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Can the fastest NFL players beat the NCAA track stars? Here’s what the numbers say

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6 months ago

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Are football players faster than track and field athletes? It’s a question that’s been in the spotlight recently, with the likes of Tyreek Hill (NFL’s Miami Dolphins) challenging Usain Bolt (arguably the greatest Olympian sprinter ever) and more. However, before we get to the all-time greats, we should figure out if NFL players can even beat the best sprinters in the NCAA. 

I compiled data from the NFL and the top collegiate sprinters to finally get an answer to the oft-asked question. Here’s what the numbers say.

Fastest 2022 regular season NFL speeds

Every year, the NFL uses Next Gen Stats to track the fastest players each game. Below you’ll find the fastest players that carried the ball from the 2022 regular season.

RANK SPEED (MPH) PLAYER POSITION TEAM NFL WEEK
1 22.11 Parris Campbell WR Indianapolis Colts 18
2 22.09 Kenneth Walker RB Seattle Seahawks 7
3 21.87 Breece Hall RB New York Jets 7
4 21.72 DeSean Jackson WR Baltimore Ravens 12
5 21.72 Christian Watson WR Green Bay Packers 13
6 21.68 Jaylen Waddle WR Miami Dolphins 16
7 21.68 Dalvin Cook RB Minnesota Vikings 10
8 21.62 Travis Etienne RB Jacksonville Jaguars 17
9 21.6 Devin Duvernay WR Baltimore Ravens 2
10 21.58 Tariq Woolen DB Seattle Seahawks 4

In total, 36 NFL players ran faster than 21 mph during the 2022 regular season, but only Parris Campbell and Kenneth Walker surpassed the 22 mph threshold. Campbell’s 22.11 mph speed ranks as the fifth-fastest top speed by a ball-carrier during an NFL season since 2016.

👀: Here are the DI track and field teams with most NCAA championships

RANK SPEED (MPH) PLAYER Year TEAM
1 23.34 Tyreek Hill 2016 Kansas City Chiefs
2 23.09 Raheem Mostert 2020 San Francisco 49ers
3 22.3 Matt Breida 2019 San Francisco 49ers
4 22.13 Jonathan Taylor 2021 Indianapolis Colts
5 22.11 Parris Campbell 2022 Indianapolis Colts
6 22.09 Matt Brieda 2018 San Francisco 49ers
7 22.05 Leonard Fournette 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars

So, how do these speeds relate to the top track and field athletes? Let’s find out.

DESTINATIONS: The greatest venues in outdoor track and field, according to you

Fastest NCAA track athletes in 2023

While mph data for NCAA track and field races isn’t always readily available, there’s luckily data from NCAA sprinters who participated in the 2022 World Athletics Championships. We’ll be using that data for this article.

Top male sprinters

The 100 meters is the premier male sprinting event, with track athletes running the shortest distance during an outdoor meet. To compare the 100 meters to football, it equates to just over 109 yards, roughly the front of one end zone to the back of another end zone. 

It’s rare that a football player will ever run 100 meters in a straight line continuously in a game like a sprinter would in a race, but a football player still needs to hit his peak speeds to escape from opposing players in the same way a sprinter needs to hit his peak speeds to win a race.

That said, here are the fastest 100 meter sprinters that returned to collegiate track and field in 2023.

SPEED (MPH) PLAYER School Time (Round)
26.2 Favour Ashe Auburn 10.00 (Heats)
25.6 Ismael Kone Florida State 10.17 (Heats)
24.3 Shaun Gill Texas A&M-Kingsville (DII) 10.76 (Prelims)

All three of the collegiate 100 meter sprinters ran faster than all NFL players since 2016. Yet, none of the collegiate sprinters above made the 100 meter final at World Championships, meaning there were even faster sprinters in track and field in 2022.

NCAA T&F: Here’s how the outdoor track and field championships work

What about the equipment?

A common cry in debates between football and track speed is that football players where equipment that can slow them down. Per Sports Illustrated, football equipment like shoulder pads, helmets and more can weigh more than 10 pounds. While there’s no hard data on how much football equipment slows down a player, one can assume that it likely knocks off tenths of a second from top speeds.

40-yard dash

That said, we have seen football players run their top speeds in non-game like settings via the NFL Combine’s 40-yard dash. Take a look a some of the speeds from 2022’s NFL Combine.

Speed (MPH) 40 Time Athlete School Position  
25.1 4.23 Kalon Barnes Baylor CB  
24.8 4.26 Tariq Woolen UTSA CB  
24.6 4.31 Velus Jones Tennessee WR  
24.5 4.34 Bo Melton Rutgers WR  
24.1 4.33 Danny Gray SMU WR  

Speeds taken from Reel Analytics.

Kalon Barnes ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL history, only one-hundreth of a second behind the NFL record of 4.22 seconds. Tariq Woolen ran the fifth-fastest time in NFL history.

However, none of the top-speeds from the 2022 NFL Combine ran without football equipment surpass the top two recorded speeds from the NCAA athletes listed above at World Championships. 

While the 40-yard dash is a decent indicator of speed, it’s not the end all be all as shown by analytics experts. There’s no correlation between 40-yard dash speed and in-game speed, with players with slow 40 times running just as fast — with equipment on — as players with fast 40 times.

Moreover, the NFL record of 4.22 seconds in the 40-yard dash pales in comparison to what track athletes have ran in the 40-yard dash. Take former NCAA Champion Christian Coleman for example. He ran a 4.12 second 40-yard dash back in 2017, blowing the NFL Combine record out of the water. Coleman even beat NFL legend Bo Jackson’s rumored 4.13 second 40-yard dash time.

In 2024, Iowa sprinter Kalen Walker took running the 40-yard dash as a track athlete to the next level, running the dash at halftime of the Hawkeye’s game against Northwestern. Walker didn’t match Coleman’s time, but still finished 4.15 seconds, with the wind of an outdoor environment.

Coleman and Walker’s 40-yard dash performances shows that even in similar conditions, without equipment, track speed is faster.

The DK Metcalf race

While Christian Coleman tested out NFL conditions with his run in the 40-yard dash, NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf did the opposite, running a 100 meter race on the track.

Metcalf ran the 100 meters at the Golden Games in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials. In his first 100 meter race with only a few months of training, Metcalf ran a 10.37-second time to finish 15th out of 17 competitors in the preliminary round.

Metcalf’s speed paled in comparison to track and field sprinters in a race that didn’t include some of the America’s best 100 meter runners. Yet, when it comes to the NFL, Metcalf is one of the fastest in the league with a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash and a top speed of 22.64 mph 2020.

Metcalf’s top speed in the NFL is one of the fastest since the NFL has tracked the data. However, when Metcalf transferred his football speed to the track — without equipment — his speed didn’t keep up.

Tyreek Hill vs. Noah Lyles

For the longest time, NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill — one of the fastest players we’ve seen in the NFL during the 2020s — and Olympic and World Champion Noah Lyles taunted each other over who would win in a race. The two were supposed to line it up on the track in the Summer of 2025 before the big plans fell through.

However, Hill still showed off what he could do on the track. Hill ran his first 100 meters since 2013 at the Last Chance Sprint Series. Hill finishing in 10.15 seconds at the age of 31 — much faster than Metcalf’s 10.37. 

To put that in perspective, Hill’s previous 100 meter PR was 10.19 from 2012 at 18 years old, and he hadn’t ran an outdoor track race since a +5.0 9.98 100 meters while in JUCO in 2013. 

When on a tour of Oklahoma State university in 2024, I personally asked Head Coach Dave Smith — Hill’s coach when he finished fifth in the 2014 NCAA indoor 200 meter finals — what he thought of Hill’s speed and his challenging professional track athletes. To summarize Smith’s sentiments, he explained that if Tyreek Hill chose to focus on track instead of football, he had the talent to compete at the highest level against the top sprinters of today.

Smith’s point is validated after Hill ran 10.1 in a season-opener. That’s no small feat and is on-par with some of the Olympic-level sprinters to start their seasons. 2024 Olympic 100m Bronze medalist Fred Kerley opened 2025 with a 10.23. The fifth-place 100m finisher Marcell Jacobs opened with a 10.30. The sixth-place 100m finisher and Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo opened with a 10.55.

No matter how you look at it, Hill’s 10.15 performance was impressive.

The dual-sport athletes

NFL x track speed

For all the comparisons between NFL and track speed, there’s one person who blurred the lines in 2022, Devon Allen. Allen, an NCAA champion and Olympian, was a finalist in the 110 hurdles at the 2022 World Championships and also is a member of the Philadelphia Eagles roster, even scoring a touchdown during the preseason.

Devon Allen hit a top speed of 20.93 mph on his 55-yard touchdown in the preseason. While Allen’s top speed ranks below some of the top speeds in the NFL this year and the top collegians in track and field at the World Championships, Allen is an Olympian hurdler, running the third-fastest 110 hurdles time ever (12.84 seconds) at Worlds. With out football pads and routes and without hurdles, Allen’s top speed is likely much higher.

💨: Wind and scoring in track and field, explained

NCAA football x track speed

Texas A&M’s Devon Achane is a soon-to-be NFL player with legit track speed. How do we know this about the 2023 NFL draft prospect? Because he actually ran track in college.

Achane qualified for the 2022 DI outdoor championships in sprint events. Achane finished in the semifinals during the outdoor championships with a 10.48-second 100 meter time. On the gridiron, Achane was clocked at 22.2 mph in 2021 on a kick return for a touchdown.

Achane’s speed on that kick return is faster than any NFL player’s top speed during the 2022 regular season. He’s one of the select few players than when someone says “he has track speed” legitimately does.

FOOTBALL TRANSITION: Arkansas’ Rojé Stona’s attempted transition to NFL

Elsewhere, Kentucky has a football-track standout of its own — and he’s only a freshman. Jordan Anthony plays wide receiver for the Wildcats and runs sprints. Prior to enrolling, he won the U.S. U-20 200 meter title with a personal-best 20.34-second finish.

Anthony kicked off his 2023 indoor season with less than a week of track practice between the transition of football and track season by breaking the Kentucky freshman record in the 60 meters in 6.57 seconds. That performance comes after Anthony redshirted on the gridiron, playing in just two games.

Anthony is another dual-sport athlete with true “track speed”.

Anthony continued to prove he has track speed with his 2025 NCAA DI 100 meter win while running for Arkansas (he also had a stop at Texas A&M before transferring to the Razorbacks). The victory came after Anthony won the 2025 NCAA DI 60 meters and after he ran the No. 2 all-conditions 100 meter race in NCAA history, finishing in 10.75 seconds (+2.1). Anthony’s success on the track led to him signing an NIL deal with adidas and turning pro in track in June of 2025, foregoing the rest of his football career.

Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony runs 9.75! Watch every men’s 100m quarterfinals from 2025 NCAA outdoor track and field championships

In July 2024, track speed again made the news thanks to South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor. Harbor drew recognition around the country for his 99 speed and 99 acceleration rating in EA College Football 25.

Harbor’s speed caught many by surprise, but not track and field fans. Harbor finished 16th in the 100 meters and 10th in the 200 meters in the 2024 Division I track and field championships.

MORE: Complete history of The Bowerman award

So who’s faster?

From the data, it’s clear than the top-end speed of NCAA track and field athletes is faster than the top-end speed of NFL players. While there are other external factors like distance run, equipment weight, directions run and more, the top-end speed data is plain to see.

Could things change if the fastest NFL players raced track and field’s best? Maybe, but until that happens the win goes to the trackletes.





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Allick Joins LOVB Madison – University of Nebraska

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9 hours ago

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December 20, 2025

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LOVB Madison announced on Friday that Nebraska senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick will be joining their squad for the 2026 League One Volleyball season. 

Allick will join former Husker Callie Schwarzenbach on LOVB Madison’s roster. 

Allick concluded her Husker career with AVCA All-America Second Team honors, the first All-America honor of her career after being named All-Region three times. She also earned All-Big Ten First Team accolades for the first time after twice earning second-team honors. 

Allick had the best season of her standout career with 2.56 kills per set on .450 hitting with a team-high 1.27 blocks per set. Her .450 hitting percentage ranked as the No. 4 single-season mark in school history, as well as the No. 4 mark in the country on the season. 

She finished her Husker career at No. 5 in career blocks in the rally-scoring era with 543, and her career blocks per set average of 1.31 ranked fourth. Allick was on the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List at the midway point of the season. She was also named to the AVCA All-First Serve Team, and she was the AVCA National Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after two standout performances to begin the season against Pitt and Stanford. 



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Women’s Volleyball Adds Two Transfers for 2026 Season

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10 hours ago

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December 20, 2025

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HONOLULU — University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball head coach Robyn Ah Mow announced the additions of two productive pin hitters who will join the Rainbow Wahine as transfers for the 2026 season.
 
Maëli Cormier, a 6-foot-2 opposite/outside hitter who spent her freshman year at Oregon State, and Panna Ratkai, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter who played at Dayton last season, have signed with the Rainbow Wahine and will enroll at UH for the spring semester. Cormier will have three seasons of eligibility remaining while Ratkai will spend her senior season at UH and both bring international experience with them to Mānoa.
 
“Both Maëli and Panna add a lot of maturity and competitiveness that will immediately upgrade our gym and culture the moment they step foot on campus,” Ah Mow said. “We are very excited to add them both to our ‘ohana and can’t wait to get to work when spring training begins.”
 
Cormier, originally from Les Îles de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada, earned a spot on the West Coast Conference’s All-Freshman Team after averaging 2.63 kills per set for Oregon State in the 2025 season. She played in 28 matches with 12 starts and finished second on the team with 266 total kills. She posted double-figure kills in 13 matches with a season-high 20 in a five-set win over Saint Mary’s. She hit better than .300 in 10 matches and went over .400 five times. She was also the starting opposite with Canada’s U-21 team at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championship in Toronto and led the team with 35 kills in the tournament. She also played with Canada’s U19 team in 2022 and was selected to the National Excellence Program in 2022 and ’23. She played club volleyball for Élans de Garneau and was a 2025 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association All-Canadian selection.
 
Ratkai, originally from Budapest, Hungary, was a two-time Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year at Purdue Fort Wayne before spending the 2025 season at Dayton. After redshirting in 2022, Ratkai put away 1,048 kills and averaged 4.62 per set over her two seasons at Purdue Fort Wayne. She finished the 2024 season ranked 15th in the nation with 4.57 kills per set and 19th with 5.17 points per set and was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection. She also had 586 digs and recorded 30 double-doubles in her two seasons with the Mastodons. Ratkai competed with the Hungarian National Team last summer and played in 41 sets and posted 82 kills and 71 digs at Dayton this past season.
 
Cormier and Ratkai join incoming freshmen Cameron Holcomb and Rachel Purser in UH’s signing class for the 2026 season.
 
2026 University of Hawai’i Women’s Volleyball Signees








Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (High School/Last School)
Maëli Cormier OH/OPP 6-2 So. Les Îles de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada (Cegep Garneau/Oregon State)
Cameron Holcomb L/DS 5-8 Fr. San Marcos, Calif. (San Marcos HS)
Panna Ratkai OH 5-10 Sr. Budapest, Hungary (Gödölloi Török Ignác Gimnázium/Dayton)
Rachel Purser MB 6-3 Fr. Henderson, Nev. (Coronado HS)

 

#HawaiiWVB



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Creighton volleyball adds second high-major transfer commitment in Ayden Ames

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10 hours ago

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December 20, 2025

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OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Creighton volleyball is on a heater in the NCAA transfer portal, which opened Dec. 7 and closes Jan. 5.

Texas middle blocker transfer Ayden Ames committed to the Bluejays Friday.

A former Nebraska commit before flipping to Texas in 2023, Ames averaged 1.52 kills and 1.11 blocks per set with a .368 hitting percentage as a sophomore this season. She has two years of eligibility remaining.

Ames is the second transfer commitment this offseason, joining former Kansas setter Katie Dalton, who pledged to Creighton for her final season on Dec. 17.

Dalton helped lead the Jayhawks to a NCAA regional semifinal appearance, where they lost to Nebraska. She averaged 8.76 assists and 2.27 digs per set and earned All-Big 12 Second-Team honors.

Bluejays’ coach Brian Rosen has two AVCA Second-Team All-Americans to replace in outside hitter Ava Martin and middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt. They also lose Third-Team All-American setter Annalea Maeder.

Yet, the program still made an NCAA regional final this season despite losing seven seniors and two All-Americans from the 2024 roster.

Copyright 2025 WOWT. All rights reserved.



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No. 1 seed Kentucky volleyball advances to National Championship after beating No. 3 seed Wisconsin in 5-set thriller – Kentucky Kernel

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11 hours ago

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December 20, 2025

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No. 1 seed Kentucky volleyball (30-2, 15-0 SEC) advances to the 2025 National Championship with a 3-2 win over No. 3 seed Wisconsin (28-5, 17-3 Big Ten) in the Final Four.

This will be Kentucky’s second National Championship appearance in program history, with the first coming in the 2020-21 season when Kentucky took home the title.

Kentucky Wildcats outside hitter Eva Hudson celebrates after scoring a point during the Final Four volleyball match against Wisconsin on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Photo by Will Luckett | Photo Manager

Wisconsin dominated the first set from start to finish, taking a 1-0 match lead with a 25-12 win in set one. Kentucky used a 6-0 run late in set two to pull ahead and even the match with a 25-22 set two victory. The Badgers attack simply overpowered Kentucky again in set three, allowing Wisconsin to win the set 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Kentucky fended off a late comeback attempt by Wisconsin in set four, taking the set 26-24 to even the match at 2-2 and force set five. Kentucky got out to a 8-2 lead early in set five before taking the set 15-13, winning the match.

AVCA All-American First Team member Mimi Colyer was the driving force behind a Badger attack that kept the pressure on all night. She led the match with 32 kills and had a .348% hitting percentage.

Behind Colyer, Wisconsin totaled 77 kills and hit .375% in the match.

The Wildcats powerful outside hitter duo of Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye were the engine of Kentucky’s attack. Hudson had a team leading 29  kills for a new season high and hit .455%. DeLeye added 15 kills of her own and led the team in blocks with five and digs with 14.

The Wildcats totaled 65 kills with a .254% hitting percentage.

Set One

Wisconsin began the match with a 3-0 run, with back-to-back kills from Colyer.

The Badgers extended this lead to 8-2 with a 3-0 run, this forced Kentucky to take its first timeout early in the first set.

Wisconsin had seven kills with a perfect 1.000% hitting percentage at this point, the Badgers were overwhelming the Cats defense early.

The Badgers perfect hitting continued through 10 attempts, pushing Wisconsin ahead 15-6. This forced Kentucky to take its second timeout of the set.

The Wildcats defense has been a strength this season, but Wisconsin’s attack tore it up in the first half of set one.

Wisconsin continued to extend its lead following UK’s timeout, pulling ahead 21-9 with a 5-1 run.

The Badgers dominated set one, taking a 1-0 lead with a 25-12 set win.

Wisconsin recorded 15 kills in the first set with a .682% hitting percentage, the Badgers made zero attack errors.

Kentucky recorded just nine kills with a .056% hitting percentage, thanks largely to seven attack errors.

Wisconsin’s Colyer and Carter Booth both recorded seven kills in set one.

The Wildcats seemed to lack any answers for Wisconsin’s attack in the set, and couldn’t get their own going.

Set Two

Kentucky pulled out to a 3-1 in the second set, thanks to a kill and block assist from DeLeye.

This lead was extended to 6-3 after a 3-1 run by Kentucky.

Wisconsin mounted 6-2 run to take a 10-9 lead.

Wisconsin took a 15-14 lead into the media timeout after the set was tied at 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14.

a 3-0 Wildcat run allowed Kentucky to pull ahead 21-20, forcing Wisconsin to take its second timeout of the set.

Kentucky continued its run through the timeout, with another 3-0 run to force set point at 24-20.

Wisconsin stayed alive with a 2-0 run that shortened Kentucky’s lead to two points. Kentucky called its first timeout of the set as a result.

Hudson recorded her sixth kill of the set after the timeout, allowing Kentucky to win set two 25-22 and even the match at 1-1.

The Badgers attack cooled off in the second set, while Kentucky’s began to find its rhythm.

Wisconsin had 14 kills in set two with a hitting percentage of .229%. The Badgers had six attack errors after having none in the first set. The Badgers also recorded six service errors.

Kentucky had 13 kills with a .258% hitting percentage.

Hudson not only led UK in kills in the set, she also recorded two blocks and four digs.

Booth had five kills in the set, bringing her total to 12 kills at a .786% hitting percentage through two sets.

Set Three

Colyer recorded four straight kills as Wisconsin got out to a 4-2 lead in set two.

Another 4-2 run by the Badgers gave them a 8-5 lead, with Colyer accounting for five of those points.

An injury forced Wisconsin to call its first timeout of the set with an early lead.

Wisconsin mounted a 4-1 run after its timeout to pull ahead 12-7, this forced Kentucky’s first timeout of the set.

The Wildcats mounted a 4-1 run that shortened the Badgers lead to 15-13.

A 3-0 run by Kentucky allowed the Wildcats to pull within one, Wisconsin called its second timeout of the set with a 21-20 lead.

Wisconsin forced set point at 24-21, leading to the Wildcats second timeout of the set.

The Badgers won the first rally out of the timeout to win set three 25-21, taking a 2-1 match lead.

Colyer had 12 kills in set three, leading the Badgers oppressive attack. Wisconsin had 21 kills total and hit .386% in the set.

The Wildcats had their best attacking set of the match with 16 kills and a .326% hitting percentage, but they were unable to keep up with Wisconsin.

DeLeye and Hudson each had five kills in the set.

Kassie O’Brien assisted on 15 of the Cats 16 kills in the set, nearly doubling her match total.

Set Four

Kentucky got out to a 3-1 lead in set four, Wisconsin responded with a 4-1 run that put the Badgers ahead 6-4.

The Wildcats mounted a 3-0 run, taking a 7-6 lead with a service ace from Molly Tuozzo.

Wisconsin responded with a 3-0 run of its own to pull ahead 9-7.

Kentucky went into the media timeout on a 5-1 run, allowing the Cats to hold a 15-13 lead. Hudson was responsible for 3 of these points, with two kills and a service ace.

A 3-1 Wildcat run allowed Kentucky to extend its lead to 19-16.

Wisconsin took a timeout after Kentucky pulled ahead 20-17.

The Badgers pulled within one point twice but called another timeout when UK pulled ahead 23-21.

The Wildcats forced set point at 24-21, but the Badgers pulled back to within one and forced a Kentucky timeout.

Wisconsin evened the set at 24-24, but Kentucky scored on two consecutive rallies to win the set 26-24. This evened the match at 2-2, forcing a shortened fifth set.

Set Five

A service ace by Trinity Ward gave UK a 2-1 lead in set five, a solo block by Lizzie Carr brought the lead to 3-1. Hudson’s kill turned this into a 4-0 run that forced a Wisconsin timeout.

The Wildcats continued through the timeout, an error by Wisconsin and kill from DeLeye put UK ahead 6-1.

O’Brien recorded a kill then assisted Hudson to put Kentucky ahead 8-2 at the side switch.

Wisconsin came out of the side switch with a 4-1 run to shrink UK’s lead to 9-6.

DeLeye’s third kill of the set put Kentucky ahead 11-7, forcing Wisconsin to call a timeout.

Wisconsin mounted a 2-0 run out of the timeout, coming within two points.

A kill by Hudson forced match point at 14-11, but Wisconsin responded with a 2-0 run to cut the Wildcats lead to 14-13. This forced a timeout from Kentucky.

Kentucky came out of the timeout and forced a block error to win the match with a 15-13 victory in set five.

The Wildcats will take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M in the 2025 National Championship at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. ET.

It will be the first time in NCAA history that two SEC teams will face off in the National Championship. The Wildcats are the only team to win the National Championship as a member of the SEC.

The Wildcats went on the road to defeat Texas A&M in four sets on Oct. 8, 2025, en route to Kentucky’s undefeated SEC run and ninth consecutive SEC regular season title.



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Jackson, Reilly Take Home AVCA Positional Awards – University of Nebraska

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14 hours ago

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December 20, 2025

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Nebraska volleyball’s Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly received top positional awards at the AVCA Awards Banquet at the Kansas City Convention Center on Friday. 

Jackson was named the Middle Blocker of the Year, while Reilly was named the Setter of the Year. The AVCA positional awards are new this season.

Pitt junior Olivia Babock was named the AVCA Player of the Year for the second straight season, as well as Opposite of the Year. Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer took home Outside Hitter of the Year, and Iowa State libero Rachel Van Gorp was Libero of the Year. 

Reilly set the Huskers to a school-record .351 hitting percentage, as the Big Red concluded their season with a 33-1 overall record and 20-0 mark in Big Ten play en route to a third straight conference title. Reilly averaged 10.47 assists per set and 2.70 digs per set. She also totaled 73 kills, 67 blocks and 19 aces. 

Reilly was named a first-team AVCA All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year, AVCA Region Player of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team. NU’s .351 hitting percentage ranks first nationally and is the best hitting percentage by a Big Ten team since 2009 Penn State.

A junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., Reilly set Nebraska to a .400 or better hitting percentage nine times this season, a school record in the rally-scoring era. Reilly had double-doubles in all six of the Husker matches that went longer than three sets, and she had four double-doubles in sweeps.

A three-time AVCA All-American and one of four finalists for AVCA Player of the Year, Reilly ranks No. 3 in school history in career assists in the rally-scoring era with 3,723. Her career assists per set average of 10.70 ranks No. 4 among active Division I players and No. 2 in school history in the rally-scoring era.

Jackson was chosen to the AVCA All-America First Team for the second straight year, as well as the All-Big Ten First Team. She was also an AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist and AVCA All-Region Team for the third straight year. 

The junior middle blocker from Brighton, Colo., averaged 2.74 kills per set on .467 hitting with 1.12 blocks per set and 16 aces. Her .467 hitting percentage led the nation and was the No. 3 hitting percentage in school history for a single season. 

In conference-only matches, Jackson hit .559 to break the Big Ten record for hitting percentage in conference-only matches in a season, which was .541 by Arielle Wilson from Penn State in 2008. Jackson ended her junior season with a career hitting percentage of .437, which is the No. 1 mark in school history and the No. 1 mark among active Division I players. 



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YSU Collegiate Invitational Presented by Southwoods Health Meet Information

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14 hours ago

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December 19, 2025

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2026 Youngstown State University Indoor Track & Field 14th Annual Collegiate Invitational Meet Presented by Southwoods Health will start at 1 pm | Friday, Jan. 16

Entry Registration Opens up on Direct Athletics :

Friday, December 19 at 5pm

Time Schedule of Events

Running Events start at 1pm

All Field Events start at 1pm

Running Events — Rolling Schedule Women first, Men to Follow

1pm Women 5000M 

Men’s 60M Hurdles Qualifying Round

Women’s 60M Hurdles  Qualifying Round

Women’s 60M Dash  Qualifying Round

Men’s 60M Dash  Qualifying Round

Men’s 5000M

Men’s 60M Hurdles PRELIMS

Women’s 60M Hurdles PRELIMS

Women’s 60M Dash PRELIMS

Men’s 60M Dash PRELIMS

Women’s Mile Run 

Men’s Mile Run

Women’s 400M

Men’s 400M

Women’s 60M Hurdles FINALS

Men’s 60M Hurdles FINALS

Women’s 60M Dash FINALS

Men’s 60M Dash FINALS

Women’s 500M Dash FINALS

Men’s 500M Dash FINALS

Women’s 800m

Men’s 800m

Women’s 200M Dash

Men’s 200M Dash

Women’s 3000M Run 

Men’s 3000M Run

Women’s 1600M Relay

Men’s 1600M Relay

Field Events Start at 12noon

Seeded Women’s Pole Vault

Seeded Men’s Pole Vault

Unseeded Women’s Pole Vault

Unseeded Men’s Pole Vault

Women’s High Jump–Men’s High Jump to follow

Women’s Weight Throw–Men’s Weight Throw to follow

Men’s Shot Put–Women’s Shot Put to follow

Men (West Pit) and Women (East Pit)

Long Jump–Triple Jump follow 20 minutes upon completion of Long Jump

**Finals in field events will consist of the top Nine marks from the qualifying rounds.**

Meet : Open NCAA sanctioned Indoor Track & Field Competition.

Timing: Fully automatic FinishLynx system

Location: The Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) on the YSU campus. The WATTS features a full-length Shaw Sportexe Power Blade HP+ synthetic turf system football field, a 300-meter state-of-the-art mondo track surface, two long-jump pits, a high-jump pit, four batting cages, protective netting, training room and locker rooms.

GPS address: 651 Elm St. | Youngstown, OH 44555

Entries: Entries are due by Tuesday, January 13 by 7pm on Direct Athletics, consisting of event entries with best marks from the previous year or realistic projected marks. All entries will be done on-line at www.directathletics.com.

Please visit the Direct Athletics website at your earliest convenience in order to familiarize yourself with how the entry process works.

Also, please limit FIVE athletes per event. If you have an event with more than five quality athletes, please text Brian Gorby at (330) 519-7591 and we’ll help to get more entry’s added, if needed.

We always try to help accommodate additional team /individual additional Entry’s.

**Note: Please check YSUsports.com after the entry deadline for changes or adjustments to the meet time schedule!

Internet Entry Lists: Final entry lists will be posted on our website, YSUsports.com on Thursday, January 15. Please check to make sure your athletes are entered correctly. If there are mistakes or scratches, please email bdgorby@ysu.edu & ysutrackmeets@gmail.com .

Entry Fees: $ 500 per each team, men &  women genders are separate, consisting of 10 or more individuals in unlimited events are paid online, when you complete Entry’s on Direct Athletics or $ 25 per individual event entry & paid online at Direct Athletics.

ENTRY FEES

$ 25 per ENTRY (i.e. 2 events entered would be $ 50 )  Entry fees must be paid in advance online when you enter on DirectAthletics (all major credit and debit cards accepted).

Relay only Entry’s $ 7 per runner for a total of $ 28 per relay team. 

REFUND POLICY

Outside of meet cancellation, there is a strict NO REFUND policy on entry fees.

Absolutely no refunds will be processed due to scratches, change of plans, inability to travel, illness, injuries, etc.

Spikes: ONLY 1/4 inch or shorter pyramid spikes will be allowed and all spikes will be checked prior to events. NO pin or needle spikes, spike elements, or any other type of spike will be allowed.

High Jump: All high jump competitions will be conducted on the Mondo surface.

Sections/Heats/Flights: Flights will be seeded by distance with best marks in the latest sections/flights.

Finals in field events will consist of the top nine marks from the qualifying rounds.

There will be prelims and finals in the 60 and 60h. All other races will be run as sections against time with the fastest heats being run first.

Implement Weigh-In: 30 minutes prior to event at the Throws area.



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