Club Season Primer 2024: Mixed Division

Doing our best to lay out the known knowns in a season with plenty of unknown unknowns.

July 12, 2024 by Laura Osterlund, Alex Rubin, Calvin Ciorba and Josh Katz in Preview with 0 comments

Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2024 club ultimate season 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.

Ahead of Pro Elite Challenge, the first stop on the Triple Crown Tour and first big event of the 2024 club season, we’ve got you covered on all the major storylines, players to watch, and way-too-early semis picks in the Club Mixed Division.

Club Division 2024 Primers:   Men’s   |   Mixed   |   Women’s

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Major Storylines

Rematch on Tap?

Last season’s finalists, #1 Fort Collins shame. and #2 Ann Arbor Hybrid sit in the top two spots of the 2024 power rankings. While they might be the two best teams, it is foolish to expect a rematch in the title game. For context, last season shame. and Hybrid were ranked #7 and #9 respectively at this point. The #1 team at this point last year, Seattle Mixtape, lost in prequarters. The mixed division is famously fueled by chaos, and it is a safer bet to assume that pre-season predictions and prognostications simply will not come true.

On the other hand, shame. and Hybrid both look like very strong teams that got better during the offseason. shame. bring on another ex-Sockeye player in Simon Montague after 2023 addition Matty Russell contributed at an all-star level in his first year on the team. They only lose two starters from their championship team and certainly have the talent (peep 2023 Player of the Year Jade McLaughlin getting a spot on Team USA for the World Ultimate Championships this summer) to become the first post-COVID break back-to-back winners in the mixed division.

Hybrid likewise add to a strong core of returning players. Team USA’s Nathan Champoux returns, and he will be joined by Rachel Mast (another Team USA player), Jon Mast, and recent University of Michigan stars Aaron Bartlett and Calliope Cutchins. Hybrid are one of the most bought-in teams in the division and have the talent to get back to the Nationals stadium games. After their 2021 title game appearance, Hybrid slipped in 2022 before making it back in 2023 – they’ll need to stay away from the kind of complacency that can seep under success to avoid another up-and-down experience.

Snapping at the heels of these two top teams are a slew of highly skilled players waiting for their moment in the spotlight. New York XIST, Minnesota Drag’n Thrust, Seattle Mixtape, and Boston Slow are recent semifinalists who have the talent, experience, coaching, and drive to knock off one of the top two teams. As a reminder, this is the mixed division we’re talking about – there’s always a healthy dose of chaos and unpredictability, and the only sure thing is that whatever happens in October probably will be different than our predictions here in July.

– Alex Rubin

Shaking Up the Establishment

Mixed is already known for being the most fickle of the three divisions, and this year appears to be no different. A couple of the perennial powerhouses’ rosters have shaken up quite a bit, with star exits and new youth coming in. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest team changes for this season.

The most buzz coming into season came from AMP, who look quite different than previous years. Eleven players have left the Philly squad, including some of their top stars. Team USA stalwart Raha Mozaffari, 2023 Second Team All-American Linda Morse, and 2022 College POTY/2023 Mixed PotY runner-up Henry Ing. The Mozaffari move is the most shocking, as she had played with the team since 2006 – it has to feel like losing a limb. Amp will also need to replace other talented contributors like Sam Grossberg, Max Charles, and Natalie Bova. Pickups like Nate Little will certainly help, as well as retaining stars Delrico Johnson, Lindsay McKenna, and Paul Owens. But if the preseason indicates anything, it may take some time for two-time champs to be considered favorites again after a loss to Pittsburgh Port Authority in their first game of the season.

While AMP lost plenty of numbers on their roster, Madison NOISE only really lost one important piece. However, that piece cannot be understated when it is one of the best players in the entire division: Robyn Fennig. Fennig has done it all– winning the 2022 POTY,  led the team in assists by more than double of the second highest thrower, while also having the second most goals. Fennig has been the crutch NOISE needed in many big time situations, and losing her star throwing is devastating for the Wisconsin team. If NOISE want to continue to have title potential, someone will need to step in and fill that crucial role.

In one of the best cities for mixed ultimate in the country, it appears as if Seattle BFG won the offseason recruiting battle over Seattle Mixtape. Worlds player Sadie Jezerski and long-time handling guru Mario O’Brien (returning) took the bus across town, while other stars (Frances Gellert, Jack Brown) moved to the single gender programs. With these departures and BFG’s additions, the pendulum seems to have swung all the way back in favor of BFG, despite their loss of Jack Verzuh and Mo Tilmo.

With all of the movement this offseason, some of the teams we might have expected to bounce back after poor seasons last year, might not actually this year. Unless we see the youth pop off seriously for these programs this year, we might be moving to a new era in the top of the mixed division.

– Calvin Ciorba

How Will WUC Affect the Season?

The World Ultimate Championships coming up later this year are a big deal. Accordingly, they’ll have an outsize impact on the shape of the season as various players may miss regular season events for national team practice weekends, pre-Worlds injury recovery, and Worlds itself. Parsing out just how it will affect the teams in the mixed division is a fascinating science.

Boston Slow, Ann Arbor Hybrid, Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust, and Seattle BFG each have two players attending Worlds. However, BFG will not be attending Pro Champs, the tournament that conflicts with WUC timing. This means Slow (Erin Rea and Amber Sinicrope), Hybrid (Nathan Champoux and Rachel Mast), and Drag’n Thrust (Sarah Meckstroth and Dylan DeClerck) could feel off-balance just as they make their final push for Nationals season (or, potentially, as they attempt to earn a bid.) Other notable players set to spend the end-of-season spectacular playing in Australia are reigning PotY Jade McLaughlin of shame., 2023 All-American Lindsay McKenna of AMP, and Abby Cheng of XIST.

At the end of the day though, compared to the Men’s and Women’s divisions, the Mixed regular season will have much more of the stars in attendance. Especially with how earning a top-four seed is after the new random draw format for the bottom twelve teams at Nationals, Pro Champs will be a tournament all these teams have penciled in their calendar.

Wait a second… aren’t we forgetting… Oh yes. There is one team whose line-up could be absolutely decimated by preparing for Worlds: Vancouver Red Flag. While they aren’t on the docket for an appearance at Pro Champs, they feature a whopping eight Canadian National Team competitors. Depending on how much license they have to push during the regular season, it could put a damper on Red Flag’s pre-Nationals potential.

– Calvin Ciorba

 

Elite Express

A quick glance at some of the division’s impact transfers.

• Axel Agami Contreras (Crocs → XIST)
• Robyn Fennig (NOISE → Tower)
• Jenny Fey (Scandal → Rally)
• Clare Frantz (KC United → Drag’n Thrust)
• Rachel Mast (Crocs → Hybrid)
• Sarah Meckstroth (Phoenix → Drag’n Thrust)
• Simon Montague (Sockeye → .shame)
• James Pollard (Phantom → Drag’n Thrust)
• Jakeem Polk (Dirty Bird → Space Force)
• Jonathan Sillivant (Space Force → Pyro)
• Clara Stewart (Sprocket → Disco Club)
• Joey Wylie (Doublewide → Disco Club)
• Yuge Xiao (Brute Squad → Slow)

 

Tiered Power Rankings

Tier 1 – Possible Champs

These teams all have the talent, systems, experience, and motivation to lift the trophy come October.

• shame.
• Hybrid
• XIST
• BFG
• Drag’n Thrust

Tier 2 – Semis Shot

The best iteration of these teams will be playing in a San Diego Stadium this fall.

• Red Flag
• Slow
• Mixtape
• AMP

Tier 3 – Absolute Wildcards

The talent on these teams indicates a Nationals bracket run. The talent of the other teams in their region indicates that a regionals flop is possible.

• Lawless
• Sprocket

Tier 4 – No Guarantees

These recent Nationals teams have their work cut out for them in competitive regions to earn an additional bid to Nationals or come out on top of tough regional tournaments to advance.

• Rally
• NOISE
• Mischief
• ‘Shine

Tier 5 – New Kids on the Block

This set of new teams or new-to-the-elite-level teams all have Nationals aspirations, but it’s likely that only a few will get in.

• Sunshine
• Pyro
• Space Force
• Disco Club
• Tower

Tier 6 – Trust the Process

Each of these teams can also hold legitimate Nationals aspirations, but they’ll need to build a bit more from the ground up than the teams listed ahead of them.

• Love Tractor
• Mile High Trash
• Storm
• MOONDOG
• Parlay

– Alex Rubin

Preseason Rankings

Bid Range Per Region

Great Lakes – Minimum: 1 / Maximum: 2