great player.
Zaza/Constanza Carpriles - Another great athlete with great defense. Also has good hucks and is a threat to move the disc down the field if she catches an under.
Notre Dame: I hate to not shout out the whole team, but I’ll go with the 7 on our universe line:
Claire Hackl - Excellent handler with great break throws and can get open on almost any dump defense. She’s key to the O-line offense’s movement and plays great defense
Lili Hobday - She and Kat are probably 1a and 1b for best players in the region. She can fill whatever role and do it well, though she almost always handled for us. She’s great at attacking from the handler space and plays excellent defense.
Anna Wagner - She didn’t get the disc as much as Claire and Lili, but she consistently made the right decisions and was a huge reason our offense was successful. She plays great handler D as well.
Elena Dansdill - Phenomenal cutter who wins most matchups in the air and is almost always open on unders. Great defense as well.
Sydney Herczeg - Key to our offense’s movement as a cutter against both zone and person. She’s only played 2 years but looks like a 4-year vet out there. Great timing as a cutter.
Cara Tinson - Huge athlete who seemingly runs down any disc in the air and makes lots of huge plays on both offense and defense. She has the ability to throw deep when given the opportunity.
Mary Larson - She has to be freshman of the year. She had no prior frisbee experience and came in and was getting layout D’s against top teams and was quickly on our universe line. She seems to come down with every disc, is almost always open, and is a great defender.
Northwestern: I don’t know their names as well, but they had several handlers who were really difficult to defend because of their break throws and ability to huck. I think one of them was #8, Catherine Chen, and another was #9, Lucy Peterson.
Chicago: Megan Morales and Gloria Adeola are worth all-Region consideration.
Purdue: Riley Dickson, Emma Armstrong, and Alicia Ader are all worth all-Region consideration.
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Some great talent in the region. There are some obvious shout outs in Kat McGuire, Lili Hobday, Calliope Cutchins, Constanza Carpriles.
I also want to give an extra special shout out to Annie Meilink from GVSU. They are a phenomenal player and really stood out. GVSU only had 7 players when we played them as the last game of the day on Saturday and despite being tired, Annie was still very difficult to mark. Also whipped out a crazy lefty scoober.
In terms of Northwestern players Cat Chen and Maddi (PJ) Lang are both excellent players. Cat players with a grace and skill level of very few people I have played with. She does so much: opening up the field with her throws, great handler movement, and strong defensive presence. She does it all so well and makes it look easy with her consistency. PJ is a wonderful defensive player. She flows well in sets and will play some extremely gritty handler D.
-Lucy Petersen (Northwestern captain)
I want to echo what pretty much everyone has been saying: Kat, Lili, Calliope are truly standouts in this region. Watching Annie Meilink from GVSU battle on their fourth game of the day with 7 players and keep defenders on their heels was astounding. A truly standout athlete who has quickly risen as a star of this region.
On Northwestern, I want to nominate Cat Chen, Maddi (PJ) Lang, and Lucy Petersen. Cat is such a smart, seasoned player that somehow always finds a way to get the disc just when you need her to. She makes getting open in the handler space look effortless, she puts up big throws as if she was born to, and then somehow also has that striking defensive intuition that earns her layout D’s, hand blocks, and big turnovers. She is always exactly where you need her to be.
PJ plays with heart and fire, constantly working on the field for her teammates. PJ’s defensive prowess stems from her intelligence and tenacity – that when combined – make her a fearless, hungry, defender. However, it would be incomplete to not talk about PJ’s offense, too. She is just as committed and hard-working in the handler space. Together, she and Cat post a very powerful duo for our O-line.
Lucy is a force to be reckoned with. Lightning fast, she has emerged as a threatening handler, with smart, big looks that are offset by cheeky, quick throws. Lucy comes off an ultimate career as a cutter, though, and she uses this to her advantage not just in the handler space but as a cutter as well when called upon. She will run you around and then go to work on you. Don’t be fooled that Lucy is only a speedy player, as she backs up her athleticism with sharp shooting, poking holes in zones and breaking marks. When she is not dusting opponents and running the offense, she is a true defensive threat. She goes up to make the big plays on defense (as anyone who watched the first half of our Michigan game might remember), but also has tweaked to perfection the small nuances of good defense – she is a tough mark with hand blocks to show for it.