23 games will be broadcasted from this year's Pro-Elite Challenge East!
June 25, 2025 by Edward Stephens in Preview, Video
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 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.
We are three days away from the 2025 Pro-Elite Challenge East tournament in Sylvania, Ohio! One half of the kickoff to the 2025 competitive club season and the Triple Crown Tour, PEC East welcomes in the large majority of the best club teams on the eastern half of the US for an early-season showdown. Measuring each other up – and, more importantly, measuring their own capabilities – at the start of a club season is an annual tradition for every team. With tweaked regions and new roster additions, this weekend will establish the floor from which we approach the next four months of elite-level play.
We’ve got you covered for all the exciting action this weekend. Follow along on the PEC East Event Page for livestreams and updates throughout the weekend. It all starts Saturday, June 28th, LIVE on Ultiworld!
More Pro-Elite Coverage Than Ever Before
We’ll have three games of livestreaming every round from the Pro-Elite Challenge! Due to significant heat issues in 2023 and forecasted highs in the upper 80s this year, PEC East will feature just three games per team per day.
All broadcasted games will be available on-demand for viewing immediately following the live broadcasts.
How To Watch
You will need an Ultiworld Standard or All-Access subscription to be able to watch games from the 2025 Pro-Elite Challenge.
Full Broadcast Schedule
Tournament Preview
Mixed Division
Collision Course for a Championship Rematch
Let’s not beat around the bush. 2024 National Champions #1 Ann Arbor Hybrid and #6 Boston Sprocket have both at least maintained their talent level from a year ago and, as this tournament’s top seeds, are well positioned to meet for a rematch. Hybrid have the welcome challenge this season of managing a massive infusion of talent: Courtney Walbe, Abe Coffin, Lili Hobday, and Chase Cunningham figure to be key figures from the jump. Sprocket’s pickups don’t pack quite that quantity of punch (and they’ll surely miss Liv Player, who has moved to the women’s division this season) but highlights Devin Quinn and Sophie Knowles should be formidable. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see another entry in the teams’ young rivalry.
That said, there’s plenty of other top-level competition raring to break through. Head of the list are the reloaded #5 New York XIST and #7 Austin Disco Club sides. Both teams have brought in some serious firepower — Sadie Jezierski and Audrey Parrott for NY; Lexi Zalk and Joel Clutton for Austin — as they try to improve on their 2024 finishes. Don’t sleep on #9 Boston Slow, #11 Washington DC Rally or #13 Huntsville Space Force, either.
It’s Mixed: Upsets Are Chalk
Whatever chaos you think might unfold in mixed this year, double it. On second thought, triple it. The most volatile division in the game figures to live up to its reputation again in 2025. Will #12 Philadelphia AMP charge back into the Nationals picture as they bolster their dwindling longtime core with hot prospects? Will #16 Denver Mile High Trash live up to the promise of their incredibly exciting roster? Do #18 Nashville ‘Shine have another elite run in them? Is this an up year for #21 Durham Toro?1 Any of those teams can score a win on one or more of the top grouping… and any of them could fall to the likes of the unranked teams making the trek like Toronto Union, Athens Murmur, Charlotte Storm, or Pittsburgh Port Authority.
Men’s Division
Asterisks Abound at the Top
Lots of prospective contenders headline the men’s division at PEC East. The question, though, is how many of them will resemble their final forms? On paper, #3 New York PoNY, #4 Boston DiG, #6 Washington DC Truck Stop, #7 Atlanta Chain Lightning, and #8 Denver Johnny Bravo are all upper crust teams. PoNY have the flashiest incoming set of transfers (Anders Juengst, Ben Dameron, Tristan Yarter, Jacob Cowan, Ethan Lieman are among the biggest names of a big 2025 class) and plenty of the firepower from their run to the 2024 final. DiG, Truck, and Chain have made important (though less comprehensive) improvements, as well. The way these reconfigured rosters mesh will be an important story all season long.
But Pro-Elite Challenge attendance figures to be a grab bag. Between UFA and U24 commitments, lots of players will be out. Johnny Bravo went so far as to designate their roster for the tournament as ‘Johnny Bravo – varsity,’ underscoring the dearth of regulars. That makes the results of tournament — whatever they end up being — likely to prove inconclusive. To get a sense of the division’s pecking order, you’re better off watching some games and tracking the trajectory of a few players than extrapolating from the win/loss records.
Ring Rebuilding
One roster that is worth keeping an eye on no matter which players are or aren’t actually on the field in Sylvania belongs to #11 Raleigh Ring of Fire. After years of keeping a core together, they’ve started to shed key pieces — Juengst, Dameron, Ben Snell, Rutledge Smith among them — and have brought in lots of new faces to the Triangle’s top men’s team. This weekend will give us our first glance at a lot of that backfill. If they’re ready for the spotlight, expect Ring to rocket right back into the top-10. If they show a lot of room for growth, though, 2025 could prove to be more of an investment year than a payday.
Women’s Division
Quarters-Level Shakeup?
If too much ultimate has been played since last October, you may not remember how close some of the prequarters, quarters, and placement-deciding pool play games were. A few of the same actors are back at it for PEC East: #5 New York BENT, #7 Raleigh Phoenix, #8 Toronto 6ixers, and #10 Quebec Iris. Which of them will be able to get an edge on the others and potentially reach deeper into the bracket?
BENT may have the inside track, having made up for the departing Ximena Montaña with some Brute Squad poaches (Amy Zhou, Samiya Ismail, and Zoe Hecht) and another high-powered crossover from XIST (Nina Finley). The offensive foursome of Yina Cartagena, Ella Juengst, Abby Hecko, and Genny De Jesus will be among the most effective top ends in the division. With both Canadian outfits and Phoenix missing stars (Tiffany Zhang, Penelope Robert, Lindsay Soo) due to U24 conflicts, BENT could get the year started off right with a big win.
South Central Upstarts
Outside of the expected contenders, keep an eye on #16 Colorado Kelp. They put on a serious recruiting drive over the off-season, scoring Molly Brown defectors like Kennedy McCarthy, Emma Williamson, and Mei Hecht — along with players from Parcha, shame., and the now-defunct Love Tractor. How’s it going to come together in actual competition? If they look good enough, it could spell a second bid for the South Central.
Author’s note: my angle on Toro is Big Yes. ↩
