Who are the best players in the Southeast region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
This is Fiona Cashin, I’ve written a few thoughts from my team (uga) as well as other teams in the Southeast!
Overall, I think Quincy Booth is easily the biggest contributing player in the Southeast. She came to our team as a freshman and completely changed our structure, team dynamic, and ceiling as a team in the best way possible. Her vision for the field and range of throws is incredible. She is a wonderful teammate and a dawg on and off the field!
Other Georgia players
- Sami Chambers (4): Sami started playing last year and immediately stepped up as a defensive dominator and a team leader. She is one of our captains this year and leads by example on and off the field. She is impossible to deal with on offense - she never stops running!
- Sarah Lang (6): Sarah Lang aka Slang came to ultimate in Spring 2022 and was immediately starting in every game. She is a secret weapon. She is an all around awesome player.
- Korie Rudin (26): Korie is another powerhouse cutter and defender. She has great field awareness and incredible work ethic. She is an integral part of our system!
- Mia Bongcaron (10) and Mae Kline (20): our handler duo that gives us the depth that we were missing last year. They are a calm presence and have some awesome, spicy throws! They are some of our vet team leaders and have been an important part of our team growth this year.
- I wish I could shoutout every player, they are all so deserving. We have some awesome rookie talent this year and a few who are practically making their first debut at the series!! Much more to come from UGA in the next couple years
GA Tech:
- Gennie Mansi: Whenever I’ve played against Gennie I always have to get ready to run. She is super fast and seems like a great team leader!
- MacKenzie York: she is clearly becoming a huge part of Tech’s offense and defense!!
UCF Sirens:
I want to shoutout a few of the Sirens, but there is a chance I am getting names wrong. The Sirens gave us one of our toughest games at CCC, and we really struggled with their zone. They seem to have a really great coach and leadership, even though I think most of their players are pretty new! I also found out that they practice with the boys because they don’t always have enough numbers at practice. They seem like a badass team!
- Lindsey Evans and Ainsley Dalton I believe are their two handlers that are essential to their offense. They have great break throws and hucks!
- I believe that another of their key players is Blake Yusk? If I have the right name, guarding Blake was a real challenge and super fun matchup. So fast!!
Univ of Florida:
- Kaylen Chiang: Kaylen really stood out to me as an offensive player. The break throws and hucks are awesome!!
Tennessee:
- I’m biased, but Julia Terrell #dawg #alumni
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And of course Soju Hokari from Emory!! Soju is AMAZING and deserves all the shoutouts in the world. She’s a monster on defense and has the most beautiful, casual throws on offense. Go Soju!!
-Fiona
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Alabama
Mikailyn McCarty: Mikailyn has been a consistent piece to the Alabama’s offense. Every since joining the team last year as a sophomore, she has been one of the most consistent deep threats on offense and a key defender on defense. She is ALWAYS willing to throw her body at any disc that comes her way and will continue to grow into a more dominant player for the Alabama team in the future.
Madison Sawyer: Madison is a player that will often goes unnoticed but she is a such a great and speedy cutter that will slide past the defense in the blink of an eye. She has been a key player for the Alabama team and will continue to grow more and more in the Southeast Region!
Mary V McKinley: Mary V has always been a key player for Alabama. She is a great example of an hybrid player. Offensively, she has a great eye for the field as a handler and will become one of the fastest players on the field when she transitions into a cutter. Defensively, Mary V has the ability to get poach blocks and read the defense well. Also, she might be a short player but she has hops of a 6’1 person!! Sad to see this be her final year for the Alabama team.
UAH
Shoutout to all of the players on the team because they have been such a DOMINATE group of women this season!!
Madison Oakman: Madison is such a great player overall! Offensively, she is a speedy player with a great vision for the field. Defensively, she has the ability to read the offense to give the Alabama-Huntsville team more and more opportunities for break chances.
UGA
Shoutout to all of the players on Athena for creating a dominant presence in the Southeast Region year after year!
Fiona Cashin and Quincy Booth: Fiona and Quincy are such great players and they both deserve praise for their offense and defense abilities. It’s great to always see such a duo of players that match each other well in the Southeast Region!
Georgia Tech
#49 (Sorry I don’t know her name and they don’t have their roster posted with numbers): She has always been such a great player offensively. I hope that she gets the recognition that she deserves!!
Hey everyone,
My name is Hannah Amaya (#3) and I play for Florida FUEL. I’m writing this post-Regionals because I wanted to reflect and really shout out some of the amazing players we’ve met along the way throughout the regular season and the series.
Florida FUEL
I’m going to have to brag about my team for a second here because of how incredibly proud I am of everyone. UltiForums simply does not have enough space for everything and everyone I want to talk about, so I’ll try to keep it brief and highlight some folks:
- Kaylen Chiang (#11) is someone I have learned and grown with throughout my ultimate career who I have seen reach the stars and beyond. Her quick-thinking movements, fakes, and THROWS are incredible. She is also soooo fast!
- Jia Johnson (#1) is an incredibly gifted handler. She is quick on her feet and has these gorgeous, decisive throws not only around the mark but even over stacks and zones.
- Hannah Palka (#17) is our big, tall sweeper who catches literally EVERYTHING! She’s always going 110% and is not afraid to get on the ground.
- Arianna Zhai (#7) is another absolutely fantastic cutter who is incredibly fast and is always on the ground, catching everything that comes her way.
- Big shoutout to our elite group of rookies this year: Kennedy Lerner, Kelly Ganner, Quinn Kahle, Delena Nguyen, Jemima Tolentino, Semaj Butler-Drinks, Sereen Hussain, and Jo Harrow. You guys are amazing in so many ways, it’s crazy. I can’t wait to see how you progress over the years!
- Special shoutout to our graduating seniors! You know who you are and I love you all.
I also want to congratulate our B-team DIESEL for an amazing season. We love you guys <3
Florida State Sladies
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Ashlynn O’Connor is a BEAST! She bids for everything and always leaves us reeling from her insane ups and throws.
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Cat Fidd is the engine that drives this team. Her hucks are perfection and her quick movements in combo with Ashlynn have really driven this team this year.
UCF Sirens
- Lindsey Evans is incredible to watch and play against. Everything about how she plays is quick, decisive, and clean. She is a pivotal piece in UCF’s steam roller season (seriously, undefeated all year is INSANE).
- Blake Yusk is also a pivotal piece in UCF’s steam roller season. Not only is she tall but she’s fast, decisive, and has hucks for days. She’s also so good in the deep space! Her and Evans have been an incredible power duo this year!
Tennessee BOS
- We just recently played this team this weekend, but I and many others on my team wanted to shoutout Emma Patterson (#42) for their incredible handling! They have amazing throws and broke the mark so well.
- Kate Blankenship (#56) is also another person who really stood out to us with her amazing catches this weekend!
Georgia Tech Wreck
- Gloria Wu had amazing catches, played hard defense, and is overall a really talented ultimate player!
Georgia Athena
- Fiona Cashin, you were such a blast to play against! Your cuts and throws are phenomenal, but I don’t think you need me to tell you that. Your bids are also awesome.
- Quincy, your throws were crazy good and it was really cool to play against you!
- Special shoutout to Mia Bongcaron (#10) who was an incredibly gifted handler with beautiful hucks and Jemia Johnson (#1) who was incredibly fast and made great cuts!
Rambling aside, this region has grown and produced some wicked amazing ultimate players this year. Georgia, y’all have worked wonders repping us up North and at Nationals these past couple years, so thank you for that. UCF most definitely deserves recognition for going undefeated this year and their incredible run at Centex this year. I hope that everyone mentioned in this thread gets their moment in the sun because they are all so incredible and have worked so hard to get to this level!
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Lindsey Evans from UCF here, I’d like to shout out some of my teammates first! I am so incredibly proud of the season the Sirens had. Going undefeated until Semi finals of regionals with our short roster was a grind that depended on our whole team! So much growth this season.
Blake Yusk has come such a long way in her sirens career and is a force to be reckoned with in the handler space. Blake is constantly getting open and making some huge plays for Sirens. Same goes for our rookie Maia Mikulcik, stepping into a pivotal role on our team as not only an insane cutter, but coming back into the handler space as well, very versatile player that I’m excited to see grow under our amazing coach Tilley these next few years.
UF FUEL
Florida has some definite talent in their lineup as well. Kaylen Chiang #11 deserves so much praise for her throws, she has an insane ability to conquer both the short and deep game with her throws and field vision. Few rookies to look out for over the next few years, lots of grit and determination.
UAH
I could sing the praises of UAH all day. They are such a cohesive group of players that really know how to work the disk down the field. Two standout players I recognized were Madison Oakman and Savannah Sillivant.
Georgia
I think everyone knows that the key players on Athena are Quincy and Fiona. Both players are a huge force to be reckoned with and I’m excited to see their performance at Nationals. Very strong players that dominate the field on both sides of the disk. Athena has a very deep roster and there are some new key players developing for sure.
My name is Ava DuBose, and I’d like to give a few shoutouts to some pretty incredible players FUEL came across this season:
Florida:
Hannah Amaya is a beast. She’s got extremely sticky hands on the field, is crazy fast, can sky even the best downfield cutter, and has learned this year to throw a sick flick huck. She has been a crucial presence on our team, catching errant discs, laying out with ease, and swatting discs out of the air for some great Ds.
Jia Johnson is easily one of the best players in the SE. She is the heart and soul of our team. She is an extremely dangerous handler and works well with Kaylen Chiang to move the disc both in the handler space and downfield. There’s nothing she can’t throw, and she consistently exhibits excellent field awareness and decision-making. She is just as good as getting open in the red zone.
Kennedy Lerner is one of the best freshman in the SE. She had NEVER played ultimate before coming to UF. In many of our games this season, she scored or assisted at least half of our points. Her speed is incredible - and she has no fear of laying out downfield for the score. No defender can keep up with her. Her handler defense is probably the best on FUEL. She plays shutdown handler defense and has been responsible for many a turn or stall this season. She has picked up this game so quickly and I can only imagine what she’s going to accomplish in the next few years.
UCF:
I would be remiss were I not to mention Lindsey Evans. I have so much respect for her and her game. It is virtually impossible to defend her. She is incredibly good at finding open shots and getting clean looks downfield. She plays with so much grit and heart - the Sirens have been lucky to have her.
FSU:
Ashlyn O’Connor is FSU’s greatest asset. She is great at finding the open space, shaking off the defense, and reeling in discs that most people would have no chance of catching. She pushes the pace of every point she’s on. In the past, she has been exclusively a cutter, but she has stepped up this year to take on a handler role as well. She facilitates so much movement downfield, especially with Cat Fidd by her side. She makes me shake my head in disbelief every time I see her play. Her leadership has been key to FSU’s success this season.
This is Jia Johnson from University of Florida - FUEL.
Florida:
Kaylen Chiang – my duo handler who is one of the fastest and most hardworking offensive and defensive players in the Southeast. We would not be the team we are today without her. Her vision for the field is incredible and she is going to do great things for the team in the next year.
Hannah Amaya – by far one of the best cutters I have been able to play with. She is able to read the disc in an unbelievable way and has such great body control. She was a key player on our team this year.
Hannah Palka – An invaluable defensive player in the deep space and offensive cutter for FUEL this year. She has had some of the best plays this season. Watch out for her in the next few years!
Kennedy Lerner – A rookie with zero frisbee knowledge previous to this season and earned a spot cutting on our O line. She is a beast. She can follow and read the disc naturally and plays ruthlessly as a handler defender.
FSU:
Ashlyn O’Conner – Gifted cutter with so much joy and positivity on the field.
Cat Fidd – Great handler with a great vision for the field.
UCF:
Lindsey Evans – Amazing handler, works super hard on their small squad and has some great throws.
Blake Yusk – Another awesome handler that is super speedy and helps their zone immensely in the deep space.
Plus so many other many great players that should get their recognition this year!
Jia Johnson- It has been an honor to not only play with Jia but learn from her. Her knowledge of the game and attitude is immaculate. She has played the biggest part to the success of the team through leadership, spirt and skill. Not only can she lose a defender with her footwork but her throws/hucks are crazy. She makes cutting so easy because she can literally throw ANYTHING. On top of all of this her bids are something special. As a rookie sometimes getting the disk down field is terrifying but whenever Jia is on the line I know everything will work out. She is ALWAYS there for the dump and always knows how to get open. The amount of trust everyone puts on her is insane but she handles everything so well. I can confidently say that I am not the only person on the team that looks up to her. She is a role model for everyone and the best person to lead this team.
Hannah Amaya - I have watched a lot of film from pro to club to college and I 100% can say that Hannah is one of the best cutters I have seen. Her speed and swiftness is insane. She catches EVERYTHING and this is not an exaggeration. Her bids are amazing, her jumps are amazing, her throws are amazing, her Knowledge of the game is amazing, she is LITERALLY amazing! She is an incredible leader and always is hyping up the team on the sidelines. If I have a question I know I can count on her to guide me. Hannah is the most humble person I know and is a key part to the success of FUEL. No doubt she is one of the best players in the region.
Hi guys,
It’s Maia Mikulcik from the UCF sirens and I would like to shout out my amazing team which I was so lucky to be a part of this year. Everyone on the team deserves praise for their hard work, dedication, and skill but I’ll shout out a few key players as well as some very talented players from other teams we’ve faced.
First of all our main handler Lindsey Evans deserves so much praise. She plays every point and carries our team. Lindsey can place a disc wherever she wants on the field and sees openings everywhere. Not only is she the best thrower in the SE but her defense is also incredible. Between the foot-blocks, Callahans, and just all the D’s she gets, Evans certainly is quite the force to be reckoned with. Beyond her play she’s also a great leader for the team. She always seems to find the perfect words to get us motivated and she just has so much frisbee knowledge and experience.
Next, Blake Yusk. She has gotten so good as a handler and really developed into that roll. She always gets open and throws beautiful hucks downfield. Blake’s tall, fast, and an absolute menace on defense and offense. She helps elevate our team to a whole new level.
Lastly, Leanette Negron is an underrated player on the sirens, she gets so many D’s for us and makes clutch plays on offense. Leanette makes great layout catches and if the disc is up in her area you know it’s hers.
Moving on to teams we’ve faced:
UF
Kaylen Chiang is a great handler! She has awesome throws as well as so much determination while playing. Kay is also always smiling and just such a nice player to go up against.
FSU
Ashlyn O’Conner makes so many crazy catches and is able to read the disc so well. Ash plays a huge role for her team as her crazy snags help them gain a ton of ground and momentum.
UAH
I don’t know if I have the right person here but Susannah Sorrells I think had some great layout catches. In the end zone, disc seems a bit far but nope she lays out and they’ve scored. It happened at least three times in our game against UAH and it was super impressive.
After Regionals I wanted to come back to this:
BTW this is Addison Frost (#11 for BOS) my name on the official roster is different because it took me until the week of Regionals to get my name changed with the university.
BOS:
Emma Patterson - Emma’s throws and offensive mind can keep Tennessee in games singlehandedly. She is an absolute menace to try and stop in the handler space.
Kate Blankenship - Kate gets layout D’s and layout catches like they are the easiest thing to do in ultimate frisbee. It does not matter if she is in the handler space or in the cutting line, us BOS handlers can put almost anything to her and know that it is going to get there.
UAH:
Sarah Mog - Smog is a difficult defender to play against. Her defensive instincts are on another level and that says nothing of her offensive abilities.
Florida:
Kaylen Chiang - Playing against/guarding her during part of our game at Regionals was my first time seeing her play and I was absolutely dumbfounded at how good she is in the handler space and at handler defense.
Everyone is going to say Fiona and Quincy from Georgia because they absolutely should. It goes without saying that they rule the Region. I had to undertake the role of trying to stop Quincy at Southern Appalachian Conferences, and she is in my personal opinion the toughest player that I have guarded. When she came down guarding me and I managed to get throws off I was not sure if it was because of any sort of skill, luck, Quincy letting me, or a combination of the three.
UCF: Getting to play with such a talented and fun team this year has been such a blast I wish I could write about them all! Maia Mikulcik absolutely killed it her freshmen year here at UCF. You can tell how much passion she has for this sport and how much time and work she puts into it. I am so excited to see how far she’ll go.
I’ve been so thankful to get to play with such a strong player like Lindsey Evans. Her throws are so beautiful and she has such determination. Not to mention how funny and motivational she is. She’s been such a core piece to our team.
FSU: Ashlynn O’Connor just keeps getting better and better. I’ve loved getting to see her growth in the game and she has such a contagious vibe that really highlights how much fun ultimate is.
UAH: The whole team was so impressive with their disc movement and quick transitions. Susannah Sorrells stood out especially to me with her killer layouts that just left me in awe.