College Sports

A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Avionah Widner

June 8 marked an end to Avionah Widner’s high school career, as it was the date of her graduation. Though her time as a student at Wheeler High School concluded, her achievements remain deserving of celebration and recognition as she made her mark in sports and in the classroom. Widner’s story is one of an […]

Published

2 months ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Widner’s story is one of an unexpected champion. She’s been a gymnast all her life, practicing nearly every day for four hours to master her approach to the art of gymnastics.

“I truly don’t think I’d be who I am at all without gymnastics. It’s shaped everything I’ve done, including my work ethic, and it strengthens my dedication to everything, as well as my passion for everything,” she said.

Widner has also put forth effort in another sport that has awed spectators and loved ones alike. For a while, she’s had an interest in wrestling – her own brother even used to tell her she’d make a good wrestler. A joke with her friend – the two teasers saying to each other, “If you do it, I’ll do it” – pushed her to finally make the leap. They started late, only being in the sport two months before Sectionals.

Success met Widner on the mat fast. She ended up winning Sectionals, placing third in Regionals, and securing eighth place in Indiana’s State tournament. She may not have been formally educated on the finer details of the sport’s mechanics or technicalities, but she still succeeded. Her general athletic background helped.

“I never did any other sports because I didn’t have time for them. I didn’t know much going into it, yet I knew I was stronger than everyone because of gymnastics. That’s what it was: I was strong, and I was fast. A lot of the girls I felt like only had either arm strength or leg strength, but I have both. That muscle endurance went a long way,” she said.

Sadly, Widner didn’t get to finish her last season in gymnastics. She wound up dislocating her elbow in one of her final wrestling matches. She had offers to compete in gymnastics in college, but she continues to recover from her injury. Her focus has since been directed elsewhere.

Loyola University Chicago awarded Widner an academic scholarship in nursing. Due to her proven abilities to thrive academically, she’s a direct admit. The attention she once dedicated to sports has shifted, and now she’s directing her attention toward what’s to come next in her furthering path as a student. Her past, particularly all the time she’s spent learning and coaching gymnastics, makes a difference in her present.

“After my injury, I’m focusing on becoming a nurse right now, keeping in mind that everything is supposed to happen for a reason,” she said. “When I don’t have motivation, I have a voice in me that says, ‘You have to do it.’ I have discipline at the end of the day, so that’s helped me a lot through school. That’s how I know I’ll be okay with nursing.”

Another tremendous motivator for Widner is her mother. The two have stuck together through every challenge and triumph that comes their way.

“My mom has pushed me the most. She’s never let me quit, even when I wanted to give something a break. She’s always told me to stay in a sport. Thankfully, I have; she’s definitely a big part of that, and she’s worked super hard to be able to support me,” she said.

With a busy sports schedule, Widner didn’t have a lot of free time as a high school student. She would typically spend her leisure hanging out with friends, playing pickleball, or going swimming. She loves to travel when she can, and this summer she’ll be visiting Mexico. Simply being active is something she prioritizes.

Widner’s family is spread out across the country. They reside in locations as far away as California and as close as Illinois. Home for her, however, is Valparaiso. The city’s kindness has her heart.

“I feel most people here are nice. Everyone’s kind, and I’ve never struggled making friends around this area,” she said. “I like living here, too. Everything’s close. I’ve had an easy time getting to feel the community around me.”

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College Sports

Post-NBA TNT extends Parker, Lefkoe; adds CFB role for LaForce

A few familiar names from the NBA on TNT are sticking around, in one form or another, for the network’s post-NBA future. TNT Sports announced Wednesday that it has struck contract extensions with studio host Adam Lefkoe and basketball analyst Candace Parker, who along with Allie LaForce will take on new roles on the network’s […]

Published

3 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A few familiar names from the NBA on TNT are sticking around, in one form or another, for the network’s post-NBA future.

TNT Sports announced Wednesday that it has struck contract extensions with studio host Adam Lefkoe and basketball analyst Candace Parker, who along with Allie LaForce will take on new roles on the network’s new college sports packages.

TNT begins its run as a Big 12 and Big East broadcast partner this season, carrying men’s basketball games in both conferences, plus Big 12 football and Big East women’s basketball. Lefkoe will host the football and men’s basketball studio shows, Parker will serve as an analyst on basketball games, and LaForce will work the football sidelines — her return to college football after previously working the “SEC on CBS.”

All three were regulars on TNT’s NBA coverage, with Lefkoe and Parker in the Tuesday night studio and LaForce as the network’s lead sideline reporter.

Parker will continue covering the NBA for Amazon Prime Video, making her one of several TNT employees who will moonlight on other networks’ NBA coverage. TNT’s Grant Hill will serve as an NBA game analyst for NBC — and has already been assigned an Opening Night game — and of course the TNT studio team of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will continue doing “Inside the NBA” but for ESPN.

It was of course the licensing agreement for “Inside the NBA” that allowed TNT to acquire its Big 12 package from ESPN, which includes 13 football and 15 men’s basketball games per season.

TNT announced Wednesday that its lead Big 12 football team will consist of play-by-play voice J.B. Long and analyst Mike Golic Jr., with LaForce or Coy Wire on the sidelines. The studio team will be the same one the network used on its Mountain West football coverage last season: Lefkoe, Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes and Victor Cruz.

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College Sports

Chad Ruhwedel retires after 13-year NHL career

A former champion who had to work his way to the top has hung up his skates. On Tuesday, longtime NHL defenseman Chad Ruhwedel announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 35. Chad Ruhwedel is officially calling it a career after going from undrafted to 369 NHL career games 👏 Wishing nothing […]

Published

26 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A former champion who had to work his way to the top has hung up his skates.

On Tuesday, longtime NHL defenseman Chad Ruhwedel announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 35.

Chad Ruhwedel is officially calling it a career after going from undrafted to 369 NHL career games 👏

Wishing nothing but the best to Chad in his next chapter! pic.twitter.com/xkF9kqtZdw

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) August 12, 2025

“Playing in the NHL has been a dream come true,” Ruhwedel said in a statement. “I’m incredibly grateful to the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers organizations for giving me the opportunity to live that dream. While there have been countless unforgettable moments on the ice, it’s the relationships and friendships built along the way that I cherish most.

“To my family, teammates, coaches, fans and countless others who supported me, thank you for being a part of this amazing journey.”

Ruhwedel’s path to the NHL wasn’t clear-cut. The San Diego native went undrafted, but earned an NHL contract with the Sabres after a solid three years at UMass-Lowell, where he established himself as one of the best blueliners in college hockey.

Ruhwedel spent three years in the Sabres organization, spending the majority of his time with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In the summer of 2016, he moved to Pittsburgh and found instant success on a team that had just won the Stanley Cup. Along with playing some of the 2016-17 campaign with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the former member of the Sioux Falls Stampede played six games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, enough to be part of the Pittsburgh team that took home the franchise’s fifth championship.

He would play most of his seven-plus seasons with the Pens organization in the NHL before being traded to the Rangers in March 2024. This past year, he appeared in just five games for the Blueshirts, with most of the 2024-25 campaign seeing Ruhwedel skate with their primary affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

In 369 NHL regular-season games, Ruhwedel scored 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points, appearing in 25 postseason affairs. In 266 AHL contests, he notched 34 goals and 100 assists for 134 points.

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College Sports

NCAA Gymnastics holds judges accountable for inaccurate scoring. Could their system be used for MLB umpires?

Baseball and gymnastics: Two sports that couldn’t be more different. Yet both sports have recently seen a similar trend in how the effects of relying on human judgement can impact competitive outcomes and fan frustrations. NCAA women’s gymnastics is perhaps the sport that’s benefitted the most from the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy change […]

Published

41 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NCAA women’s gymnastics is perhaps the sport that’s benefitted the most from the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy change that now allows collegiate athletes to profit from endorsements and sponsorships. Unlike in baseball where players have the potential to make money for a decade or more, the window of opportunity for gymnasts to earn money doing their sport is significantly smaller. Previously, the top gymnasts in the country typically competed for the national team at world championships or the Olympics between the ages of 16-19, and often had to make the difficult decision to relinquish their NCAA eligibility in favor of signing sponsorship deals. With the change to the NIL policy, those elite gymnasts no longer have to make a choice.

While correlation does not equate to causation, this influx of top international competitors also aligned with a widespread tendency towards inconsistent judging and leniency for certain schools and athletes. In the same way that an established All Star pitcher like Zack Wheeler might benefit from a slightly larger strike zone compared to a rookie, a former world championship or Olympic team member might get fewer deductions based on their reputation alone. This culminated in programs with multiple former national members seeming to get undeservedly high team scores and preferential treatment from judges.

Regardless of if the change in consistency was an unconscious attempt to reward those athletes and programs perceived as “better,” or even just a coincidence entirely, it led to an outcry from fans for the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) to address the obvious issues with judging very similar to how baseball fans are now begging MLB to address its umpiring issue.

Whether baseball or gymnastics, it’s important to recognize that no judge or umpire is perfect and that human error will always play a factor in sports competitions, especially those with subjective components to them. But when blatant errors and inconsistent leniency are left unaddressed and allowed to continuously impact games and competitions, it becomes a fundamental flaw in the system.

Here’s how the WCGA has started to address that flaw:

Ahead of the 2024-2025 collegiate season, the WCGA announced new changes to the gymnastics scoring system and process. Among the changes included a new eight-person panel that evaluates the accuracy of each individual judge’s scores– essentially, a group of judges who judge the judges. Each individual gets scored against an “ideal” and is rewarded points for their accuracy, while also being deducted points for egregious errors. These points are then used to rank the judges, with the highest rated individuals favored to receive future postseason assignments. The evaluations are also used to provide targeted education to all judges regarding common errors and other issues.

It would definitely be possible for Major League Baseball to adopt this type of checks-and-balances system to oversee its umpiring. Similar to the WCGA’s system, a team of officials could be tasked with reviewing individual performances by umpires and rating their accuracy. Top performers could be rewarded with postseason assignments, while poor performers could be required to attend additional training or even face demotion to the minors. With actual rewards and consequences at stake, this could be a first step towards holding umpires accountable for their performance.

There are, of course, challenges to this type of system. With almost 400 meets in the collegiate gymnastics season, that equates to approximately 20,000 routines to be reviewed. And with an average of about 300 pitches thrown in each of the 2,430 MLB games per regular season, that comes out to nearly 800,000 pitches – and that’s just for the home plate umpire, that doesn’t even take into consideration calls made in the field. Creating a system to sample a database that large and provide accurate feedback for as many umpires as possible would not be an easy task. But, it wouldn’t be impossible.

The social media account “Umpire Scorecards” has already developed a way to determine strike zone accuracy and consistency, and identify impactful missed calls. Take the scorecard from this past Monday’s game against the Reds for example. Of the 125 called balls and strikes (256 pitches total) this system identified 15 that were inaccurate, giving home plate umpire Alfonso Márquez an 88% accuracy rating and an overall bias of +0.25 runs in favor of the Phillies. If each game produced an average of even double that at 30 calls for review, that would come out to about 73,000 reviews per season. That’s a far more reasonable task, especially for an organization with the resources to hire the required personnel.

It’s not a perfect system, by far. But what WCGA has implemented at least shows a willingness to take that first step in addressing the flaws of a human-based judging system. With a similar issue facing them, MLB should take notes.

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College Sports

Women's Soccer Releases its 2025 Schedule

By: Contact: Tom Krychkowski; Assistant Athletic Director for Communications & Marketing Story Links JERSEY CITY, N.J. | The New Jersey City University women’s soccer program has unveiled its 2025 schedule, featuring a challenging mix of non-conference opponents and the always-demanding New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) slate. The Gothic Knights will take the field for 18 […]

Published

42 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Women's Soccer Releases its 2025 Schedule

By: Contact: Tom Krychkowski; Assistant Athletic Director for Communications & Marketing

JERSEY CITY, N.J. | The New Jersey City University women’s soccer program has unveiled its 2025 schedule, featuring a challenging mix of non-conference opponents and the always-demanding New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) slate. The Gothic Knights will take the field for 18 regular-season contests, starting with three consecutive road matches to open the campaign.

NJCU begins its season under the lights on Friday, August 29, traveling to SUNY Delhi for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. The Gothic Knights then remain on the road for a Sunday, August 31 meeting at Bard College, before returning to the city for their home opener against Manhattanville on Tuesday, September 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

A southern road swing to Virginia highlights the early schedule as NJCU faces Lynchburg on Friday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. before taking on Roanoke the following afternoon. The Knights return home to host Mount Saint Mary on September 10 at 4:00 p.m., then head back out for away contests at Lehman (Sept. 20) and Centenary (Sept. 23).

“We’re looking forward to competing for the NJAC and making a postseason run,” said head coach Anthony Tuesta. “We have a great group of experienced returners and a very exciting group of newcomers looking to make an immediate impact.”

Conference play kicks off with a road trip to Montclair State on Saturday, September 27. NJCU will then host Rowan on Wednesday, October 1 before traveling to Brooklyn College for a non-conference clash on October 3. The Knights return home on October 4 to battle Stockton in NJAC action.

October features a run of key conference matchups, including trips to Kean (Oct. 11) and Ramapo (Oct. 15), and home dates with Rutgers-Camden (Oct. 18), William Paterson (Oct. 25), and Rutgers-Newark (Oct. 29). NJCU also heads to TCNJ on October 22 in one of the toughest road challenges of the year.

For the latest news, updates, and information on New Jersey City University sports, visit njcugothicknights.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Gothic Knights news by following NJCU Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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College Sports

Bill O’Brien discusses decision to name Dylan Lonergan as Boston College’s starting QB

Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien finally settled on a starting quarterback on Tuesday morning. Before the start of practice, Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan was named the starter. After Tuesday’s practice where Lonergan got all the first team reps, O’Brien spoke about his decision. Pete Thamel was the first to report the news. “After careful […]

Published

42 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien finally settled on a starting quarterback on Tuesday morning. Before the start of practice, Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan was named the starter. After Tuesday’s practice where Lonergan got all the first team reps, O’Brien spoke about his decision. Pete Thamel was the first to report the news.

“After careful consideration throughout the winter, spring and summer, and now into training camp, we decided to go with Dylan Lonergan as the starter,” O’Brien said. “Look, it was a true competition give a lot of credit to Grayson James.” This seemingly ends an eight month battle in which the incumbent James, tried to hold off the new quarterback. James, also a transfer who originally committed to Jeff Hafley earned a lot of respect last year after he took over for Tommy Castellanos, winning three out of the final four regular season games for the Eagles and helping them become bowl eligible.

O’Brien has carefully watched the two quarterbacks at practice, and there were a few factors that came into his decision. “Dylan’s got a great feel for the game and he’s got a really good arm,” the head coach said after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s got good anticipation, good accuracy. He’s very calm, very poised. I just think at the end of the day, in the passing game. You know, Dylan was a little bit ahead of Grayson.”

Lonergan has deep roots with Bill O’Brien, who originally recruited him to Alabama to play under Nick Saban. He was part of a quarterback room that was flooded with talent including Ty Simpson (Alabama), Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Eli Holstein (Pitt) and others. This offseason, Lonergan jumped into the portal and re-united with his former offensive coordinator in Chestnut Hill.

On Tuesday, both quarterbacks were on the field, Lonergan zipping passes to Lewis Bond and Ty Lockwood and commanding the offense. But James also worked hard on Tuesday too, as he will give Boston College a veteran behind Lonergan in case the need arises. Boston College has had more than quarterback play meaningful snaps in every season for almost a decade due to injuries and other factors.

“[James] was obviously disappointed, but, was just like, ‘Coach, I’m gonna be a great teammate.'” O’Brien said about the former starter. “That’s what you’re looking for at Boston College. I can’t say enough about the guy. I think he’s got a future in football, he’ll be ready to play if called upon.”

Boston College will return to practice on Wednesday morning.

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College Sports

Ice Hockey Announces 2025-26 Nonconference Schedule

Published

1 hour ago

August 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Syracuse University women’s ice hockey team announced its nonconference schedule for the 2025-26 season.

The Orange welcome UMD to a two-game series slated for Thursday Sept. 25 and Friday Sept. 26 at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

The opening road series for Syracuse is set on Friday Oct. 3 and Saturday Oct. 4 at Stonehill in Easton, Massachusetts.

Back at home, ‘Cuse host Quinnipiac on Friday Oct. 10 and Saturday Oct. 11 before beginning conference play.

The Orange hit the road for a Tuesday night matchup against Cornell in Ithaca, New York on Oct. 28, before hosting the Big Red for another game at home on Tuesday Nov. 8.

Finishing non-conference play, Syracuse split a series with RPI, hosting the first game at home on Friday Nov. 28 and facing the Engineers in Troy, New York. on Saturday Nov. 29.

Game times for the 2025-26 season will be announced at a later date.

For more on Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey, follow @CuseIce on Instagram and X.