New season, same old dominance.

The UNC men’s and women’s ultimate frisbee teams each won their second consecutive USA Ultimate national championships Monday in Milwaukee, just five months after claiming titles in 2021.

The women’s team, Pleiades, completed an unbeaten run through both the pool play and knockout portion of the championships by defeating a team from Colorado, 12-11, in the final. Pleiades had also beaten teams from UC-Santa Barbara and British Columbia on their way to the title. It’s Pleiades’ second national championship in program history.

In addition, Pleiades’ Dawn Culton was named the winner of USA Ultimate’s Callahan Award, given annually to “the most valuable players in college ultimate,” who “display superior skill and athleticism, but also demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship, leadership and dedication to ultimate.” Culton is the fifth UNC player, male or female, to win the Callahan Award, which has been given out since 1996.

Darkside, the UNC men’s team, competed later that same day. Unlike Pleiades, Darkside was not the No. 1 overall seed in the field, but still took home the title regardless. In the championship game, they took on the tournament’s top seed, Brown, and won 15-10 to capture the program’s fourth national title. Darkside had defeated teams from Colorado and Georgia on their way to the championship game.

UNC Darkside poses with their national championship trophy. (Image via USA Ultimate on Twitter)

Ultimate frisbee is not an NCAA-sponsored sport, and the players do not receive athletic scholarships to compete. Instead, teams like Darkside and Pleiades are run as club teams, with open tryouts every fall. USA Ultimate, the official governing body of the sport for both youth and international competitions since 1979, sponsors the college national championships.

 

Featured image via USA Ultimate on Twitter

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