Sports

Good Luck draws crowd at ideas forum

Published

5 months ago

July 3, 2025

Much about the Good Luck Fund—a private foundation with lofty public goals—remains uncertain. How will it select businesses for the properties it buys? Can those enterprises succeed in a market in which labor is scarce and housing expensive? Will residents open their wallets to support the fund, which could quickly burn through founder Chris Hulls’s initial $15 million donation?

For all the questions surrounding the enterprise, one thing is crystal clear: Point Reyes Station residents want it to succeed.

Last Wednesday, about 250 of them packed into the former Station House Café building and cheered on Mr. Hulls as he sketched out his vision for the fund, whose mission is to preserve historic downtown properties, attract and retain key businesses and sustain the community’s 20th-century ranch-town vibe.

People spilled out of the building’s dimly lit interior and into the courtyard, where the garden was abloom. Mr. Hulls, a 41-year-old tech entrepreneur whose style is straightforward and self-deprecating, was startled by the size of the crowd.

“We were expecting maybe a couple dozen people,” he said. “I just started preparing for this about five minutes ago, so I’m kind of winging it. The idea was just to get people together and get feedback.”

A procession of people came forward to ask questions and share their ideas for transforming two of the fund’s recent purchases—11180 Highway 1, the former home of the Station House Café, which moved across the street—and the Inverness property that housed Vladimir’s Czech Restaurant, which closed two years ago.

Attendees’ ideas ran the gamut, from restaurants to a community theater to a plant nursery.

“I have some personal ideas about what to do with Vladimir’s, but not everybody agrees with them,” said Tom Pillsbury, an Inverness resident. “Some of my friends would like it to be a breakfast spot, but I think it would be a perfect Mexican restaurant. That’s my two cents.”

Rich Clarke of Point Reyes Station proposed a community swimming pool, a place that could unite West Marin’s burgeoning elderly population with younger community members.

“The kids could learn to swim and play water polo, and the adults could do water aerobics,” he said. “The health of our community, at this point in our lives, is dependent upon how active we stay and how much we put into taking care of ourselves.”

Mr. Clarke’s suggestion was greeted with boisterous applause.

Other people proposed installing a mix of businesses at the former Station House, which sits on a large lot. Lynette Le Mere, who owns a Santa Barbara catering business and recently moved full time to Inverness Park, said the space was big enough to accommodate a variety of food-oriented enterprises.

“For this place, and Vladimir’s, a lot of people with good ideas for food and cooking could come together and participate in community,” she said. “We have lots of delicious ideas.”

Amid all the brainstorming, people also raised questions and concerns.

Michel Venghiattis, a professional food consultant from Nicasio, stressed that small, start-up enterprises might need some sort of economic boost to succeed.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life,” he said. “I went bankrupt once, so I know how tough business can be. I think what you’re doing is wonderful, but I think it’s important to remember that this is a small town, and the amount of income that can be generated from any business is very limited. Somehow, a structure needs to be built so that rents are reasonable so that folks with local businesses can make it.”

Mr. Hulls said the fund would take a businesslike approach to selecting prospective tenants, examining business plans to ascertain their strength and sustainability. While the fund would seek enterprises that could support themselves over the long haul, it might subsidize rents up front.

Cas Adler-Ivanbrook, an Inverness Park resident, inquired about the structure of the fund and the procedures it would follow moving forward.

“You’ve told us that you’re going to seek out proposals, get feedback and make decisions,” he said. “What is the decision-making process? Who gets a say in what the decision process is going to be? Do you have a structure in mind for that? Would it be just one person or a group of people?”

For now, Mr. Hulls said, the fund is operating as a private foundation in which one person can make quick decisions, but its procedures could evolve moving forward. In addition to soliciting community business proposals, it plans to appoint citizen committees to review ideas that come in, drawing on local expertise to assess them. The details will be ironed out as events unfold.

“My model is, you jump of a cliff, and you build the plane on the way down,” said Mr. Hulls, who grew up in Point Reyes Station and is the founder and C.E.O. of the location-sharing app Life360. “We really don’t have too much of a plan. We’re figuring it out as we go. It’s going to be a little chaotic and messy, but we’re just going for it.”

Other audience members pointed out that the lack of affordable housing has made it difficult for existing businesses to staff their operations, with many employees driving from Petaluma or Santa Rosa.

Buddy Faure, 23, who grew up in Inverness and would like to spend his life here, asked whether Mr. Hulls had considered building affordable housing.

“It’s important is to recognize how many people end up growing up here and then end up leaving and never coming back,” he said. “It upsets me, you know. I want to stay here my whole life, but it’s very hard to see a way forward.”

Mr. Hulls suggested that housing could possibly be built in conjunction with an enterprise at the former Station House site, which has ample septic capacity and a substantial parking lot out back. But he said that the local community land trust is better equipped to take on housing challenges while the foundation focuses on attracting suitable businesses.

Mr. Hulls said the fund has no fixed notions about what those businesses should be, but he did offer ideas about general characteristics they might have. He pointed to the Old Western Saloon, another fund acquisition and a classic dive bar that caters to ranchers, construction workers and landscapers as wells as the tourists who pass through town.

“To be honest, a little rough and tumble and weird is something I want to preserve,” he said to applause. “It seems like there’s been a lot of support for that. The eccentrics and weirdos make this town.”

Some of the ideas put forward at the meeting would duplicate or compete with existing businesses in town, including new restaurants, a gallery, a nursery and a performance space. Giving the newcomers subsidies could put longtime establishments at a disadvantage, Ken Taymor, an Inverness Park resident, pointed out. “How are you going to make sure you don’t cannibalize existing businesses?” he asked.

Mr. Hulls said he had conferred with local business owners, some of whom were nervous about the prospect of new competition, but he found that most of them welcomed the fund’s efforts. “The general theme I’ve heard is that vibrancy builds vibrancy, and having half a downtown dead is bad for everybody,” he said.

For more information or to submit ideas, go to https://goodluckfund.org

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Sports

Who Was Among This Week’s Faces in the Crowd?

Published

4 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Each week during the academic year, the NE10 honors Athletes of the Week for all of its 24 sponsored sports while they are in season. Faces in the Crowd shines a spotlight on outstanding on-field performances that didn’t earn Athlete of the Week recognition, while also highlighting academic or community efforts from student-athletes across the league.

Below are this week’s NE10 Faces in the Crowd.

Hope Fox

School: Southern Connecticut
Sport: Basketball

Fox made history for Southern Connecticut women’s basketball in their NE10 opener against Franklin Pierce. Fox recorded a career-best of nine steals, which is the second-most steals in a single-game in program history and the most since Kiana Steinauer had 10 against Stonehill in 2019. Additionally, Fox’s nine steals are the most recorded in a game in the NE10 this season and third-most in the NCAA.

Jodiann Ebanks

School: American International

Sport: Track & Field

A Campbell transfer, Ebanks was at the front of the sprints for AIC in the TRACK at new balance Early Bird Invitational. She won the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash with her 25.42-second time in the 200-meter race being the fastest in the NE10 and throughout the East Region after the year’s first week of competition.

Ruzgar Christina Boyle

School: American International

Sport: Basketball

Boyle lost her mind this weekend against Pace, drilling six first quarter threes en route to nine total makes and a new AIC single-game record. Boyle finish an insane 9-13 from behind the arc va the Setters for a career-high 27 points. The nine makes are the second-most by a women’s basketball player in DII this winter.

Skyla Lang

School: Bentley

Sport: Swimming & Diving

Lang won three races at the WPI Gompei Invitational last week, most notably breaking her own school record in the 100 IM at 58.09, which is the fastest time in the NE10 this season. Lang also won the 400 IM and the 100 Breaststroke. Her time in the 400 IM is the best in the NE10 so far (4:34.02).

Valerii Pidhoretskyy

School: Adelphi

Sport: Swimming & Diving

Valerii posted personal bests in every race he swam last week, breaking Adelphi records in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Medley Relay. He swam the fastest times in the NE10 this season in the 50 Free and the 200 Free Relay while posting the league’s second-best times in the 100 Free, 100 Fly, 200 IM, 400 Free Relay and 800 Free Relay.

This Year’s Faces in the Crowd

Week 1

Anna Daggatt, Saint Michael’s Volleyball

Dillon Labonte, SNHU Cross Country

Jakkai Stith, AIC Football

Jenni Huttunen, Franklin Pierce Soccer

Taylor Leckey, SCSU Field Hockley

Week 2

Alice Bender, Pace Volleyball

Annie Lorenz, Bentley Field Hockey

Isabel Hughes and Claudia Keith, SNHU Soccer

Reese Swanson, Franklin Pierce Field Hockey

Connor Dietz, AIC Football

Jay Kastantin, Assumption Football

Week 3

Dillon Labonte, SNHU Cross Country

Elizjah Lewis, Pace Football

Grace Almeida, Saint Michael’s Volleyball

Lana Mignon De Wet, Adelphi Field Hockey

Paola Soto Burgos, AIC Volleyball

Week 4

Brennah Abilheira-Cargill, Assumption Volleyball

Kerrigan Habing, SCSU Volleyball

Drew Forkner, St. Anselm Football

Khais Milligan, Pace Soccer

Madeline Krepelka, Bentley Field Hockey

Week 5

Connor Dietz, AIC Football

Elizjah Lewis, Pace Football

Kaylise McClure, Mercy Field Hockey

Mackenzie Casey, Adelphi Volleyball

Michael Guarnieri, St. Anselm Football

Week 6

Andrew Surprenant, SNHU Men’s Golf

Isaiah Osgood, Bentley Football

Jessica Evans, Mercy Field Hockey

Sarah Henault, SCSU Volleyball

Sydney DeRoche, Bentley Women’s Soccer

Week 7

Faith Kosiba, Saint Michael’s Soccer

Grace Presswood, Assumption Volleyball

John Giller, SCSU Football

McKenzie Carey, Bentley Field Hockey

Ruby Harrington, Saint Michael’s Field Hockey

Week 8

Avery Frommer, Bentley Field Hockey

Billy Gould, Assumption Football

Kerrigan Habing, SCSU Volleyball

Maya Fisher, SCSU Cross Country

Quinlyn Moll, AIC Field Hockey

Week 9

Isaiah Decias, Bentley Football

Jessica Evans, Mercy Field Hockey

Milagros Zanatelli, AIC Field Hockey

Ryan Rosario, Franklin Pierce Women’s Soccer

Sasha Luzina, Bentley Volleyball

Week 10

Connor Smith, Assumption Football

Jake Croce, Saint Anselm Football

Madeline Chaapel, Adelphi Volleyball

Maggie Burchill, Saint Anselm Field Hockey

Riley Mastowski, Franklin Pierce Hockey

Week 11

Ana Carolina Westerich, Adelphi Volleyball

Dayshawn Walton, Adelphi Basketball

Taeya and Rheyna Steinauer, SCSU Basketball

Will Gomes, Franklin Pierce Football

Amelia Hohos, Saint Anselm Soccer

Week 12

Brady Gaudet, Franklin Pierce Soccer

Dom Santiago, Assumption Football

Elena Coban, Bentley Volleyball

Olivia Crespo, Franklin Pierce Soccer

Will Davies, Saint Anselm Basketball

Week 13

Alvaro Garcia, SNHU Soccer

Jojo Wallace, SNHU Basketball

Kaitlin McDonough, Saint Anselm Basketball

Margaret Montplaisir, Saint Michael’s Basketball

Zee McCown, Assumption Basketball

Week 14

Hope Fox, SCSU Basketball

Jodiann Ebanks, AIC Track and Field

Ruzgar Christina Boyle, AIC Basketball

Skyla Lang, Benltey Swimming

Valerii Pidhoretskyy, Adelphi Swimming

ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 10 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.

Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

Fans can subscribe via this link to follow NE10 NOW on FloSports this season. The partnership between the NE10 and FloSports works to provide funds back to the athletic departments of the Northeast-10 Conference in support of student-athletes while promoting the league on a national platform.

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Sports

Best IHSA players in Peoria area

Published

5 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dec. 10, 2025, 3:45 a.m. CT

Here are the 2025 Journal Star volleyball all-area honorees in alphabetical order, led by player of the year and separated by large-school players and small-school players.

Mia Lamberti, Limestone

Lamberti is the 2025 Journal Star player of the year, becoming the sixth repeat winner in the award’s 36-year history. She helped Class 3A top-ranked Limestone to a 34-3 record and a Mid-Illini Conference championship. The 6-foot junior setter/opposite hitter was named to four all-tournament teams this season, having over 1,000 career kills and assists. Lamberti, who committed to Illinois this past June, recorded 402 kills, 406 assists, 137 digs, 67 aces and 13 blocks. Her individual accolades include American Volleyball Coaches Association third-team all-American, AVCA all-region, Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association first-team all-state and all-Mid-Illini Conference first team.

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Sports

Sharp Tabbed All-Northwest Region First Team

Published

21 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BOISE, Idaho – Redshirt freshman Eliza Sharp was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Northwest Region First Team on Tuesday, as the AVCA released its all-region honors for all of NCAA Division I.

The honor added to Sharp’s accolade-filled season with the Broncos. The middle blocker was also named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and All-Mountain West. Sharp is the first Bronco to earn all-region first team honors and the conference freshman of the year award in the same season.

Sharp was one of 14 players selected to the All-Northwest Region team and one of three middle blockers. She was also among four freshmen on the all-region squad.

Out of Burlingame, Calif., Sharp averaged 2.21 kills and 1.24 blocks in 113 sets played this past season. Her 250 kills and 140 total blocks were second-best on Boise State while she finished the year with 329.5 points.

She is 31st in the country in total blocks and 50th in blocks per set.

Sharp is the 10th Bronco to earn one of the 14 all-region first team selections in program history.

There were 213 student-athletes recognized across 10 regional teams by the AVCA this year. Each region had 14 first-team all-region honorees and a handful of honorable mentions.

Boise State finished the season 20-11 and reached the semifinals of the Mountain West Volleyball Championship.

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Sports

Cleaver, Dale, and Prince named AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans

Published

38 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HICKORY, N.C. – Averie Dale, Kayli Cleaver, and Hadley Prince have each been named to the AVCA Honorable Mention All-America Team.

This marks the second consecutive All-America honor for Cleaver and Dale, while Prince is making her first appearance on the team. There have now been seven individuals in Lenoir-Rhyne volleyball history who have been named to an All-American team.

Averie Dale tied the school record with a .399 hitting percentage this season, totaling 245 kills, 31 service aces, and 31 assists. She finished tied for first in the conference and first on the team with a total of 107 blocks, and added 82 digs.

Kayli Cleaver was the Bears’ go to on the outside, leading the team with 363 kills on a .266 hitting percentage. She totaled double-digit kills in 20 of her 31 matches played and set a new career high with 23 kills in a four set victory at Newberry.

Hadley Prince is this year’s South Atlantic Conference leader and ranks seventh all-time in Lenoir-Rhyne history with 547 digs. She had double-digit digs in every match this year and had a Lenoir-Rhyne career high of 32 on November 11th at Coker. Her 39 service aces led the team while her 115 assists were fourth.

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Sports

Vanderbilt Football | Stowers Awarded 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy®

Published

53 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LAS VEGAS — Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers has been named the 36th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy® it was announced at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner presented by Las Vegas.

The Campbell Trophy^® ranks as one of college football’s most sought-after and competitive awards, recognizing an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Awarded since 1990, the 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy comes with a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. Stowers was selected from a list of 16 members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments®.

The Denton, Texas, native becomes the first Campbell Trophy^® winner from Vanderbilt. He is the school’s fifth NFF National Scholar-Athlete, joining Wade Butcher (1961), Douglas Martin (1974), Andrew McCarroll (1989) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (2002).

Stowers received his undergraduate degree from New Mexico State in 2024, posting a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average, and he completed his master’s degree in finance from Vanderbilt in the spring. A member of the 2024-25 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, he is currently pursuing a master’s of legal studies degree this fall.

During his time at Vanderbilt, Stowers has volunteered at the multiple events at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and has supported the facility’s Dancing Dores fundraiser while also participating in Social Impact Day with the Pencil Foundation and Metro Nashville Public Schools and assisting at the department’s annual SAAC Holiday Party.

Elected a team captain prior to the start of this season, Stowers has contributed to the Commodores’ 10-2 regular season record with team highs of 62 catches for 769 yards while scoring four touchdowns. He leads all tight ends nationally in receiving yards and is second at the position in the country in receptions after hauling in multiple passes in every contest this season.

Stowers has led the Dores in catches a team-best six times and in receiving yards on four occasions, as he needs only six yards to record the most by a Vandy tight end since the 1996 campaign. He finished with a career-high 146 yards—the second most by a Power 4 tight end this season—on seven catches at No. 20/19 Texas, following up with a career-best 12 receptions for 122 yards in a Homecoming defeat of Auburn.

Stowers is a finalist for the John Mackey Award and is a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award too. He was a semifinalist for the 2025 Lombardi Award™ as well.

Following tonight’s NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, Stowers will be recognized as the 2025 Campbell Trophy^® recipient at several other prestigious events. On Friday, Dec. 12, he will be recognized during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. He will be featured on CBS during halftime of the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, and will be introduced on the field during the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Stowers and the Commodores will face Iowa—which was 23rd in the final College Football Playoff rankings—on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. CT in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

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Sports

Purdue Fort Wayne coach and alumni reflect on death of former player and friend

Published

55 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Purdue Fort Wayne Volleyball has lost one of their own after 2022 graduate Madi Wurster died in a car accident early Monday morning.

Wurster played volleyball at Purdue Fort Wayne from 2018 to 2022 and graduated from South Adams High School, where she played volleyball and basketball.

Steve Florio, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Purdue Fort Wayne, said that after receiving tragic news like this, everyone is still in shock.

“It almost didn’t seem real,” he said. “That’s the feedback I’m getting from a lot of our alumni, I’ve been talking with, obviously, very sad and heartbreaking.”

Florio says he has been talking with a lot of alumni since the accident, and says they describe her as “full of life”, a great hugger, a light to everyone, and so much more.

He says he wants to make sure that alumni and player voices were heard during a time like this, as they were some of the closest people to Madi.

“What they have to say about Madi is that she was a beautiful soul, and the world needed somebody like her,” he said. “She was always there for anybody who needed help. She loved all those around her. A lot of the alumni said she was a big light in this world, a great hugger, a great listener, too, and they’re all right about that.”

He adds that Wurster was very strong in her faith and had a tight friend group while at PFW. She had a really big laugh, and she loved to have a good time.

Florio says this has been a loss for the entire Mastodon family, and that this has brought many together to share stories about who Madi was and remember what she meant to all of them.

Her obituary can be found here.

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