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Pickleball

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Pickleball
Photos courtesy of Meryl Penalver
Medford seniors can play pickleball on courts that opened in 2023 at Freedom Park. Players there include Bob Martin (front, left to right), Allyse Mitchell, BettyAnn German, Tom Connors and Chris Branin (rear).

Fun.

That’s the word most often used by pickleball players to describe the popular paddle sport. Known as a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong, the game now has its own observance, National Pickleball Day, on Aug. 8, that reflects its enormous popularity.

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“As for why pickleball is so popular, it’s often described as easy to learn but hard to master,” offered Kristen Clemmer, owner and instructor at Tristen Pickleball. “People can jump into a game and have fun on day one, but the competitive ceiling is high enough to keep players engaged and improving for years. It’s also one of the rare sports where people of all ages and skill levels can enjoy playing together.

“The game itself may look a little different depending on who’s on the court, but it’s always accessible and always fun.”

Tristen Pickleball is a sub-contractor hired by pickleball clubs throughout New Jersey to provide training in the sport, according to Clemmer. One of her students, Laura Zinn Fromm, started playing pickleball in 2023. 

“I love how fast and fun the games are,” she enthused. “I played tennis as a kid and though I like it, nothing compares to the intensity and brevity of pickleball games. It’s also a nice way to meet new people.”

According to Pickleheads.com, the game is played with a flat paddle, similar to an oversized ping-pong paddle. The ball is lightweight, made from perforated plastic, has holes and is rallied across a low net. Typically played in doubles, pickleball differs from tennis in that the net is lower – by 2 inches – and scoring is different.

Because pickleball is a doubles game, it offers social advantages as well as physical and mental benefits. Medford senior citizens can be found on pickleball courts that opened in 2023 at Freedom Park.

“Most people come to play and love being outside and active and social,” explained Allyse Mitchell, a volunteer with the Medford Senior Center and program coordinator of the senior pickleball group. “It’s challenging to the mind.”

The core group of senior players started out with just four participants and has grown to 65 pickleball enthusiasts, according to Mitchell. As for the interest in pickleball among seniors, Mitchell calls it “a curiosity first.”

That curiosity is sweeping the state – with pickleball courts provided in multiple towns – and all ages are getting in on the game.

Pickleball was invented in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Washington, by three friends who sought to play badminton but couldn’t find enough racquets, according to the Professional Pickleball Association Tour website (www.ppatour.com).

They found two ping pong paddles and a whiffle ball, which they used to volley over a 60-inch high badminton net. The friends found that the ball – a plastic version of a baseball – had good bounce on an asphalt surface. So they decided to lower their net all the way to the ground (36 inches at the ends and 34 inches at the center) and allow the ball to be played off the bounce. 

As for the origin of the name pickleball, one of the friends’ wives is credited with naming the sport after the pickle boat in rowing, a vessel made of mismatched rowers.

“Pickleball is fun at any level,” observed Anthony Ventura, owner of Players Courtyard Pickleball Club in Moorestown. “You don’t have to get good to have fun.”

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2025 NCAA volleyball live updates: Bracket, schedule, highlights

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Updated Dec. 6, 2025, 9:04 p.m. ET



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Emma Reaves Breaks Own School Record in Tri-Meet with URI, Stonehill

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KINGSTON, R.I. — Sophomore thrower Emma Reaves (Westminster, Md.) placed first in the shot put, headlining the women’s track and field team’s first-place finish in the team’s tri-meet with the University of Rhode Island and Stonehill College, winning with 104 points.
 
UNH’s men’s track and field team finished in third with 89 points, while URI won the meet with 96 points and Stonehill closed with 91 points.
 
In addition to Reaves’ win, the following Wildcats placed:
 

  • Women’s Long Jump

    • Sophomore Sarah Moore (Lisbon, Maine), first place (5.75m)
    • Graduate student Autumn Agri (Stratham, N.H.), second place (5.35m)
    • Junior Audrey Thornton (Freedom, N.H.), third place (5.28m)

  • Men’s Long Jump

    • Freshman Rio Calle (Weare, N.H.), fourth place (7.01m)

  • Women’s Triple Jump
  • Men’s Triple Jump

    • Sophomore Ethan Palmer (Bowdoin, Maine), third place (14.60m)

  • Women’s Shot Put

    • Reaves, first place (14.38m)
    • Freshman Payton Goulding (Cumberland, R.I.), third place (11.86m)
    • Sophomore Ruby Prentiss (Falmouth, Maine), sixth place (11.13m)

  • Men’s Shot Put
  • Women’s Weight Throw

    • Reaves, first place (17.87m)
    • Goulding, third place (15.23m)
    • Junior Briana Danis (Hooksett, N.H.), fifth place (15.06m)
    • Prentiss, sixth place (14.31m)1.5

  • Men’s Weight Throw

    • Senior Liam McGovern (North Kingstown, R.I.), first place (19.79m)
    • Abaka-Amuah, second place (19.53m)
    • Senior Jack Washam (Nashua, N.H.), third place (17.73m)

  • Women’s High Jump
  • Men’s High Jump

    • Junior Gunnar Sokol (Berwick, Maine), seventh (1.90m)
    • Sophomore Samuel Grube (Dover, N.H.), ninth (1.90m)

  • Men’s Pole Vault
  • Men’s 1 Mile
  • Women’s 60m Hurdles
  • Women’s 600m Run
  • Men’s 600m Run

    • Sophomore James Gecek (High Bridge, N.J.), seventh (1:25.58)

  • Women’s 60m Dash

    • Nada, first (7.71)
    • Moore, second (7.72)
    • Thornton, third (7.88)
    • Sophomore Eva Roberts (Derry, N.H.), fifth (7.92)

  • Men’s 1000m Run
  • Women’s 300m Dash

    • Thornton, second (42.43)
    • Sophomore Brooke White (Barnet, Vt.), fifth (42.90)
    • Senior Liliana Chirichella (Troy, N.H.), seventh (43.66)
    • Roberts, ninth (45.25)

  • Women’s 3000m Run

    • Senior Claire Ronan (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), first (10:09.32)
    • Senior Carolyn Day (Wolfeboro, N.H.), third (10:37.08)

  • Men’s 3000m Run
  • Women’s 4x400m Relay

    • New Hampshire “A” (Chirichella, Hickey, Dillon, Agri), second (4:08.42)

  • Men’s 4×400 Relay

    • New Hampshire “A” (Gecek, Daniel Anderson [Naugatuck, Conn.], Calle, Lesniak), fourth (3:28.38)



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ACU Heads to College Station for First Meet of the Indoor Season

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The ACU track and field team opens its indoor season by competing in the McFerrin 12-Degree Invitational on the campus of Texas A&M on Saturday. The meet will be a low-key meet designed to get in some competition before the Christmas break.

Joining ACU and host Texas A&M in the field will be Baylor, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTSA.

This meet will be the first competition for several newcomers to the program. There are plans to have three 4×400 relays for the women and the men and some of the newcomers will only run on the relays this weekend.

ACU entries for the men include: 60 (Horatio Brooks); 300 (Gage Heighten); 1000 (Evan Martin); Mile (Benjamin Castro, Vincent Luffey); 3,000 (Mark Barajas, Carlos Cortez); 60 hurdles (Canaan Fairley, Miguel Hall); high jump (Canaan Fairley); long jump (Horatio Brooks); weight throw (Rhet Punt, Matthew Udemba).

There will also be a large relay pool to fill out the three 4×400 relays and this pool includes newcomers who will only be competing in the relays – Durrell Collins, Abraham Olufemi-Dada, Nickens Lemba – and two returnees also running solely on the relays this weekend – Ethan Krause and Ryan McMeen.

ACU entries for the women include: 60 (Lauren Foxworth, Darinasia Taylor, Kee’Lani Whitlock, Neriah Williams, Morgan Morris, Halle Gunter, Jaeden Thomas); 300 (Morgan Morris, Kaycian Johnson); 600 (Madelyn McFadden, Anna Vyn, Gracee Whiteaker, Jalyn Childers); 1000 (Emma Santoro); Mile (Lola Buentello); 60 hurdles (Hana Banks, Nele Huth, Natalie Poe, Skyla Riedel); high jump (Kaia Anderson, Kennadi Payne, Natalie Poe); long jump (Halle Gunter, Nele Huth, Skyla Riedel, Jaeden Thomas); shot put (Sterling Glenn, Ciara Tilley, Mariana Van Dyk); weight throw (Sterling Glenn, Mariana Van Dyk).

Because the McFerrin Invitational will not have a triple jump in the meet, two Wildcats took part in the OU Winter Field Fest. Arthur Jenkins recorded a 14.94m triple jump, while Mackenzie Flaugher went 11.70m.

The McFerrin 12-Degree Invitational will be held in the Murray Fasken Indoor Track on the Texas A&M campus. The field events will begin at 2 p.m. and the running events at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Coach Miles Smith: I’m excited to see our kids compete. They have been working hard. We have a lot of newcomers who are getting their first taste of collegiate competition, so it will be fun to watch them compete.  Our goal is to come out healthy and learn what we need to work on over the next few weeks before the bulk of our season kicks off in mid-January.

 



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Petitjean, Weber Set Personal Bests In Boston

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BOSTON – The Elon University women’s track and field team opened its indoor season with two members of its distance squad competing at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener on Saturday at the BU Track and Tennis Center.
 
Senior Sarah Petitjean led the Phoenix in the 3,000 meters, posting a personal-best time of 9:49.97 to place 52nd in a field of 95 runners.
 
In the 5,000 meters, junior Hannah Weber also set a personal record with a time of 16:29, improving her previous best by nearly three seconds.
 
ON DECK
Elon will be idle for the winter break before returning to competition on Jan. 17 at the Mondo College Invitational at the JDL Fast Track Complex.
 

— ELON —



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Mountaineers Set New 4×400-Meter Relay Meet Record at Indoor Season Opener

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  – The App State women’s track and field team opened the 2025-26 indoor season at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-Off on Saturday. A new meet record, set by the 4×400-meter relay quartet of junior Nicole Wells, seniors Damyja Alejandro-Ortiz and Daye Talley, and junior Jayla Adams, punctuated the day’s action. 

“This was a great season opener for all event groups to knock the rust off from months ago. The athletes are really motivated to be back from break and start the season.” said director of track & field/cross country Damion McLean. “Expectations are high this season, so we have to stay motivated on an elite level to be competitive.” 

 

Wells, Alejandro-Ortiz, Talley, and Adams stopped the clock at 3:45.76 for a new meet record in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. The previous meet record was 3:49.07, set in 2021 by Duke’s Jenna Crean, Lauren Hoffman, Megan McGinnis, and Kiara Ekeigwe. The Mountaineers were two seconds shy of the App State school record of 3:43.85, which was set at the 2023 Sun Belt Indoor Championships. Earlier in the afternoon, Adams and Talley finished third (24.39) and fifth (24.77), respectively, in the women’s seeded 200 meters. Adams remains third in the App State all-time list with her personal best of 24.22, which she set during the 2024 campaign. In the women’s unseeded 200 meters, sophomore Kaitlyn McLeod placed fifth with a time of 25.04.

 

In her collegiate indoor debut, freshman Alana Braxton posted a pair of first place finishes in the women’s triple jump (12.32m (40′ 5″)) and women’s long jump (5.87m (19′ 3.25″)). Fellow freshman Ashlynn Wimberly landed second with a leap of 12.14m (39′ 10″) and sophomore Jahaila Wright placed sixth with a leap of 11.60m (38′ 0.75″) in the women’s triple jump. With a leap of 5.31m (17′ 5.25″) freshman Kelly MacBride rounded out the top 10 in the women’s long jump.

 

Senior Ava Studney placed first in the women’s pole vault, recording a clearance of 3.95m (12′ 11.5″). 

 

Junior Kendall Johnson placed second with a time of 7.50 in the women’s 60 meters, coming within 0.08 of her personal best and program record of 7.42, which she set at last season’s SBC Indoor Championships. Wells rounded out the top 10 in the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.73.

 

With a time of 2:18.09, senior Addison Ollendick-Smith placed fourth in the women’s 800 meters. Ollendick-Smith, who stands second all-time in the program record book, was seven seconds shy of her personal best of 2:11.13, which she set last season.

 

With a personal best toss of 14.70m (48′ 2.75″), junior Dianna Boykin placed eighth in the women’s weight throw. Sophomore Emily Edwards placed eighth with a toss of 12.17m (39′ 11.25″) in the women’s shot put and rounded out the top 10 in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 14.03m (46′ 0.5″).

 

Up Next

The Mountaineers will resume the indoor track and field season with the UNC Asheville Collegiate Opener at Tryon International on Jan. 10.

 



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No. 2 seed ASU volleyball advances to Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament

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Updated Dec. 5, 2025, 11:15 p.m. MT



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