San Diego, Calif. (October 24, 2026) – The race for the title is underway in the USA Ultimate National Championships, as teams across all three divisions completed pool play yesterday in San Diego. Despite a one-day delay due to weather conditions that closed the venue, Friday brought near optimal weather for the first day of what is now a three day event.
With pool play complete, 12 of the 48 teams competing have been eliminated from title contention (four per division) and the prequarterfinals kick off at 9 a.m. local time Saturday. The start of bracket play also brings hours of exciting viewing, as all bracket games in all divisions are available to watch live through USA Ultimate’s media partner Ultiworld.
The first day of competition featured key upsets and closely contested games, highlighting the level of skill and talent across the teams at this year’s Championships. Read on for a look into day one results.
Men’s Division
At the end of pool play four teams remain undefeated. New York Pony and Portland Rhino Slam! both won their pools as the top seed. Joining them in advancing directly to the quarterfinals are Raleigh Ring of Fire and San Francisco Revolver. Top seed Chicago Machine will have to face off against Washington Truck Stop in the prequarterfinals, after falling to Ring of Fire on universe point in the final round Friday. Similarly positioned, Boston DiG will need a win over Toronto GOAT to advance after a universe point loss to Revolver.
In addition to these upsets at the top, another team worth following is Philadelphia Pacmen. The 10 seed kicked off their Championship run by taking Rhino Slam! to universe point. While Rhino claimed the win, that was Pacmen’s closest game, and only loss. After finishing 2-1 for the day, they will face off against Denver Johnny Bravo in the prequarter round for a chance to advance. All men’s division prequarterfinal games will be broadcast live at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
Stat leaders for day one are Carter Bayer (Seattle Sockeye) with 10 goals, Mica Glass (Portland Rhino Slam!) with 16 assists and Logan Piercy (Philadelphia Pacmen) with 5 blocks.
Mixed Division
The mixed division got off to an exciting start with a first round upset as Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust took down Sacramento Tower 15-12. Drag’n Thrust, the 10 seed, went undefeated to win their pool and advance directly to the quarterfinals while the three seed Tower went 0-3 and has dropped out of title contention.
Despite a number of lead changes and close games, the rest of the mixed division went largely as predicted. Top seeds New York XIST, Ann Arbor Hybrid and Boston Slow all remain undefeated. Having won their pools, they join Drag’n Thrust in advancing directly to the quarterfinals, which will be broadcast live at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Their opponents will be determined during the prequarterfinal round — broadcast live at 12 p.m. Eastern — in what are sure to be tightly contested games.
Stat leaders following pool play are Ethan Sarles (Philadelphia AMP) with 10 goals, Robyn Fennig (Sacramento Tower) with 13 assists and Nathan Champoux (Ann Arbor Hybrid) with 7 blocks.
Women’s Division
Consistent with this year’s regular and post-season performances, the women’s division continues to have a dominant group of top teams. The top four seeds went undefeated in pool play, and heading into the quarterfinals Saturday, no team has put up more than 10 points against Washington Scandal, San Francisco Fury or Boston Brute Squad in a game.
Despite this, Friday’s competition showed several teams close to being in contention. New York BENT and Raleigh Phoenix both took four seed Denver Molly Brown to universe point in the first two rounds of the day, and the Toronto 6ixers had Brute Squad in a tight match for the first half of the final round, before ultimately falling to them 9-15.
While beating one of the top seeds will be a tough challenge, the women’s division featured a number of upsets in pool play. The prequarterfinal games are sure to be tightly contested as the remaining field of teams compete for the chance to advance and test themselves against these four powerhouses.
The women’s prequarterfinal games will be broadcast live at 12 p..m. and 2:15 p.m. Eastern with quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m and 6:45 p.m.. Eastern.
Stat leaders going into bracket play are Carmen La gala (Denver Molly Brown) with 10 goals, Quincy Booth (Philadelphia Flight) with 10 assists and Catherine Fradenburg (Raleigh Phoenix) with 5 blocks.
