UC Santa Cruz Slugs are among the top performers from first taste of spring 2026 college action.
January 25, 2026 by Edward Stephens in Recap
Ultiworld’s 2026 college coverage 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.
The views expressed in this article regarding recent events in Minnesota are the sole opinion of the author and do not represent the views of Ultiworld or its sponsors.
On Saturday of Santa Barbara Invite, for the second time this month, a Border Patrol agent from Immigrations Custom Enforcement (ICE), a division of the United States Department of Homeland Security, murdered a United States citizen in broad daylight in Minneapolis. The surge of ICE agents in the city over the past few weeks – they reportedly outnumber the Minneapolis Police Department 6:1 – ostensibly to enforce immigration laws has instead become a pageant of lawlessness that is equal parts terrorism and incompetence.
For weeks these agents have executed home invasions without warrants, kidnapped children as young as two years old, and sent citizens and non-citizens alike to detention facilities a thousand miles away without notifying family or legal counsel. They have shot demonstrators and legal observers in the face with pepper spray at point blank range, obstructed attempts at investigation by local police departments, ignored established law enforcement procedure, and needlessly escalated confrontations to the point of violence. They do not wear standardized uniforms or badges, leaving them difficult to distinguish from packs of thugs – they are, in practice, state-sanctioned criminals – and leaving little recourse to the public for accountability.
The officials in charge of deploying, supervising, and representing ICE during the present surge – including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Vice President J.D. Vance, and ultimately President Donald Trump – have defended and even cheered on their worst offenses while at the same time conducting a smear campaign against the victims. Despite what those officials have claimed repeatedly both in the immediate aftermath of the events and in subsequent statements, overwhelming video evidence and witness testimony has shown that the murders of Alex Pretti on Saturday, 24 January and Renée Good on Wednesday, 7 January are not justifiable on any legal or moral ground.
The only acceptable response to the state violence is for Border Patrol agents to withdraw from the Twin Cities area immediately, for the Department of Homeland Security to end its program of ICE Border Patrol agent surges, for the agents who committed the murders and other crimes to face charges and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and for the officials who sponsored this campaign of terror (including, but not limited to, those named above) to leave or be removed from office at the earliest possible opportunity.
That, at least, is what has been on my mind during the first major day of college ultimate of 2026.
Here’s what happened on Saturday at Santa Barbara Invite:
Saturdays are for the Slimes
Four teams finished their Saturday slate of pool play games 3-01 but only one of them can claim to be smelling as fresh as spring rain: #12 UC Santa Cruz Slugs. It wasn’t just that they fended off three formidable challengers in Stanford Bloodthirsty, #8 BYU CHI, and #15 Utah Zion Curtain by relatively comfortable margins, it was that they did it with an assuredness that speaks of better things to come. Toby Warren, Selim Jones, Mario Ambrose, and Milan Moslehi were threats to all fields on Saturday, showcasing a variety of play styles and play calls en route to a smooth path to prequarters. It wasn’t until the very end of their game against Utah that they showed any signs of execution error – before then they were dogged and smart on defense, and simply open on offense. Tougher tests surely stand between them and their eventual fate this spring, but they have the look of a team ready for them.
CHI’s New Generation
Technically Cal Poly are 4-0, but their Friday night win wasn’t in pool play. ↩
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