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USA Ultimate Announces 2018 World Junior Ultimate Championships Men’s National Team

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 1, 2018) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is excited to announce the athletes who will represent the U.S. this summer on the Under 20 Men’s National Team at the World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC).

“Andy, Russell and I are very excited to invite these 24 individuals onto Team U.S.A.,” said Reid Koss, men’s team head coach. “Each athlete competed through a long, difficult tryout weekend and proved that they are not just some of the best players this country has to offer, but also players who showed strong character and a willingness to embrace the values it takes to make this collection of talent become the best team possible.”

The 48 athletes named to the two 2018 Under-20 U.S. National Team rosters – men’s and women’s – are some of the world’s best youth ultimate players. The final rosters were selected after two weekends of tryouts that included more than 200 athletes, who were selected from a pool of nearly 400 initial applicants.

WJUC 2018, which represents the 18th edition of the tournament, is expected to host 37 teams and approximately 1,000 athletes from 19 countries. WJUC was first held as a division of the World Ultimate and Guts Championship, beginning with the inaugural event in 1983. WJUC has since become its own event which takes place every two years.

The United States first competed at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in 1988. Since that time, U.S. teams have earned 21 WJUC medals: 10 gold, five silver and six bronze.

WJUC 2018 is set to be held August 19-25 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and will be hosted by the World Flying Disc Federation and a tournament organizing committee led by Andrew Portwine of Ultimate Canada and Ontario Ultimate.

2018 World Junior Ultimate Championships
U.S. National Team
Men’s Division

Head Coach: Reid Koss
Assistant Coaches: Andy Neilsen, Russell Wallack

Roster:

Orion Cable – Amherst, MA – Amherst Regional High School

Connor Chin – New York, NY – Bard High School Early College

Drew Di Francesco – Atlanta, GA – Grady High School

Ryan Dinger – Burlington, VT – Amherst Regional High School

Leo Gordon – Berkeley, CA – Berkeley High School

Sam Hammar – Edina, MN – Edina High School

Henry Ing – Bryn Mawr, PA – Radnor High School

Adam Jemal – Bellevue, WA – Seattle Waldorf

Joey Kennedy – Naperville, IL – Neuqua Valley

Trevor Lynch – Collegeville, PA – Methacton High School

Jonny Malks – Arlington, VA – Yorktown High School

John McDonnell – Chapel Hill, NC – East Chapel Hill High School

Elliott Moore – Austin, TX – Austin High School

Benjamin Preiss – Arlington, VA – Yorktown High School

June Tabasan Rapisura – Seattle, WA – Franklin High School

Connor Ryan – Seattle, WA – Roosevelt High School

Ted Schewe – Madison, WI – James Madison Memorial High School

Caleb Seamon – Leverett, MA – Amherst Regional High School

Kodi Smart – Olympia, WA – Tumwater High School

Leonide Sovell-Fernandez – St. Paul, MN –  Great River School

Jake Taylor- Chapel Hill, NC – Carolina Friends School

Jake Thorne – Alameda, CA – Alameda Community Learning Center

Tony Venneri – Seattle, WA – Nathan Hale High School

Dylan Villeneuve – Berkeley, CA – Berkeley High School

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