College Station, Texas — Laura Pellicoro is headed to Eugene. The senior earned her spot at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a strong performance in the 800m quarterfinal on Saturday evening at the West Regional.

Pellicoro placed second in her heat and third overall with a time of 2:01.44. She earned an automatic qualifying spot by finishing among the top three in her heat. She will compete on the national stage at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on June 11–14.

Pellicoro will be joined in Eugene by Matt Strangio, who qualified yesterday in the men’s 5,000m after winning his semifinal in a facility record time. 

2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships West First Round

College Station, Texas (E.B. Cushing Stadium)

May 28-31, 2025

Wednesday, May 28

Men’s 1,500m First Round

8. Mark Milner, 3:46.65

44. Jonas Price, 3:58.32

 

Men’s 10,000m Semifinals

32. Jona Bodirsky, 29:23.75

46. Bradley Peloquin, 31:12.92

Thursday, May 29

Women’s 800m First Round

3. Laura Pellicoro, 2:03.55

 

Women’s 10,000m Semifinals

24. Juliette Forstrom, 35:09.34

Friday, May 30

Men’s 1,500m Quarterfinal

20. Mark Milner, 3:50.34

Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase Quarterfinals

33. Giuliano Scasso, 9:07.72

Men’s 5,000m Semifinals

1. Matt Strangio, 13:25.98 (Facility Record)

Saturday, May 31

Women’s 800 Quarterfinal, 5:05 PM (PT)

3. Laura Pellicoro, 2:01.44

COLLEGE STATION, Texas –South Dakota’s Sara Reifenrath grabs a ticket to Eugene to highlight the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds for Summit League athletes.

North Dakota

 Jadyn Keeler (5,000 meters), Kenna Curry (discus) and Frida Giersdorff (3,000-meter steeplechase) wrapped up North Dakota’s stay at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Saturday.

Keeler came less than three seconds shy from qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meters and finished 14th in 16:04.12. The final qualifying spot in her heat went to Zofia Dudek of Stanford with a time of 16:01.80. By competing in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA West Regional, Keeler became the first athlete in school history to compete in the event at the regional.

On Thursday night, Keeler punched her ticket to the national championship meet in the 10,000 meters and had the fifth-fastest time (34:07.67) at the meet. By qualifying for nationals, she became the first women’s distance runner in UND’s Division I history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Curry finished 29th in the discus with a toss of 170-9 (52.05m). She is just the fifth Hawk on the women’s team to compete in the event at the NCAA West Regional and her throw was good for the second-furthest throw at the meet in school history, trailing only Destine Rose-Haas’ throw of 176-0 (53.65m) in 2021. By throwing the discus on Saturday, Curry became the first athlete in school history to throw the discus, hammer and shot put all at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the same year.

The thrower from Elk Point, S.D., qualified for the NCAA Championships on Thursday in the hammer throw with a toss of 208-2 (63.44m) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. By qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Curry became the second UND thrower to qualify for the meet in UND’s Division I history, joining Molli Detloff, who competed at the national meet in the hammer throw in both 2017 (sixth) and 2019 (12th). On Thursday evening, Curry returned to the E.B. Cushing Stadium to take part in the shot put, where she finished 24th with a throw of 51-3 (15.62m).

Curry came into the meet on Saturday as the No. 40 seed in the discus and qualified for the regional with her toss of 172-2 (52.48m) at the USD Tune-Up. Her throw at that meet won the event crown and improved her No. 5 mark on the UND top-10 list.

Giersdorff took 39th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:41.44. She became the first UND distance runner on the women’s side to compete in the steeplechase at the NCAA West Regional in back-to-back years, also taking 45th in 11:15.85 at the meet last season. Giersdorff remains just the second Hawk on the women’s side to compete in the steeplechase at the meet in program history and her time of 10:41.44 beat the previous best time in the event at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which was 10:51.59 by Keeler last year.

The German steeplechaser entered the meet as the No. 39 seed after clocking a time of 10:18.85 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. With that time, she shattered the school record and took eighth in the open section with a PR. Her time destroyed the previous school record of Keeler, who set it at 10:28.86 at the 2024 Summit League Outdoor Championships.

Keeler and Curry will conclude North Dakota’s season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Thursday, June 12.

North Dakota State

Sophomore Arienne Birch and freshman Nyariek Kur concluded competition for the North Dakota State women’s track & field team at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds on Saturday afternoon.

 

Birch cleared 5-11.25 (1.81m) to tie for 12th in the high jump, but lost in a jump-off for the final qualifying spot to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene.

 

Kur placed 39th in the triple jump with a mark of 40-08.75 (12.41m). She ends the season ranked fourth in NDSU outdoor history.

South Dakota

On the final day of the NCAA West First Rounds in College Station, Texas, the Coyotes had their fourth qualifier for the NCAA Championships, and it came on a school record performance from Sara Reifenrath.

 

Reifenrath, a senior from Hartington, Nebraska, broke her own 400-meter school record Thursday night to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round race. She had to best her own record yet again Saturday to make the NCAA Championships in Eugene, and she did that by running 51.91 to place 11^th.

 

She became the first Coyote woman to run under 52 seconds with the performance Saturday. She also competed in the 200-meters, where her time of 23.36 placed her 17^th.

 

Also on the track Saturday, Averi Schmeichel ran a personal best 57.32 in the 400-meter hurdles that ranks her second in South Dakota history in the event. That time placed her 13^th in the quarterfinal, missing on making the NCAA Championships by .18 seconds.

 

In the field events, Lydia Knapp placed 36^th in the discus with a throw of 165-7 (50.47m). She took 13^th in the hammer throw on Thursday. Danii Anglin tied for 36^th in the high jump with a 5-7 ¼ (1.71m) clearance.

 

Four South Dakota track and field athletes will compete at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon June 11-14. Tre Young represents the Coyote men in the pole vault. Anna Willis and Gen Hirata represent the Coyote women’s pole vault squad and Reifenrath will compete in the 400-meters.

South Dakota State

Senior Madison Kizer competed in the high jump on Saturday afternoon to conclude competition for the South Dakota State women’s track & field team at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds. Kizer cleared 5-07.25 (1.71m) to take 31st in the event. Kizer also finished her collegiate career, but will live on in SDSU history as the senior tied the program record of 5-10.75 earlier this season.

 

CLOVIS, Calif. — A transgender athlete bested the competition Saturday at the California high school track and field championship to take home gold in the girls high jump and the triple jump at a meet that has stirred controversy and drawn national attention.

AB Hernandez competed under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body. California’s governing body changed the rules ahead of the meet to allow more girls to compete and medal in events in which Hernandez competed.

Hernandez finished the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 meters), with no failed attempts. Co-winners Jillene Wetteland and Lelani Laruelle also cleared that height after each logged a failed attempt. The three shared the first-place win, smiling as they stepped together onto the podium.

Hernandez wrapped up the night with a first place finish in the triple jump, sharing the top spot with Kira Gant Hatcher who trailed by just over a half-meter. Earlier in the afternoon, Hernandez placed second in the long jump.

Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet (6.7 meters). This year’s winner, Loren Webster, topped 21 feet (6.40 meters), with Hernandez trailing by a few inches.

The California Interscholastic Federation announced the new policy earlier this week in response to Hernandez’s success heading into the championships. Under the policy, the federation allowed an additional student to compete and medal in the events where Hernandez qualified.

The two-day championship kicked off Friday in sweltering heat at a high school near Fresno. Temperatures reached the triple digits during Saturday’s finals.

The atmosphere was relatively quiet despite critics — including parents, conservative activists and President Donald Trump — calling for Hernandez to be barred from competing. Some critics wore pink bracelets and T-shirts that read, “Save Girls’ Sports.”

During Friday’s qualifying events, an aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour with a banner: “No Boys in Girls’ Sports!” Two groups that oppose transgender athletes participating in women’s sports — the Independent Council on Women’s Sports and Women Are Real — took credit for flying the banner.

California at center of national debate

The federation’s rule change reflected efforts to find a middle ground in the debate over trans girls’ participation in youth sports.

“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law,” the group said in a statement after announcing its rule change.

A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women’s sports at the high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats.

The federation announced the change after Trump threatened to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls teams. The federation said it decided on the change before then.

The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the federation and the district that includes Hernandez’s high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law.

California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The federation said the rule opens the field to more “biological female” athletes. One expert said the change may itself be discriminatory because it creates an extra spot for “biological female” athletes but not for other trans athletes.

The federation did not specify how it defines “biological female” or how it would verify whether a competitor meets that definition.

Sophia Lorey, outreach director with California Family Council, was among those at the stadium Saturday. She said the federation’s policy is not a fix for the issue and only ends up causing more confusion.

“At the end of the day,” Lorey said, “it shows the girls that we know this is wrong and we’re still letting it happen to you.”

Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main this month that she cannot worry about critics.

“I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,” she said.

Other students break records

California’s championship stands out from that of other states because of the sheer number of competitors. The state had the second-largest number of students participating in outdoor track and field in the nation during the 2023-2024 school year, behind Texas, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The boys 100-meter heats also were a highlight, with junior Jaden Jefferson of De La Salle High School in Concord finishing in 10.01 seconds Friday, 0.19 seconds faster than a meet record set in 2023. But he fell just shy of making it count as a meet record with a final time of 10.27 seconds in Saturday’s final.

Athletes set new meet records in several events, including boys and girls relay races, hurdle competitions and the boys pole vault.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Former Indiana libero Paula Cerame was named among the initial 19-player preliminary Puerto Rican women’s national team roster, as announced by the organization on Saturday (May 31) evening.
 
Team Puerto Rico is set to compete in four major events this summer on the women’s side – including the 2025 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championships in Thailand in August. Cerame has spent most of her collegiate and professional tenure training with her native country.
 
Cerame, who racked up over 990 digs in two seasons with the Hoosiers, is coming off her second season in the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF). She played in the inaugural campaign with Orlando and spent this last year with Columbus – primarily as the team’s starting libero.
 
Head coach Steve Aird, a native Canadian, has brought a ton of international flare to Bloomington during his tenure as head coach. There will be two foreign players on this year’s roster – veteran outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles (Spain) and highly-regarded youth setter Teodora Krickovic (Serbia).
 
On top of the World Championships, Puerto Rico will also compete in the NORCECA Final Six and the Pan American Cup. Cerame’s former teammate, Mady Saris, will play with Team Canada’s roster in the Volleyball Nations League this summer. Krickovic and incoming outside hitter Charlotte Vinson (USA) will train with their respective youth national teams before joining the team this summer.

Peoria, IL — Bradley Athletics announces season ticket availability for Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.

Bradley Athletics season tickets are now available for Soccer, Volleyball Men’s basketball and Women’s basketball. Season tickets for Soccer and Volleyball are all general admission and start at $50. Women’s basketball general admission tickets are $75. 

Women’s Basketball

Season tickets are now on sale starting at $75 for general admission. Click below for more information.

Volleyball
Bradley Volleyball will play 15 home games at Renaissance Coliseum August through November this upcoming fall. Season tickets are at $50 for general admission. Click below for more information.

Soccer
Bradley soccer will host nine home games at Shea Stadium from August through November this upcoming fall. Season tickets are $50 for general admission. Click below for more information.

Men’s Basketball
Season tickets are now on sale for new season ticket holders After purchasing season tickets, season ticket holders are allowed to select their preference on ticket delivery options. If you are interested in season tickets and would like more information, fill out a Ticket Interest Form and a Ticket Office Representative will reach out to you.