Head coach Terri Kaiser hails volleyball as the ultimate team sport, and under her watch, Lake Worth Christian has become the ultimate volleyball program when it comes to Palm Beach County.

The Palm Beach Post’s “Summer Celebration” series takes a look at the last 25 years in each sport, but one would have to go long beyond that to find the roots of Kaiser’s impact on Lake Worth Christian’s community.

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A bricklayer, in the truest sense.

Entering her 37th year at the school — split into two stretches — Kaiser remembers laying pipe in the ground to help expand what was at that point a one-building school.

A look back at this year: Lake Worth Christian focusing on ‘the little things’

“We didn’t build the gym until the 90s,” she said. “This is very important: Lake Worth Christian encouraged students first, and athletes followed.”

But when it came time for athletics, Kaiser quickly made her mark.

Surprisingly, she didn’t start out coaching volleyball.

Looking back at her career as a multi-sport athlete in high school and college, Kaiser admitted that softball was her best sport and is in fact what she started coaching in her first years at Lake Worth Christian.

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But then she was asked about coaching volleyball, and a moment’s hesitation transformed over the years into a dynasty-like run perhaps unlike any other in the county.

Part of that is because as the sport has evolved, Kaiser has evolved right along with it.

“Volleyball is one of those sports that has evolved, changed, more than any other sport,” she said, pointing to a number of rule adjustments. “The rules keep changing. Volleyball, in the past 25 years has gone from best two out of three games to three out of five now. If you’re not doing it 12 months out of the year and touching the volleyball and playing the club circuit, you can’t evolve to be that next-level player.”

In her time at Lake Worth Christian, Kaiser has become a coach that surrounds herself with the game throughout the year, and she says that’s made as big a difference as any in helping the program find success.

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“I think what’s evolved for Lake Worth Christian volleyball is the consistency, the willingness of me and other people that coach with me in the program to stay involved for the last 25 years in a 12-month program.”

Kaiser’s dedication to the program matches the importance it carries for her, in her heart.

Lake Worth Christian carries a unique sense of community for Kaiser, but it goes deeper than that.

It’s family, in the literal sense.

All four of her kids attended the school from kindergarten through senior year, and all four went to college at Palm Beach Atlantic. While Joy VanDyke remains coaching at Cardinal Newman after coaching for a time with her mother, two live in North Carolina and one lives in Texas, now.

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The roots are the same, though, a testament to Kaiser’s depiction of loyalty being the hidden truth behind why the Lake Worth Christian volleyball program has been so successful.

“I think loyalty speaks a lot,” Kaiser said, who then took a moment to reflect on all of the players of the last 25 years and beyond that had won The Post’s Player of the Year recognition.

“Everyone, if you look at the list, they pretty much all were at Lake Worth Christian for longer than two years,” she said. “They didn’t just come in when the program was good. They came into the program from the beginning. Their ‘claim to fame’ — is that a good phrase? — would be, they were loyal. They were consistent. They stayed. And that’s different than what you have in the world right now.”

The idea of family extends to those players she’s coached, too.

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Rather than focusing on the state championships under her watch — 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, with another four runner-up finishes — Kaiser instead spoke with excitement about a cross-country trip she has planned this week.

The veteran coach is traveling to Texas to watch former Lake Worth Christian standout Sarah Franklin play in the Volleyball Nations League as the star outside hitter and former Player of the Year continues her Olympian-sized dreams.

In the era of instant gratification, it’s players like Franklin and others that Kaiser said stayed in the Defenders program and took the time to develop and play as year-round players.

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And in that light, going forward, Kaiser says that while the question of best program in the last 25 years is an interesting one, she asks an intriguing follow-up.

“What school is going to give the biggest incentive to play there? It might be a unique year to do a ‘who had the most successful program in 25 years for each spot’ story. A good question would be, are they going to continue down that path?”

Certainly, it’s a question that will be answered in time. But for Kaiser, there is no time like the present, and her love for volleyball is as strong as ever.

Alex Peterman covers high school sports for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.

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Girls Volleyball Player of the Year winners (2000-25)

• Lake Worth Christian – 11

• Boca Raton Christian – 3

Palm Beach County girls volleyball state championship (2000-25)

• Lake Worth Christian – 5

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: How Lake Worth Christian volleyball built a dynasty built on loyalty

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Randolph Ross finally made his long-awaited return to track and field after a three-year absence from the sport due to a suspension. The Olympic gold medalist proved he is ready to compete alongside the best runners in the world.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to get back to full form.

Ross first burst onto the scene in track and field as a sophomore at North Carolina A&T. The 6-foot-1 sprinter finished second at the NCAA Division-I Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2021. He later won the 400 flat at the Outdoor Championships that same year with the 19th-fastest time in history.

The world immediately took note of Ross as a legitimate competitor on the highest level. He was not just a flash in the pan and, nine days later, he qualified for the 2020/21 Olympics with a third-place finish at the U.S. Trials. Team USA also added him to the gold-medal winning 4×400 relay team.

Randolph Ross stayed hot.

Less than one full year after Ross ran for the United States in Tokyo, the Aggies sprinter avenged his loss at the Indoor Championships in the 400 and reclaimed his crown at the Outdoor Championships. Both wins were by a pretty significant margin. It was a reassurance that he was here to stay.

His reign of terror did not last long.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Ross was suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on July 16, 2022. A retroactive three-year ban was put into place in December, dating back to July 1.

Randolph Ross committed multiple doping violations, including whereabouts failures and three missed tests. The most damning evidence was his attempt to fabricate an email to testing officials to explain his third of three absences.

His email claimed that he had to take an academic exam at the exact time of his drug test so he was unable to be there as required. If that was true, he might’ve been excused. However, the Athletics Integrity Unit later discovered the full truth.

At no point was Randolph Ross required to be in class at the time of his drug tests. It was a bold-faced lie and, as a result, he was changed with tampering. The charge led to a three-year ban from competition.

Time is up!

July 1, 2025 marked the end of Ross’ lengthy suspension. The 24-year-old was finally allowed to return.

His first opportunity to get back on the track took place at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Marseille, France. He ran on the bronze level against a pretty decent field of professionals.

Ross finished second to American Demarius Smith with a time of 45.41. The world-leading time in the 400 this year sits at 43.76 so there is still a long way to go but, all things considered, it was a pretty strong showing for a guy who had not run competitively since 2022!

I am interested to see how Randolph Ross fares at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships later this month— if he even runs. How does he stack up against the best sprinters in the country after a three-year hiatus? Based on his most recent result, it doesn’t look great. Stay tuned.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Temperatures soaring in Portland over the weekend gave an appropriate precursor for the Portland State volleyball team, as all tickets (single, group and season) to the Vikings’ 2025 season went on sale Monday.
 
Volleyball tickets have been some of the hottest buys at Viking Pavilion recently. The Portland State volleyball program has broken its single-match attendance record at Viking Pavilion in each of the past three seasons. A record 1,340 fans saw the Vikings take on then-No. 12 Oregon last September.
 
The Vikings will host the Ducks again this September, when they’ll look to break the attendance record for a fourth straight year. The date with the Ducks comes as part of back-to-back matches against in-state rivals Oregon and Oregon State. The Vikings host the Ducks Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m., then face the Beavers Saturday, Sept. 20, at 5 p.m.
 
Big Sky Conference play starts the following week, as the Vikings host Idaho State Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m.
 
All tickets can be purchased online through the Portland State University Box Office. Season tickets start at $79 while single-match tickets start at $10. Contact Malik Thirdgill, Director of Ticket Sales and Service, at mthird2@pdx.edu for more information.
 

Another deadline is fast approaching for Grand Slam Track, and this time it’s in the form of an unpaid facility rental fee at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.

The startup track and field league currently owes the City of Miramar $77,896 for its facility rental from its Miami Slam, which took place from May 2-4 at the complex, I have learned from a public records request, and the first of three payments from the rental agreement is due on July 18.

Originally, the binding terms of the event-host agreement signed on April 10, 2025, by the City of Miramar and Grand Slam Track indicated that one-half payment of the fee was due 30 days before the event on April 2, while the second-half was to be finalized 30 days after the event on June 2.

However, the bill is still unpaid after 72 days.

The City of Miramar rewrote a new payment plan that indicates Grand Slam Track now owes $30,000 on July 18, another $30,000 on August 18 and the third and final payment of $17,896 on September 18.

It marks a stark turn of events for Grand Slam Track, which you could argue had its most successful event in Miramar, hosting a nearly sold-out crowd over three days at the Ansin Sports Complex, filling the 5,000-seat stadium to the brim as an American record went down in the women’s 100 meter hurdles and various other world leads took place on one of the nation’s fastest tracks.

Current Concerns Plaguing Grand Slam Track

The news follows concerns indicating cash flow issues with the track league, which canceled its fourth and final meet in Los Angeles on June 28-29 at Drake Stadium, with sources telling Runner’s World the league had issues with its venue deal. Grand Slam Track also made adjustments to its race schedule in Philadelphia, eliminating the 5,000 meter race from the schedule entirely and removing one-half of the prize pool for the distance categories – a total of $525,000 between the men’s and women’s events.

“The decision to conclude the inaugural Grand Slam Track season is not taken lightly, but one rooted in a belief that we have successfully achieved the objectives we set out to in this pilot season,” Johnson said in a release, announcing his league’s departure. He did maintain, however, that the organization was looking forward for a return to the track in 2026.

When Grand Slam Track was announced in June 2024, it declared $30 million in “financial commitments” from strategic partners and touted its partnership with Winner’s Alliance, which was the “lead investor in the first fundraising close for the new venture,” an idea that seemed certain to revolutionize the sport and provide long-term growth equity for athletes. But in a search of the SEC’s EDGAR database, no filing for Grand Slam Track is available. By season’s end, sources told Front Office Sports that the league was considering postponing “because of a new strategic partnership.”

There are also alleged problems with prize money, with a reported $13 million in race winnings and appearance fees not paid following meets in Jamaica, Miami and Philadelphia. According to a report by Front Office Sports, appearance fees have been paid to athletes who competed in Kingston, though prize money payouts are currently scheduled for the end of July and “by the end of September, which includes the honoring of Los Angeles appearance fees.” Over the course of three meets, over a hundred runners from across the globe featured in the series.

High-level staffers – Chief Live Event Officer John Porco, Chief Content Officer Rick Qualliotine and Vice President of Live Event Marketing Lou D’Angeli – have also been let go.

Olympic Athletes Are Speaking Up

2024 Paris Olympian and three-time gold medalist Gabby Thomas, who is one of the league’s centerpiece stars and earned $100,000 for her win in the women’s long sprints category in Jamaica, along with $50,000 and $30,000 payouts for finishing second and third in the shorts sprints categories in Miami and Philadelphia, replied to a Grand Slam Track social media post on Tik Tok in early July, writing “So dope!! Pls pay me”.

In June, Norwegian outlet NRK also asked several of the league’s athletes if they had been paid following their outings at the Diamond League’s Bislett Games in Oslo. Alison dos Santos and Emmanuel Wanyonyi both confirmed they were still without their prize winnings from earlier meets. Forbes also independently verified at least one other account of a GST athlete not being paid.

Grand Slam Track booked the Ansin Sports Complex, which included a 5,000-seat stadium with an FTX Mondo surface, for 14 days (April 22-28 and April 29-May 5), including a “non-exclusive facility rental fee of $2,400 for seven days” and an “exclusive facility rental fee of $8,000” for another seven days.

Included within the signed agreement was also a promise by Grand Slam Track to pay ticket surcharge fees owed to the City of Miramar based on escalating ticket prices.

Grand Slam Track owed the city $1.50 for tickets sold between $1 to $19.99; $2.50 for tickets sold from $20 to $29.99; $3.50 for tickets between $30 to $39.99; and $4.50 for tickets secured at $40 and over.

The City of Miramar is owed another $14,928.50, according to public records.