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$2K up for grabs in Grand Rapids spring break teen esports event

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$2K up for grabs in Grand Rapids spring break teen esports event

The event series will take place on April 5, 6, 11 and 12 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at GRPS’ Ottawa Hills High School, 2055 Rosewood Ave SE. Jones will also teach students about game design, content creation, name-image-likeness (NIL), digital currency, podcasting and “just how they can truly capitalize on the esports industry.”Jones said the goal is to provide students with new opportunities through financial education and exposure to careers through online industries like cryptocurrency. “We intentionally selected a location that will offer some other activities for youth as well,” he said. “Including our recording studio at Ottawa Hills High School and some other board games… educational opportunities and reading clubs.” A program flyer lists esports activities open to 50 students at a time. Johnson said the district is not yet sure many students will be able to participate in the program, as there will be more activities offered than only esports.The event series is being funded with a ,000 grant received by Jones through the city of Grand Rapids. Larry Johnson, the district’s director of public safety, said the esports events are part of a larger student safety initiative held at Ottawa Hills High School during spring break, which runs from Friday, April 4 to Friday, April 11. “Students are just excited to learn,” Jones said. “I think that they’re going to be excited about the initiative itself, but also the education side.” Jones said he’s been advocating for esports for seven years now, after seeing the positive impact it can have on students. “It’s an opportunity for kids who have an interest in cyber activities, cyber sports, computer programming (or) computer software,” Johnson said. “I see young kids or scholars who may not be in your traditional athletic programs, but get involved in after-school programming in a different way that engages them.” Students can earn a prize of up to ,000 for competing in Fortnite, an online gaming platform, and can learn about game design from its developer Epic Games. It will be open to students 13 and older across the GRPS district, and will allow participants to try their hand at online gaming, game design, content creation and podcasting. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Grand Rapids” daily newsletter.The program is a collaboration with Jump Ahead L3C, a West Michigan nonprofit aimed at “empowering and educating the young adults in the Grand Rapids area.” Johnson said the goal is to get kids off the street during a week when they don’t otherwise have school activities, giving them a safe place to spend time. The district will offer up one of its existing six esports labs, where students can play online games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, NBA 2K, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros, Jones said. In addition to providing safe activities for students, Johnson said access to esports gives students an introduction to coding and computers, which can provide a pathway to a college education and even scholarships for esports and gaming. “It’s going to change a lot of things,” he said. “It’s going to help students get out of poverty. It’s going to help with the school-to-prison pipeline and finding creative outlets for outdated systems that really … do their best to keep individuals and our youth locked up.” RELATED: Teen offenders in Kent County have a new outlet – esportsDepending on the success of the esports portion of the program, Johnson said it could be expanded as part of the district’s summer learning program, a collaboration with the city of Grand Rapids and the Urban League of West Michigan. He said with additional sponsors, he’s hopeful to extend esports programming further across the state and even the country. Johnson described it as a “lifetime of learning through disguised learning opportunities.”GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A West Michigan nonprofit is partnering with Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) to host a week-long esports event for students over spring break, part of an initiative to offer safe recreation opportunities. The event will also make use of the high school’s basketball court. Similar to that program, Johnson said the GRPS pilot with Jones will “keep our youth safe (with) organized and supervised activities.” Jones’ nonprofit, Jump Ahead L3C, has previously partnered with Kent County’s 17th Circuit Court Family Division to create and operate a program to steer youth offenders away from the “school-to-prison pipeline” using video games.“If our kids have an interest in that, we surely want to make that another avenue they could possibly look into,” he said.

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NCAA Volleyball Regional Schedule Set

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December 8, 2025

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The fourth-seeded Indiana volleyball team (25-7, 14-6 B1G) will play in the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. The NCAA announced start times and dates for next week’s regional semifinals on Sunday (Dec. 7) afternoon. The Hoosiers will play top-seeded Texas at Gregory Gymnasium on Friday (Dec. 12) afternoon at Noon ET on ESPN.

 

Following the greatest regular season in program history, IU was awarded a top-16 national seed and the chance to host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers made quick work of their first two matchups, sweeping Toledo and fifth-seeded Colorado in Bloomington to advance to the Sweet 16.

 

IU is one of five Big Ten programs remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 16 schools left in the big dance, IU is one of two teams (Cal Poly) that didn’t make the big dance last year. The Hoosiers have already set a single-season program record for wins (25) and will attempt to advance to the regional final for the first time in program history.

 

The other matchup in the Austin Regional will pit second-seeded Stanford and third-seeded Wisconsin against each other. Their match will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of IU’s. The winners of both regional semifinals will meet on Sunday (Dec. 14) afternoon for a spot in the national semifinals in Kansas City.



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Louisville volleyball NCAA Tournament bracket, Texas A&M vs UofL game

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December 8, 2025

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Dec. 6, 2025Updated Dec. 7, 2025, 6:08 a.m. ET

After defeating Marquette 3-2 in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night, No. 2 Louisville will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, and take on No. 3 Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 at 7 p.m. Friday.

This will be the Cardinals’ seventh consecutive regional appearance but first with Dan Meske as head coach.

Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the match from home:

No. 2 seed Louisville versus No. 3 seed Texas A&M will be broadcast live on ESPN or ESPN2.

Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN2 via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

Those without cable can access ESPN2 via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Buy Louisville volleyball tickets here

After defeating Marquette, UofL will play Texas A&M in the Lincoln, Nebraska, Regional Friday at 7 pm. Here’s a look at the tournament schedule:

  • First and second rounds: Dec. 4-6
  • Regionals: Dec. 11-14
  • Semifinals: Dec. 18 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri
  • Championship: Dec. 21 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri



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The Omaha World-Herald’s Nebraska All-Class volleyball teams

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December 8, 2025

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Men’s T&F Opens Season at Diplomat Open

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5 hours ago

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December 7, 2025

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Lancaster, PA (December 6, 2025) – The DeSales University men’s track & field team opened the 2025-26 indoor T&F season competing at the Diplomat Open at Franklin & Marshall College on Friday.

The Bulldogs posted 10 MAC qualfying times/marks in the meet.

Among the qualifying times were junior Bryce Guthier taking second in the 400-meters with a time of 52.08. It is the fifth fastest time in indoor history.  Senior Davis Trump also qualified in the 5K with a time of 16:20.32.

In the field events, DSU posted eight qualfying marks. Junior Weston Simak qualified for the MAC Championships in both the long jump (6.52m) and triple jump (13.72m). His triple jump mark was the second best in team history.  First-year Luke Heimann also qualfied in the triple jump (11.86m).

Junior Jonathan Castronovo took home first place in the long jump with a mark of 6.58m, the second best long jump in team history.

First-year John Amoretti qualified in the shot put (12.33m), seniors Jonathan Eudja and Giovanni Wellington qualified in the weight throw with marks of 14.85m and 14.23m. First-year Ryan Rodriguez also quallified in the weight throw (11.89m).

The Bulldogs won’t return to action till the New Year at the Blue and Grey Invitational on Jan. 17th.

 



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Women’s Track & Field Turns in Multiple High Marks to Begin Season at Cornell

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5 hours ago

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December 7, 2025

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RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College women’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Lola Gitlin posted a time of 10:25.57 in the 3000-meter run to finish third overall.

Rachel Larson was a fourth place finisher with a time of 8.58 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. That time is currently No. 1 in Division III after the opening weekend of the season.

Aynisha McQuillar took fifth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.61 seconds. McQuillar also ran in the 60-meter dash and posted the 11th fastest time in DIII during the prelim with a performance of 7.78 seconds.

Lyla Powers was fifth in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:21.75.

Lily Seyfert claimed fifth in the shot put with a heave of 12.78 meters, which is currently ninth in the nation.

Bree Boyle and Erin Eastwood each cleared 3.54 meters in the pole vault, which is tied for 11th on the Division III performance list.

Alexis Brown turned in a leap of 11.02 meters in the triple jump for the 17th best mark in the country.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



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Men’s Track & Field Opens Indoor Season at Cornell Greg Page Relays

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December 7, 2025

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RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College men’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Anik Vossschulte claimed third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 23.32 seconds, while Jacob Antilety was seventh at 23.71 seconds.

Matt Lokshin posted a time of 8.65 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to place third in the event. Aidan Irwin took fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.70 meters.

Quinten Lewis posted a mark of 13.73 meters in the triple jump to place fourth and Sebastien-Oliver Lacrete was sixth at 12.68 meters, while Evan Cherry secured fifth in the long jump with a leap of 6.84 meters.

IC’s 4×400-meter relay team of Damian Simmonds, Griffin Lupes, Noah McKibben and George Nilson placed sixth in 3:34.49.

Luke Ellor finished sixth in the shot put with a mark of 14.40 meters.

Three Bombers finished within the top eight in the 500-meter dash as Brad Kellogg was sixth in 1:09.73, Peter Tysiak followed in seventh with 1:10.74 and Matthew DeJulio was next at 1:11.59.

Kaiden Chandler and Luke Ferrer posted times of 4:41.29 and 4:53.44 in the mile to finish in seventh and eighth.

Raf Campanile was seventh in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.25 meters.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



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