The best catch of 2022!
January 17, 2023 by Ultiworld in Awards, Opinion with 0 comments
Ultiworld’s 2022 Catch of the Year bracket is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
One of our most popular series to begin each year, it’s time to look back at last year and let our readers decide some of the top plays of the year from 2022.
First up is Catch of the Year. We watched many hours of game footage and asked for help from the community to hunt down the catches, completions, grabs, snags, and everything else. This was a big year for ultimate with more than enough options to fill up this bracket, so even some worthy candidates were left behind.
We have a new system to select the victor for 2022: a voting triumvirate of the community at large, our staff, and our subscribers. We invited you, the Ultiworld readers, to vote for your favorite of the finalists selected. It’ll be best of three in those categories to decide the winner.
With the votes all tallied, the winner is:
2022 Catch of the Year: Abbi Shilts – UC San Diego (USAU College)
It was a nearly spotless run through this year’s bracket for the hard-charging California college star. Shilts’ forceful sky impressed judges of all stripes: among the polls in each round for the community, Ultiworld staffers, and our site’s subscribers, her opponent was only preferred just twice. The force of her catch was just that high impact. One of those times was in the final, a nod to the sway of runner-up Loic Billaut’s WJUC layout.
Shilts, who hails from Minnesota, adds it to her virtual trophy case next to her 2022 D-I Rookie of the Year (and a 2021 runner-up for the same honor). She even earned consideration as an All-American last college season, and some preseason buzz from our staff, too. Should be exciting to see what she has in store next, assuming you’re not tasked with covering her.
Past Winners
2021: Jordan Rhyne
2019: Charlotte Koerner
2018: Pranav Rajan
2017: Theo Kuhn
2016: Himalaya Mehta
