These big time scorers helped ensure their offenses would keep the points flowing.
June 17, 2025 by Theresa Diffendal in Awards
Each year, Ultiworld presents our annual College Awards. Our staff evaluates the individual performances of players from throughout the season, talking to folks around college ultimate, watching film, and look at statistics, voting upon the awards to decide those to be honored. The regular season and the college Series are both considered, with extra emphasis for performances in the competitive and high-stakes environment at Nationals.
Our awards continue with the Offensive Player of the Year, recognizing the individual, and two runners-up, who we felt had the most impactful and productive seasons helping their teams score. They set up goals, finished off points, and produced yardage at consistently high levels against the top defenders.
- Player of the Year
- All-American First Team
- All-American Second Team
- Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Offensive Player of the Year Award
- Rookie of the Year Award
- Breakout Player of the Year Award
- Coaches of the Year Award
- Full Awards Voting Breakdown
D-III Women’s 2025 Offensive Player Of The Year
Ella Widmyer (Middlebury)
In just her first year, Widmyer established herself as the best thrower in the division. Period. She led the Nationals field in assists at 27, and Middlebury back to the semifinal. There was no time to question how the Pranksters would look without long-time leader Keziah Wilde – Middlebury was too busy turning heads as they first bageled Union, then thoroughly dismantled Carleton in pool play.
And at the forefront of it all, Widmyer, with an inside flick impervious to the myriad of zones teams threw at her. The more time she had to size up the field, the better, making marks chomp on decisive fakes before slicing a throw through the soft spots of the cup. Not that she seemed to take much time, playing with a tempo few could match. Her pace with the disc and without outran defenses, constantly swinging and following her throws in quick bursts of movement as Widmyer consistently positioned for the ideal space to attack.
That, perhaps, was Widmyer’s most valuable trait: her ability to read the field. It wasn’t just the panache of the over-the-top scoober or sit-down flick, it was how a single throw cracked open the defense so thoroughly that often times her team could swiftly flow into the end zone without Widmyer needing to touch the disc again. It was the off-disc movement, never at rest as she outmaneuvered even box-and-1s to strike at the right place, right time to get the disc back in her possession. With this type of developed game from just a first-year, get used to seeing Widmyer’s name on this podium for years to come.
– Theresa Diffendal
First Runner-Up
Scout Noble (Wesleyan)
Noble wasn’t the flashiest offensive player, launching huck bombs left and right or dropping upside down throws, but she didn’t need to be showy to be deadly effective. Instead, Noble’s bread and butter was quick unders and ever-present resets. Rather than try to play hero ball, Noble wisely leaned on a deep core of Wesleyan receivers, pinging the disc between the downfield and herself to move Vicious swiftly towards the end zone. She knew how to manipulate the defense, pushing positive early only to jab back for an easy reset, or waiting for the moments her mark’s eyes drifted or hips opened to quickly strike upline. So strong was Noble’s offensive game that she was often flexed over to D-line, particularly on upwind points, to take control after a turn and punch in breaks.
– Theresa Diffendal
Second Runner-Up
Lanie O’Neill (Davenport)
O’Neill had the greenest of lights in 2025, and with a cannon of a lefty backhand huck, who can blame her? Even as the rest of Davenport’s roster improved in skill and took on an increased throwing capacity in the program’s second year, O’Neill remained their most consistent initiator and ever-present fallback plan. She rarely took a point off, ready to quarterback every possession. The calmness with which she walked to pick up the disc belied the panther waiting to strike with a deadly arsenal of arounds and insides no mark was able to stop. Finishing in the top three assist getters at Nationals for the second year in a row, O’Neill takes her deserved spot on our OPOTY list.
– Theresa Diffendal
