TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State senior pole vaulter Will Staggs and sophomore hurdler Rachel Mehringer will represent the Blue and White at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor National Championships, which start Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Staggs will compete in the pole vault Wednesday at 7:35 p.m. ET (4:35 p.m. PT), with Mehringer’s 100m hurdles semifinal set for Thursday at 8:08 p.m. ET (5:08 p.m. PT). Should Mehringer qualify for the 100m hurdles final, that race would be Saturday at 9:42 p.m. ET (6:42 p.m. PT).
 
Dedicated streams for the field events will be available on ESPN+, while ESPN (Wednesday and Thursday) and ESPN2 (Saturday) will air coverage from the week’s competition.
 

 
Event Format
The pole vault will consist of 24 athletes competing on a single pit. The opening height will be 5.18m (17-0), with the progressions matching that of the NCAA East First Round (5.18m/17-0, 5.33m/17-5.75, 5.43m/17-9.75, 5.53m/18-1.75, then plus-five centimeters for every further progression). Will Staggs is 19th in the start list.
 
The 100m hurdles semifinals will consist of three heats, each of which will have eight athletes. The top two times from each heat will automatically advance to finals, with the next three fastest times across all three heats also earning a spot in finals. Rachel Mehringer is in lane 2 of the second heat.
 
Trees In The Pole Vault
Will Staggs will be making his third appearance at an NCAA National Championship, having previously represented Indiana State at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor National Championships and 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. He is the only men’s pole vaulter in program history with an NCAA Outdoor National Championship appearance at the Division I level and one of three men’s pole vaulters in program history to reach a national championship, alongside Tony Mescall (1996 NCAA Indoor National Championships – fifth place) and 1967 NCAA College Division Outdoor National Champion Mike Hanna (the College Division was renamed to Division II in 1973).
 
Indiana State has also seen plenty of success in the pole vault on the women’s side, with four-time national champion Kylie Hutson (2009-10 indoor and outdoor) and 2015 First Team All-American Kimyanna Rudolph among the notables to don the Blue and White on the national stage. Two-time All-American Nicole Hope (2012 indoor – 13th place, 2013 outdoor – 13th place) also represented the Sycamores in the pole vault at multiple national championships.
 
Trees In The Hurdles
Indiana State has had plenty of success on the national stage in hurdles events, but Rachel Mehringer will be the first to Sycamore to appear in the 100m hurdles at a national championship. Mehringer joins Erica Moore (2010 outdoor) and Stacia Weatherford (2012 outdoor) as women’s hurdles athletes to represent the Sycamores at the national championships, with Moore and Weatherford both competing in the 400m hurdles. Moore was a First Team All-American in the 400m hurdles and also earned All-America honors in the 800m during the 2010 indoor season.
 
The Sycamores boast a pair of national champions in hurdles events in their history, with Chris Lancaster (1990 110m hurdles) and Aubrey Herring (2001 60m hurdles) both winning national titles for the Trees. Four different Sycamores have won multiple All-America accolades in hurdles events for their careers, with Herring (1998 indoor, 1999-01 indoor and outdoor) being a seven-time All-American, Greggmar Swift (2012 outdoor, 2013-14 indoor and outdoor) winning five All-America honors, Lancaster (1988 outdoor, 1990 indoor and outdoor) earning three All-America honors and Adarius Washington (2014 outdoor, 2015 indoor, 2016 outdoor) being a three-time All-American. Marcus Neeley (2017 outdoor) and Max Tuttle (2014 outdoor) have also represented the Trees in hurdles events at the national championships, with Neeley’s 10th-place finish in the 110m hurdles in 2017 being the last time a Sycamore hurdles athlete reached the national championships.
 
How They Got Here
Will Staggs placed third at the NCAA East First Round in the pole vault, clearing a Hodges Stadium facility record of 5.43m (17-9.75) on his second attempt to secure his spot in the NCAA Outdoor National Championship field. He will be making his third appearance at a national championship, finishing 18th at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor National Championships and ninth at the 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. A five-time MVC Champion in the pole vault (2022 indoor and outdoor, 2023 indoor, 2024 indoor and outdoor), Staggs owns Indiana State’s indoor (5.56m/18-2.75) and outdoor (5.53m/18-1.75) pole vault records and also owns the indoor (5.46m/17-11) and outdoor (5.43m/17-9.75) facility records in the event and broke his own indoor and outdoor school and facility records in the event during the 2024-25 season. He cleared 5.43m (17-9.75) or better at six different meets during the 2025 outdoor season.
 
Rachel Mehringer placed 10th in the 100m hurdles at the NCAA East First Round, with her quarterfinal time of 13.08 sealing her spot in the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. She will be making her NCAA National Championship debut Thursday in Eugene. Mehringer also ran a time of 13.05 in the first round of the NCAA East First Round, and has run five times under 13.10 in across her last three meets. Mehringer owns the Indiana State and Missouri Valley Conference records in both the 60m hurdles (8.19) and 100m hurdles (13.04) and is a four-time MVC Champion between the two events (2024-25 indoor and outdoor). She owns Indiana State’s facility records in the 60m (7.52), 60m hurdles (8.20) and 100m hurdles (13.04), all of which were set during the 2024-25 season, while she also broke MVC Championship records in the 60m hurdles (8.19) and 100m hurdles (13.07).
 
All-America Honors
Athletes finishing in the top eight of their respective events will earn First Team All-America honors. Those finishing ninth through 16th will earn Second Team All-America honors, while athletes finishing 17th through 24th will earn Honorable Mention All-America honors.
 
Up Next
Indiana State has four athletes – freshmen distance runners Gnister Grant and Peyton Smith, and freshmen throwers Olivia Marshall and Emma Yoder – set to compete at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships June 19-20 in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Follow the Sycamores

For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
 

– #MarchOn –

GAINESVILLE, Fla. –   Florida volleyball announced its 2025 nonconference schedule on Tuesday, which marks the Gators’ first season under new leadership of head coach Ryan Theis.
 
The schedule includes 10 matchups and features a blend of contests held throughout Florida and the Midwest. The Gators play three matches inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, while making appearances in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina for one or more matches.
 
Florida will open its 2025 season against Sanford and Pittsburgh at the AVCA First Serve in Lincoln, NE on Friday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 24 before welcoming Norfolk State to the O’Dome for the Gators home opener on Sunday, Aug. 31.
 
Florida hosts Baylor on Sunday, Sept. 14, as the Bears make their first appearance in Gainesville since 2021. The Gators last home match of the season, which also serves as senior day, features a visit from in-state opponent UNF on Saturday, Nov. 29.
 
Florida fans will have the opportunity to cheer for the Gators in Tampa on Sunday, Sept. 2 when UF takes on South Florida.
 
The Gators face Big Ten opponent Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, Sept. 7, before traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the SEC vs. ACC Showdown at the Net Challenge on Sept. 9.
 
Theis makes his return to Marquette on Friday, Sept. 19, for a matchup against the Golden Eagles. The Gators close out their Wisconsin tour in Madison on Sept. 21 when they go head-to-head with the Badgers at the Kohl Center.
 
Times and television information will be announced at a later date.

2025 SEASON TICKETS

Season tickets will go on sale Thursday, June 12.

Place a $25 deposit per season ticket to ensure you are at the front of the line when season tickets go on sale. Fans can sign up to be contacted when 2025 ticket information is announced through the link included below. Returning season ticket holders from the 2024 season do not need to place a deposit. Your seats are being held for you and renewal information will be sent to you at a later date.

Place your deposit: https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/en/buy/2025gatorsvolleyballdeposits

Sign up: https://cloud.e.floridagators.com/ticket-interest-form?sport=volleyball

Serving you some fresh matches

Check out our 2025 non-conference schedule

— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) June 10, 2025

2025 Nonconference Schedule

Date	Day	Opponent	Location
Aug. 17	Sunday	Orange & Blue Scrimmage	Gainesville, FL
Aug. 22	Friday	Stanford	Lincoln, NE
Aug. 24	Sunday	Pittsburgh	Lincoln, NE
Aug. 31	Sunday	Norfolk	Gainesville, FL
Sept. 2	Tuesday	South Florida	Tampa, FL
Sept. 7	Sunday	Ohio State	Colmbus, Ohio
Sept. 9	Tuesday	North Carolina (SEC vs. ACC Showdown at the Net Challenge)	Chapel Hill, NC
Sept. 14	Sunday	Baylor	Gainesville, FL
Sept. 19	Friday	Marquette	Milwaukee, WI
Sept. 21	Sunday	Wisconsin	Madison, WI
Nov. 29	Saturday	UNF	Gainesville, FL

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NCAA outdoor track and field championships

WHEN: Wednesday through Saturday.

WHERE: Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.

TV: Wednesday and Thursday — ESPN, 5 p.m. MT; Friday — ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. MT; Saturday — ESPNU, 4 p.m. MT.

NOTES: The Buffs have just two athletes in the field, with Kole Mathison competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Nick Bianco competing in the decathlon. … Both athletes are making their first appearance in the championship finals, although Mathison reached the NCAA West Preliminaries last year. … Mathison competes in the steeplechase semifinal at 5:38 p.m. MT on Wednesday. Mathison will be in the second heat. The top five finishers in each of the two heats, plus the athletes with the next two best times, will advance to the championship heat on Friday (6:24 p.m. MT). … Mathison posted a personal-best time of 8 minutes, 32.74 seconds at the NCAA West Preliminaries on May 30. … Bianco earned his championship berth by posting a team-record decathlon mark of 7,655 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April. He begins his competition with five events on Wednesday, starting with the 100-meter dash at 1 p.m. MT. The men’s decathlon ends with the final five events on Thursday. … The championship meet will be the final appearance for Lindsey Malone, the Buffs’ jumps and combined events coach. Malone and her husband Casey, CU’s throws coach, have had their positions eliminated.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida head volleyball coach Kristen Wright announced Tuesday the addition of transfers Julianna Santiago and Kalil Doctor ahead of the 2025 season.

“Julianna [Santiago] is a competitor. She is athletic and driven; she is excited to develop and get on the court to help elevate our program to new heights,” Wright said. “Julianna is quick, athletic and comes from an excellent program at Tennessee, where she will bring what she learned there coupled with what we promote here to make memories that last a lifetime. Julianna brings a contagious attitude, competitive fire and we are elated for the community to watch her compete over the next several years.”

 

Santiago is a libero/defensive specialist that redshirted her freshman season while at Tennessee in 2024. Santiago was a two-time Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) Division II-A state champion at Battle Ground Academy. 

 

“Kaili [Doctor] has a cannon of an arm with great shot selection. She is a physical blocker and brings an intense drive and competitiveness that we like to play with,” Wright added. “Kaili is used to being the go-to and managing two and three released blockers. She is excited to be around other dominant players with a balanced attack. We are excited to develop Kaili and certainly going to enjoy every moment with her as she is dedicated to the mission and shares the same core values that we do within our program.”

 

Doctor is an outside hitter who last played at Eastern Michigan in 2024 after she spent her freshman season at North Carolina A&T in 2023. She played in 23 matches with 18 starts last season at Eastern Michigan, where she totaled 90 sets played and led the team with 238 kills. 

 

Doctor was the first volleyball student-athlete in North Carolina A&T program history to earn a major Colonial Athletic Association superlative when she was named 2023 CAA Rookie of the Year and to the All-Rookie team after she appeared in 26 matches with nine starts and 94 sets played in her debut season. She also ranked second on the team with 238 total kills. Doctor was a three-time Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athlete (WPIA) First Team selection at Pine-Richland High School.

CHATTANOOGA — The Chattanooga indoor volleyball is set to play in a grand total of 28 total matches this fall as the team has officially revealed its 2025 regular season schedule, head coach Julie Torbett Thomas announced on Tuesday.

The Mocs have their eyes set on August, with the team set to open its year on the road in Orlando, Florida, for the first of what will end up being a 12-match non-conference slate for UTC. Chattanooga will then turn its attention to Southern Conference action beginning September 26 at Mercer. In total, the Mocs will be looking at a slate of 11 home matches, 11 road matches and six neutral site contests over the course of 2025.

“I am excited about our overall schedule,” Coach Torbett Thomas said. “We have several big programs that we will face early-on and that will help prepare us for a challenging Southern Conference slate.

“At this time of year, I really wish the players were back in Chattanooga and we could be in the gym getting ready. We have such a short time until that first matchup. We virtually have a new team this year so while I am optimistic about the season and the way the schedule is laid out, I also think it is our most challenging series of matches since I have been leading the program.”

Another notable takeaway from UTC’s 2025 schedule is that the Mocs will be taking on two Power 4 opponents in UCF and Alabama over the course of the team’s non-conference slate. This will mark the first time since 2019 that the Mocs will have taken on multiple Power 4 teams in the same season.

Prior to the team’s 2025 season-opener, fans will have not one, but two opportunities to catch the Mocs in some preseason action at Maclellan Gymnasium starting first on August 19 with the team’s annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage. Later that same week, UTC will welcome Belmont to the Mac for a preseason exhibition match. Both the Blue-Gold Scrimmage and the exhibition match against the Bruins will have 5 p.m. ET start times and will be free for the public to attend.

The Mocs will then travel down to Orlando to take part in the team’s season-opening tournament hosted by Central Florida. Chattanooga’s season-opener is set for 11 a.m. ET on August 29 against Norfolk State. Later that same day, UTC will then face Big 12 foe and tournament host UCF at 7 p.m. ET. The Mocs then wrap up their season-opening weekend on August 30 by taking on UC Riverside at 12 p.m. ET.

UTC then returns home for the 18^th annual Chattanooga Classic, which is set to run September 4-6. The Mocs’ home-opener will take place on September 5 at 12 p.m. ET when Chattanooga takes on Ohio University. The Mocs will then have a short break before hosting Alabama at 6 p.m. ET that same day. UTC’s final match of the Chattanooga Classic is set for September 6, with the Mocs welcoming Jacksonville State at 6 p.m. ET that evening.

Chattanooga concludes its non-conference season with two in-state tournaments hosted by Memphis and Tennessee State, respectively. UTC will first travel to Memphis, Tennessee, September 11-12 for a trio of matches against Memphis, Lamar and UT Martin. This will lead right into the Mocs going to Nashville for the team’s final non-con matches of the year September 19-20 with UTC taking on Indiana State, Idaho and Tennessee State.

Then, beginning September 26, the Mocs will kick off the team’s 16-match Southern Conference schedule by heading to Mercer. The first chance fans will have to catch UTC at home in SoCon play will be October 3-4, with UNCG and Wofford making their way to the Scenic City for a pair of 6 p.m. ET matches.

Another date fans can circle is October 23, when in-state rival ETSU will square off with Chattanooga right here at UTC. Later on in the year, the Mocs will cap off the 2025 regular season with a three-match homestand, as Western Carolina (November 8), The Citadel (November 14) and Furman (November 15) will close out UTC’s year prior to postseason play.

The 2025 Southern Conference Tournament is set to run November 18-22 and will be hosted for the first time ever in Asheville, North Carolina, at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Last year’s 2024 tournament was supposed to be the conference’s first time hosting its volleyball tournament in Asheville, but the SoCon ended up moving the tournament to Spartanburg, South Carolina, following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

All of Chattanooga volleyball’s matches will be free to attend for the general public. Fans not able to make it out in-person will also be able to follow along via ESPN+, so long as the volleyball team does not overlap with any UTC home football games this year.

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The FHSAA state championship game illustrated how important Halle Zimlich was to Seminole High School’s girls water polo success.

Seminole was up 4-2 early in the third quarter of the state final against Gulliver Prep of Miami when Zimlich earned her third exclusion penalty of the contest. Players are allowed two ejections of 20 seconds each. A third ejection results in a player fouling out of the game.

She had a goal, assist and three steals at the time. Without Zimlich, the Seminoles ended up losing 8-5.

“It takes a team to do what we’ve done,” Seminole coach Ryan Ackerson said. “If there’s one player we wouldn’t want to lose in a game, it’s Halle.”

Zimlich, a junior, is the Sentinel Varsity Girls Water Polo Player of the Year for the second year in a row. She led the Seminoles to a 31-0 state championship season as a sophomore.

“She does things instinctively that you can’t teach,” Ackerson said.

The numbers speak for themselves. Zimlich was sixth in the state with 136 goals according to MaxPreps. She added 28 assists and 58 steals for a 28-2 team. That third stat is the underrated part of her game with Ackerson calling her “an extraordinary defender.”

Zimlich also stepped up as a leader, though she was still humble about it.

“The seniors had a huge role in our team as captains, but I also did as much as I could to be a leader on our team,” she said.

Sentinel Standouts

Mallory Baker, Lake Mary, Sr.

Buzz: She evolved from a stellar defender into a great all-around player. Scored team-high 97 goals, as well as 32 assists and 83 steals.

Bailey Dunn, West Orange, Sr.

Buzz: Racked up 71 goals, 53 assists, 107 steals and 31 ejections drawn in leading the Warriors to the state semifinals.

Maran Harris, Dr. Phillips, Sr.

Buzz: Goalie set school records with 320 saves and 1,033 for her career. Added 14 goals, 54 assists, 48 steals. One of eight goalkeepers selected for National Junior Training Camp.

Fiona Pando, Seminole, Sr.

Buzz: She was an all-around contributor for the state runners-up with 77 goals, 22 assists, 41 steals and 73 ejections drawn.

Vivian Swain, Seminole, Jr.

Buzz: Was catalyst for many of Zimlich’s goals with a national-high 109 assists. Also scored 79 goals and notched 60 steals.

Players of the year and Sentinel standouts are selected by the Sentinel staff with input from area coaches. Athletes represent schools eligible for the FHSAA state series from Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and southwest Volusia counties.

Seminole’s Adam Walker is Sentinel Varsity boys water polo Player of the Year

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com. 

 

Originally Published: June 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM EDT