EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women’s track and field team’s Kayla Behkne (Sr. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) earned first team Academic All-America honors from College Sports Communicators for the 2025 season. CSC announced the women’s track and field Academic All-America Teams Tuesday.

Behnke is the first member of the Blugolds’ women’s track and field team to earn first team Academic All-America honors since 2013. A standout in throwing events, Behnke sports a 4.0 grade-point average. Athletically, she earned three first team All-America honors this season with top-eight finishes in discus, weight throw and hammer throw at indoor or outdoor nationals.

Behnke was also the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion in weight throw this indoor season, an event she holds the UWEC school record in. She helped the Blugolds finish fourth as a team at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this spring.

In the classroom, Behnke maintains a perfect GPA despite double majoring in computer science and mathematics and statistics and applied math.

 

SHENZEN, China – Portland Pilots Women’s Basketball continues to shine internationally, with two Pilot alums – New Zealand’s Emme Shearer and Australia’s Alex Fowler – excelling at the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup with their respective national teams.

The FIBA Women’s Asia Cup is an international basketball tournament where every two years national teams from both FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania compete for a chance to qualify for the FIBA World Cup. The winner earns an automatic qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup while the next five finishers (2^nd-6^th) advance to the global qualifying tournaments. New Zealand and Australia are two of eight teams in the Asia Cup, with New Zealand competing in Group A and Australia in Group B.

Shearer is the leading scoring through two games for New Zealand, averaging 15 points a game along with 5.5 rebounds and three assists. She scored a team-high 22 points in the opening game against Korea, adding four rebounds and three assists as well. New Zealand is currently 1-1 in Group A, sitting in third by tiebreaker.

Fowler, meanwhile, is third in scoring for Australia at 11 points a game while adding six rebounds and 4.3 assists per contest in just 21.7 minutes per game. Australia finished first in their group, with Fowler shining in each contest. She posted 11 points, five rebounds and five assists against the Philippines and tallied 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists against Lebanon for stellar all-around performances.

Shearer and Fowler are two of the most accomplished players in Pilots history, having played crucial roles in Portland’s recent success. Shearer was with the Pilots this past season, helping lead Portland to a 31-5 record, a program-best for wins. She averaged a team-high 16.7 points per game along 4.2 rebounds and just under two steals. Shearer – who twice earned All-WCC First Team honors as well as honorable mention in the 2022-23 season – finished her Pilot career as the all-time leader in both games played (158) and games started (135), fourth all-time in steals (289) and fifth all-time in points (1,688) and field goals made (615). She was a part of two WCC Tournament Championship-winning teams in 2023 and 2024.

Fowler goes down as not just one of the best players in Pilot history, but among WCC players as well. A four-time All-WCC First Team selection, a two-time WCC Tournament champion (2020, 2023) and a two-time WCC Tournament MVP, Fowler is Portland’s all-time leader at the Division I level in points (2,132), field goals (832), field goal percentage (.550) and rebounds (882). She is second all-time among all Pilot players in all those categories. Fowler ranks third all-time in scoring average (17.5), fourth in free throws made (415), sixth in rebounding average (7.2) and 10^th in blocks (89). She is the only Pilot ever to make four All-WCC First Teams.

The Pilots put together an incredible season, finishing 31-5 overall and 17-3 in WCC play. They earned a share of the WCC regular season title and also broke a program record for wins in a season. They earned their first ever two playoff wins on the road after qualifying for the WBIT, making the quarterfinals. They also advanced to their third straight WCC Tournament championship and their fourth in six years.

Group play is finished for Australia, who advance to the semifinals with six points total in Group A. New Zealand has a chance to make the semifinals of the tournament, facing off against the Chinese national team tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. PST.

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World Championships: U.S. Routs Argentina for Women’s Water Polo Group Title

The U.S. routed Argentina, 26-3, on the third day of women’s water polo play at the 2025 World Championships to earn the Group A title on Tuesday. That allows the U.S. to skip the crossover round and head straight to the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Australia romped past Oceania rival New Zealand, 15-6, to win Group A. Spain polished off the Group D title with a 16-7 win over Great Britain, while Hungary’s 22-6 victory over Croatia earns it the Group C title.

Ava Stryker led the U.S. with six goals. Jovana Sekulic scored four times. Emma Lineback supplied two goals and three assists. Isabel Williams made seven saves in her first game of the tournament.

It was the first in a day of blowouts, the closest game a six-goal affair between Netherlands and China. The Chinese fought valiantly, falling 13-7 despite nine saves from Yineng Shen and three goals from Siya Yan. Sabrina van der Sloot led the Netherlands with four goals. Simone van de Kraats contributed a goal and four assists. Lieke Rogge (goal, three assists) and Kitty-Lynn Joustra (two goals, two assists) were also central for the Dutch.

Spain built a six-goal halftime lead to top Great Britain, 16-7. Bea Ortiz led the way with two goals and four assists. Elena Ruiz tallied a hat trick.

Alice Williams continued a stellar tournament with three goals and three assists to fuel Australia’s 15-6 win over New Zealand. Danijela Jackovich and Sienna Hearn each tossed home hat tricks. Bronte Halligan paired two goals with four assists, and Charlize Andrews notched two and three.

Hungary rendered Croatia winless in the group stage with a 22-6 decision powered by nine first-quarter goals. Krisztina Garda was 4-for-4 shooting. Rita Keszthelyi tallied four goals and four assists. Luca Torma was unbeatable in goal with 17 saves.

Greece overpowered Japan, 25-15, thanks to seven goals from Maria Myriokefalitaki. Stefania Santa had three goals and four assists, Vasiliki Plevritou three and three. Foteini Tricha scored four goals, and Ioanna Stamatopoulou stopped 13 shots.

All 12 Italians in the lineup scored in a 32-5 win over Singapore. Agnes Cocchiere led the way with six markers. Chiara Ranalli tossed in five goals and four assists. Sofia Giustini paired three goals with five assists, and Dafne Bettini dished five assists.

France needed three goals and two assists from Ema Vernoux to outlast a game South Africa side, 13-6. Erica Hardy and Valentine Heurtaux also scored hat trick.

The second- and third-placed teams in each group will play in Thursday’s crossover round. Italy takes on China. The Netherlands will play New Zealand. France and Greece square off, as do Japan and Great Britain. Winners reach the quarterfinals. Losers head to the 9-12 placement bracket.

An ownership group led by Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux has expressed that it is “very interested” in buying his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, as reported by The Athletic on Monday.

Lemieux and his ownership group, comprised of former co-owner Ron Burkle and former executive David Morehouse, have reportedly informed NHL commissioner Gary Bettman of their intention to pursue a purchase of the team from Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the organization that acquired the team from their group in 2021.

FSG has announced the pursuit of additional minority investors in the wake of selling just 91.4 percent of available tickets in 2024-25, the lowest amount in two decades, but hasn’t expressed publicly a desire to sell the club.

The Penguins were valued at $1.47 billion in 2024, per Sportico.

Lemieux, 59, was a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Penguins, earning three Hart Trophies among nine All-Star appearances.

His 1,723 career points and 690 career goals remain the most in franchise history, with current Penguins star Sidney Crosby second in both categories.

Since acquiring the team, FSG has presided over just one playoff appearance, including straight postseason misses. The Penguins’ recent record is in stark contrast to the team winning three league championships from 2009-17.

–Field Level Media

Rogers, who boasted a 3.93 grade-point average in interior design prior to graduation last spring, was named among 45 top college student-athletes on the 2024-25 Academic All-America Team for women’s track & field and cross country, as presented by College Sports Communicators. While competing only during the indoor season last year, Rogers was named among 15 stars on the third team.

Rogers and Emily Paupore of Central Michigan were the only members of the Mid-American Conference to be voted among the cast of Academic All-Americans.

Rogers’ legacy at Ball State was highlighted by four different All-America honors as a pentathlete and heptathlete for the Cardinals. She owns MAC and Ball State records for both the pentathlon (indoors) and heptathlon (outdoors). She earned two All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, and two at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

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AUSTIN, Texas – Central Washington University sophomore track and field athlete and three-time national champion Emy Ntekpere has been named Second Team Academic All-American selected by the College Sports Communicators, recognizing her exceptional achievements both on the track and in the classroom.
 

“A mentor of mine used to say that these two awards (All-American, Academic All-American) are what we should all pursue,” CWU Head Track & Field Coach Jonathan Hill said. “These are the highest recognitions of our job as a coach. Great students, great athletes, great people. These awards represent excellence. To be the top of her field in athletics and academics is a tremendous accomplishment. Special people do special things and Emy is as special as they come. She works hard to achieve her goals and it’s wonderful to see her recognized for her efforts.”
 
Ntekpere, a sophomore from Vancouver, Washington, owns a 3.55 GPA in Biochemistry. She’s had a season for the ages during 2024-25 earning three national championships: indoor triple jump, outdoor high jump, and outdoor triple jump, becoming the first woman in GNAC history to win multiple national championships in field events. She earned four First Team All-Americans and won six GNAC Championship events this year on top of beign named the GNAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships Athlete of the Year and the GNAC Female Athlete of the Year.
 
View the full CSC Academic All-American teams HERE