Sports
A look back at the life and career of boxing legend George Foreman – video
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Sports
LA 2028 Olympic organizers release first look at competition schedule 3 years out from games
CBS News Live CBS News Los Angeles Live Organizers of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles released the first look of the competition schedule three years out from the Opening Ceremony on Monday morning. At an event outside of the LA Memorial Coliseum marking three years until the start of the games, LA28 Chief Executive Officer […]

Organizers of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles released the first look of the competition schedule three years out from the Opening Ceremony on Monday morning.
At an event outside of the LA Memorial Coliseum marking three years until the start of the games, LA28 Chief Executive Officer Reynold Hoover announced the first look of the competition schedule, including dates for medal ceremonies.
Hoover highlighted that the upcoming games will be the return of the Games to the U.S. for the first time since 1996. It will be LA’s third time hosting the Olympics, having previously hosted the 1932 and 1984 games.
Sporting events will kick off two days before the Opening Ceremony on July 14, 2028. Hockey, archery, basketball, water polo, handball and cricket will begin on July 12, 2028. Hoover said the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will feature more sports than any other games before. Sporting events will be held at venues around the city, including Dodger Stadium, the Convention Center, the Galen Center and Long Beach.
The first medal will be awarded for the triathlon on July 15 in Venice Beach. Swimming will close out the last medal ceremony on July 30 at Sofi Stadium.
“We are now three years away from the LA Memorial Coliseum hosting the opening of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and I’m proud that the first medal will be awarded at the iconic Venice Beach,” said LA Mayor Karen Bass. “When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighborhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy.
Use this link to access the first look at the competition schedule.
Sports
Chris Bitz | UW-Whitewater
July 14, 2025 Written by Chris Lindeke | Photos by Craig Schreiner, Fionnbharr Hartnett , UW-Whitewater Athletics University of Wisconsin-Whitewater alum Chris Bitz has always enjoyed numbers, whether it was calculating them in a classroom, punching them into an Excel spreadsheet, or seeing them displayed after his latest pole vault attempt. Bitz, who earned a […]

July 14, 2025
Written by Chris Lindeke | Photos by Craig Schreiner, Fionnbharr Hartnett , UW-Whitewater Athletics
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater alum Chris Bitz has always enjoyed numbers, whether it was calculating them in a classroom, punching them into an Excel spreadsheet, or seeing them displayed after his latest pole vault attempt.
Bitz, who earned a B.S. in mathematics in 2023, was a four-year member of the Warhawk men’s track and field team. Now he is thriving as an actuarial analyst for Nationwide in downtown Milwaukee.
He’s been with the company since starting there as an intern in November of 2021, just under halfway through his junior year. He remained an intern through his senior year, focusing on manual group processes, before earning an offer to stay on full time.
“The internship helped with using Excel on a day-to-day basis,” Bitz said. “Once I got further into the internship, then it was about how I can make the right decisions based on the data, which is something UW-Whitewater helps to get at through a couple classes.”
The experience has come full circle for Bitz, who has been managing one intern for each of the last two years. (Nationwide currently employs an intern from UW-Whitewater who doesn’t report to Bitz.) Day to day, he is concentrated strategically on where the best areas of business exist and what areas the company should be targeting.
The textbook definition of what an actuary does is assess financial risk for businesses, including insurance companies, but Bitz believes it’s much more than that.
“I think there are a lot of areas within actuarial science,” he said. “For example, I work on our first-year pricing team, so groups coming to us for the first time looking for health insurance, we’ll price them as a group to see where they should be at. There’s a bunch of different fields within actuarial sciences.”

Chris Bitz is a UW-Whitewater alumnus and former Warhawk pole vaulter who is applying his mathematics education and athlete’s discipline to work at Nationwide in Milwaukee. Bitz, who earned a B.S. in mathematics in 2023, graduated cum laude. Photo taken on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)
A fulfilling Warhawk experience
Bitz took an accounting course as a freshman at Brookfield East High School and said he didn’t love it. His mother, Maria, who attended UW-Whitewater, asked him if he had heard of actuarial math and science and suggested that as a career path.
By his junior year of high school, he knew he wanted to become an actuary.
“I knew very early on that math was my thing,” Bitz said. “From a young age, I was always very good at math — I like the numbers part of it.”
Bitz’s desire to continue his athletic career as a pole vaulter in track and field — along with the university’s reputation for the actuarial science emphasis — led him to UW-Whitewater. He connected to pole vault coach Nathan Wells and head track and field coach Mike Johnson before making his decision to join the Warhawk family.
After a period of adjustment and learning, UW-Whitewater felt like home to Bitz.
“It takes a lot of time to settle in — being on your own for the first time, living in a dorm, having a roommate, all those kinds of things,” he said. “I think I finally got to a point where I was comfortable, and the campus felt like where I should be, and the team felt like family.”
Bitz found a high level of comfort — and success — as a student-athlete. He placed among the top seven in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference four times, including a sixth-place finish at the 2022 outdoor conference championship meet, and recorded his personal best mark at his second-to-last collegiate competition.

Chris Bitz clears a height in the men’s pole vault at the Midwest Elite Invitational on Feb. 15, 2020, at Kachel Fieldhouse in Whitewater. (UW-Whitewater athletics photo/Michael McLoone)
He served as a captain during his senior year in 2023 and was honored numerous times for academics and sportsmanship during his career. He was also recognized as a UW-Whitewater Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete and earned his third straight All-Academic award from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as a senior.
“(NCAA) Division III was a perfect mix for me,” Bitz said. “I love my sport and wanted to put a lot of time into it, and I had the ability to do that while also focusing on academics.
“UW-Whitewater did a good job of balancing the two and making it clear, saying ‘yes, you are an athlete for this track team, but you’re also a student, and that matters more.’”
Bitz said many of his current best friends — including his roommate, CJ Pfeil — were part of the track and field program. He regularly attends the program’s Alumni Meet and currently coaches track and field at Brookfield East High School, his alma mater.
While on campus, Bitz was also part of the university’s Actuarial Club, which helps future actuaries learn, network, and develop skills necessary in the profession. As part of the group, he virtually attended the Wisconsin Actuarial Collegiate Conference, where he landed his internship that led to his full-time job with Nationwide.
“It made it very easy to learn a lot more about the career and connect with people who know more,” he said. “By the time I got to my junior and senior years, I felt much more prepared having been in that club.”

Chris Bitz, a mathematics major from Brookfield, marches in the spring commencement on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (UW-Whitewater photo/Fionnbharr Hartnett)
Bitz, who was a recipient of the Chancellor’s Scholarship, also shouted out mathematics faculty members Geethamali Samaranayake and Wesley Hough for positively influencing his time at the university. He served as a supplemental instructor for one of Hough’s classes and was a math tutor in Campus Tutorial Services.
A promising path to career success
Bitz hopes to secure his certification from the Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and continue building his career at Nationwide to a managerial level.
He continues to put what he learned at UW-Whitewater into practice. He cited his preparation for exams — a critical part of an actuary’s career — as something the university helped him with.
There are 10 exams to pass to become fully certified as an actuary — Bitz has passed four and is waiting on results from a fifth.
“UW-Whitewater offers a couple classes that get you in the door for those exams and teach you the basics for the first two,” he said. “It gives you a grounding of where to start, and you can build on that for the next eight exams — or however many you decide to do.”
Sports
Ciro Gentile Named Head Softball Coach
Story Links Ciro Gentile has been named Head Coach of the Baruch Softball Team. The announcement was made by Baruch College Director of Athletics and Recreation, Heather Mac Culloch on Monday. Ciro Gentile is a seasoned coaching professional with over 18 years as Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Uniondale High School on […]

Ciro Gentile has been named Head Coach of the Baruch Softball Team.
The announcement was made by Baruch College Director of Athletics and Recreation, Heather Mac Culloch on Monday.
Ciro Gentile is a seasoned coaching professional with over 18 years as Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Uniondale High School on Long Island, where he has led his team to three county-wide League Championships, five League runner-up finishes, and earned three county-wide Coach of the Year honors. His reputation for developing athletes both on and off the field is matched by his results—having guided numerous student-athletes to successful collegiate careers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Gentile to the Bearcat family,” said Heather Mac Culloch. “His experience as a teacher and baseball coach translates exceptionally well to the softball field, and his energy, commitment to fundamentals, and ability to connect with student-athletes will help elevate our program. We also know his years of coaching travel softball will add just the right amount of multifaceted coaching we need here at Baruch. We’re excited for what’s ahead under his leadership.”
In addition to his high school leadership, Gentile has served as the Head Coach of the Long Island Gators Softball Program for over a decade (2010 to 2021), coaching championship teams from under 12 through under 18 and capturing multiple United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Tournament Titles. A dedicated mentor and educator, he also serves as a lead hitting and fielding instructor at baseball and softball summer camps, where he shares his deep knowledge of the game with the next generation of athletes.
Gentile holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from SUNY Old Westbury (’85), a Master’s in Continuing Education from Stony Brook University (’99), and an Administrative Degree (’02) from the College of New Rochelle. With 35 years of experience as a Special Education teacher, he brings unmatched patience, communication, and insight into player development.
“I’m incredibly honored to accept the position of Head Softball Coach at Baruch College.” Coach Gentile comments. “I want to sincerely thank Heather Mac Culloch and Carrie Thomas for entrusting me with this opportunity. I’m excited to lead this program, build a strong team culture, and help our student-athletes grow both on and off the field. Let’s get to work — Go Bearcats!”
A former national-level fast pitch softball player himself—earning All-Tournament honors in the Northeast Region—Ciro’s passion for the game extends to his family. He coached and trained his daughter, Kellie, to an All-State and All-Northeast Region honors in high school, before she went on to become Academic All-American in both soccer and softball at SUNY Brockport. He and his wife Penny are proud parents to Kellie and Cody.
A lifelong Yankees fan, Ciro enjoys golfing and cherishes his time spent with family and friends. His coaching is driven by a belief in hard work, discipline, and fostering a love for the game that lasts a lifetime.
Baruch is proud to announce Ciro Gentile as new Head Softball Coach! Ciro brings nearly 2 decades of experience as a baseball and softball coach from the Long Island high school & club community. For more info, click link in bio. #BaruchSoftball #D3SB @BaruchBearcatAD @CUNYAC pic.twitter.com/jxBATCKXnW
— Baruch College Athletics (@BaruchAthletics) July 14, 2025
Sports
Soquel alumna Jessie Dueck helps MBsand win club national title
Jessie Dueck, a 2025 Soquel High graduate who is committed to play beach volleyball at UCLA, helped MBsand Blue win the Open Division title at the 2025 Beach Volleyball Clubs of America (BVCA) Club V Club National Championships, which ran July 7 through Friday in Hermosa Beach. Dueck teamed with Tulane commit Ciela Hendrickson and […]

Jessie Dueck, a 2025 Soquel High graduate who is committed to play beach volleyball at UCLA, helped MBsand Blue win the Open Division title at the 2025 Beach Volleyball Clubs of America (BVCA) Club V Club National Championships, which ran July 7 through Friday in Hermosa Beach.
Dueck teamed with Tulane commit Ciela Hendrickson and competed at No. 4 pairs. They went 2-1 as MBsand Blue went 3-0 in pool play with wins over WAVE Beach Black of San Diego, Spiker Beach Open Red of Huntington Beach, and AJV Sand of Austin, Texas.
Dueck and Hendrickson also helped MBsand Blue beat Volley For Life of Queen Creek, Arizona, 3-0 in the quarterfinals, MadSand of Plano, Texas, 3-0 in the semifinals, and Spiker Beach Open Black of Huntington Beach 3-2 in the final.
BVCA Individual Pairs National Championship: Aptos’ Ella Dueck, a Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo commit, and MBsand teammate Sarah Cowan tied for fifth place in the Girls’ 16U division at the BVCA Individual Pairs National Championships, which ran July 7 through Friday in Hermosa Beach.
Cal Cup Championships: Aptos’ Ella Dueck and beach teammate Samantha Nammack, a UCLA commit, took first place in the Invitation OnlyGirls’16U division at the 2025 Cal Cup Championships in Manhattan Beach on Saturday.
It was their first time playing together. They finished with a 7-0 record. After going 4-0 in pool play, they beat Leah Blair and Linnaea Nielsen 30-28 in the quarterfinals, Izzy Ramos and Sydney Toumajian 28-15 in the semifinals, and Addison Choi and Georgeann Lee 31-29 in the final.
Youth baseball
Pony 14: Santa Cruz beat Mid-County 15-1 for the Pony 14s Coast Region title at Franich Park in Watsonville on Sunday.
Both finalists advance to the eight-team Pony 14s Super Region Tournament at George Cost Field Complex in Ceres.
Santa Cruz faces Campbell in the first round on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and Mid County faces Rodeo in the first round on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
SFYBL, Vacaville, Ceres, and Rocklin are also in the Super Region.
The top two teams in the Super Region will advance to the West Zone Tournament in West Covina, which begins July 31.
Reporting Scores
Coaches are encouraged to report scores and highlights to sports@santacruzsentinel.com following games. Please include your name and contact number in the email.
Sports
Buckeyes Receive B1G Distinguished Scholar Accolades
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State student-athletes earned 185 Big Ten Distinguished accolades for 2024-25, the Big Ten Conference announced Monday, leading the Big Ten for in honorees for the fourth year in a row. Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar Award recipients […]

Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters) and earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher for a student-athlete’s academic career.
The complete list of Ohio State Big Ten Distinguished Scholars is available in the PDF at the link above.
Forty-nine Buckeyes were recognized for earning a 4.0 grade-point average in 2024-25:
Tatum Adamson, women’s soccer
Jack Agnew, men’s track and field/cross country
Taylor Benedict, women’s rowing
Amelia Boes, women’s rowing
Ava Bramblett, women’s soccer
Riley Brengman, women’s hockey
Jenna Buglioni, women’s hockey
Marian Catahan, artistic swimming
Panagiota Charalampous, pistol
Faith Choi, women’s golf
Niamh Coffey, women’s rowing
Lily Danner, women’s soccer
Dylan D’Emilio wrestling
Lillian Eckles, women’s track and field/cross country
Jessica Eden, women’s swimming and diving
Miranda Freedman, women’s fencing
Samuel Freedman, men’s fencing
Ryan Gordon, men’s hockey
Anya Hardwick, women’s rowing
Jacob Harmon, men’s gymnastics
Paige Hollowell, rifle
Teresa Ivan, women’s swimming and diving
Kira Katterle, women’s rowing
Andrea Kuhn, women’s track and field/cross country
Abbie Leverett, pistol
Erin Little, field hockey
Emily Londot, women’s volleyball
Krista Marlin, women’s swimming and diving
Gannon Matthews, men’s lacrosse
Mario McDonald, men’s swimming and diving
Will McGraw, men’s track and field/cross country
Morgan Miller, women’s rowing
Kaylyn Mintz, women’s gymnastics
Drew Mulcahy, men’s golf
Megan O’Connor, women’s rowing
Molly Pritchard, women’s soccer
Klay Reeves, wrestling
Sarah Richards, field hockey
Leah Sax, women’s lacrosse
Lexington Secreto, women’s hockey
Lucy Scott, women’s rowing
Maeve Simonds, women’s lacrosse
Taylor Thierry, women’s basketball
Dylan Vellios, men’s soccer
Jojo Warga, women’s gymnastics
Maddi Wheeler, women’s hockey
Makenna Webster, field hockey & women’s hockey
Kiara Zanon, women’s hockey
Katherine Zenick, women’s swimming and diving
In 2024-25, 515 Buckeyes were named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team. This year, 805 Buckeyes earned a spot on the Ohio State Scholar-Athlete list and more than 40 received College Sports Communicators Academic All-District accolades. At Spring Commencement, 212 current and former student-athletes received degrees, joining 50 who graduated in autumn.
Sports
Banks County Lady Leopards – BLITZ
With back-to-back Sweet 16 and 20+ win seasons, the Lady Leopards have truly emerged as a program. Banks County runs it back with four returning starters and has a real shot to go further than they’ve gone before. PRESEASON INFO 2024 Record: 20-23; Sweet 16Head Coach: Whittney LaHayne (5th Season)Returning Starters: 4Key Departures: Shae Britt […]


With back-to-back Sweet 16 and 20+ win seasons, the Lady Leopards have truly emerged as a program. Banks County runs it back with four returning starters and has a real shot to go further than they’ve gone before.

PRESEASON INFO

2024 Record: 20-23; Sweet 16
Head Coach: Whittney LaHayne (5th Season)
Returning Starters: 4
Key Departures: Shae Britt (S), Shayna Vickery (L), Emmie Chitwood (OH)
Key Players: Kimber Meister (S), Bryanna Hernandez (MH), Hayden Carroll (RS), Kiera Gilkes (OH), Ella Langford (OH)
Strengths: “This upcoming season, we will be strong on a new front: blocking,” says LaHayne. “We have a strong group of hitters who can get up on the net for defensive blocking as well. While we lost some big players this past year who graduated, we have a very strong group coming up that I believe will allow us a smooth transition into this upcoming season.”

“I have told the girls since the beginning of spring/summer workouts that they have everything it takes to go further than we have in the past,” adds LaHayne. “I feel we are still strong in our area, where some of the other teams have lost some key players. There will still be some extreme competition, but if my girls put their heads down and work hard, they will do big things. Being the young group we are, we still have a way to go, but each season has been better than the last, with goals being met and broken.”








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