Seeking a fourth title in five years, South Eugene falls just short at national ultimate tournament

South Eugene High School’s gender-diverse ultimate frisbee team’s championship run fell short on Saturday, June 13, with a 14-6 loss to Minneapolis’ Washburn High School in the finals of the 2026 High School National Invite ultimate frisbee tournament, held this year in Salem.

South Eugene had hoped to add a fourth girls-division title to its resume, but heat and injuries drained the team leading into their final match. The team had won the national tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024, finishing second last year, as well.

“I think we’re a small team playing hard all day in the heat, and it just took a toll. Some lingering injuries reactivated, and some players got hurt,” South Eugene head coach Rachelle Depner said.

Shade was scarce, and temperatures pushed 90 degrees at Pioneer Sports Park, where tournament matches started at 8:30 a.m. and ran until 7 p.m., when the girls’ division finals match was scheduled.

After South Eugene defeated Seattle’s Nathan Hale High School in their quarterfinals match, a scheduling hiccup left the team with roughly 20 minutes to move from one field to the next and begin their semifinals match against El Cerrito High School, from El Cerrito, California.

Depner said, “That [Nathan Hale] game was very contested, then we had to hustle over there to get into a dog fight with El Cerrito. The heat takes a toll on that turf.”

The team’s match against El Cerrito was a dog fight indeed. Goals came slowly as the teams battled out turnovers, and neither offense could cement a goal lead. After over an hour of play, time cap sudden death was hit at a 7-7 goal stalemate. 

However, South Eugene’s Aria Bear was able to pull her team into the finals after a clutch catch and goal ended the stalemate, 8-7, in favor of South Eugene.

Minor controversy followed South Eugene as they headed to their seminal match. After South Eugene defeated Nathan Hale in the quarterfinals, Nathan Hale was disqualified from the tournament.

Neither South Eugene’s head coach nor Nathan Hale’s commented on the reason behind the disqualification, and instead referred the issue to tournament officials. Tournament Director Juan Acosta said he spoke with both coaches regarding the matter, but did not elaborate further.

Acosta said, “They [the coaches] know the reasoning, and they know what they need to work on.” He said an internal review of the disqualification was going to be held by tournament officials.

Despite falling short of the title, Depner said she was proud of the team’s tournament performance. “I think winning that El Cerrito game was really challenging. We were behind, and that was our proud moment.”

Depner also said South Eugene’s camaraderie and support for each other throughout the tournament and season have been rewarding to watch.

“This team loves each other,” Depner said.