IRVINE, Calif. – Pepperdine water polo rising junior Jon Carcarey has been named to the USA Water Polo Junior National Team roster for the upcoming World Aquatics U20 Junior World Championships later this month in Zagreb, Croatia, as announced Thursday by head coach Jack Kocur.

“It’s definitely a big honor,” said Carcarey. “It’s something I’ve looked forward to and always wanted to do. Representing the USA is such a great honor for any individual to be able to do and being able to do it with my brothers in Croatia will just be an awesome experience.”

The roster consists of 15 athletes, as the United States is one of 20 countries competing for the junior world championship.

Team USA will compete in Group A, drawing group play fixtures with Croatia, Hungary and Montenegro across the first three days of action.

Carcarey has competed with the national team across various levels, including with the youth national team during his high school career. “I’m looking forward to seeing what other talent is out there in those countries and to see where I am at and where team USA is at for this level,” Carcarey added.

The Americans will open with a matchup against the host nation, Croatia, at 10 a.m. PDT on Saturday, June 14. The squad will return for an 8:30 a.m. PDT tilt with Hungary on June 15 before concluding group play at 8:30 a.m. PDT on June 16 against Montenegro.

The tournament will continue into the knockout stages with a champion set to be crowned on June 21.

Carcarey posted 35 goals and 18 assists during his sophomore campaign for the Waves in 2024 to go along with 20 steals as a key utility for the Waves. He recorded a point in 24 of 27 games played in 2024 and has accumulated 60 goals career goals at Pepperdine.

“We are very excited that Jon gets to represent Team USA and Pepperdine in the U20 World Aquatics World Championships,” said Pepperdine head water polo coach Merrill Moses. “He has been an integral part of our success at Pepperdine and now he gets to showcase his skills and talent on the world stage. He was voted Defensive Player of the Year for Pepperdine last year and we know that he will help Team USA achieve its goals of being successful in this tournament.” 

Live streaming and statistics information for the tournament will be available at a later date.

Men’s Junior National Team (Hometown/School/Club)

1. Charles Mills (Tiburon, CA/USC/San Francisco Water Polo)

2. Baxter Chelsom (Los Angeles, CA/UC Davis/Los Angeles Premier)

3. Peter Castillo (Costa Mesa, CA/UCLA/Newport Beach WPC)

4. William Schneider (San Clemente, CA/Stanford/Mission WPC)

5. Jon Carcarey (Santa Maria, CA/Pepperdine/SOCAL)

6. Gavin Appeldorn (Newport Beach, CA/Princeton/Newport Beach WPC)

7. Ryder Dodd (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/Mission WPC)

8. Ryan Ohl (Greenwich, CT/Stanford/Greenwich Aquatics)

9. Landon Akerstrom (Costa Mesa, CA/UC San Diego/SOCAL)

10. Connor Ohl (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS/Newport Beach WPC)

11. Benjamin Liechty (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/Newport Beach WPC)

12. Bode Brinkema (San Juan Capistrano, CA/UCLA/Mission WPC)

13. Kiefer Black (San Diego, CA/Naval Academy/La Jolla United)

14. Max Zelikov (Boca Raton, FL/Stanford/South Florida WPC)

15. Corbin Stanley (Yorba Linda, CA/Long Beach State/SOCAL)

Staff

Jack Kocur – Head Coach        

Felix Mercado – Assistant Coach      

Alex Rodriguez – Assistant Coach

Derek Clappis – Assistant Coach

2025 World Aquatics Men’s Junior World Championships Schedule (subject to change)

June 14 – USA at Croatia 10:00 a.m. PT

June 15 – USA vs Hungary 8:30 a.m. PT

June 16 – USA vs Montenegro 8:30 a.m. PT

June 17-20: TBD

June 21 – Championship 

 

Emy Ntekpere is finishing her second year at Central and has already written her name not only in Central Washington University’s Track and Field record book but also in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s (GNAC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II (NCAA DII) record books. In 2025 alone, Ntekpere won the Women’s GNAC Athlete of the year in both Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, won three national championships, won four individual gold medals at the GNAC Outdoor Championships (the first woman to do so in the league’s history), and has broken three school records along with two GNAC records. In 2024, Ntekpere won GNAC’s Indoor Track and Field Female Freshman of the Year award.

Ntekpere’s record breaking feats started in High School at Washington State’s Skyview High School where in her senior year, Ntekpere placed third in the school’s all time 100 meter hurdle and 300 meter hurdle. While current athletes have placed ahead of her in both hurdle events, Ntekpere set the school’s record for High Jump that still stands at the time of writing. Ntekpere never planned on continuing her Track and Field career to the collegiate level until June of 2023. “I kind of thought after high school, that would just be it,” Ntekpere said. “Then I get a call from a college and I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I can still keep doing track’… it was like a dream come true for me.”

While the opportunity was beyond exciting, Ntekpere knew the challenges it would bring. “The competition is obviously much harder,” Ntekpere said.

“When I was in High School, it was kind of easier until I got to state [competitions]. But now it’s hard all the time, and I always have competition. And that’s really good, I’m always being pushed constantly. So I just really love that I can come to college and still do what I love.” 

Despite being outside of the top three of the Triple Jump event only twice, Ntekpere never competed in the Triple Jump at Skyview. It was at CWU where the 5-foot-7-inch sophomore discovered her hidden talent. “It was kind of crazy because I was like ‘okay, I like to jump, so I’ll do these jumps anyways, and see how it goes.’ Like it was kind of fun for me because I’ve never done it before but I actually turned out to be pretty good,” Ntekpere said. Since starting the Triple Jump event for the first time last year, Ntekpere has already broken both the CWU record and the GNAC record.

On May 22, The Observer released a story recapping the events of the GNAC Outdoor championship. During their respective interviews, freshman David Brown, sophomore Lauryn McGough, and junior Carley Huber all gave a shout out to Ntekpere, showing the overwhelming amount of support the Track and Field team has for the sophomore Sprinter. Ntekpere responded to the shoutout during her interview, specifically Huber. “They make you better in all types of ways, in and out of sports, especially Carley [Huber],” Ntekpere said. “She is somebody I met last year and I didn’t know how big of an impact she would have on me… They’re amazing support systems. Every single [teammate]. All of them are going to be in my heart always.” Ntekpere went on to describe how even when teammates couldn’t make the event, they would still text her plenty of support and keep up with every result as they were announced.

Success does not come without fear however. Many great athletes become afraid that they’ve reached their peak once they taste success and Ntekpere isn’t an exception. “I am afraid [this is the peak],” Ntekpere said. “But I don’t know, ever since I was little, I just had this feeling each year is just gonna be better than the year before. I thought last year was my peak, honestly.  Then this year came. As long as you have the mindset of the work’s not done yet… you’ll never feel like you’re at your peak.”

Ntekpere finished this year with the GNAC Field Athlete of the Year for both indoor and outdoor competition. She also won three national championships, two for outdoor and one for indoor.

For preparation of the various meets, invitationals, and championships through the year, Ntekpere has plenty of superstitions but regardless, she pushes through. “I try to tell myself, it’s gonna be a great day regardless of what you do and how you feel. You just have to trust yourself,” Ntekpere said. “No matter what happens, I’m still a great athlete, and I can accomplish a lot of things.”

Earlier in the quarter, The Observer did an investigative piece on the Track and Field coaches and the difference of their relationships between the top athletes and the rest. According to Ntekpere, there is little difference. “They care about us in all types of ways,” Ntekpere said. “Sure, there may not be as much focus, but [the coaches] treat us all with the same amount of respect and time and friendship.”

While Ntekpere plans to rest and practice her workouts over the summer, she left a message for all the CWU students. “I’m proud of all of the Wildcats that are here, that are in athletics or not. Everybody is here doing something, they’re all on a mission. I’m so proud of everyone here at CWU. They’re all doing great, fantastic things and they’re all trying their hardest and that’s all you can really ask for.” Ntekpere will be returning to CWU in the fall quarter to start her junior year.

The Hopkins/St. Louis Park boys volleyball team rallied to win the final two sets and beat Wayzata 3-2 in the Section 6 final.

The Royals lost the first set 25-17 and fell behind 18-12 in the second before rallying to win the second 26-24.

The Trojans took the third set 25-23 before Hopkins/Park won the fourth and fifth sets 25-19 and 15-12.

Owen Barnett led the Royals with 26 kills with Joey Rinaldi adding 16.

Hopkins (17-8) advances to the first MSHSL-sponsored state boys tournament starting Tuesday at St. Thomas University.

The Trojans finished the season 16-9.

Hopkins High School

Wayzata High School

Volleyball

CCX News – Daily Sportscast

The Gophers walked away with 10 medals between the men and women, sending 39 athletes to the NCAA West Regionals. The men’s team tied with Wisconsin, both earning 81 points.

The men’s track and field team jumped around the top ten of NCAA national rankings all season. They peaked at number two in early April, but at the time of the meet were ranked sixth.

Day 1 of the championships ended with the Gophers leading in points. The men had 4 events: hammer throw, pole vault, javelin and the 10,000-meter run. 

The men’s Gophers took home first and second in the hammer throw, as well as second in the pole vault. 

Senior Jak Urlacher earned the silver medal with the best pole vault performance by a Minnesota pole vaulter in 28 years, moving him to No. 2 in Gophers history.

The meet was Urlacher’s last Big Ten Championship, but when asked about the pressure of performing well in his final year, he said he was not worried about it.

“I like pressure, personally,” Urlacher said. “I typically jump better at championship meets, the goal for me is just to go out and put together my best meet, and be able to jump what I’m capable of.”

On Day 2, the men competed in the long jump, high jump, decathlon, shot put and 3000-meter steeplechase. 

The standout performance for the Gophers was sophomore Charles Godfred.

Godfred’s first jump attempt was ruled illegal but the jump, he said, would have likely beaten the meet record.

“I knew I was supposed to do that for my first jump,” Godfred said. “I was shocked when they raised the flag. I was just a pinch away. I think the jump was about 8.20 something.”

The meet record is 8.13 meters, set in 1935 by Jesse Owens. Godfred broke that record at other meets, but has yet to do it at the Big Ten Championships. 

Godfred came in first for the second year in a row, despite not using all of his jump attempts. He said he chose not to use them due to injury risk. 

“Due to the rain and bad weather, the board was a bit slippery and I didn’t want to take the risk,” Godfred said.

The rest of the track events were done on the final day of competition. The final meet record for the Gophers came from the men’s 4×100 meter relay team.

The team consisted of juniors Zion Campbell and Aaron Charles, senior Devin Augustine, and graduate student Kion Benjamin broke their own meet record they set in 2023.

Benjamin spoke about his expectations for the meet, especially because this is his final year with the Gophers.

“We came into the meet having the meet record already. So, the goal was to break the meet record on Hayward Field,” Benjamin said. “We had one job, and that was to come home with the gold medal. I just wanted to leave (my teammates) with a bang. I think that’s exactly what we did.”

Augustine put up the most individual points for the men, with 18. Augustine competed in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100 meter relay. He placed third in the 200-meter and seventh in the 100-meter.

Senior hammer thrower, Kostas Zaltos, was also awarded the Big Ten Men’s Field Athlete of the Championships.  

The Gophers had six athletes on the men’s All-Big Ten First Team, the most in the Big Ten.