Wesleyan’s Vicious Circles Ultimate Frisbee, better known on campus as Vish, held the first spot in the women’s division for all Division III (D-III) teams in the country for nearly the entire 2024-25 spring season. They were shaping up to compete for a national title this May, something no frisbee team at the University had ever earned. But if there was ever a team to deliver the Red and Black their first, Vish certainly had the talent to do it.
On the weekend of Feb. 22–23, Vish went 7–0 at the Bring the Huckus 2025 Tournament, opening the semester strong. But on the team’s annual Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to compete in the High Tide Ultimate Tournament, veteran Leza Rooks ’26 suffered an ACL injury that sidelined her for the rest of the season.
Rooks was devastated to miss the bulk of the Spring season, but helped out as much as she could from the sidelines.
“I had torn my ACL before as a captain of my team in high school, so I had known how to be supportive from the sideline,” Rooks said. “My role on the team was seeing how I could support people from the sideline. People would come to me for advice, and it was really nice to have [coach] Keith [Raynor] there as a third-party person who could give me concrete roles and ways I could support people off the field.”
The nationals qualifier tournaments rolled around in mid-April, and the team was ready to pounce on their opponents early. On Saturday, April 12, Vish dominated Vassar College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on their way to a Conferences tournament victory. At the Cromwell, Conn. tournament grounds, Vish showed out for a home crowd and continued their momentum into the Metro East D-III College Women’s Regionals two weeks later.
On Sunday, April 27, Vish continued their dominance against the region’s best D-III ultimate teams and punched their ticket to the USA Ultimate D-III College Championships. They won the tournament for the third straight year and headed to nationals looking to improve on their ninth-place finish a year prior.
After finals wrapped up on campus, the team traveled to Burlington, Wash. for nationals. With a stacked bill of teams awaiting them in pool play, Vish entered day one of the tournament in the right headspace.
“The night before the first day of nationals, our coach sat us down,” Rooks said. “He [wanted] everyone to talk about what their fears were. And people talked about playing time or going for a goal and failing. A lot of people were just afraid of losing and also losing our sense of fun, and those two are really hard to balance together. We were all just really honest with each other. There was a lot of tension about how we should go about it. Props to Keith and my teammates for really opening up that space to just talk about that.”
On Saturday, May 17, Vish played their three pool play matches against Mount Holyoke College, the University of Richmond, and Davenport University. They swiftly defeated Mount Holyoke 10–6, and followed that up with a 15–5 win over Richmond. Davenport, however, gave Vish a much harder challenge.
“Davenport was interesting,” captain Maggie Brown ’26 said. “They had a lot of players who have acquired really good disc skills or are really athletic. Our strength as a team is athleticism, so it was a challenge. We were trading points, and it was an adjustment and a necessary humbling moment. There was also some chippiness on and off the field, and a lot of our players were not accustomed to that, especially not in a frisbee setting.”
After a back-and-forth first half, Davenport broke a 7–7 tie and surged ahead, leading 9–7 and 10–8 at different points down the wire. With its back against the wall, Vish rattled off three straight scores to take the lead and win the match 11–10.
Maggie Brown applauded her teammates’ resiliency and perseverance as they clawed their way back into the match and earned the victory.
“We had a saying throughout the tournament: ‘Be here with us,’” Maggie Brown said. “That was a way to remind ourselves that we are here to play with each other and to win as a team, and the best way to do that is to focus on our game and not let external uncontrollables affect that. That mentality carried us through that tough game.”
As pool play wrapped up, Vish found themselves with the no. 1 seed in the championship bracket and a first-round bye. On Sunday, May 18, they squared off against St. Olaf College in the quarterfinals, riding high off the momentum they gained from a 3–0 win on day one. They attacked St. Olaf from the jump, gaining a 7–1 lead early in the match. They went on to extend that lead by two, clinching their semifinals spot by a score of 15–7.
Vish had to turn around quickly, though, as their semifinal match took place later that day against Lewis & Clark College. Lewis & Clark were coming off back-to-back upset victories, so it would be a test to see if they could pull off a third straight win against Wesleyan.
Vish’s game plan was on full display in the semifinals, and it was clear early who had the upper hand. Wes quickly jumped out to a 9–0 lead before giving up their first point, and a Scout Noble ’27 pass to Sara Larson ’27 in the end zone sent Vicious Circles to their first D-III College Championship since 2017.
“That was a really fun game,” Maggie Brown said. “We had a lot of people touching the field in our quarters game, so we had depth for the semis and weren’t exhausting our starters. We just played a really calm zone offense. Our ability to maintain composure and value the disc, even in high-intensity situations, I think is what enabled us to carry through that game.”
Vish knew they were going to have a fight ahead of them as Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College, which they had played before, stood in their way of capturing their first national title. The night before, coach Raynor and the captains helped calm the emotions of the team so they could play their best the next day.
“I know a lot of us were anxious and had never been on this stage in that way,” Milo Brown ’28 said. “Keith did a great job in helping us grasp what the moment meant and how to recenter ourselves. We watched film together the night before and pointed out who to watch and how we could play against them. That instilled the belief in us that we know how they are going to play, we know how to defend them, and we can beat them on offense when the time comes.”
As the sun rose on Monday, May 19, Vish entered the championship match with a chance to make school history, and they started strong in their quest to achieve the title. They jumped out to an early lead, maintaining control of the score all throughout the first half. Noble’s six assists on the game and Susannah Cornell’s ’25 five defensive plays made helped Wesleyan keep Haverford/Bryn Mawr on their toes the whole game. Even when the two teams went back and forth in scoring, the Cardinals kept their high ground.
As Vish pushed closer and closer to the 15-goal mark, they continued to extend their lead with two scores to go. With the championship in sight, Sofia Canoutas-Nadel ’27 dished the disc to captain Natalie Sweet ’25 in the end zone, and Vicious Circles became national champions.
“Yeah, that was really fucking awesome, I don’t know how else to describe it,” Milo Brown said. “In that one moment, as small as it was, it felt like every single step we’d made since the beginning, since the first fall practice, since Toss on Foss, it had all come to a close.”
Vish dominated in all areas at Nationals, and they were well represented for awards. Statistically, Canoutas-Nadel and Sweet tied for eighth in the field in goals scored with 11 each, and Noble finished second in assists with 24. Coach Raynor was named Coach of the Year, and both Noble and Milo Brown were named First Team All-American. Noble finished as first runner-up for Offensive Player of the Year, and Milo Brown racked up two more accolades as well, earning Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. They talked about what it felt like to be recognized individually for their success on the field.
“It felt pretty amazing,” Milo Brown said. “It felt like all of the hard work I put into building chemistry with the team and putting my skills from previous experiences into the style of play that Vish played really paid off.”
Vish graduated 11 seniors in May, so heading into the 2025–26 year as reigning National Champs, they are eager to welcome new faces and defend their title.
When asked about the goal for this upcoming season, Maggie Brown was straight to the point:
“Do it again.”
Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.
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