Columbia High School is proud to announce that both of its varsity ultimate frisbee teams — CHS Open and Sparkle Motion — have won their respective New Jersey State Championships in a historic dual victory that highlights each program’s excellence in athletics and team sportsmanship.
The CHS Open team captured the boys’/open division title with a commanding performance throughout the tournament, demonstrating tactical precision, grit, and teamwork to overcome rivals Montclair during pool play and again in the state finals at Drew University, May 29th. Sparkle Motion, the girls’ varsity team, mirrored that success, clinching the girls’ division championship after a series of strong matchups and resilient play all season, culminating in a dominant performance over Watchung.
This marks the 17th state title for the CHS Open team and the 7th for Sparkle Motion, further cementing Columbia High School’s reputation as a powerhouse in New Jersey high school ultimate frisbee. The success of each program is built on decades of tradition — Columbia High School is often recognized as the birthplace of ultimate frisbee, with a legacy that dates back to 1968. Today, it continues to be a leader in growing the sport, emphasizing inclusion, spirit of the game, and youth development. The Open program has produced this year’s Callahan Award winner Dexter Clyburn, Callahan Nominee Tristan Yarter, as well as world champion and professional all-star Marques Brownlee.
Founded in 2005 and named after the cult film Donnie Darko, Sparkle Motion is the girls’ and non-binary ultimate team at Columbia High School. The team has won seven New Jersey State Championships, including four consecutive titles from 2022 to 2025, and has produced multiple NJ Players of the Year, USA Junior National Team members like Vanessa Low (Rutgers), and Sydney Manion (University of Virginia) and Donovan Award nominee Skylar Yarter (Williams). Sparkle Motion alumni continue to excel at the collegiate level, including Sabrina Mannion (Michigan), Molly Sandler (Cal Poly SLO), Ryanne Barrett (Tufts), and Anna Roth (Haverford-Bryn Mawr), extending the program’s legacy of excellence and national recognition.
Ultimate Frisbee is distinguished by its core principle of Spirit of the Game, which emphasizes sportsmanship, integrity, and mutual respect. Players self-officiate, take responsibility for fair play, and compete with both intensity and honor — values that are deeply embedded in the culture of both CHS Open and Sparkle Motion. These principles foster not only athletic excellence, but also leadership, character, and lifelong community.
CHS Ultimate is a 501c3 registered non-profit serving the communities of Maplewood and South Orange. It was incorporated in 2019 with a mission to continue the legacy of the Columbia High School Alumni who founded the sport of Ultimate in 1968. It fulfills this mission by promoting the sport, teaching, training, and raising the necessary funding to compete in USA Ultimate-Sanctioned tournaments in and out of state while continually demonstrating Spirit of the Game.
For more information, please contact info@chsultimate.org, or visit chsultimate.org.
Back row, from left: Coach Jason Pon, Coach Sean Lorre, Nick Giannone, Zach Brenden, Nate Gold, Isabelle Archer, Bryan Yang, Thomas Cogan-Drew, James Maloof, Jack Booker-Dodd, Oliver Dean, Simon Collins-Segal, Coach Jason Cooney. Front row: Jules Mehlman, Benjamin Wood, Fintan Teague, Gio Gerber, Gage Townsend, Theo Rotberg, Carter Weinstein, Jordan Fink, Gavin Schiff, Lucas Mullen, Rex Freedman, Grayson Friedman. (Photo by Dana Weinstein)
Back row (from left): Coach Donovan Hugel, Abby Cortez-Zuco, R. LaVerdiere, Esther Van Doornik, Neve Mahoney, Hendra Klein, Sylvie Hannon, Nory van Rhyn, Caelum Ritzdorf, Sharon Chen, Max Mansfield, Jay Connell, Coach Sarah Schillaci. Middle row: Claire Guiney, Mina Johnstone, Tennessee Beck, Icelin Gonzales, Marlene Pankow, Anaya Center, Sara Dybner, Ariela Ellman, Helen Gallagher, Odile Hannon, Lillian Pankow, Mariella Amado-Olazabal. Front row: Captains Lauren Moloney, Soph Irfani, Sherry Chen. Not pictured: Elsa Semcheski, Phoebe Williams.
(Photo by Claire Cross)
