SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – While most of the track focus in South Dakota was on the the high school State Meet, athletes from the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State were hard at work in Texas trying to earn a spot at the NCAA Division One National Championships.

Eleven Jackrabbits and a Summit League-high 22 members of the Coyotes’ teams went down to College Station for the NCAA West First Round last Wednesday through Saturday.

It’s been a good season at both schools with USD’s women finishing second in the Summit and SDSU’s men winning their first conference title since 1986.

Going to regionals is step up in competition and pressure, with Coyote senior Averi Schmeichel saying you have to empty the tank.

“Everyone is super good there so, I mean, you just got to go all out every race and give it your all because you don’t know what’s going to make the next round for times. So just giving it everything you got.” Schmeichel says.

Averi just missed out on making Nationals on Saturday, finishing 13th in the 400 meter hurdles in 57.32 seconds, just 0.18 seconds out of clinching a spot.

Four of her Coyote teammates did move on to the National Meet. To the surprise of no one plenty of Derek Miles’ pole vaulters are heading west with Tre Young, Anna Willis and Gen Hirata qualifying. On the track Sara Reifenrath ran the 400 in a school record time to punch her ticket.

Meanwhile South Dakota State will be represented by Warner’s Cody Larson via the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase.

Nationals will be in Eugene, Oregon June 11-14.

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Records are meant to be broken, and breaking records leave a legacy at El Camino.

Warrior athletes Lexi Ramirez (softball) Tilliana Wakefield- Carl, (track and field) and Iyanah Samayoa (swimming &diving) broke records this Spring.

Ramirez set multiple records with most wins in a season (30), shutouts (12), innings pitched (235.2), and total appearances (41) in a single season.

Softball went on to the 3C2A State Championships and finished in fourth place and a record of (39-9).

According to the ECC athletics website, she was named the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Cal-JC Pitcher of the Year.

She also received the 2025 NFCA Cal-JC Rawlings Gold Glove Award as a pitcher.

Ramirez also became the first Warriors player to ever be named the NFCA Pitcher of the Year and second player to earn a gold glove award. Not only that she also was a part of the 2025 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America team.

She was also named the South Coast Conference Co-Pitcher of the year, and she was All -SCC First Team.

Wakefield- Carl is another athlete who broke records and won many invitationals for track & field.

Wakefield Carl broke the pole vault record on Friday, April 4 at the Moorpark Open.

She took first place with a mark of 3.68 meters, breaking the previous record set by Katrina Wilbanks (3.66 meters) in 2012.

Wakefield-Carl and Wilbanks are the only women in ECC history to complete a pole vault attempt of 12 feet or greater.

Wakefield-Carl also won the pole vaulting competition at the Viking Invitational with a season-best mark of 3.40 meters (11 feet, 1.75 inches), which placed her third in Southern California and sixth in the state.

The pole vaulter was one of six athletes to qualify for the Regional Finals.

At the Dave Shannon Invitational, she tied for first place in pole vaulting with a mark of 3.50 meters (11 feet, 5.75 inches) with University of California, Los Angeles track and field member Camila Brennan.

She was the only community college athlete to record a mark past 10 feet. Wakefield-Carl said she’s just getting back into the sport and wants to keep competing.

“I competed for two years in high school, I felt like this year, I was just getting back into it. I look forward to next year here at ECC and getting a scholarship to compete at the next level,” Wakefield-Carl said.

She’s currently looking to transfer to UC Irvine or California State University, Long Beach, to study kinesiology and public health.

“Those schools I’m really interested in because of the programs they have there and looking into their track program,” she said.

In swimming, Samayoa has broken several records and won awards in her two years at ECC.

She was named the 2025 South Coast Conference Co-Swimmer of the year for the second straight year, taking home three individual awards at the SCC championships.

The swimmer took first place in the 200-yard individual medley, along with the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke for the second straight year.

In the 3C2A State Championships this spring, she captured two state championships and broke records.

She grabbed two wins and made a new state record at the 3C2A State Championships.

Samayoa went back-to back in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and broke the 200 breast state record by 1.57 seconds.

Also in the state championships, she defended her title in the 200 breast. Samayoa bested her own time from 2024 by nearly three seconds after winning in 2:15.93.

In addition, she earned the 3C2A Swim and Dive Coaches’ Association All-American honors at the end of the season.

She took the best times in the state in the 100 breast (1:03.41) and the 200 breast with a state-record performance of 2:15.93. Her latter time was not only the best in the state, but the best in the nation.

Samayoa ends her ECC career with five individual state titles.

The 2025 Moravia junior high volleyball camp, led by legendary Coach Jerald Harter, will be held on July 8, 9, and 10 in the new gymnasium. Hours will be from 9 a.m. – noon each day. Campers will learn skills and take part in scrimmages to help them hone their game before next fall. Girls going into 7th and 8th grade next fall are invited to attend. The cost for the three sessions includes a camp shirt. Sign-ups are needed before July 1. For questions or to register a player, contact Coach Emily DeJong at (641) 895-8722.

The University of Hawai’i women’s water polo team has signed two promising international players for the 2026 season: Asimina Klapsianou from Greece and Ariadna Temprano Xambó from Spain. Both athletes bring a wealth of international experience, having recently competed against each other in the World Aquatics Women’s U18 Championship final in China, where Spain triumphed 11-9. Klapsianou will be the first Greek player to join the program, while Temprano Xambó is the eighth player from Spain to enhance the team’s roster. Head coach James Robinson expressed enthusiasm for their potential impact both on performance and team culture.

By the Numbers

• Klapsianou has played for Greece’s National Team at four age levels, winning multiple medals in international competitions.
• Temprano Xambó scored 40 goals for her club team this season and earned accolades including MVP at the U18 World Championships.

State of Play

• UH completed a strong 2025 season with a 22-5 record and a second consecutive Big West Championship title.
• The team featured players from seven different countries, enhancing their diverse roster.

What’s Next

With the addition of Klapsianou and Temprano Xambó, UH will aim to build on their recent successes and deepen their postseason run in the upcoming season.

Bottom Line

The signing of Klapsianou and Temprano Xambó not only adds top-tier talent to the Rainbow Wahine but also emphasizes the program’s commitment to international recruitment and competitive excellence.

Rock Hill, S.C. — Kyle Gramit has been announced by Head Coach Heather Gearhart as an assistant women’s volleyball coach on June 2, 2025.

“I’m excited to have someone of Kyle’s coaching and moral caliber join our staff,” Gearhart said. “He has a plethora of experience both as a coach and a player and is well-known for his volleyball acumen and the way he translates it to his players. He is passionate about developing his student-athletes on and off the court and preparing them for life after sport. I am looking forward to the ways that Kyle will elevate our program and bring his men’s volleyball coaching and playing experience to our gym.”

Gramit is joining the Eagles after seven years as a men’s volleyball assistant coach in the MIVA at Queens University in Charlotte. Gramit helped guide the Royals to back-to-back MIVA Tournament appearances in consecutive seasons. Prior to joining the MIVA, he helped them to a runner-up finish in the IVA Tournament in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Additionally, Gramit aided in coaching the 2021 Off The Block Independent Teams Player of the Year, JP Payne, as well as 2023 First Team All-IVA honoree Matthew Pilch and 2023 Second-Team All-IVA honorees Daniel Leitao and Jack Brinkman. Gramit also led Guillermo Jordan to a 2023 IVA Co-Defensive Player of the Year honor after a standout season averaging 2.21 digs per set (including a team-leading 199 total digs). Most recently, senior Brian Camacho was named a 2025 Scholar-Athlete of the year for the Queens Athletics department.

 

“I am very excited to join the Winthrop volleyball community and continue the excellence that Heather has created in her program,” said Gramit. “I am ready to get in the gym and get to work to reach our goals.”

 

In 2019, Queens finished the season ranked No. 6 among NCAA schools in team digs per set. In the shortened 2020 season, hitter Tristan Santoyo was among the NCAA leaders with 3.67 kills per set and middle JP Payne ranked among the nation’s Top 25 with a .365 hitting percentage.

 

Gramit also has coaching experience at Georgia Southern University as an assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team and an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at Limestone University. He was also involved with the Sports Performance Volleyball Club as a coach for over eight years.

 

Prior to his start in coaching, Gramit enjoyed a successful six-year playing career overseas. His list of accomplishments include winning the league championship with Sarkat Volley in 2014 when he was the third leading scorer, winning three major Swedish championships with Falkenberg in 2010-11 and finishing in the top-five in scoring in his league on four occasions.

 

Gramit was a former standout at George Mason University, in the record books for career totals in blocks, kills, digs and service aces. He was a three-time Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association all-conference outside and opposite hitter and a second-team All-America choice as a junior and selected for the USA Youth National Team.

 

 

 

An athlete, a musician, an exceptional high school student with an infectious smile.

This is how community members in Milford, Massachusetts, described Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, an 18-year-old high school junior who was arrested by immigration authorities and sent to a detention center this weekend.

Gomes Da Silva was driving his father’s car on his way to volleyball practice with some of his teammates Saturday morning when immigration authorities stopped him.

Immigration authorities made the traffic stop because they were looking for Gomes Da Silva’s father, who is unlawfully present in the country, according to Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After learning Gomes Da Silva was also unlawfully present in the U.S., ICE officers took him into custody, Lyons said Monday at a news conference.

Gomes Da Silva was born in Brazil but has attended Milford Public Schools since he was 6 years old, friends said.

Though “he was not the target of the investigation,” he was arrested during a monthlong immigration enforcement operation in Massachusetts that has resulted in the arrests of nearly 1,500 immigrants, Boston’s ICE Field Officer Patricia H. Hyde said at the news conference.

“When we go out into the community and we find others who are unlawfully here, we are going to arrest them,” Hyde said. “We’ve been completely transparent with that.”

An ICE spokesperson told NBC News in an email statement Monday afternoon that Gomes Da Silva “remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”

In addition to Gomes Da Silva, a number of parents and school community members have been detained by ICE in recent weeks, according to Kevin McIntyre, superintendent of Milford Public Schools.

“We are all distraught by this news,” McIntyre told NBC Boston in a statement, adding that Milford Public Schools plays no part in immigration enforcement and supports all students and their families, including those who are immigrants.

“They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends and neighbors,” the superintendent continued. “We will do everything in our power to support our students and families during these difficult times.”

A teammate of Gomes Da Silva who was in the car when they were pulled over by four vehicles and witnessed the ICE arrest Saturday texted their high school volleyball coach at around 8:30 a.m.

“I was sitting there thinking, ‘This can’t be happening,’” Andrew Mainini, the volleyball coach, told NBC Boston. “It’s one thing to see things happening in the world. It’s another to have them directly impact the people you work with and care for on a daily basis.”

‘Free Marcelo’

Gomes Da Silva was supposed to play the drums at his girlfriend’s high school graduation Sunday. His absence was palpable during Milford High School’s commencement as his bandmates performed without him, sparking a post-graduation protest demanding his release.

Hundreds of students still in their graduation gowns, teachers, relatives and other community members marched a mile to Milford Town Hall following the commencement ceremony — holding signs and chanting “Free Marcelo.”

Julianys Rentas Figueroa, Gomes Da Silva’s girlfriend, said she spoke with him on the phone after he was detained Saturday. He told her immigration authorities “put chains around his ankles, on his wrists,” Rentas Figueroa, still in her red graduation gown, told NBC Boston on Sunday. “I haven’t spoken to him since then. I don’t know how he’s doing.”

“I don’t understand why Marcelo was targeted. He’s been in Milford all his life,” Rentas Figueroa said.

Rentas Figueroa said Gomes Da Silva was transferred into two different holding facilities in Massachusetts over the weekend.

Diego Low, director of Metrowest Worker Center, an immigration advocacy group in Massachusetts, told NBC News that cousins of Gomes Da Silva had contacted the center after his detention.

“We are trying to support him,” Low said, adding that immigration attorneys are interceding on the family’s behalf to prevent Gomes Da Silva from being transferred to a detention center in another state.

Ana Julia Araujo, Gomes Da Silva’s cousin, said the 18-year-old’s younger siblings are questioning if they will ever him again.

Milford police said it was not involved, claiming ICE did not notify the department of the arrest.

“Marcelo is somebody that we don’t know. So, what does that tell you? If I don’t know you, if my officers don’t know you, there’s a reason we don’t know you. It’s because you’re probably not a troublemaker,” Chief Robert Tusino told NBC Boston.

Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement over the weekend that she is “disturbed and outraged” by Gomes Da Silva’s detention, adding that arrests like these are “making us all less safe.”

During Sunday’s protest, a friend of Gomes Da Silva who participated in the march told NBC Boston, “I am disgusted that I have to deal with this on graduation and see one of my greatest friends be taken away for no reason.”

“I just pray that we can make a difference because this is so depressing,” the girl, who was not named, said in tears.