On the seventh day of Christmas Ultiworld gave to me...universe lines for each division!
December 18, 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 seventh day of the 12 Days of College Ultimate, we present the seven players our writers would want on the field if the game was on the line.
D-I Women’s Division
Kiana Hu
- Faye Burdick (Colorado)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Chloe Hakimi (Carleton)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (UPenn)
- Sage McGinley-Smith (Stanford)
Picking just one universe line before the season has started has got to be one of the most unglamorous tasks out there. Nevertheless, Gelfand and Kurahashi are undoubtedly two of the most proven players in the division going into the 2026 season, and will likely dictate the backfield and downfield respectively. Joining her Roosevelt teammate in the handler set, Hakimi has plenty of big game experience already that will help this line weather any storms it may face. Between McGinley-Smith, Goddu, Maroon, and Burdick, any of them are just as capable of making a clutch play on either side of the disc to get them out of trouble (but let’s be honest—there’s not going to be much trouble).
Alex Rubin
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Chloe Hakimi (Carleton)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (UPenn)
- Alli Reilly (UNC)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
Kurahashi and Gelfand top the POTY conversation for the second straight year and they should really be on every single list here. Hakimi is the most hyped college prospect of…ever? With two seasons of club Nationals experience as a first year and a decorated youth career, I trust her on the field as much as anyone else in the division. Reilly’s versatility and championship know-how, Goddu’s sheer athleticism, and Weybright’s tenacity all stand out to me when I watch them play and elevate them above the rest of the division. Rounding out my team is Maroon, who can slot in just about anywhere and be trusted to do good things. She nearly put up a triple-double at Nationals last season and is poised to cement her place as an All-American talent.
Theresa Diffendal
- Harper Baer (Stanford)
- Faye Burdick (Colorado)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (UPenn)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
Gelfand and Kurahashi are locks as the twin towers representing the two teams our staff have practically penned into a second-consecutive final showdown. Gelfand is easily taking point, distributing the disc to the stable of disc-movers and defender-shakers that populate this line. Grace Maroon and Trout Weybright are stars in their own right, truly takeover players who push their respective teams’ ceilings to dizzying heights. Not enough can be said about Goddu as a receiver or defender; who can forget her layout grab alongside a bidding Devin Quinn to win their pool play matchup last year?1. And then, because I don’t like to double-dip with these universe point lines, I have the standout players from two of last year’s quarterfinalists who should be counted among the division’s elite in Faye Burdick, whose recovery from a broken hand and stint with Molly Brown should portend more highlight-level play, and Harper Baer, the youngest player on this list who nonetheless put up an eye-popping 23 assist/13 block statline last year and is still rounding into her prime. Offense, defense, this seven has it all.
Josh Katz
- Naomi Fina (Carleton)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (UPenn)
- Lauren Szeto-Fung (UBC)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
I so desperately wanted to put Chloe Hakimi on this line, but anointing someone to the division-wide universe line before they’ve played a game of college ultimate is a bridge too far for me. She’ll probably make me look foolish in a couple months. For the actual players on the line, Gelfand and Kurahashi are the locks of all locks. Weybright will join Gelfand as the line’s primary distributor, with some additional support from Maroon. Fina is Kurahashi’s (and Maroon’s, if she’s not in the backfield) supplementary cutter, but let’s be honest: no one is preventing Mika from getting the disc when she wants it. Goddu and Szeto-Fung are out there just to get the disc back on the off chance we turn it over.
Edward Stephens
- Rachel Chang (UC Santa Cruz)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (Penn)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
- Annabel White (Tufts)
A UP line shouldn’t only be a list of the best players, it also needs to work as a line. So I have my center handler (Chang), two hybrids (Weybright and Gelfand) to bounce in and out of the backfield while they look for opportunities to distribute from motion, the greatest pure cutting trio ever assembled (Maroon, White, Kurahashi), and a coach’s dream defensive specialist (Goddu, obvi). Give me these seven players in any situation and I guarantee they come away with the score.
Laura Osterlund
- Faye Burdick (Colorado)
- Naomi Fina (Carleton)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (Penn)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
The mark of a good universe line is balance and versatility. Combine the creative arsenal of throws and schmeat slanging of Gelfand and Weybright, and you get a power duo in the throwing space. Add in Kurahashi, Maroon, and Fina for some unstoppable downfield movers and receivers to result in an offense that just clicks. Finally, take the dog-in-them-ness of Goddu and Burdick to boost the defense in the unlikely event of a turn, and there’s a line that’s guaranteed to give you winning results.
Keith Raynor
- Ella Bolan (UBC)
- Chagall Gelfand (Carleton)
- Lauren Goddu (Washington)
- Chloe Hakimi (Carleton)
- Mika Kurahashi (UBC)
- Grace Maroon (Penn)
- Trout Weybright (Oregon)
I feel like I could do three lines of players, the division’s talent is incredibly high right now. But you’d be silly not to have Mika Kurahashi and Chagall Gelfand out there. These are elite club players who are closer to be top-30 players on the planet than they are to missing out on this list. But after that, I went with the defensive and playmaking prowess of Goddu, Maroon, and Weybright, the already honed brilliance of Hakimi. The last slot was a tossup for me between Ella Bolan and Lia Schwartz. The latter is coming off an injury while Bolan brings a bit more defensive value, so I went that way.
D-I Men’s Division
Graham Gordon
- Aaron Bartlett (Michigan)
- Tobias Brooks (Colorado)
- Xavier Fuzat (Texas)
- Mica Glass (Oregon)
- Declan Miller (Carleton)
- Anton Orme (Cal Poly SLO)
- Zeke Thoreson (Colorado)
To include Miller, Brooks, Glass, and Orme was basically automatic. They’re all elite offensive hybrids who can easily fit into whatever role is needed on a line as talented as this one. Fuzat brings perhaps the fastest first step in the division and would be an unstoppable continuation cutter. Aaron Bartlett has been one of the most consistent college and club stars over the past couple years and is a fantastic cog in the machine if need be. Thoreson is maybe a bit of the de facto “lockdown defender pick,” but is also an elite offensive athlete in his own right.
Alex Rubin
- Aaron Bartlett (Michigan)
- Nate De Morgan (Carleton)
- Elijah Diamond (Western Washington)
- Mica Glass (Oregon)
- Sam Grossberg (Georgia Tech)
- Declan Miller (Carleton)
- Zeke Thoreson (Colorado)
Glass, Miller, and Thoreson are going to be in the POTY conversation. Bartlett and Grossberg have the talent to be there if they played on teams with a realistic chance at winning a title. I did not think too hard about including that group. De Morgan finished last college season on such a heater that just getting the disc into his left hand felt like an automatic score, and on universe having a hucker who truly is not scared of any mark will be huge. Likewise, I trust Diamond to do the right thing every time, and his big game experience would be vital here. The toughest person for me to leave out is Raekwon Adkins. who was just the MVP of WBUC and caught the game winning goal of Club Nationals. Surely, he’ll do great things this college season too and I’ll regret this choice in May.
Josh Katz
- Raekwon Adkins (Oregon)
- Aaron Bartlett (Michigan)
- Tobias Brooks (Colorado)
- Elijah Diamond (Western Washington)
- Mica Glass (Oregon)
- Declan Miller (Carleton)
- Zeke Thoreson (Colorado)
There are so many other players I wanted to get on this line (Sam Grossberg, Gavin Abrahamsson, Nate de Morgan, and Axel Olson in particular), but overall I’m happy with where I ended up. Everyone on this line is a POTY-caliber player who is ridiculously talented on offense. Brooks has limitless range. Bartlett and Diamond have proven they can carry a whole team to the bracket at Nationals. Miller, Adkins, Glass, and Thoreson simply never stop moving and never stop getting open.
Patrick Stegemoeller
- Tobias Brooks (Colorado)
- Ryan duSaire (Carleton)
- Mica Glass (Oregon)
- Ethan Lieman (UMass)
- Declan Miller (Carleton)
- Anton Orme (Cal Poly SLO)
- Zeke Thoreson (Colorado)
A universe line is not a top 7. There’s only one disc to go around, and I want to make sure I have some role player dogs on there who are going to create space for the offense and get the disc on D (Albeit role player dogs I completely trust to make good decisions with the disc in the flow of the offense). Mica and Tobias Brooks are the high volume offensive engines, and everyone else fits in around them on O. Are Declan Miller and Anton Orme over qualified for that role? Maybe, but that’s part of what makes them so effective – they are so versatile and well rounded that they don’t need a lot of touches to have an impact. Same goes from Lieman, who has seemingly never put a foot wrong across his first two years at UMass.
Keith Raynor
- Raekwon Adkins (Oregon)
- Aaron Bartlett (Michigan)
- Tobias Brooks (Colorado)
- Mica Glass (Oregon)
- Sam Grossberg (Georgia Tech)
- Declan Miller (Carleton)
- Anton Orme (Cal Poly SLO)
While there is a huge group of potentially eligible players (see: Edward’s response below), the combination of Miller, Brooks, Glass, and Orme should be locked in. Elite college careers, proven out of a variety of competitive contexts, and players who can do whatever you need, making them easy fits. The other three are coming off of tremendous club seasons, but those follow good turns in college and U24s that lends me confidence about their ability to operate together.
Edward Stephens
2nd Year: Nate De Morgan (Carleton), Roan Dunkerley (UMass), Sam Grossberg (Georgia Tech), Elliot Hawkins (Colorado), Cedar Hines (Western Washington), Mason Stone (UMass), Rex Yuen (UBC)
3rd Year: Raekwon Adkins (Oregon), Tobias Brooks (Colorado), Julius Cohen (Michigan), Ryan duSaire (Carleton), Mark Henke (Texas A&M), Ethan Lieman (UMass), William Wettengel (Cincinnati)
4th Year: Gavin Abrahamsson (UMass), Mica Glass (Oregon), Stewart Kelley (UNC Wilmington), Declan Miller (Carleton), Ryan Shigley (Colorado), Zeke Thoreson (Colorado), Toby Warren (UC Santa Cruz)
5th/6th Year: Aaron Bartlett (Michigan), Elijah Diamond (Western Washington), Xavier Fuzat (Texas), Wyatt Kellman (UMass), Anton Orme (Cal Poly), Josh Singleton (UNC), Chad Yorgason (BYU)
Taking a slant approach to the question of a universe point line. Where is the best talent in the men’s division along their arc? Four different classes and 28 players (leaving several deserving candidates unmentioned), I’m not any closer to a conclusion. I think these are what I would use as UP lines broken out by year. And if I have to pick just one… Give me the third-years, even if the comparatively unknown Cohen raises an eyebrow. (He’s great, trust me.)
D-III Women’s Division
TJ Lee
- Milo Brown (Wesleyan)
- Gabbie Campbell (Whitman)
- Tay Harvey (Rochester)
- Rufus Helmreich (Haverford/Bryn Mawr)
- Claire Lee (Macalester)
- Ella Widmyer (Middlebury)
- Claire Willett (Mt. Holyoke)
While I have a general idea of where each player will start, all seven players can go anywhere and win regardless of if they start on offense or defense. Widmyer, Campbell, and Harvey run things in the backfield while Helmreich and Lee are the top defenders on this line (though to clarify, everyone on this line should be considered a defensive threat.) Add to that Willet and brown and you find yourself a line that few if any can get past.
Theresa Diffendal
- Milo Brown (Wesleyan)
- Erica Collin (Haverford/Bryn Mawr)
- Tay Harvey (Rochester)
- Will Johnson (Kenyon)
- Claire Lee (Macalester)
- Charlotte Moynihan (Mt. Holyoke)
- Ella Widmyer (Middlebury)
This is admittedly a big-ball heavy line, but with the chaos that often comes in a universe point, I’ve got every bit of confidence these players can make the highlights needed to get the disc into the end zone one last time. You’ve got your chuckers in Claire Lee, Ella Widmyer, Will Johnson and Tay Harvey, who are basically a fleet of B-52s the way they can drop precision bombs anywhere on the field. Charlotte Moynihan and Milo Brown are a lethal pairing in the midfield, grinding through defenders with tireless cuts with an equally devastating arsenal of throws at their disposal. And who better to cap off the point than Erica Collin, who as a grad student that’s been to quarters or beyond every year she’s played but never hoisted the trophy has to be one of the hungriest players in the division. And woe to the opponent if they start on offense, for who can stand up to the combined defensive might of this line that stuffed a combined 99 blocks into their last Nationals outings?
Alex Rubin
- Milo Brown (Wesleyan)
- Erica Collin (Haverford/Bryn Mawr)
- Tay Harvey (Rochester)
- Claire Lee (Macalester)
- Scout Noble (Wesleyan)
- Ella Widmyer (Middlebury)
- Claire Willet (Mt. Holyoke)
Lee, Widmyer, and Brown should all be in the POTY conversation. Honestly it would be fascinating to see how they play together given how ball-dominant they need to be for their own teams’ success. Collin is a stellar receiver and will benefit from lots of opportunities with this collection of throwing talent. Harvey’s defensive chops, Noble’s disc-distribution skills, and Willet’s sense of timing and space will be valuable on a line of the division’s best.
Keith Raynor
- Gabbie Campbell (Whitman)
- Erica Collin (Haverford/Bryn Mawr)
- Tay Harvey (Rochester)
- Claire Lee (Macalester)
- Amelie Steer (Lewis & Clark)
- Ella Widmyer (Middlebury)
- Eliza Williams-Derry (Mount Holyoke)
I’m going to do something I often find frustrating when I’m on the other side: not select any Wesleyan players. People know what Vicious Circles’ stars are capable of. But I also am really just happy to cut out contenders for these competitive spots. I imagine Widmyer, Lee, and Collin will be unanimous selections as known entities and do-it-all stars. Had Whitman reached further into the bracket, Gabbie Campbell might be in the same boat. Amelie Steer and Tay Harvey’s breakout handler campaigns portends another set of big years leading their respective teams.
D-III Men’s Division
Calvin Ciorba
- Louis Douville Beaudoin (Middlebury)
- Orlando Impas (Lewis & Clark)
- Peter Mans (Middlebury)
- Brayden Morrison (Elon)
- Jude Schmiesing (Franciscan)
- Kyle Suelflow (Macalester)
- Nathan Wang (Carleton CHOP)
Simply put, the combo of Mans, Beaudoin, Morrison, and Sueflow play very well for their elite club teams, so it’s a no-brainer to include them on my UP lines. I tossed on Nathan Wang for his ability to not throw a turn when it matters, Impas for his clutch factor (look at the UP of D-III finals last year), and Schmiesing to make any play asked of him.
Josh Katz
- Dash Brenner (Carleton CHOP)
- Louis Douville Beaudoin (Middlebury)
- Tobias Hughes (Kenyon)
- Peter Mans (Middlebury)
- Brayden Morrison (Elon)
- Kyle Suelflow (Macalester)
- Owen Suelflow (Macalester)
Mans and LDB are obvious choices, two guys that can fill any role on an offense and defend at a high level. Morrison might be the best thrower in the division as a sophomore: he can sit in the backfield and run the offense from there. Brenner’s speed and field sense allow him to get open seemingly at will. The Suelflows (I can’t pick just one) are terrors in the deep space, both offensively and defensively. And Hughes gets the last spot on the line because I have to have a homer pick for his relentless defensive intensity and propensity for quick point-blocks.
Hunter Lang
- Louis Douville Beaudoin (Middlebury)
- Couper Kerns (Oklahoma Christian)
- Peter Mans (Middlebury)
- Brayden Morrison (Elon)
- Kyle Suelflow (Macalester)
- Oliver van Linder (Colorado College)
- Nathan Wang (Carleton CHOP)
There isn’t much more that can be said about the Middlebury duo of Mans and LDB that should be on anyone’s D-III universe line. They’ve shown that they’re not only among the best players in the division, but are rising stars on the club scene as well. A year after placing on Ultiworld’s D-III DPOTYium, Couper Kerns moved over to offense for OC, and led the team in goals at Nationals last year. He’ll be expected to carry this year’s OC team with Sammy Roberts graduating, and is someone I feel great about putting on a universe line, offense or defense. Nathan Wang is the type of player you want on the field with a chance to win the game: he’s going to make big plays while making smart decisions with the disc. Suelflow and Morrison played at an elite level last year, and now both have a second season of elite club ultimate under their belts (Drag’n Thrust and Ring of Fire, respectively). I only expect them to continue getting better. How short is the memory of the division that we’ve all seemed to forget the performance that freshman Oliver van Linder had at the 2023 College Championships? After some injury-riddled seasons, I expect a more seasoned van Linder to return to being one of the premier handlers in the division.
Alex Rubin
- Louis Douville Beaudoin (Middlebury)
- Orlando Impas (Lewis & Clark)
- Peter Mans (Middlebury)
- Brayden Morrison (Elon)
- Kyle Suelflow (Macalester)
- Owen Suelflow (Macalester)
- Nathan Wang (Carleton CHOP)
LDB and Mans are among the most polished players in the division and their presence would be an asset to literally any team. Morrison and both Suelflow twins earned significant playing time at Club Nationals earlier this fall, which requires a healthy commitment to the sport above and beyond what many D-III players offer. That’s no shade on the rest of the division, but helps me separate out the top seven for sure. In Wang, I see a backfield rock who will play point guard among his more heralded teammates while they all recognize him as a “your favorite player’s favorite player” type of player. And lastly, it’s D-III so we need a bit of chaos on the field, and Impas is daring enough to provide the chaotic good every team needs to succeed in this division.
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