Fanbase Voices is an exciting new initiative powered by Learfield that allows fans to help shape the future of college athletics. Through direct surveys, Fanbase Voices captures fan sentiment on key topics related to college athletics, including content consumption, fan experience, NIL, revenue sharing, sponsorships, and more. Fanbase Voices surveys are emailed to tens of thousands of fans who have opted into Learfield communications each month. This process allows Learfield to gain insights into college sports fans and convert that knowledge into strategic actions for our school and brand partners.

What Benefit does Fanbase Voices Offer?

Fanbase Voices offers unique insights custom curated by Learfield to help athletic departments and brand partners to act and impact their business by:

• Understanding college fans and how they feel about important topics during a time of unprecedented change in college athletics.
• Customizing marketing content to determine how to best align with fan preferences and consumption patterns.
• Elevating game-day experiences, ultimately increasing attendance.
• Enhancing sponsorship strategies by aligning with fan interests and behaviors.
• Defining upcoming trends that drive fan engagement and media coverage.

Highlights from Fanbase Voices First Survey

The Fanbase Voices first survey focused on sports consumption, featuring how fans interact with their favorite team, including fan second-screen behavior, college sports spending habits, and game attendance drivers.

Second Screen Content: College sports fans are highly engaged digital users, often consuming content on second screens to elevate fan and viewing experiences.

Top Fan Activities on Second Screen Devices:

College fans participate in a variety of activities on their second-screen devices while watching college sports on TV.  This fall SIDEARM Sports will introduce a new dynamic gameday experience in their app to provide fans with features that elevate game day content and bring the excitement of gameday into their hands.

Opportunity: Schools and brands can leverage second-screen experiences via their official athletics app to deliver deeper engagement with fans on gameday. Brands can embed themselves in these experiences and/or create unique ways to engage with fans, to maximize the excitement of college sports on gameday.

College Sports Spending: College fans are the largest, most affluent group of sports fans who are deeply loyal to their teams, which translates into significant spending on college sports.

Additionally, these fans spend a significant amount of money supporting their teams by attending games and wearing the colors of their favorite schools. In fact, 87% of college fans in the survey spend on team merchandise and 84% spend on tickets yearly.

Opportunity: College sports fans are not only passionate about their teams but also strongly support their schools through spending habits that drive revenue. By better understanding fan preferences, partners can deliver advanced and targeted fan experiences and maximize revenue streams for their organizations.

Game Attendance: College fans value more than just the wins and losses; the full game-day experience plays a vital role in fan loyalty.

Price is ultimately still the primary driver that influences their decision, but several other factors play an important role in making the decision to attend games.

Opportunity: Athletic Departments can benefit from focusing on the important factors that impact a fan’s decision to attend games, including price, atmosphere, and game-day experience. They can aim to build the right atmosphere around their events so that fans view these events as fun ways to spend time with friends and family.

The Future of Fanbase Voices:

Fanbase Voices will explore new and engaging topics each month. Fanbase Voices survey insights are an opportunity for Learfield, partners, and schools to better understand fan preferences, in turn elevating business practices and strategies at a high level.

Fanbase Voices will also complement the comprehensive Fanbase Fan Report, which is updated regularly and shows demographics, trends, and insights into college sports fans.

The Fanbase team invites you to participate in future Fanbase Voices surveys to share your perspective on college sports.

 

Photo of Lance Garner courtesy of Julia Springsteen (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise

MOREHEAD, Ky. — The Morehead State men’s and women’s cross country teams will welcome 12 newcomers this fall, including a pair of distinguished collegiate transfers. The group includes six men and six women. All 12 will also be members of the track and field team.

“Both cross country teams are replacing some big pieces, but we think we did a good job this recruiting class,” MSU head coach Clay Dixon said. “Two transfers for the men bring experience that can impact this season. The freshmen are coming off great cross country or track seasons and look to potentially be contributors. (The) women bring in talented freshman and a transfer that look to contribute to the top seven as well.”

Headlining the class are graduate student Aiden Massey [Olathe, Kan./Baker (Kan.) University] and sophomore AJ Hawkins (Worthington, Ohio/Eastern Michigan).

Massey will be on his third school, after graduating from Baker University in Kansas this spring. He will be pursuing an MBA at MSU. He spent the first year and a half of his career at Emporia State.

Massey is the Baker record holder in three events, including the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs, and the 8K in cross country. Last fall, he placed 114th at the NAIA national championship. He also was second at the conference cross county meet. He won two of the team’s four regular-season races. During the indoor season, he finished fifth in the mile and 12th in the 3,000-meter run at the conference championships. He did not run in the outdoor campaign.

In 2024, Massey was second in the 10,000m at the outdoor conference meet and was the top collegian across the line in that event at the Kansas Relays. In the 2023 campaign, he won the 5,000m at the CMU Invite and was second in the 1,500-meter run at the Baker University Relays. He enrolled at Baker in January of 2023 and won the conference title in the 5,000m a month later. He did not compete at the 2023 Heart of America Conference outdoor championships.

Massey began his career at Division II Emporia State. He only ran in one cross country meet in the fall of 2022 and did not finish. The previous spring, he had two top-10 performances, including placing second in the 10,000m at the Emporia State Midwest Classic. In the indoor season, his top finish was fifth in the mile at the Kansas State Steve Miller Invitational. In his freshman year, he placed 114th at the NCAA Division II Central Regional. His top finish during the regular season came at the Emporia State Cross Country Invite, where he was 13th in the 8K race.

At Olathe West High School, he helped set the 4×800-meter relay school record.

Hawkins competed in six meets during the cross country season. His best finish came at the George Dales Invite, when he placed 22nd in the 8K. He also finished 24th in the 5K at the Jeff Drenth Memorial in the 5K. He was 70th at the Mid-American Conference meet and 185th at the Great Lakes Regional. During the indoor and outdoor track season, he placed no lower than 21st in his nine races. Included in those results were four top-10 finishes, peaking with a victory in the 1,500m at the Hillsdale College Tune-Up.

At Worthington Kilborne High School, Hawkins was a two-time state qualifier, once in cross country and once in track and field, and a two-time all-district selection in cross country with another one in track. In addition, he was honored as all-conference in track and qualified for the regionals three times in the 4×800-meter relay. He also earned four second-team all-conference accolades in cross country. He competed in both sports all four years, serving as a team captain in two seasons for each team. He is a member of the school record-holding 4×400-meter relay and distance medley relay. He finished his career as ranked among the top five in school history in both the mile and in cross country’s 5K. His WKHS cross country squad won two conference titles.

Among the women, junior Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind./Vincennes (Ind.) Univ.] reunites with former Trailblazer teammate Lani Baskett. Fuller spent the last two years at Vincennes. Baskett, now a junior, joined MSU after the fall of her freshman season. In the 2024 cross country campaign, Fuller was second on the team at both the regional and national meets, placing fifth and 92nd, respectively. The Trailblazers won the regional title and finished 19th nationally. As a freshman harrier, she was sixth at the regionals and 71st at nationals, while leading the team in both races. That season, Vincennes was second at the regional meet and 18th at the nationals. In both years, Fuller competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s half marathon national championships. In track and field, she qualified for the outdoor nationals, placing 20th in the steeplechase as a sophomore and 19th as a freshman. Indoors, she was part of the 10th-place finishing 4x800m relay squad, 12th in the distance medley relay and 28th in the mile in her final season. In her first year, she placed 27th in the 5,000m outdoors, 12th in the DMR and 13th in the 4x800m. At the national meet, Vincennes finished 17th (indoors) and 20th (outdoors) in 2024-25, and 23rd (indoors) and 18th (outdoors) in 2023-24.

At F.J. Reitz High School, Fuller earned 11 letters across three sports (cross country, swimming and track and field). She was a three-time semi-state qualifier in cross country, while her team captured three city titles and one sectional crown during her career. She served as the captain of her cross country squad and was a four-time winner of the Wayne Weller Sportsmanship and Leadership Award.

The ladies of the Blue and Gold also are keeping alive a family tradition. Freshman Sydney Filippazzo (Louisville, Ky./Male Traditional School) is the daughter of former Eagle cross country/track and field team members Jason Filippazzo and Mandy Maddox, who both had successful careers at the crossover of the 21st century. The younger Filippazzo earned all-county honors in both cross country and track and field three times. She qualified for two state cross country meets, with her top finish of 60th coming in 2023. She placed among the top 25 individuals at the regionals in all three of her appearances, with her team taking third each time. In track and field, she participated in five state meets, primarily running as a member of the 4×800-meter relay. That group’s top performance came in 2022, when it placed eighth outdoors. Individually, she crossed the line in 20th in the 1,600-meter run at the 2025 indoor meet and 23rd in the 3,200-meter run as a freshman.

Male High School perennially contended for the state team title, finishing in the top eight in the last four meets, including second outdoors in Filippazzo’s senior year, third indoors her junior season and fourth indoors in her final campaign. Her team also finished second in a highly competitive region in each of the last three years outdoors. Individually, her best regional track performance came this past spring, when she was third in the 3,200m. Her Bulldogs’ 4x800m relay also placed third at the regional in her final two seasons.

Academically, Filippazzo graduated as a valedictorian after posting a 4.1 GPA, and was a member of the A and B Honor Roll all four years of high school.

Peyton Lunsford (Harlan, Ky./Harlan County High School), Kyle Crady (Crestwood Ky./Oldham County High School), Josh Arnett (Lexington, Ky./Paul Laurence Dunbar High School), Lance Garner (Brandenburg, Ky./Meade County High School), Jesus Mendoza-Solis (Paris, Ky./Bourbon County High School), Lauren Jones (Normal, Ill./Normal High School), Josey Cobin (Brandenburg, Ky./Meade County High School) and Addison Hill (Danville, Ky./Danville Christian Academy) all enter as freshmen.

Lunsford won eight individual regional titles and four team championships during her six-year career with Harlan County High School. She also holds the school’s 5K cross country record, which she has both set, broken and reset several times. In addition, she is an outstanding student, earning academic all-state honors in both cross country and track all six years. Lunsford also has been crowned the Area 7 cross country champion three times. Her top finish at the state cross country meet was eighth as a junior, with the Black Bears ending as the state runners-up. She also placed in the top 20 three times and the top 50 on five occasions. Her teams won the region title in both 2023 and 2024 and never finished below fifth. They also won four Area 9 championships. Individually at that competition, she was fourth or better in all five meets in which she ran, winning the title the last two years.

On the track, Lunsford set two other school records, in the 800m and 4x800m relay. She competed in four state outdoor track and field meets, earning a spot on the podium in the 4x400m relay as both a junior and a senior. Her best individual finish came this past spring, when she was seventh in the 800m. She also ran the 400m, 800m, 1,600m, 3,200m and has been a member of the 4x400m relay teams at the state championships. In just track and field, she has participated in 13 state races during her career. Over that time, her teams finished in the top 30 each season. At the regional, she has won the 800m, 4x400m and 4x800m relays twice each; and appeared on the podium an additional 14 times. Harlan County won the regional track title in 2024 and 2025 and finished in the top four all five years in which she competed. It also won the area crown three times. In addition, she is a two-time area champion in the 800m and 1,600m, and was both the conference and area Runner of the Year in her final two seasons.

Crady’s 4x800m relay teams won back-to-back state titles in 2024 and 2025, tying the state record in the latter year. That season, he also finished 15th in the 800m. As a junior, he was 11th in the 1,600m. The 4x800m team was the state runner-up at the 2025 indoor meet. He also finished seventh in the 4x800m relay at the 2023 outdoor state championships. A first-team all-state cross country honoree by the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association in 2024, Crady helped lead his Oldham County High School cross country team to a third-place finish at the state meet. Individually, he was 44th. He qualified for the state cross country championships four times, twice finishing in the top 100. His team also placed sixth in both 2023 and 2021. At the regionals, he placed within the top 40 all four years. Crady was a member of the National Honor Society. He was twice recognized on the KTCCCA Academic All-State Team and once on the KHSAA Academic All-State Team. His twin brother, Sean, will run at the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) this fall.

Arnett earned three all-region and three all-district cross country honors at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He was named all-state in cross country, placing 20th in the KHSAA 3A championships in 2024. He also finished seventh in the 1,600-meter run and 16th in the 800-meter run at the 2025 state outdoor track and field meet, and sixth in the 800m in the state indoor competition. As a junior, he was 91st in the cross county meet, qualified for the outdoor championships in the 4×800-meter relay and finished 16th in the 800m indoors.

Garner was named all-region twice and all-conference four times. His Meade County High School Green Waves’ squad won four consecutive cross country conference team titles, two regional crowns and were regional runners-up twice. Individually, he finished 53rd as a senior and 99th as a junior at the state cross country meet. In the 2025 outdoor track campaign, his team won the regional title, while his 4x800m relay placed 10th at the state. In 2024, that relay won the region and was 22nd at the state competition. He also was a member of the National Honor Society and on the All “A’s” Honor Roll.

Mendoza-Solis was a state champion in track and field and finished in the top 100 all six years he competed at the state cross country meet. In total, he claimed 13 podium finishes in state track and field events, including anchoring the 4×400-meter relay to the crown in 2025. Individually, he also placed second three total times in the 800m both indoors and outdoors. He also won five regional track titles and was a runner-up nine times. Over five state meets between 2023-25 (three outdoor and two indoor), Bourbon County High School finished in the top five. As a senior in cross country, the Colonels placed second in the state, while Mendoza-Solis crossed the line in 14th. In his final four cross country seasons, Bourbon County finished second in the region.

Jones is a member of the Normal High School record-setting 4x400m relay team. She earned all-state honors in the 4x400m and was the regional champs as part of the 4x800m relay. A versatile athlete, Jones placed fifth in the 200-meter dash in the sectionals, while both her cross country and track and field teams finished between sixth and eighth in the sectionals each year she was on the team. An academic standout, she earned the Illinois High School Association’s Scholar-Athlete Award and the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete Award each year in school.

Corbin, like Garner, comes to MSU from Meade County High School, where her team was the conference track and field conference champion in 2023. As a senior, she placed ninth in the 800m and sixth as a member of the 4x800m relay team at the regionals. As a junior, she was 10th in the 800m and sixth in the 4x800m at the regional meet. In cross country, she finished 229th at the state championships and 43rd at the regional in 2025. In the prior year, she was 198th at state and 24th at regionals. A standout soccer player, who started all four years of high school, Corbin tallied 13 goals and had eight assists in her senior campaign. Over her career, she recorded 50 goals and 37 assists. The Green Waves won their district title all four years.

Hill competed in five cross country and five track and field state championships in her career. In her final four seasons as a harrier, she placed in the top 50. As an eighth-grader, she finished 68th. At the regional meet, she finished fifth, seventh, eighth, 12th and 13th over her first five campaigns. As a seventh-grader, she was 34th. In her final three seasons, the Warriors finished seventh or eighth in the team standings. In track and field, she qualified for the state in the 1,500m (indoors), 1,600m and 3,200m run  from her sophomore through senior years. In her final season, she was part of the 13th-place 4x800m relay squad. As a senior, she also finished fifth at the regional in both the 1,600m and 3,200m, and fourth in the 4x400m and 4x800m relays. In other regional meets, she was fourth in the 3,200m and fifth in the 1,600m as a junior and fifth in the 3,200m and sixth in the 1,600m as a sophomore.

The 2025 MSU men will have to replace Justin Bland, Peyton Fairchild, Wes Grogan, Austin Montgomery, Kyler Stewart and Jacob Vogelpohl from a team that finished eighth at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships. The ladies will be without Megan Bush, Hope Harris, Lucy Singleton and all-conference performer Laikin Tarlton from an Eagle squad that placed seventh at the OVC Championships.

The Blue and Gold is expected to open its season at the end of August. A schedule has yet to be released.

2024
• Competed in 110 sets across all 28 matches
• Led team with 718 assists – seventh most in program history by a freshman in a single season
• Second on team with 31 aces
• 48 assists in debut match (Aug. 30 vs. Fresno State), which marked a career-high
• Four double-doubles including three in WCC action
• 13 digs – a career-best – in a sweep of Gonzaga (Oct. 31) went alongside 19 assists
• Put up at least 20 assists in each of the first nine WCC matches of the season including 41 in a five-set win over San Francisco (Oct. 12)
• Served five aces in the Oct. 12 win over San Francisco

KAMEHAMEHA HIGH SCHOOL

• 2023 state champion

• Tabbed no. 2 in Hawaii’s Fab 15 (the state’s top-15 rankings)

• 2023 state championship all-tournament team

• 2023 all-state

• Team captain

• Four-year honor roll

• Graduated with honors

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Heide and Nofo Lilo

• Has an older brother, Micah, and a younger sister, Ava

• Her father, Nofo, played football at Pacific

• Her brother, Micah, played football at Nevada

• Outside of volleyball, Emma enjoys going to the beach, working out and hanging out with family and friends

León, Mexico  – The United States Under 23 National Team was pushed to the brink but pulled out a 3-2 victory over host Mexico in the semifinal round of the Pan American Cup on late Thursday night. Scores of the U.S. victory were 20-25, 27-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-10.

The United States (4-0) will face Canada (3-2) on Friday at 5 p.m. Central for the Gold Medal. The Canadians pulled their second straight upset on Thursday, defeating previously unbeaten Cuba, to clinch its first medal ever at the event.

Rising Creighton senior Ava Martin played in all five sets as a serving sub. She served a pair of U.S. points in the fourth set to help tie the score at 19-all, then served up three consecutive points in the fifth set to help the American side take a 9-4 lead it would never surrender.

Norah Sis did not play in the contest.

The U.S. is being coached by Marie Zidek, who also is the head coach at DePaul.

Complete stats were not immediately available after the match, though the video stream showed Martin with at least two digs and a back row attack.

Last season at Creighton, Sis and Martin were one of the most formidable outside hitting tandems in the nation to help the Bluejays finish 32-3 and reach its first Elite Eight since 2016. Both women were unanimous All-BIG EAST selections and named AVCA All-Americans in 2024. Martin will return for her senior year in August looking to help Creighton win a 12th consecutive BIG EAST Conference title, while Sis won the Pro Volleyball Federation title with the Orlando Valkyries in May and looks to carry that momentum into her second professional season next spring.

Creighton has had several women play internationally with USA Volleyball in recent seasons, as Brittany Witt (Thailand), Jaali Winters (Croatia), Taryn Kloth (China; France) and Sis (Mexico) have all represented Team USA at one time or another in the past decade. Sis was part of back-to-back gold medal-winning teams at the U21 Women’s NORCECA Pan American Cup, while Kloth became Creighton’s first female student-athlete to compete in the Olympics last summer when she tied for ninth in Beach Volleyball along with partner Kristen Nuss.

USA Volleyball Women’s U23 Roster

Name, (Pos., Height, Hometown, College/Pro, Region) 

1 Emmy Klika (L, 5-7, 2003, Novelty, Ohio, Pro Volleyball Federation, Ohio Valley)

3 Chloe Chicoine (OH, 5-10, 2004, Lafayette, Ind., Univ. of Louisville, Hoosier)

4 Cara Cresse (MB, 6-6, 2003, Ft. Wayne, Ind., Univ. of Louisville, Hoosier)

6 Raven Colvin (MB, 6-1, 2003, Indianapolis, Ind., Pro Volleyball Federation, Hoosier)

8 Eva Hudson (OH, 6-1, 2004, Ft. Wayne, Ind., Univ. of Kentucky, Hoosier)

9 Norah Sis (OH, 6-2, 2003, Papillion, Neb., Pro Volleyball Federation, Great Plains)

10 Averi Carlson (S, 5-11, 2003, Lucas, Texas, SMU, North Texas)

11 Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (MB, 6-2, 2004, Flower Mound, Texas, Texas A&M, North Texas)

13 Caroline Kerr (S, 5-11, 2004, Champaign, Ill., Univ. of Tennessee, Great Lakes)

15 Ava Martin (OH, 6-1, 2004, Overland Park, Kan., Creighton Univ., Heart of America)

16 Jurnee Robinson (OPP/OH, 6-1, 2004, Simpsonville, S.C., LSU, Palmetto)

18 Lauren Rumel (OPP, 6-2, 2003, Tucson, Ariz., Oregon State Univ., Arizona)

Coaches

Head Coach: Marie Zidek (DePaul)

Assistant Coach: Kayla Banwarth (PVF, Olympian)

Assistant Coach: Danielle Scott (LOVB, Olympian)

Performance Analyst: Matthew Adams (Michigan)

ATC: Cherryl Bueno (Coast to Coast AthletiCare)

Team Lead: Taylor Marten (Ozark Juniors)

Schedule

All times Central

July 27: USA def. Dominican Republic, W 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-21)

July 28: USA vs. Suriname, W 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-7)

July 29: USA vs. Costa Rica, W 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-10)

July 31: USA at Mexico, W 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-10)

Aug. 1: USA vs. Canada (Gold Medal Match), 5 p.m. CT

EUGENE, Ore. – Nine current and former Oklahoma State track & field athletes have qualified for the U.S. Track& Field Championships this weekend across ten events, with each looking to punch their tickets to the world championships in Tokyo later this year.

Thursday’s action kicks off with 2025 first team All-American Emma Robbins in the women’s Hammer Throw final at 3:30 p.m. CT. In her lone season as a Cowgirl, Robbins placed fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the Hammer Throw and was the Big 12 runner-up in both the Weight Throw indoors and the Hammer Throw.

Former Cowboy Mehdi Yanouri opens the track events in the men’s 800 Meter first round at 5:07 p.m. Yanouri was a member of the 2024 Cowboy Distance Medley Relay squad that won the NCAA title indoors. He will compete in heat three with the top six from each heat plus next three fastest times advancing to the semifinals.

Cowgirl junior Kaylie Politza continues the festivities Thursday in the women’s 800 Meter first round in the second heat at 5:37 p.m. Politza was a second team All-American this season in the 800 Meters indoors and owns the second-and-third-fastest 800 Meter times in program history indoors and outdoors, respectively.

Men’s action continues during the evening section with Cowboy senior Ryan Schoppe and former Cowboy Josh Thompson each competing in the first heat of the 1,500 Meter first round. Schoppe is a two-time NCAA champion as a member of the Cowboy DMR (once alongside Yanouri) and Thompson was a five-time Big 12 champion, helping the Cowboys secure the program’s second Big 12 indoor title in 2016.

Immediately following are another pair of former Cowgirls with Grace Boone (heat one) and Sinclaire Johnson (heat two) in the 1,500 Meters. Johnson set the American and Area Record in the Mile earlier this month and was the NCAA champion in the 1,500 Meters back in 2019. She also won the U.S. title in 2022 and has qualified for three world teams for the USA.

Rounding out the first night of action is former Cowgirl Taylor Roe in the women’s 10,000 Meters at 8:54 p.m. Roe set the world record in the Road 10 Mile in March and was the 2025 U.S. Half Marathon champion in her inaugural season as a pro. She will also be competing in the 5,000 Meters on Sunday at 4:31 p.m. While at OSU, Roe was the 2022 NCAA champion in the indoor 3,000 Meters and was a 12-time first team All-American and eight-time Big 12 champion. She also still holds the school records in both the indoor and outdoor 5,000 Meters and outdoor 10,000 Meters.

Back-to-back defending Shot Put world champion and former Cowgirl Chase Jackson (Ealey) already has her ticket punched to the world championships as the defending champion. She will be looking to secure her fourth consecutive U.S. title and ninth overall as she is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the Shot Put. Jackson also broke the American Record in the Shot Put last month with her toss of 20.95 meters and will compete Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

USATF.tv will stream the entirety of the U.S. Track & Field Championships, with Peacock and NBC streaming the track finals Saturday and Sunday from 3-5 p.m. CT.

For more information on the Cowboys and Cowgirls, continue to check back with okstate.com. 

Not going to lie, I wasn’t originally planning to attend the inaugural Boston Beach Sprints. After all, I woke up in Ohio on Saturday morning and there was only one day left of the weekend-long event. However, after hearing a bit about the excitement on Carson Beach, Massachusetts, I’m glad I made the trip.

Here’s why you should find a beach sprints event to race (or watch!):

• Coastal sprints is a vibe. It’s almost like… Rowing is now a spectator sport. Our on-land cheers echoed more often than the 7-8 min intervals of a traditional, flat-water event. Unlike the nearby pickup beach volleyball match, the HOCR brought the party with a DJ, beach balls, and the 100+ competitors from 26+ states and 5+ countries. Furthermore, the amazing umpires passed the vibe check by trading in their blazers for Hawaiian shirts. You had to be there.
  
• The spirit of the sport on the center stage. As the “ultimate team sport,” everyone on land and water pulled together to bring this sport forward into the spotlight. Long gone are the days of “pushing the boat off the dock” and running/biking from shore on race day. Coaches and boat handlers were just as much involved on race day, adding to the excitement of the spectator sport. In what looked like arm gestures reminiscent of the Y-M-C-A (or H-O-T-T-O-G-O depending on what generation you’re from), boat handlers supported competitors from land in an equal-parts entertaining and equal-parts impressive display.
  
• Beach Sprints unabashedly reminds us that rowing is for everyone. I got to chat with a young man, Kishore, who only started rowing 8 months ago. In an impressive performance, Kishore cut 40 seconds from his initial attempt, having only attended the beach sprints clinic 36 hours prior. Finishing behind his US Training Center competitor, Kishore shared the sand, sun, and joy of coastal rowing with rowers of all experiences. And dare I say this, but the coastal rower “build” appears yet to be defined. Given the smaller (pun intended) sample size, the short and quick steps and strokes were mirrored by the shorter and compact builds. While one can cite the challenges of getting in a boat at knee or hip level for shorter rowers, I can only imagine that the lower center of gravity helps when rowers run at full speed only to turn around completely to position themselves in a rowing shell.
  
• Excellent commentary. Maybe I’m biased, maybe I was on the mic. Regardless, with a career working with youth, can you blame me for saying “we’re so proud of you!” 5? 10? 20 times? The competitors – new and old, young and seasoned – gave us all enough to smile about, both on and off the water. The future of the sport is here.

With the summer waning, I’m already marking my calendar for the next coastal rowing event. While I can’t wait to organize this year’s Rowing in Color boats at this year’s Head Of The Charles, the coastal sprints bug has officially caught. And it’s not going away anytime soon.

Many thanks to the HOCR staff, USRowing, especially head beach sprints coach Marc Oria, and all the supporters without whom this event would not have been possible.