Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School ultimate’s founding class graduated in 2025, so Frida Greene wasn’t quite sure what to expect this spring. “We weren’t exactly recovering,” the junior said, “but it was definitely a new era.”
Back in April nobody, including Greene, expected to make a cross-country flight to compete in the national tournament. But the Falcons (26-4) fly to Oregon Thursday for the program’s first-ever appearance at the two-day High School National Invite.
The Falcons are one of 16 girls teams participating from around the country. Its 15 players and two coaches, along with three parents, will take a passenger van and SUV to Salem, the state’s capital city and host of the tournament. The two-day tournament runs Friday and Saturday at Pioneer Sports Park and is organized by Ultiworld and Competitive Ultimate Training (CUT). Other New England teams include the boys’ and girls’ teams from Four Rivers Charter School in Greenfield, Mass. and the Lexington High School boys’ team.
“It’s the powerhouse teams,” coach Erik Sebesta said. “We really had to earn our way in there, it was sort of touch and go. The girls earned it. They played tremendously all season.”
The CRLS ultimate program began in the spring of 2022 with a girls’ team. In 2024, a boys team and mixed gender squad entered the fold. The girls captured the Division 2 state title in just their second year, and last season ranked in the top 25 nationally. They’re in the top 20 this year.
Ultimate is not yet recognized as a varsity sport by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), the state’s governing body for high school sports. Instead, New England Ultimate and the Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance (BUDA) both organize competitions. Traditionally, western Massachusetts teams such as Four Rivers, Amherst-Pelham Regional High School and Northampton High School rule the state’s ultimate roost.
At the start of the year, the CRLS girls’ team hoped to finish top three in the state. They set their sights higher after beating all three western Massachusetts powerhouses during regular season play — twice — the Falcons (26-4) received notice of their “strength bid” to the national tournament. They placed second at the Division 1 states and third at the New England regional tournament.
“Our first few games we were a little shaky, but as the season progressed we got exponentially better and found our groove,” junior Dori Coplon-Newfield said. “A big thing about our team is our spirit and how we interact with each other, and we’re all super close.”
Coplon-Newfield was one of six players to earn state all-star status, a feat in a sport where seven players make up a side.
- Amélie Valenzuela-Melzer, senior, cutter
- Cece Lubetsky, junior, hybrid
- Helena Demissie, junior, handler
- Frida Greene, junior, handler
- Lauren Sebesta, junior, hybrid
- Dori Coplon-Newfield, junior, handler
CRLS opens pool play at 9 a.m. west coast time Friday against Lincoln of Washington state. The final seed in the tournament, the Falcons hope to capture a few victories along the way during a likely grueling six-game slate.
“If we can win a game or two, that would be a great tournament,” coach Erik Sebesta said. “And as I told the girls, the worst case is we get to go to nationals and we hold our seed.”
Jokes aside, the Falcons want to make a statement.
“We’re still going into it with tenacity,” Coplon-Newfield said. “We’re training really hard and our work will show this weekend.”
The team had to fund its participation in the national tournament, although CRLS did approve the trip. Sebesta said a number of people chipped in to support the team so no players had to pay their way. A substantial donation from Friends of Cambridge Athletics (FOCA) covered tournament fees and half of player lodging.
The tournament appearance also meant two more weeks of practice, which Greene counted as a positive, since extending the season in any way meant something to the close-knit group. Now, they get to show their skills and camaraderie on a bigger stage.
“It’s kind of crazy that we pulled it off,” Greene said. “We’re super excited to be playing some top teams.”
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