CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast track & field heads to Memphis, Tennessee for the Memphis Invitational at the Billy J. Murphy Track and Field Complex Friday May 2 through Saturday May 3.

Friday’s field events begin at 2:00 p.m. CST, with the women’s long jump and the track events are slated for 6:00 p.m. with the women’s 1500m run. Day two of the meet is scheduled for 11:45 a.m., with the women’s 100m hurdles and will finish at 3:30 p.m. with the men’s 4x400m.

Where We Rank

For each individual event the top 48 performances will be accepted into the NCAA regional which is broken up into East and West. For each relay event, the top 24 relay teams will be accepted into the competition. The top 24 performances in the combined events (Heptathlon and Decathlon) are accepted directly into the Championships. 

The sport is broken up into nine regions, SEMO is in the Midwest Region which includes all the Division One schools from Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Southeast has four marks ranked in the top 50 of the country, 28 marks ranked in the top 25 in the midwest, 14 marks ranked first in the OVC, and 49 performances in the top five in the Ohio Valley Conference.

In the high jump, Luke Hatfield Jackson is ranked 24th in the NCAA, sixth in the Midwest and first in the OVC, achieving a mark of 7′ 0.5″ at the Georgia Tech Invitational. In the long jump, Hatfield Jackson ranks eighth in the region and first in the OVC with a distance of 24′ 7.25″ which he achieved at the Crimson Tide Invitational.

Paden Lewis ranks 43rd in the nation, 11th in the region, and first in the conference in the hammer throw with a distance of 212′ 1″ with the mark being achieved at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational. Lewis also ranks 49th in the nation, 12th in the region and first in the OVC in shot put with a mark of 60′ 1″. Lewis ranks 23rd in the region and first in the conference in discus throwing a distance of 177′ 3″.

Anna Thomason ranks 29th in the nation, seventh in the region, and first in the OVC in the heptathlon, getting 5260 points at the Gibson Invitational. Thomason also ranks 13th in the Midwest and first in the Ohio Valley Conference in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.80. 

In the 400m, Sydney Burdine ran a 54.02 to be ranked 10th in the Midwest.

In the 10,000m, Noah Little ranks first in the OVC with a time of 30:27.11.

Lexie Dockstader ranks 25th in the Midwest with a time of 37:59.39 in the 10,000m.

With a distance of 49′ 7.25″ Kenyon Johnson ranks 11th in the region in triple jump.

Brianna Dixon ranks 14th in the Midwest in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.82. Dixon is also ranked 25th in the midwest and first in the conference in high jump, clearing a height of 5′ 7.25″.

Marcus Gordon ranks 21st in region in the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.94.

In the 400m hurdles Laila Hardin ran a 59.41 time to be ranked ninth in the Midwest and first in the OVC.

The 4x400m relay team of Primeau, Fuller, Splitt, and Mygatt combined for a time of3:18.77, ranking 21st in the region.

Burdine, Lester, Dwaah, and Hardin ran a 3:48.82 in the 4x400m relay to be ranked 15th in the Midwest region. 

Collin Beers cleared a height of 16′ 4.75″ in pole vault, earning 19th in the regional rankings and Sullivan Gleason vaulted over a height of 16′ 2″ for 24th in the region.

19th in the region and first place in the OVC women’s pole vault rankings is held by Clara Billing, who cleared a height of 13′ 4.5″.

Aarion Jackson cleared a distance of 23′ 7.25″ to be ranked 24st in the Midwest in long jump.

Kenyon Johnson ranks 11th in the region in triple jump with a distance of 49′ 7.25″.

Luke Busateri ranks 13th in the Midwest Region in the triple jump with a distance of 49′ 1.75″.

In the hammer throw Makenzie Williams threw for a distance of 189′ 5″ to take 17th in the region and first place in the Ohio Valley Conference rankings. Williams also ranks 19th in the region in discus with a distance of 160′ 11″.

Andreese Ortiz ranks 23rd in the region in discus, throwing a distance of 152′ 8″

Josiah Kilgore ranks 16th in the region and first in the conference in javelin throwing for a distance of 194′ 3″.

Throwing for a distance of 144′ 0″, Kennedy Zgaynor ranks 20th in the Midwest and first in the conference in javelin.

Tayler Gudde ranks 25th in region in the heptathlon with a point total of 4380.

Jake Casey ranks 20th in the region in the decathlon with a point total of 6077. 

Team Rankings

The Southeast Missouri men’s track and field team is ranked 152nd in the nation with 1.50 points coming from Luke Hatfield Jackson’s high jump (7′ 0.5″) and Paden Lewis’ hammer throw mark of 212′ 1″ and shot put of 60′ 1″.

The Southeast Missouri women’s track and field team is ranked 157th in the nation with 0.70 points coming from Anna Thomason’s 5260 points in heptathlon. 

The men’s team is ranked 18th in the Midwest Region with 103.09 total points and first in the conference with 1,115.14 points, ahead of Little Rock with 1,114.89 points.

The men’s squad teams that are ranked in the top 50 in the nation are the discus team (39th), high jump (33rd), long jump team (35th), and the shot put team (33rd).

The women’s team is ranked 20th in the Midwest Region with 91.76 total points and first in the OVC with 1,081.54 points, ahead of Little Rock in second with 934.87 points.

The women’s squad teams that are ranked in the top 50 in the nation are the hammer throw team (24th), the javelin team (38th), and the shot put team (44th). 

Weekly Awards

Laila Hardin earned Female Track Athlete of the Week for the third straight week in a row as she placed seventh out of 53 runners in the 400m Hurdles, running a time of 1:00.53 that ranks sixth all time in SEMO records. Hardin also set a new personal record in the 400m with a time of 55.95 that earned eighth out of 61 runners. Additionally, Hardin was part of the 4x400m team that took second out of 17 running a 3:46.01, a season best time for the team and a time that ranks first in the OVC.

Luke Hatfield Jackson tabbed his third Male Field Athlete of the Week, producing a high jump that took first out of 21 competitors. Hatfield Jackson cleared 7′ 1.75″ in the high jump, which ranks him 15th in the NCAA, first in the OVC, and second all time in SEMO records. Additionally, in the long jump, Hatfield Jackson set a mark of 23′ 4.50″ to take ninth in the event out of 38 competitors.

Kennedy Zgaynor claims her third Female Freshman of the Week of the season, placing fifth out of 29 in the javelin with a throw of 136 ‘0″. This mark ranks Zgaynor first in the OVC in the javelin.

Looking Ahead

After the Memphis Invite the track team will be split between the Billy Hayes Invite in Bloomington, Ind. and the Arkansas Twilight in Fayetteville, Ark.

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Welcome to the 2025 NCAA beach volleyball tournament. It’s once again calling Gulf Shores home as 16 of the best teams take to the sand.

Fans of all teams are excited.

“It’s out of this world. The spectacular play that you’ll see, just watch all weekend. It’s just phenomenal. Year after year after year,” Tom Mayer said.

“Outstanding, we were here last year and it was amazing. And this year is going to be too,” USC Fan Tricia Howard said.

And it’s especially important for these fans who have family members in the game and coaching it.

“We just love following him around and the team,” Barbara Mayer said.

“Luckily, we have another son who’s an assistant coach at Cal. Cal is also here. For us, it’s doubly exciting because we get to watch both, and they don’t play each other unless they get to the finals,” Tom Mayer said.

“we’re uncle Tim and aunt Tricia to Ashley Pater. So we have a personal connection, and we’re so excited to see her play again today and to see the team play. Hopefully it’s going to be just a good of a result as last year’s.” Tim Howard said.

And speaking of last year, the returning champs, the USC Trojans, have had plenty of success on this court. They’ve won four straight championships here. And they hope to add another.

“It’s beautiful. Everything is surreal here. And hopefully the win will be surreal too,” Tricia Howard said.

The semifinals will be on Saturday, and the finals will be played on Sunday.

Copyright 2025 WALA. All rights reserved.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Junior Kevin Turlington established a new meet record in the 5,000-meter run for the St. Olaf College men’s track and field team at the unscored Meet of the UnSaintly on Wednesday at Klas Field.

Running in a field that included 14 NCAA Division I runners, Turlington trailed four runners from the University of Minnesota for most of the race before pulling away form a near 12-second win in 14:11.84. The junior’s time ranks No. 15 in the country, No. 1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and No. 2 on St. Olaf’s all-time list, in addition to topping the previous meet record of 14:29.29 set by Team USA Minnesota’s Ryan Rutherford in 2017.

Turlington was one of three Oles in the top 10 in the 48-runner field in the 5,000-meter run, with senior Andrew Skemp in seventh (14:35.59) and junior Gael Manzur Strandlund in 10th (14:44.37). First year Austin McInturff, junior Cullen Moore, first year Jakob Eenigenburg, and junior Lance Nemecek placed second in the 4×400-meter relay (3:18.56) with the second-fastest time in the MIAC this season.

Senior Sean Hartney added a top-15 national time in the 1,500-meter run with his eighth-place finish (3:05.02), a time that ranks second in the MIAC and eighth on the program’s all-time list. Junior Ignatius Fitzgerald also posted a top-five time in the conference this season in the event in ninth place (3:53.17).

In addition to the relay, Moore and Nemecek both ran top-40 national times in the 800-meter run, with Moore taking second (1:51.98) and Nemecek in third (1:52.50). Those times sit second and third, respectively, in the MIAC and fifth and sixth on St. Olaf’s all-time list.

Sophomore Max Albertson added a third-place performance in the long jump (6.92m, 22′ 8 ½”) to match his second-best mark in the event this season.

Senior Andrew Cogley and sophomore Jesse Olson will open the MIAC Decathlon for the Oles at 12 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 at Carleton College’s Laird Stadium. St. Olaf will also host the Ole Open on Saturday, May 3 starting at 12 p.m. at Klein Field at Manitou.

 

Southern Illinois will face off against Asbury, Bellarmine, Butler, Eastern Kentucky, Harvard, Indiana, Kentucky State, Louisville, Michigan State, Milwaukee, Morehead State, Penn State, Purdue, Transylvania, Union (Ky.), and Western Kentucky.

The Jim Green Invitational is a two-day event. Day one will begin at 2:30 p.m., with the heptathlon, and the women’s hammer throw. Track event will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Day two will see the conclusion of the heptathlon at 11:30 a.m., field events will begin at noon with women’s discus, men’s shot put, and women’s high jump. Track event will close the event, beginning at 12:40 with the 4x100M relay events.

Follow along with Live Results.

LMU women’s water polo returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 after securing the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Tournament title last Sunday at the Burns Aquatics Center, their home pool. The Lions defeated Santa Clara University on April 25, San Diego State University on April 26 and continued the three-game weekend victory against Fresno State University on April 27. The team is currently 7-0 in the GCC standings, making them the conference leaders. They are undefeated in conference play and are ranked No. 8 by the Collegiate Water Polo Association.

The Lions celebrated their regular season triumphs with high spirits and big smiles at the Burns Aquatics Center, but perhaps with the biggest smile of all was senior team captain and NCAA tournament MVP Ruth Arino Ruiz.

Senior attacker Ruiz has spent the last four years with the Lions, and the conclusion of this season will mean the conclusion of her time in the pool. However, she is not quite ready to hang up her swimsuit as the team prepares for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

“Every time I think about my last game as a Lion, I just get super sad because the time has literally just flown by,” said Ruiz. “When the team and I had tough moments throughout the year, we really tried to sort it out because I didn’t want my last season and the other seniors’ seasons to end on a bad note. We get to decide how this ends.”

Hailing from Barcelona, Ruiz began playing water polo when she was 13. She grew up competing against older swimmers, which helped her develop extensive experience in the water.

Traveling from her country where water polo is a mainstream sport, Ruiz longed to bring her water polo skills and knowledge to America’s culture of water polo. Since her redshirt freshman season in 2022, Ruiz’s impact was immediate. She led the team with 69 points, tallying 40 goals and 29 assists. Her ability to read defenses and create opportunities set her apart early as a born leader.

Ruiz was named GCC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, finishing with a league-leading 102 goals and lead in conference assists with 64. Ruiz, without question, is a beast.

This year, Ruiz continued to make big splashes. She leads the GCC in all three categories: points, goals and assists. As of April 2025, she claims 36 steals to her name. But beyond her accolades, Ruth is a motivator, a fierce competitor and a friend.

“I hope my teammates remember me as a person that leads by example and that they are inspired by me to not be afraid of speaking your mind, always with respect, but no one should tell you what to say or what not to,” said Ruiz.

As graduation nears and her time as a Lion winds down, Ruiz is not just playing to win — she’s playing to remember and to leave a lasting legacy. So, in her final season, Ruiz is doing just that.

“The most emotional moment was this past weekend. The final 10 seconds of the game when you already know that it’s kinda done,” said Ruiz. “We were already winning by two and we had possession of the ball and we started celebrating but our coaches started screaming, ‘No, no, no, the game isn’t over just yet.’ It was all so emotional.”

Ruiz is defined by her unwavering dedication and leadership. Her journey from a promising freshman to one of the most accomplished players in LMU history is a testament to her passion for the game.

“It’s been a really, really long journey but it is just so rewarding to see everything you do and all the work you put in as a team and individually come together,” said Ruiz.

Ruiz and the entire LMU women’s water polo team will continue to tread water as they face No. 2 seed University of California, Los Angeles on May 9 in first round of the NCAA Tournament.