HOUSTON – Jim VanHootegem, a three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year and Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year selection, has joined the University of Houston Track & Field program as an assistant coach, Director of Track & Field Will Blackburn announced Friday.
 
“This is the realization of a long-held aspiration to be a part of Houston Track and Field,” VanHootegem said. “I want to thank Eddie Nuñez, Lauren DuBois, Will Blackburn and Carl Lewis for this opportunity. I can’t wait to continue the great Cougar tradition of developing individual student-athletes to the highest levels and contending for team championships.  So much of my coaching has been based upon what I’ve learned from legendary coach Tom Tellez, and it’s an amazing honor to follow in his coaching footsteps.”
 

VanHootegem (pronounced van-OTT-eh-ghem) will coach the horizontal jumps after spending two seasons at South Plains College. During his time with the Texans, he was named the 2025 USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year and helped guide the team to three team NJCAA National Championships, including seven individual National Championship titles.
 
“We just got even better as an overall program with Jim’s addition,” said Blackburn. “He brings years of experience as both a head coach and assistant, having led the program to win team National Championships titles at the NCAA and NJCAA levels. Our program is built on representing the University of Houston at the highest level in the Big 12, NCAA Championships and on the international level. Jim understands the rich history of Houston Track &Field, and we are excited to have him join the program.”
 
In his career, VanHootegem has helped guide his programs to 15 National Team Championship titles and 27 conference team titles. Additionally, VanHootegem produced 138 All-American honors as an event coach and 63 honorees as a head coach.
 
His coaching accolades include the 2016 Big 12 Conference Women’s Outdoor Head Coach of the Year, three USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, three USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors and five Big East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year recognitions.
 
VanHootegem brings a wealth of Big 12 experience as he served as the head coach at Oklahoma for six seasons from 2013-19. He guided 83 Sooners to NCAA Championship berths, 62 collected All-America accolades and 28 won individual or relay Big 12 titles. Additionally, 65 student-athletes earned All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA.
 

From 2004-2013, VanHootegem served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M where the Aggies won seven NCAA team titles, 22 individual NCAA Champions and 14 conference crowns. VanHootegem was named the 2009 Men’s National Assistant Coach of the Year and a 2012 Mondo Regional Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
 
VanHootegem was an assistant coach at Miami from 2001-04, where he won five conference titles and was a member of the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year on five separate occasions.
 
As a student-athlete at North Central College, VanHootegem helped lead his squad to a pair of NCAA Division III national championships and two third-place finishes. He is a seven-time All-American and was named the team’s most valuable athlete and a team captain.
 

A native of Kewanee, Ill., VanHootegem earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from North Central College. He is currently a USTFCCCA Academy instructor for the jumps curriculum. Van Hootegem is a certified strength and conditioning coach by the USTFCCCA Academy and is Level II certified in the USA Track & Field Coaching Education Program.
 
VanHootegem is married to the former Carmen Melendez, and they have three children, Tori, Quin and Olivia. The VanHootegems also have two granddaughters, Eden and Hazel.
 
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The Marquette Mustangs are the Missouri Water Polo district champions again.

The Mustangs earned a 14-7 win over Kirkwood in Walker Natatorium at Kirkwood High School.

Marquette finished 24-1. The win made it back-to-back championships and third overall. Water polo for girls began in 2021.

Coach Claire Maniscalco said there was no pressure on her girls to repeat.

“We set the same input goals every year, focusing on training and how we work. We don’t pay attention to results,” Maniscalco said. “We do the work and accept whatever results happen. Our kids are great at buying into the program’s approach.”

In the regular season, Marquette defeated Kirkwood 15-3.

Going into the final, Maniscalco said her girls were not overconfident.

“Confidence is earned by putting in the work. This year’s team really trained hard,” Maniscalco said. “What we refer to as the right way. They earned the confidence they brought into the championship game.”

The keys to the victory, Maniscalco said, were the Mustangs’ defensive and offensive disciplines. 

In the win, cousins Neveah Kerber and Cassidy Kerber played well. Cassidy, a sophomore, scored six goals. Neveah, a senior, scored five goals.

“Their power on offense stands out and the hard working movement defense lead by (junior) Olivia (Brzyski) in the goal and Isla (Sattler) mirroring their top shooter and effectively limiting her scoring chances stood out. Our four first year starters (Sattler, Dani Hume, Avery Anthony and Gabby Silasi) really bought into and learned zone help defense and executed amazingly.”

The Mustangs lose only Neveah Kerber to graduation.

“The sport is growing so competition gets stronger each year,” Maniscalco said. “We have two players returning who were first team all-district two years in a row now and a third who made second team this year. We’ll be in a good position to compete again next year.”

 

TAYLORSVILLE — One of the more successful athletic programs at Salt Lake Community College has been discontinued after just three seasons.

The Bruins have discontinued both the indoor and outdoor track and field programs, the state’s largest two-year college confirmed to KSL.com Friday afternoon after a banner year for the sport on the Taylorsville campus.

“After thorough evaluation, this decision reflects broader institutional priorities and financial challenges,” the school said in a statement. “It was made after careful consideration and in no way reflects negatively on our student-athletes, who have represented the college with excellence and dedication.”

Athletes on scholarship and those who have signed letters of intent prior to the announcement will have their scholarships honored for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year, a spokesperson for the school said.

SLCC will continue to field a men’s and women’s cross country team, and “has no plans to discontinue cross country,” per the college.

Salt Lake is in the early days of new athletic leadership under Gary Veron, a former associate athletic director at BYU over student-athlete experience and NIL who replaced long-time athletic director Kevin Dustin after a decade in charge.

Prior to his time in Provo, Veron held several positions at BYU-Hawaii, including interim athletic director and associate athletic director for compliance and student-athlete welfare.

SLCC head coach Isaac Wood, who led the Bruins to three cross country national championships in his first three seasons and dual men’s and women’s national titles last year with the program, could not be reached for comment.

The 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association national coach of the year of the Bruins was coming off arguably the most successful season in the combined program’s short history, including national championships in both men’s and women’s cross country. It was the second consecutive title for women’s cross country, which also won the NJCAA half-marathon title in the fall.

Emerald Kehr, one of the stars of the 2023 national champions who prepped at West High, went on to sign with LSU after finishing second nationally in cross country and top five in the NJCAA in the mile, 3,000 meter and 4×800-meter relay.

Salt Lake sophomore JaQuavious Harris finished first overall to pace the men’s team in 23:30.7. The Cheraw, South Carolina, native then signed a professional running contract with Saucony and still competes and trains regularly with the local Run Elite Program.

The Bruins followed up the feat in March, when freshman Jayden Holdsworth won the NJCAA indoor 3,000-meter championship. The redshirt freshman from Orem surged to the front of the pack in 600 meters to become the second individual champion in the men’s track and field program’s short history and pace an eighth-place finish at the national meet.

In the outdoor season, Michael Maiorano and Melanie Anderson won championships in the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively, and American Fork native Jayden Fitzgarrald finished runner-up in the 5,000 meters. In all, 19 athletes earned NJCAA All-American status.

SLCC men’s cross country and track and field fielded 39 athletes on its roster last year, the majority of whom were from the state of Utah, with all but 11 of them coming from the state of Utah.

The Salt Lake women’s program lists 30 players on its roster — all but six of whom come from the Beehive State.

With the move, SLCC will sponsor four men’s sports and six women’s sports, as well as cheer/spirit squads and varsity esports rosters.

Recreation Commission forwards Moraga Canyon recommendations

The Piedmont Recreation Commission forwarded its input on the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan at the Commission’s June 18 meeting.

Also at the meeting, a group of Piedmont High School beach volleyball players spoke out asking the Commission to consider space for a facility to host matches and practices in Piedmont. The team just completed its third season and has no practice facility in town, with commutes of 40 minutes each way to a facility in the town of Moraga.

The Moraga Canyon Specific Plan involves a potential development on the north part of town around Coaches Field. Housing could be build but the plans also include improvements to Coaches Field, including expanding it to the size needed to host Under-14 year old soccer, including spectator stands, bathrooms and the like. The current is grass and hosts multiple sports including soccer, baseball and softball. The new field would potentially have artificial turf with overlays for baseball and soccer. It could also host lacrosse and other sports.

The Commission voted 5-0 to send a recommendation back to the City Council for the improvements, which did not include a beach volleyball facility.

Daisy Tran, who will be a junior in the fall, was one of the players who spoke at the meeting.

“I believe that having our own courts locally would create a stable foundation for further team improvement,” Tran said. “Local courts would open many opportunities for people of all ages to build community through playing beach volleyball.”

Coach Justin Hoover said he had 72 players express interest in trying out for the team this past Spring, but only eight were able to play. He attributed that dropoff to not having a facility in Piedmont. Rising sophomore Allyson Huynh said, “I was one of those 72 girls who had signed up to play beach volleyball. However because my parents were unable to contribute to the carpool, I was unable to play.”

Although the players were speaking to the agenda item on the Moraga Caynon Specific Plan, the site is unlikely to be open to a beach volleyball facility. Plans have been drawn up on the idea of improving the site for its current usage. Further, it’s unknown where exactly the housing would be built – there are no proposed projects yet. In theory, someone could eventually propose a court on the city-owned property. But it seems unlikely at this point in the process, which began in 2023.

“It was not a recreation facility that was identified by the city council when they approved the recreation facility as part of the plan,” Piedmont Director of Planning & building Kevin Jackson explained.

Hoover said his team’s appearance was mainly to raise awareness of the problem.

“I did not go in thinking we’re going to get a volleyball court,” he said. “I did go in trying to make sure they know we’re here.”

• 

The players all talked about the rising popularity of the sport – both indoor and beach volleyball have seen massive increases in participation in recent years. They also all spoke of the commute time denying kids the opportunity to play.

“It would be such a shame to see all the love for the sport go to waste since we didn’t have a stable facility,” said Fiona Olsen, a rising junior.

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EUGENE, Ore. — Illinois track and field heptathlon signee, Meagan Humphries, has shattered World medalist Anna Hall’s USATF U20 Championships record in the heptathlon with a score of 5,791 points. Hall’s record of 5,660 points has stood for seven years when as she set it in 2018.

Humphries, now a USATF U20 Champion, signed to Illinois eight days ago (June 12) to join an elite combined events room. She’s already improved her heptathlon personal best over 300 points from the time she signed when it stood at 5,452 points. She won the high jump, shot put and long jump en route to this record shattering 5,791-point performance. 

The recruiting process wasn’t easy for Olivia Miller, but her college decision was at the end of the day.

Heading into her senior year, the Bay outside hitter announced her commitment to play Division II volleyball at the University of Findlay.

Although Findlay isn’t Bay Village, it felt like home.

“Everybody always talks about the feeling you get when this is the right one,” Miller said. “It took a little while, but I just got that feeling this is the choice I need to make and it felt like the right time. I got that feeling of belonging.”

With a bigger role, Miller had a monster junior season in 2024. She led the Rockets with 4.7 kills and 3.6 digs per set and earned Cleveland West Conference Player of the Year honors. Miller was also an All-District and Morning Journal first-team selection.

Bay also finished 21-3 with an undefeated conference record and a Division III district final appearance.

Trying to make her decision, Miller had a few things for which she was looking. She wanted to play in D-II for a good program that was close to home.

Findlay checked all the boxes. The Oilers made their first NCAA Tournament appearance last year since 2017 and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. They also won their first-ever Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament championship.

“They have amazing coaches. Coach Wick (Colchagoff) and Coach Hannah (Tong), I can’t say enough about them,” Miller said. “Their team culture really stood out to me. I loved the way the team interacted at the practices I was at. That’s really the big thing that I was looking for. Coach Wick and Coach Hannah brought a lot to the team, and that was very important to me.”

While navigating through the recruiting process, Miller had a helping hand in Bay coach Katie Seal. In her 12 seasons at Bay, Seal has been fortunate to see a handful of her talented players go on to play college volleyball.

Miller has been a pillar of the program for the past few years, so it’s an exciting time to say the least.

“It means everything,” Seal said. “She’s been through the process just chatting with me about her experiences with these different colleges. It’s been nice to have that relationship with her, too. All of her choices were going to be phenomenal for her, and I’m just so happy she landed at a place she’s really excited about. It’s just really exciting for her and us as a Bay family.”

Seal has also seen Miller’s growth from her freshman year to now. Back in 2022 when Miller debuted on the varsity, Seal described her as a quiet player and has now seen her blossom into the player and leader she is today.

“Olivia has evolved a lot,” Seal said. “She has really become a leader between last season and even here in the offseason. All the younger girls really look up to her. She’s not going out there just trying to get all the points herself. She’s really helping the team get better. You can see that in open gyms and even in our conditioning and weightlifting.”

Bay has been very successful in Miller’s time wearing a Rockets’ uniform. Now with her senior season coming up, Miller is ready to end her career with a bang.

When her time at Bay comes to an end, Miller is excited for what’s to come at Findlay.

“I’m thrilled,” she said. “I’ve already got contact information for some of the girls that are also committed. I’m really excited to make some new friends. I’m following everyone on Instagram and seeing what everybody’s up to. I’m just really excited to be a part of a program with the history that Findlay has.”

Originally Published: June 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM EDT