Sports

USC men earn share of NCAA outdoor track and field title – Daily Breeze

Published

6 months ago

June 14, 2025

EUGENE, Ore. — The USC men’s track and field team completed a rare double championship on Friday, with an assist from South Florida.

South Florida ran a brilliant 4×400-meter relay to close the NCAA men’s outdoor track and field championships, leaving USC and Texas A&M tied for the team title.

The Trojans, who also won the indoor title earlier this year, hadn’t won an outdoor title in 49 years. USC and Texas A&M both finished with 41 points on Friday, one ahead of Arkansas, with the Trojans becoming just the third team ever to win the indoor and outdoor national championships in the same year.

The team result came after a late surge by the USF anchor to edge Texas A&M in the final race, winning in 3 minutes, 42 seconds. Arkansas was third with the Trojans a disappointing eighth to earn just one team point. The Aggies earned eight points in the relay – a win would have been worth 10 points – and the Razorbacks got six.

Arkansas protested after the race that a USF runner hindered a Razorback, but the protest was denied. If successful, Texas A&M would have won the title and Arkansas and USC would have tied for second.

USC, which scored all of its points in seven events on Friday, won its first outdoor track and field title since 1976 and now has 27 outdoor titles, more than double the next program. USC also became the first Big Ten program to win the outdoor team title since Minnesota in 1948.

The Trojans won the team title without winning any individual events, just like they did for the indoor title earlier this year. The indoor meet also required waiting for the results of an unsuccessful Arkansas protest in the 4×400 relay before USC could celebrate.

“It is just an awesome feeling for the program, the University, the USC community, all of our fans and these student-athletes. They worked their butts off,” USC director of track & field Quincy Watts said. “I am just so proud of them.”

The Trojans’ march to the title began with sophomore Racquil Broderick breaking his school discus record with a throw of 207 feet, 8 inches to place fourth, securing USC’s first five points of the two-day meet. Broderick, who placed second as a freshman, earned first-team All-America honors for the second time.

The 4×100 relay team of senior Travis Williams, junior Max Thomas, graduate transfer Taylor Banks and junior transfer Garrett Kaalund placed second with a time of 38.46 seconds. The second-fastest time in program history was worth another eight points in the team competition.

Thomas then used a strong finish to place second in the 100 with a time of 10.10 (+0.7), out-leaning the third-place finisher by 0.001 seconds. Thomas gave USC its best finish in the event since Andre DeGrasse won the NCAA title in 2015.

Junior William Jones took second in the 400 with a time of 45.53 for another eight points that gave USC a meet best 29 points after 14 of the 21 events. Jones’ effort was the best finish by a Trojan since Michael Norman won the title in 2018 in a record-setting 43.61.

Senior Johnny Brackins Jr. placed seventh in the 400 hurdles with a time of 50.15 for two more points. After 18 events, USC had 31 points and was two behind Texas A&M for the lead.

Kaalund then placed third in the 200 at 19.96 and Thomas took sixth at 20.23, adding nine points that moved the Trojans into first place with 40 points, five ahead of Auburn, six ahead of Arkansas and seven ahead of the Aggies with the 5,000 and the 4×400 relay remaining.

Kaalund’s finish was USC’s best showing in the 200 since DeGrasse won the title in 2015.

USC ran a 4×400 team of junior Jacob Andrews, Thomas, junior Jaelen Knox and Jones, and they did just enough to secure a share of the team title, finishing eighth with a time of 3:03.18 despite a couple of balky exchanges.

“It is a journey and throughout the journey you are going to have hurdles and adversity,” Watts said. “We had some adversity when one of our top runners (Kaalund) was having some issues with his hamstring (leaving him unavailable for the 4×400). I gathered everybody that was here with the men’s team and we surrounded Garrett while he was on the training table. We let him know we were going to win the team title for him. We wanted to look him in the eye and let him know we had his back. Garrett has been there for us all year. Just a tremendous team with tremendous character as human beings.”

In other notable performances for USC, graduate transfer Jaren Holmes placed 11th in the triple jump with a top mark of 51-8¼ (+0.6), good enough for second-team All-America honors in the event.

Junior Elias Gerald placed 12th in the high jump with a best clearance of 7-0½, also earning second-team All-America honors.

The women’s title will be decided Saturday at Hayward Field on the Oregon campus.

Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M, runner-up a year ago, beat indoor champion Matthew Erickson of Oregon to capture the 800 in 1:45.86, the second-fastest in school history.

Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, the NCAA champion in the indoor 60, added an outdoor title, winning the 100 in 10.07 from Lane 9.

Ja’Kobe Tharp, who won the 60 hurdles at the indoor championships for Auburn, added the 110 hurdles title to his resume with a personal-best time of 13.05. Tharp ran the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history, only 0.07 off of Grant Holloway’s record.

Auburn also won the 400 relay in a time of 38.33.

Samujel Ogazi of Alabama raced to a dominant win in the 400 with a time of 44.84, more than six-tenths faster than the runner-up. The sophomore, who made the Olympic final in Paris, became the first Nigerian athlete to win the 400 NCAA title in 26 years.

James Corrigan of BYU, a 2024 Olympian, won the 3,000 steeplechase in 8:16.41, grabbing the lead at the last water jump. His time is the fourth fastest in college history.

Nathan Green of Washington, the 2023 champion, won the 1,500 meters in 3:47.26 with the top 11 finishing within 0.68 of Green.

Brian Masau on Oklahoma State added the outdoor title in the 5,000 to the indoor title he won earlier this year, finishing in 13:20.59.

Ezekiel Nathaniel of Baylor lowered his Nigerian record to 47.49 in the 400 hurdles, the second-fastest time in the world this year.

Carli Makarawu of Kentucky took the 400 in 19.84 seconds, a Zimbabwe national record, edging countryman Makanakaishe Charamba of Auburn, who ran 19.92.

Oklahoma’s Ralford Mullings, who returned to the championship for the second time in his career, took the discus title by launching a meet-record and person-best 227 feet, 4 inches.

Brandon Green Jr. and Floyd Whitaker gave Oklahoma a 1-2 finish in the triple jump with Green soaring 55-2 to win by more than a foot. Green led from the first jump and had it wrapped up after five rounds and then had his best leap to end it.

Arvesta Troupe of Mississippi cleared 7-5¼ to win the high jump.

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Texas A&M volleyball advances to national championship with sweep of Pitt

Published

38 minutes ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KBTX) – Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison and his squad have fought through the postseason for the ability to practice together one more time, he said.

This edition of Aggies will get the maximum number of practices a team can hold.

Thursday, third-seeded A&M swept No. 1 seed Pitt (29-27, 25-21, 25-20) to punch its first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament national title game inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.

The Aggies will face Southeastern Conference-mate Kentucky Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for a shot to hoist a national championship trophy.

“This is crazy,” middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “This is an absolute crazy experience. We have had faith in ourselves all year, from the first game of the season. We knew that we were capable of this, but now living it, like, ‘Wow.’ This is insane. It’s really cool.”

Outside hitter Kyndal Stowers paced the Aggies with 16 kills, followed by Logan Lednicky’s 14. Pitt’s Olivia Babcock was the match’s leading attacker with 22 kills.

A&M dominated the service line through the match, which included six service aces.

The Aggies went hit-for-hit with Pitt through an opening set that saw 17 ties and eight lead changes. Pitt weathered four Aggie set points, and had two of their own, before A&M finally put Set 1 away with a kill from Stowers.

Pitt put together an 8-0 run through the middle of the second set to take a 15-11 lead, but the Aggies immediately countered with their own 9-2 run to pull the match back in their favor. A 4-0 run ultimately put the set on ice, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

A&M has built upon the experiences of the season and this set is was no different. In the Aggies’ Elite Eight win over Nebraska, the Cornhuskers put together an 8-1 run through the middle of the marathon fourth set that the Aggies ultimately dropped. Thursday, they cut off the skid before it cost them a set.

“We were like, ‘Hey, we’re not doing that again,’” Stowers said. “’They’re going on a run right now. We’re going to recognize that, props to them for what they’re doing, but we are going to go respond and we’re not going to let that keep happening.”

A&M closed out the third set on a 5-1 run to claim the match.

The Aggies hit .382 to Pitt’s .344 in the match.

“I’m proud of our team just because we talk a lot about staying present and enjoying moments and I thought, in all of those moments, we enjoyed every single second of it,” Morrison said. “Every single time we were pushed, we talked a lot about responses, and we had a response and that’s all you can ask for in these moments.”

The Aggies will be out for revenge Sunday, as Kentucky is the only squad that downed the Aggies in SEC play this season in a 3-1 Wildcat win in Reed Arena. It will be the first time in the history of the tournament two SEC teams will face each other in the championship game.

“Y’all keep hearing, ‘Why not us?’” Lednicky said. “Like, literally, ‘Why not us?’ I think we are considered the underdog in a lot of moments, just because we haven’t been here before. But we know we have all the right pieces so, ‘Why not us?’”

KBTX reporter Dylan Chryst Watkiss contributed to this report from Kansas City, Mo.

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Two Rams Named to the CSC Academic All-District Team

Published

54 minutes ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

The CSC Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes listed at the links above.

Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot.

For WSSU, Aria Caldwell and Zoe Chesson were named to the team.

Student-athletes selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists are denoted with an asterisk and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced Jan. 13, 2026.

The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA governance structure.

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Olivia Babcock Named Back-To-Back AVCA National Player of the Year

Published

1 hour ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

KANSAS CITY – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Olivia Babcock the 2025 AVCA National Player of the Year on Friday. Babcock becomes just the fifth player in the award’s history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons. Additionally, she was honored as the inaugural AVCA Rightside Hitter of the Year, an award introduced this season.

Babcock once again swept the sport’s top individual accolades in 2025, earning AVCA National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year and AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year honors. She is the only player in Pitt history to be named a three-time AVCA First Team All-American and was recently selected as the Pittsburgh Regional Most Outstanding Player after leading the Panthers to their fifth consecutive National Semifinal.

Earlier this season, Babcock set the program’s single-match kills record with 45 against North Carolina. She is the only player in NCAA volleyball this year to reach that mark and the first since Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson recorded 50 kills against UConn on Nov. 3, 2019.

Anchoring the Pitt offense, Babcock averaged personal-best marks of 5.17 kills per set and 2.09 digs per set. She earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors earlier this season and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week five times during the 2025 campaign.

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Men’s Volleyball Individual Match Tickets On Sale

Published

1 hour ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HONOLULU – Individual match tickets for the 2026 University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball season are currently on sale. Tickets may be purchased at www.etickethawaii.com or at the Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center box office (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.).

Season tickets are still on sale starting as low as $150. Click here to purchase season tickets.

In addition, several promotions are also available for individual match tickets.

Save & Serve Wednesdays: $5 Tickets available while supplies last
Military: 30% off all matches & 50% off on April 17^th match
Hawai’i Hero’s Night: 50% off for First Responders on January 8^th match
*All special offers are based on availability and only in select seating areas.

Link to purchase individual games online: https://hawaiiathletics.evenue.net/events/MVBI

Individual Ticket Prices:
Lower Level (only single seats available)
Lower Level Sideline – $25
Lower Level Baseline
Adult – $24
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $20
Youth (ages 4-High School) – $15

Upper Level Sideline
Adult – $20
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $15
Youth (ages 4-High School) – $10
Upper Level Baseline
Adult – $17
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $10
Youth (ages 4–High School) – $8

#HawaiiMVB

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Kalei Edson, Kamille Gibson Join Houston Volleyball

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HOUSTON – Junior setter Kalei Edson and junior outside hitter Kamille Gibson have signed to join Houston Volleyball for the 2026 season, Head Coach David Rehr announced Thursday.

“We are really excited to add two players that have played at a high level for two seasons,” Rehr said. “Kalei will compete as our setter while Kamille will make an impact on either pin. This is just the beginning for the 2026 volleyball team.”

KALEI EDSON | SETTER | JUNIOR | AUBURN
Edson arrives in Houston following two seasons with the Auburn Tigers. She played in all of the team’s 28 matches in 2025, contributing the second most assists on the team with 482, an average of 4.72 per set. Edson also added 177 digs, 19 aces and five double-doubles throughout the season. In 2024, she earned the SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Oct. 14 and excelled at the service line, leading her team with 30 aces at a rate of 0.32 aces per set.

Overall, Edson has 956 assists in 54 career matches, also recording 49 aces and 331 digs.

Edson collected numerous prep and club accolades, including USA Volleyball Junior National All-America and 2023 USAV GJNC All-Tournament Team honors. She was also a 3A All-State and All-South Region honoree and a PrepVolleyball First Team All-State selection. Ranked as the #9 overall prospect in Illinois, Edson was the #3 setter in the country. Across her prep career, she posted over 700 assists along with 800 kills, 100 aces and 100 blocks.

KAMILLE GIBSON | OUTSIDE HITTER | JUNIOR | OKLAHOMA
Gibson, a two-year contributor at Oklahoma after a season at Tennessee, brings a significant offensive mind to Houston while also being a prolific presence on defense. Across two seasons, she tallied 421 kills along with 97 blocks for 500.5 points. Primarily a right-side, Gibson averaged 2.29 kills per set while at Oklahoma.

Last season, Gibson posted 194 kills for a .387 kill percentage while adding 60 blocks. She played in 26 of the Sooner’s 27 matches and started in 16, missing just eight sets across the entire season.

A Crossroads, Texas, native, she prepped at Braswell High School while playing club for TAV. She finished her high school career with 1,161 kills, 500 digs and 137 blocks and was named to the District 5-6A first team in 2021 and to the second team in 2020.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Volleyball by providing NIL opportunities or by joining the Point Houston Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Volleyball for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarVB on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team’s Facebook page at UHCougarVB. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at @UHCougarVB.

– UHCougars.com –

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