NEWS RELEASE

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

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The Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) have announced two more players from their 2024-25 squad have committed to attend schools and play college hockey in the United States this fall.

Forward Jack Ohlund will be off to NCAA Division III New England College, while defenceman Luke Russell will be attending Liberty University of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

The 20-year-old Russell spent two seasons with the Eagles, appearing in 79 career games.

A native of Lakeville, Minn., he scored 16 times and dished out 23 assists for 39 points.

On pace to set personal bests in all offensive categories, his 2024-25 campaign was cut short due to injury.

Of his tally total, four of his markers came on the power play and he also notched one game-winner.

“Jack was the definition of a power forward,” said Eagles head coach Jeremy Rebek.

“He’s was a strong skater who was hard to play against and was good along the wall, while bringing strength, speed and scoring ability,” added Rebek. “Despite losing him to injury in November, he recovered nicely and was a great character individual on and off the ice.”

Based out of Henniker, New Hampshire, the NEC Pilgrims are members of the 11-school New England Hockey Conference.

As for Russell, the 20-year-old Alexandria, Minn., product was a solid stay-at-home type of defender for the Eagles over the course of his two seasons in the NOJHL. He also served as an assistant captain with the Eagles.

In his time with the club, he appeared in 100 career contests, including six in the playoffs.

He went on to score three times and dole out 27 assists.

Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Liberty Flames compete out of the ACHA’s D-I conference.

NOJHL COMMITMENTS TRACKER

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Yale Athletics

In a 2021 preseason poll, Yale’s gymnastics team was slated to be the second best team in the Gymnastics East Conference. The Bulldogs opened their season with individual first place victories over West Chester, Long Island and Brown — by Lindsay Chia ’22 on beam and by Sherry Wang ’24 SPH ’25 on bars. 

They capped off the season by placing first in the Ivy League championship and fourth at the GEC championship, with Chia taking home the all-around gold medal. At the end of a remarkable season, Head Coach Andrew Leis was named Women’s Coach of the Year by USA Gymnastics and Raegan Walker ’23 was crowned vault champion at the USA Collegiate Championships.

Building off the previous year’s momentum, the Bulldogs placed third at the 2023 Ivy championship and took second in the GEC championship. Walker and Sarah Wilson ’24 won multiple GEC Gymnast of the Week honors, and Riley Meeks ’23 placed second in the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Individual Finals on the balance beam.

In 2024, the Bulldogs secured the second-highest team score in program history at the Tonry Invitational meet, where Gigi Sabatini ’26 won first place all-around. That season, the Bulldogs took home second place again at the GEC championship, and Wilson and Ella Tashjian ’27 won individual championships in bars and floor, respectively.

To round out a record-breaking four years, the Bulldogs posted a season-high score at the 2025 Ivy championship and finished in third place behind Penn and Brown. The team earned second place at the GEC championship for the third straight year.

STEM

Jenny Ross

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately.

The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative “Experiencing Physics” labs—inquiry-based Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) targeted at improving both teaching outcomes and student retention in the physics major.

Current A&S Associate Dean for Creativity, Scholarship and Research Jenny Ross served as department chair when these initiatives were started.

For these notable initiatives, as well as her groundbreaking explorations in biophysics and active matter, Ross was awarded the prestigious 2025 STAR Award from Research Corporation for Science Advancement. The STAR (Science Teaching And Research) Award recognizes outstanding achievements in both research and education.

A 2010 Cottrell Scholar, Ross’s research explores how cells organize themselves using fundamental physics principles, with the goal of designing next-generation materials inspired by biology.

The award includes a $5,000 prize and will be presented at the 2025 Cottrell Scholar Conference in Tucson, Arizona, this July. As a recipient, Ross will provide mentoring to early career Cottrell Scholar colleagues throughout the coming year.

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — We’re back with another excellent group of local students.

NIL is affecting every athletic department in the country. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the co-chair of President Trump’s commission studying college sports, with the hope that the committee can find a solution to the growing problem of NIL in college athletics.

However, NIL continues to rage on, with the price for five-star freshmen going up, and players re-upping contracts every offseason to stay with their current team.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is the latest to warn the college football world about NIL. In a recent interview with Paul Finebaum, Smart sounded off on the current state of college athletics.

“I just want to be able to have freshmen come in and not make more than a senior,” Smart said, “and I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive.”

Smart’s comments come on the heels of five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell choosing the Miami Hurricanes over Georgia. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Cantwell is expected to draw $2.5 million in his first season in Coral Gables.

Smart is cautious about President Trump finding an answer, even with his new committee.

“People have talked about Congress. That’s not easy. Not a lot gets done quickly there.”

Smart also issued a warning about Olympic sports on college campuses.

“You know, we’re probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports.”

Olympic sports are not typically revenue-driving sports, with several losing money on operations. Football and men’s basketball can keep them afloat, but with the growing costs in the two sports, Olympic sports may begin to get cut for schools to remain competitive in the revenue sports.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.