The deepest high school tournament in the country!
June 11, 2026 by TJ Lee and Charlie Eisenhood in Preview
It is here: the 2026 High School National Invite! 32 of the nation’s best high school teams arrive to Salem, Oregon, this week to battle for the most prestigious title in high school ultimate.
We’ve got you covered for all the exciting action this weekend. Follow along on the HSNI Event Page, and make sure to grab your Ultiworld subscription to watch the livestreams and get live on-the-ground updates from our reporting crew in the Ultiworld Discord.
Tournament Profile
- Location: Salem, OR
- Dates: June 12-13, 2026
- Weather: Hot and sunny. High of 80 on Friday; high close to 90 on Saturday. Light wind Friday; windier Saturday PM.
- Top 25 Teams: 16 Boys, 16 Girls
- Tournament Schedule
- Ultiworld Live Page
Livestreaming Schedule
Ultiworld will be streaming 30 total games throughout pool play and the bracket, available for Ultiworld All-Access subscribers as well as those who purchase the HSNI Event Pack! This coverage includes all of the semifinals and finals on Saturday. All four semifinals will be streamed; one from each division will feature commentary.
See the full livestreaming schedule and how to watch information here.
Boys Division
Albany (CA) enters the tournament as the favorites to win it all. A strong performance winning the Seattle Invite in the fall earned them their bid to HSNI early on, allowing them to focus on making sure they were ready for whatever the field plans to throw their way. This future was foretold in last year’s recap, and the future is here in the form of Nicolad Rusa, Hugo Tsai, Muhammad Awais, and Jasper Graf. Albany secured the #1 overall seed by getting the win at Spaghetti Western, featuring a comeback win over the #2 seed Green Canyon (UT) and a strong victory over #3 seed South Eugene (OR). A smooth California States run was only slightly slowed by an upstart El Cerrito squad taking them to universe in the final, but otherwise this team has a strong chance of winning it all this year.
Green Canyon has put in the work this year, easily winning Utah states and generally smashing everyone they’ve played this season — except Albany. They’ve already had experience winning the HSNI in 2024, and they have a bona fide superstar in Blake Holt looking to make it title #2. Cody Edelmayer and Miles Phillips will also contribute as the team looks t oget back in the winner’s circle after a bit of a rebuilding season in 2025.
How will Oregon state champs South Eugene (OR) fare? They will be looking to make another finals run following their 13-9 loss to Albany in the final of Spaghetti Western. Defending the home turf1 will prove difficult, but the potential extra fan support could turn the tide. This is not to say that they will need sideline energy to keep them going, as players like U20 tryouts Elias Casper and Oliver Hughes provide plenty of on-field talent to keep this team in the running.
These “big three” from the West have showed a lot of separation from the rest of the region, but don’t sleep on the Central and East. A Massachusetts team, Arlington, snapped a long Western win streak last season, but they opted not to return to HSNI this year, despite getting the auto-bid, as they’re in the midst of a major rebuild after a peak season.
Lakeside (GA) might be the east’s best hope this year. The team sits at the #4 seed and, after years of building, is ready to make a title push. They are riding the high of winning the River Campus Classic and dominating east coast competition all season. Wins over Middleton (WI) and Midtown (GA) set the stage for a high seed. They only lost once all spring, to an East Chapel Hill (NC) team that was playing with some extra firepower with pickups. Lakeside seniors like Sam Shapiro, Pearce Becker, and Sawyer Morgan are ready to give it all in their final high school season, and the team is poised to make a deep run.
Other eastern teams have flashed plenty of potential: Columbia (NJ); Brooklyn Tech (NY), the first team to appear at HSNI from the state of New York; Four Rivers (MA); HSNI stalwart Jackson Reed (DC); and YULA Invite champ Lexington (MA) have all looked very strong at points in the spring, if a bit inconsistent. Columbia was shakier early in the season but got wins over nearly every major east coast team after April 1st. The team has plenty of skill — Simon Collins-Siegel, Nick Giannone, and Tommy Cogan-Drew are the latest stars for the program that started it all. But, despite some streaks of great, Columbia then had to scrap to a 13-12 win in the New Jersey state final over Westfield. Which Columbia will show up?
You could ask a similar question about the other east coast threats. They’ve all looked tremendous at their best but all have taken losses. Brooklyn Tech brings a lot of height to the field, and, at full strength, they’ve been excellent. They were one of the first teams to earn a strength bid to HSNI this spring as they climbed into the top 10 in late March. U20 invite Mason Gunn is the team’s on-field leader playing primarily on the D-line. Jake Donahue is a big downfield stopper — watch for the team to disrupt opposing offenses and win through breaks rather than with a dominant O-line.
Four Rivers got a later start in the season but looked great once they got going. They got wins over Brooklyn Tech and Lexington, but they came up short at Massachusetts States after coming in as the one seed, taking a surprise loss to Northampton, who then got rolled in the final by Lexington (MA). And Lexington is a fascinating team — they were super strong early in the season, winning the YULA Invite and locking up an HSNI bid, but then had disappointing results playing shorthanded for much of the rest of the season. Then they came out at MA States and dominated. Max Coe (U20 USA) will be one of the best players at the tournament and he could lead them to look more like their early results than what we saw in the middle of their season.
It was more of a steady build for Wissahickon (PA), a perennial HSNI qualifier, who had some bumpy early season results but took down Pennsylvania States to grab one of the last bids this year. They’re not as strong as they were last year, but they do still have a Grossberg — Jonah returns this season. They also bring back Jackson Horvat and Christian Lee. They’re not a fun four seed in your pool.
Meanwhile, the midwest teams Edina (MN), Middleton (MN), and Washburn (MN) all have hopes of making a run this year. Edina earned an autobid by reaching the finals last year, and they’ve clearly been one of the best high school programs in the country for years, but they’re still hunting for an HSNI victory after losing in the finals three times since 2019. It was a surprise to see them take down the Hopkins Hustle late in the season after Middleton had looked like the class of the Midwest all year, but Edina focused on depth early and it clearly paid off. This is Middleton’s first appearance at HSNI, but they’ve been building to this moment for years: they were one of the last teams out last season.
Edina captain Harrison Brothers has been one of the most productive players in the team’s history: he’s now got the most goals scored in a varsity career in Minnesota, surpassing Middlebury star Peter Mans. Danny Teply is another player to watch from the handler spot. This year’s Edina team might not have quite the firepower they did a year ago, but almost no program develops players better.
Middleton is led by Wisconsin state MVP Evan Natzke, a U20 tryout invitee. Conner Roth also got a look at U20 tryouts. This is clearly a peak season for this Middleton team, and for much of the season they looked like a top five team. Perhaps that image was shaken a bit by a late season loss to Andover (MN), though that team went on to win the Minnesota State Championships.2 The only other Middleton loss this year was to Lakeside, 9-7.
Washburn was one of the best Minnesota teams this season, only dropping games to Edina, Middleton, Andover, and then a late loss to Minneapolis South. They finished third at Minnesota States behind Andover and Edina. It’s a big up year for Washburn, who has a 12 person senior class, including a group of 10 that have played together since 6th grade. Watch for Omar Smith, Niko Flynn-Rollin, and Reid Bultman to lead the team this weekend.
Let’s swing back to the West. We haven’t even discussed the Washington state teams this year — Lincoln and Roosevelt. Unfortunately, Roosevelt is missing their best player, Calvin Schnee, after he broke both of his hands, one playing frisbee and one falling off a motorcycle. But Jack Lawson, Marcus Kwan, and Blake Hadland will make them a tough out.
Lincoln was your Washington state champion in the fall, their first time winning States in program history. They don’t have much crossover with the rest of the HSNI field besides a 13-8 loss to South Eugene in consolation at the Seattle Invite. But they should be strong, and they’re an experienced team having played four of the last five years at HSNI. They have a deep, balanced roster, and all their games in Pool D should be a fun watch.
The last team to get into HSNI is Franklin (OR), who defeated rival Grant on universe point at Oregon States to effectively claim the bid. Grant nearly got another shot at Franklin at States, but they came up just short against South Eugene in semis; South went on to win the state championship. Wyatt Cook (U20 USA) is the team’s top talent, but Quinn Alaeddine and Will Sinkford also got U20 invites. Guess who else? Ren and Liv Fraser, two of the three girls on the roster. They will be impact players for a team that’s got a lot of talent. Don’t sleep on them at the #16 seed.
Girls Division
After a tremendous senior class led by Chloe Hakimi took Roosevelt (WA) to an HSNI title last year, South Eugene (OR) reasserts themselves this year as the clear favorite to get back to the top of the mountain. It’s been a dominant undefeated season so far for South, even as they’ve played some of the best west coast teams. Upcoming U20 team member Kyla Hurt is ready to bring this team back, and fellow tryout attendees Dana Herrmann and Sonja Dorsch compliment her well. Despite already qualifying due to their appearance in the final last year, South Eugene has been a force that nobody has been able to come close to beating, and they are poised to confirm their position as the best high school program in the nation.
Who will be the challengers?
Washburn (MN) is one of the top contenders. A dominant showing at Hopkins Hustle proved that their experience at the High School National Invite may be enough to push them to victory this weekend, and they too are undefeated on the season. Junior Kumari Okamura is one of the best players in the country, and she’ll be joined by Charlotte Eskola, Lydia Jorgenson, and Samantha Flynn-Rollin with a deep and balanced attack. Keep an eye out for Minnesota state Rookie of the Year Clara Slaby, who has used her volleyball background to make her into a dangerous zone defender.
Last year, South Eugene demolished Washburn in quarters 15-4 in terrible weather conditions. Washburn gave up a 6-0 run to start: they’ll have to find a way to get a foothold earlier in the game if they see them again this weekend.
Another team that South Eugene crushed last year was El Cerrito (CA), one of the west’s best this year. They were able to cruise through the California State Championship and are backed by Nora Draut’s deep ball game alongside Rani Millstein and Jaylin Liu. They reached the semis of HSNI a year ago, but they’ll probably still be thinking about their second place finish at Spaghetti Western in May, where they lost to South Eugene 13-3. The possible Washburn-El Cerrito semifinal looks very compelling, but first EC will have to get past Garfield, the most consistently strong Washington state team this season, in pool play.
Holy Family Catholic (OH) rounds out the top seeds. Getting a win over Paideia at Terminus in March set Ruth Findley and co. to make another deep HSNI run for the Ohio program. The team will be heavily tested, however, as their pool play schedule calls for three straight games before getting the last round bye, something that will surely test the legs of a roster only 11 strong. But if a win at River Campus Classic can say anything, maybe 11 is all they need. They have run short rotations in the past and done quite well at HSNI.
Following the top seeds are multiple contenders, including Japan U20 player Sabrina Kehl and Lincoln (WA), Seattle Riot’s Nora Luloff (probably the best player in the division right now) and U20 tryout attendee Elizabeth Muss on Garfield (WA), and Lily Digioia and Helen Golden holding down the fort for Nathan Hale (WA). Lincoln’s upset win over Garfield in the Washington State Championships after a wild season in Seattle set the tone that they are ready to make a deep run this year, while Garfield looks to get payback after looking like the strongest team throughout the regular season.
While the year has been up and down for defending champions Roosevelt (WA), getting wins over Ingraham-Lakeside and keeping within two of Nathan Hale during league matches shows that they still have contention power in them, even if the lack of Chloe Hakimi and Zsa Zsa Gelfand caps their ceiling this year. Meanwhile, Nathan Hale (WA) will be looking to turn the middle of the pack performance from their league play into a bracket push.
There’s also some teams that are harder to project. Lakewood/CA is the first team to attend HSNI from Colorado after dominating competition in the state this season. That’s a good sign, considering that other Colorado teams played well outside of the state at big tournaments like the YULA Invite. Neela Emerson is the player to watch, and she’s joined by Hazel Sankovitz and Isla Yoshihara. How will they stack up with more experienced HSNI opponents?
Similarly, Strath Haven (PA) and Alameda (CA) have flashed potential. Strath Haven had some up-and-down showing during the season but dominated down the stretch in the Pennsylvania postseason and have been one of the best teams in the east. Alice Rieger is a superstar (U20 USA) and twin sisters Keegan and Sadie Mansor, both captains, will be big contributors as well. Meanwhile, Alameda showed up with a strong performance at Spaghetti Western. They might have a hard time making a deep run due to short numbers, but Violet Yap is one of the best players on the U20 team and could carry them to some victories.
Don’t count out anyone. Eastside Prep (WA) and Ingraham-Lakeside (WA) have both cut their teeth against the best high school scene in the country, and Four Rivers (MA) could well be underseeded at #14 after being the clear top team in Massachusetts and winning the state title. Cambridge Rindge (MA) has had their best results ever as a program this year and will get great experience playing at this level.
While they are seeded last in their pool, HB Woodlawn (VA) enters the tournament as the defending YULA Invite champion. It has been years since the Virginia program has made it to the High School National Invite, but with experience that can rival college teams with players like Sara Reich, Katie Butler, and Lucy Miller, HB Woodlawn has everything needed to go on an underdog run.
