On the third day of Christmas Ultiworld gave to me...staff D-III champion picks!
December 14, 2025 by Ultiworld in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 college 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.
It’s time to unwrap some presents as we introduce the 12 Days of College Ultimate. For the next 12 days, we will be releasing one gift per day, though don’t count on getting any holiday fowl: it’s all college ultimate. From highlight videos to player chatter to a season predictions, we’ve got a little something for everyone. On the third day of the 12 Days of College Ultimate, we present our way-too-early semifinal and championship picks for D-III!
Women’s Division
Picks submitted by Theresa Diffendal, Zack Davis, Keith Raynor1, TJ Lee, Alex Rubin, Theo Wan, and Josh Katz
You might as well pen Middlebury/Wesleyan into the final for the entirety of Milo Brown and Ella Widmyer’s reign in the division, especially this year as fellow stars Scout Noble and Cece Rhyneer round into their prime. Even with the losses each team sports heading into the season (Middlebury’s Liz Crawford, Wesleyan’s Natalie Sweet), the talent and depth between the two feels like it towers over the rest of the division. I’ve got Wesleyan’s depth claiming the title for the second time in as many years, though a Prankster title would hardly be shocking. But you have to put some respect on the other 2025 finalist, Haverford/Bryn Mawr, who welcome back a pair of All-American second teamers in Erica Collin and Rufus Helmreich The lone non-2025 semifinalist I’ve got breaking into the final four, Whitman’s young team flashed some of the best team-wide disc skills, and were a universe point away from their own berth last year.
– Theresa Diffendal
Calling a team that missed Nationals the year prior (and did not even make the game-to-go to Nationals) to make the final is what you see when you look up “hot take” in your encyclopedia. And yet, a healthy Claire Lee is just that good. Bringing a roster that is almost entirely second-year players this year puts together a dangerous Macalester squad hungry to get back in title contention. This Wesleyan squad is just too good not to pick as the champion, so I have the magic ending there. But keep an eye out for what Ella Widmyer does for Middlebury and how Haverford/Bryn Mawr’s returning squad can compete. Don’t forget, the Sneetches dominated their pool last year when Zoe Costanza was the only senior playing on Saturday.
– TJ Lee
Ella Widmyer is the best player in the division. Middlebury has been good down roster, and will continue to be. I did watch the semifinal game last year, I understand they lost. That was the past, this roster is the future. I still think Vicious Circles are the next-best team and will be competitive against any team they face. If Claire Lee has the good fortune to stay healthy this season she has the potential to catalyze her team to the final, but coming back from an injury is always tough, so I’m capping their potential for now at a semis berth.
– Zack Davis
Wesleyan has enough talent and know-how that I feel pretty comfortable claiming now that they’ll just be running it back–let’s go Team Ultiworld and coach Keith Raynor! Really, Milo Brown should be getting most of the credit as the team’s all around best player and leader. As others have said, Ella Widmyer and Claire Lee are strong enough players to bring their teams back to semis. Despite losing a generational talent in Zoe Costanza, the sneetch-shaped bones of a solid team are still growing in the western stretches of Philadelphia, and I think Haverford/Bryn Mawr will still be among the most competitive teams by season’s end.
– Alex Rubin
The cases for Wesleyan and Middlebury are both pretty obvious, with top players returning from top contenders and both programs adding good talent this season. Big-game experience will be valuable in each instance and they’ve both got trump cards. Whitman might have suffered a disappointing surprise ending at Nationals, but they’re talented and in fertile recruiting ground. And finally, my surprise is Mount Holyoke. They should be stocked with top returners like Eliza Williams-Derry, Charlotte Moynihan, and Eva Taberski, while Claire Willett evolves into a terror for the division. It pains me to leave out the likes of HBM and Carleton, with Davenport another potential sleeper.
– Keith Raynor
Like just about everyone else on staff, I’m taking the chalk and a Wesleyan/Middlebury finals matchup in Waukegan. Winning back-to-back titles is difficult, though, and Ella Widmyer and Cece Rhyneer will outclass Milo Brown and Scout Noble for the Pranksters’ fourth title in six years. Davenport’s women’s program ascent has been slower than their men’s team counterpart, but the Panthers were very impressive last year, giving Wesleyan their toughest test all Nationals. With another year of recruiting and development, they’ll get to semis this year. Picking Kenyon for the last semis spot is partially a homer pick and partially an endorsement of how good Will and Kaley Johnson were last year as sophomores: imagine how good that duo will be with another year of development.
– Josh Katz
Yes, this may sound predictable, but it’s no coincidence that nearly the entire Ultiworld staff has landed on a Wesleyan-Middlebury final. Both programs are overflowing with star power, each featuring a U24 gold medalist – Wesleyan in Milo Brown and Middlebury countering with Ella Widmyer. The depth runs just as deep. Wesleyan’s Scout Noble, a member of the 2024 U20 girls team, and Middlebury’s deep home-grown roster is eager to finally bring a title home after semifinal exits the past two seasons, give both sides elite secondary options. Everything points to a collision course.
Lurking just outside that chalk pick is a Haverford Bryn Mawr squad that won’t be short on firepower. While they lose their do-it-all star Zoe Constanza, they bring back breakout star Rufus Helmreich, who proved last season they could be trusted to play both ways in the biggest moments. And if the whispers from fellow staffers are accurate, Macalester is the true dark horse. I still think back to calling Claire Lee’s 4-assist, 5-block performance against Middlebury two years ago, an eye-test moment that confirmed she’s one of the top players in the division. With her at the center, Macalester has the kind of ceiling that can go to the semifinals and beyond.
– Theo Wan
Men’s Division
Picks submitted by Josh Katz, Keith Raynor, Calvin Ciorba, Alex Rubin, Theo Wan, and Hunter Lang
Middlebury has made semis all but once, including three finals runs, since their last championship in 2019. Despite coming up short so many times, this will be the year they earn their second championship. Louis Douville Beaudoin and Peter Mans are the two best players in the division, and it’s not very close since they have only graduated so few players. With Davenport out of the picture and Oklahoma Christian plummeting out of relevancy, this opens up some spots for some new teams. CHOP have quietly been building a solid program and graduated very few compared to the rest of the division, giving them the second-best shot to win. This is Elon’s last shot for something big in Reed Burkert and Kalen Morrison’s senior year, now complemented by a more seasoned Brayden Morrison. However, I still believe their decision-making will hold them back from reaching the final. Lastly, although Lewis & Clark lost some serious talent, the rest of the division is taking a large enough step back to where I believe they’ll make it to semis with guys like Impas and London still around.
– Calvin Ciorba
The case for Middlebury is fairly straightforward: they were a point away from winning a title last year, and they return a pair of First Team All-Americans (Peter Mans and Louis Douville Beaudoin) plus last year’s BPOTY in Oscar de Swaan Arons. Elon will benefit greatly from a more seasoned Brayden Morrison, especially after he spent his summer with Raleigh Ring of Fire on the club circuit. He’ll carry them two steps farther than last year’s quarters defeat. CHOP have their own sophomore superstar in Dash Brenner; expect big things from him. And Claremont graduate just two players from last year’s exciting team, neither of whom were Jacques Paradis or Isamu Sims. That duo, plus some more development up and down the roster, will be good enough to get Claremont to semis for the first time in over a decade.
– Josh Katz
I’m going to start with my dark horse pick – Franciscan. While depth carries teams through a tournament or a season, once you get to Nationals, it’s all about how far your star player can carry you. And Jude Schmiesing is a star. Even with a torn meniscus, he finished third in the division in assists last year. If he’s healthy for the full season, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s able to do even more and carry his team to semis.
Last year, Elon established themselves as the best team in the Atlantic Coast and took a major step forward by making quarters for the first time. This year, they should be even better, with their stars Brayden Morrison (Ring of Fire) and Reed Burkert (RDU) both playing Nationals-level ultimate over the summer, and returning a lot of valuable depth pieces.
Middlebury is and should be the favorite to win the division. They have two of the best players in the division in Louis Douville Beaudoin and Peter Mans, and BPOTY Oscar de Swaan Arons should make another jump and become a third superstar for the Pranksters. For the better part of a decade, they’ve shown that semis is their absolute floor. But whether or not they’re able to use their trademark goofiness to ignore the massive expectations will determine if they’ll be able to win a championship.
Though Middlebury would presumably be favored in a game against CHOP if Nationals started today (I wish it would), I would feel great about taking underdog CHOP in that matchup. Rising stars Nathan Wang and Dash Brenner play with a level of poise that few others in the division do, turning it over at a far lower rate than many of their peers in high-touch roles. If CHOP are able to play a similar brand of smooth offense as they were last year, they should be able to go toe-to-toe with the rest of the division’s best, and bring a (D-III) title back to Carleton for the first time since 2012.
– Hunter Lang
Having two club Nationals players on a D-III team is a pretty good start to a championship, and Middlebury seems like they’re set up for another deep bracket run. Last year’s upstart Elon had a year to make mistakes and learn from them–they’ll be back and really ready to win this season. Similarly, I like the trajectory of Carleton CHOP. Things seems to be good in Northfield right now given the success of all four Carleton programs, and CHOP can build on their semis run last season. And let’s just admit the homer pick: I’m never going to count out Claremont but with Arenaria Cramer and Isamu Sims leading the offense, they actually have enough firepower to build on last year’s successful bracket trip.
– Alex Rubin
Having fallen short of a championship in two of the last three seasons, I believe this is the year for Middlebury. Bringing in a coach for the postseason was a nice change for the usually player-led squad, and it seemed to free the Pranksters to simply play loose and ball out. With their two southpaw playmakers, Peter Mans and Louis Douville Beaudoin, arguably the two best players in the division, back in the fold, they’ll be an incredibly difficult combo to slow down. On the other side, the gunslinging Elon Big Fat Bomb will look to ride that same carefree style all the way to the final, a stage they haven’t reached since 2014. Having called a few of Lewis & Clark’s games last year, it’s easy to be impressed by Max Zwerin and Leo Farley, but in my view, a key component to their success was freshman Sam London. With those two stars now gone, London will demand more touches and greater control of the offense, and I can’t wait to see what this varsity soccer player is going to do. After cracking the semifinal conversation last year, this CHOP squad is poised to build on that run and prove it wasn’t a fluke, but rather a sign of things to come.
– Theo Wan
Disclosure: He is the Wesleyan head coach. ↩
