Major League Baseball and Jomboy Media announced a partnership Tuesday that includes MLB acquiring a minority stake in the digital sports media brand.

The size of the investment was not disclosed, though it is believed to be the league’s first direct investment in a creator-led content company. MLB’s investment comes from its Baseball Endowment L.P. (BELP) fund, valued at more than $1 billion according to the Atlanta Braves’ most recent SEC filings, which was recently used to acquire a stake in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League as well.

In addition to equity, the tie-up includes access to MLB events, IP and sponsorship connections for Jomboy, while the league looks to benefit from Jomboy Media’s ability to reach casual fans online.

“Having a strong content creator community is going to be good for baseball in the long run,” MLB EVP, media and business development Kenny Gersh said in an interview. 

Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien and Jake Storiale started the company in 2017 with a Yankees-focused podcast before expanding to cover the entire league—and other sports too. Last year, the company tallied 93 million engagements across social media and achieved $10 million in revenue.

Jomboy Media raised $5 million in 2022 in a round led by Connect Ventures, an investment partnership between Creative Artists Agency and New Enterprise Associates. Connect cofounder Jack Davis, a Jomboy board member, helped put the latest deal together, working with recently promoted Jomboy Media CEO Courtney Hirsch.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Hirsch said. “It just shows how important creators are when it comes to sports. It recognizes the fact that meeting people on digital platforms is a way to grow the game. And it shows that our community-centric approach is just really valued and being recognized by the league itself. It just kind of gives us chills.”

Hirsch added that the new relationship won’t change Jomboy’s approach when it comes to the way the company’s talent covers the game and its players. Jomboy Media also runs its own lighthearted sports league and corresponding show, “The Warehouse Games.”

Gersh said MLB’s work with Jomboy came mainly through the league’s media department as baseball looks to foster more connections with online voices. A decade ago, executives took heat for being relatively restrictive with digital rights compared to peer sports. Recently MLB has been more encouraging—both to outsiders and to its own—by recognizing the value of virtual conversation. 

In April, MLB announced an expanded partnership with Boardroom that included player-driven online storytelling.

“We are focused, as we have been, on helping to amplify content creators’ voices,” Gersh said, “We will look for ways with other potential content creators to make sure that they have a platform to continue to produce baseball-related content.”

Baseball is witnessing a surge of interest, including post-pandemic highs in attendance, Sunday Night Baseball viewership and MLB.TV streaming usage over the last year. The league’s own social handles have also swelled, including a roughly 70% year-over-year gain on X from late 2023 to late 2024.

This marks the last week of the 2024-25 athletic season for the Nevada Wolf Pack as track and field star Lilly Urban will compete at the NCAA Championship in javelin on Thursday in the last competition of the year for the school. We start this week’s Monday Mailbag looking further into the future with a question about where the Pac-12 and Mountain West are headed. Let’s dive into that. Thanks, as always, for the inquiries.

That’s a good question to ask and impossible one to answer. If you go back seven years ago and look at conference affiliations, there were 64 schools at the power-conference level. For the 2025 football season, there are 66 schools in those conferences. Of those 67, 17 are in different conferences than they were seven years ago. That’s more than a quarter of the schools, with the Pac-12 falling out of the power-conference column. Not many would have predicted that seven years before it happened. So, there’s no certainty when it comes to conference affiliations. But there is a trend of massive realignment every decade. And seven years from now will be roughly the decade mark from Texas and Oklahoma giving its notice it was leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, which triggered all of the most recent changes.

My best guess is the ACC ceases to exist as currently constructed by 2032, your seven-year figure. So, let’s say North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Duke, Virginia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina State, Virginia and Pitt find new spots in the Big Ten, SEC or Big 12. That might be a touch high. Maybe it’s more like the top six on that list. But my point being the ACC destabilizes, which could be a good thing for the Pac-12, which could reclaim Stanford and Cal plus perhaps SMU, which might be in the mix for a power-conference spot at that point.

Here’s my best guess for the 2032-33 membership in the Pac-12 and MW:

Pac-12: Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Utah State, Stanford, Cal, Texas State, Gonzaga (non-football)

Mountain West: Air Force, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Sac State, San Jose State, UC Davis, UNLV, UTEP, Wyoming, Northern Illinois (football only), North Dakota State (football only)

So, I have Texas State in the Pac-12 as a near-term addition with Stanford and Cal re-joining the league after the ACC destabilizes and falls from Power 4 status to Group of 5 status. In the MW, I have Sac State added as a full member and North Dakota State in football only. Other schools to watch for membership changes include Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and USF, from the American Athletic Conference, plus UNLV, which is trying to get a Big 12 invitation, and Air Force, which has shown its dissatisfaction with the MW from time to time. But I think the Big 12 holds out for ACC schools once that league starts to fracture rather than poaching UNLV. Ultimately, I think we’re headed to a Power 3 situation, and I think the Big 12 outlasts the ACC in that battle for the third spot at the table with the Big Ten and SEC.

More financial investment, more facility improvements, more good coaching. That’s the key to successful programs. It takes money. It takes a good infrastructure of facilities and amenities. And it takes good coaching. If I had to rank programs by odds of winning a Mountain West title next season, I’d go:

Not happening (0 percent): Women’s cross country; men’s cross country; women’s indoor track and field; women’s outdoor track and field (four)

Lloyd Christmas landing Mary Swanson (one in a million): Football; women’s soccer; volleyball; men’s golf (four)

Odds the San Francisco Giants win the World Series (2.5 percent, per FanGraphs): Women’s swim and dive; women’s basketball (two)

Odds the New York Mets win the World Series (10.0 percent per FanGraphs): Women’s golf (one)

Odds the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series (20.7 percent, per FanGraphs): Men’s tennis; men’s basketball (two)

Coin flip (50 percent of better): Baseball; softball; women’s tennis (three)

Fox Sports offered betting odds on that hypothetical bout from Rocky IV and had Rocky Balboa at +800 odds, so a roughly 11 percent likelihood of defeating Ivan Drago, which is in line with Mets winning the World Series this season. So, Nevada football has a better chance of making a bowl this season than Rocky had of beating Drago, and Rocky famously won that bout, so you’re telling me there’s a chance. My way-too-early Mountain West win totals had Nevada at 6-6 overall and 4-4 in conference. So, I have the Wolf Pack in a bowl.

No, I don’t think so. The Mountain West has nine football schools now, which is the ideal number for a traditional eight-game league schedule. I don’t see the MW adding any more football-only members in the short term, and Northern Illinois was more attractive than Toledo because (a) its football history is slightly better and (b) it’s closer to a major city, Chicago.

The issue with putting UNLV’s quarterback in my Mountain West QB rankings was the fact we don’t know who that person will be. That position will go to Michigan transfer Alex Orji or Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea. Orji is an unknown given his relatively sparse amount of playing time. He’s a former three-star recruit (No. 992 in the nation, 71st among quarterbacks) who has a career passer rating of 93.6 while completing just 54.2 percent of his passes for 3.2 yards per attempt. Those are atrocious numbers. But there seems to be untapped potential there, which is why I picked him to win the job over Colandrea, who is more proven with 4,083 passing yards and 26 touchdowns in two seasons at Virginia, albeit with 20 interceptions and a passer rating last year of 124.2 (which is not good). It is fair to point out Chubba Purdy’s career numbers are underwhelming, too, as he’s completed just 54.8 percent of his passes with more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven) and a career passer rating of 107 (also not good). My ranking him fifth in the MW was based on his running ability and Nevada’s proof-of-concept in coaching up Brendon Lewis last year. Certainly, Purdy could get hurt again or remain ineffective. But the same is true for Orji and Colandrea.

Here were my MW quarterback rankings, as posted with more detail last week.

1. Maddux Madsen, Boise State

2. E.J. Warner, Fresno State

3. Micah Alejado, Hawaii

4. Walker Eget, San Jose State

5. Chubba Purdy, Nevada

6. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Colorado State

7. Alex Orji, UNLV

8. Kaden Anderson, Wyoming

9. Bryson Barnes, Utah State

10. Jack Layne, New Mexico

11. Quentin Hayes, Air Force

12. Jayden Denegal, San Diego State

There not much in the way of sure things here. The MW is not strong at quarterback this season, not it has not been the last couple of years.

Nevada ranked 129th out of 134 FBS teams in special teams efficiency last year, per ESPN’s Football Power Index. ESPN’s Bill Connelly projected Nevada for a SP+ special teams ranking of 129th out of 136 FBS schools this year. That’s an area that must improve. The Wolf Pack doesn’t have a kicker or punter on its roster who has played a game at the FBS level and also will break in a new long snapper. That’s not ideal. Punter returner Marcus Bellon could be All-MW good, and there are some kick-returning options (Ky Woods, Marquis Ashley, Charles Brown, Ashton Hayes). But the special teams must be better this year than it was last season when it cost the team big in losses to Colorado State and SMU.

Mountain West schools owe roughly $500,000 in back pay to athletes annually for each of the next 10 years. Is that fair? I guess. It seems like the power-conference schools should have been on the hook for a larger share of that back pay, but that’s not how things shook out since they’re in charge. I did have one former Nevada star ask me over the weekend if he was in line for money from this deal. Alas, he graduated in 2014, and the back pay only extends to athletes who competed from 2016-17 to 2024-25.

None of them?

Look, the House vs. NCAA settlement is not good for non-Power 4 schools. It’s increasing expenses exponentially while not creating new revenue sources to pay for those expenses. Nevada has basically run deficits annually for the last 15 to 20 years. It barely makes ends meet despite getting an additional $10 million in university money each of the last four years. I have no idea how the Wolf Pack is going to find the revenue-sharing numbers with its athletes, which could cost around $5 million per year if Nevada uses the NCAA formula of sharing 22 percent of its revenue plus the back pay that will be taken out of its NCAA distribution. The House case provides some clarity moving forward for Division I schools, but the revenue sharing is going to create staffing issues; increase internal arguments on which teams get how much; and hurt Olympic sports, not to mention create Title IX issues. I imagine most D-I athletics directors would prefer not to share revenue if given the option because they’ll be forced to cut costs elsewhere and try and raise revenue in the process. It’s a tough deal.

If you want one area where this settlement could potentially help mid-major schools like Nevada, it is the new roster limits. Some sports are getting reduced roster spots (like baseball), which could push more talent to lower-level schools. I guess that’s a potential plus.

There will not be contracted athletes as part of the House vs. NCAA settlement. Some schools have multi-year NIL deals with athletes that tie them to the school for multiple years. But, at this stage, college athletes are not employees of the school.

The Nevada-Fresno State semifinal of the Mountain West baseball tournament last month was exactly that. It was the championship game one round early.

If you want to go back a few years prior, I tweeted the Nevada-San Diego State men’s basketball semifinal in the 2018 Mountain West Tournament was the championship game, and then-New Mexico coach Paul Weir didn’t like that. The exact tweet read, “The MW title game is tomorrow at 6 p.m. Nevada versus SDSU. Should be fun.” After New Mexico beat Utah State in its semifinal, Weir said in his postgame presser, “Chris Murray might not think there’s a game tomorrow night, but we do. We’re excited to be here. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got. We’ve battled back from a lot, and that’s America. And if Chris Murray doesn’t want to believe in that, that’s fine. But we’re really looking forward to just giving it everything we’ve got tomorrow night. We’ve come a long way, and we’ll keep fighting.”

So, yes, the semifinal is the oftentimes the real championship game. That’s America.

Fun Fact: The Minnesota Timberwolves’ first season in 1989-90 had a three-person coaching staff in head coach Bill Musselman and assistants Tom Thibodeau and Bob Zuffelato. The second-year staff in 1990-91 included Bill Musselman as head coach and assistants Thibodeau and Eric Musselman. That was the former Nevada head coach’s first year in the NBA. So, Musselman and Thibodeau go back to the mullet days where that picture if probably from. Still, Thibodeau would have been fired either way because Knicks owner James Dolan is a bozo.

I haven’t heard anything since the day the Reno Redevelopment Agency board approved the public-money portion of the funding. At that point, GSR owner Alex Meruelo said ground would be broken in June — “Hell, yes, we’re breaking ground in June,” were his exact words. There are 21 days left in June, so this should be coming soon. We also should have some more news to report this week on Nevada’s indoor facility.

There’s no reason to get in the kitchen when playing pickleball, so I stayed out of there. I’m not dinking it into the kitchen every shot. That’s boring. It was a fun time. I met my boss, Anthony Resnick, at our community courts at 8 a.m. and other neighborhood folks showed up in mass around 8:45 a.m., so we weaved into their games and finished 4-2 overall, including 1-2 against the top-dog team. I then played with this nice grizzly bear of a man with a thick Eastern European accent named Ya Ya and went 1-1 with him against the big dogs on the court. I still prefer tennis, but I don’t really have anybody to play with, so pickleball was a nice way to get in three hours of Sunday morning exercise.

Thanks for reading!

See y’all next week!

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. He writes a weekly Monday Mailbag despite it giving him a headache and it taking several hours to write. But people seem to like it, so he does it anyway. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.

The 2025 DI men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships are this week. There’s no better time than now for my championship predictions, event by event. Let’s dive in.

Women’s event predictions

100 meters — Predicted Winner: Tima Godbless, LSU

Simply making the final in the women’s 100 meters will be a difficult task. Predicting a winner here is no easy choice — and my pick could miss the final. However, I’m going with Tima Godbless after the LSU Tiger ran 10.91 in the East first round. Godbless has progressed with every meet this season, going from 11.20 in March to 11.14 in April to 11.06 at SEC championships to 10.9. 

LIVE UPDATES: Click or tap here to follow along for live updates from the championship

100 hurdles — Predicted Winner: Habiba Harris, Florida

I was skeptical about Habiba Harris’ outlook for championships after she failed to break 13 seconds in the 100 hurdles for a month stretch across April and May. Then came the postseason. Harris burst back on the scene by running 12.75, 12.62, 12.80 and 12.80 across her last four races. The Florida freshman has earned the right to be the favorite entering Eugene.

200 meters — Predicted Winner: JaMeesia Ford, South Carolina

JaMeesia Ford ran 22.01 to win the SEC title, the sixth-fastest finish in collegiate history. She hasn’t lost a 200 meter race all season long, and I don’t think that’ll change in Eugene.

400 meters — Predicted Winner: Aaliyah Butler, Georgia

I think we’ll see a sub-50 time that wins the women’s 400 meter title this year. Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler is the only woman to run such a time this season at 49.44. Moreover, she beat her top competition this year at the SEC championships, showing she can step up when the stakes are high.

CAN’T MISS: 4 must-watch heats at the 2025 DI outdoor track and field championships

400 hurdles — Predicted Winner: Savannah Sutherland, Michigan

Savannah Sutherland is two years removed from when she won the 400 meter hurdles title in 2023, but I think she returns to the top of the podium in 2025. Sutherland has run the fastest time in the country this year and is undefeated in the 400 hurdles this year.

800 meters — Predicted Winner: Michaela Rose, LSU

Michaela Rose already has an outdoor 800 meter title from 2023 and has established herself as one of the best 800 meter runners in women’s NCAA history. Rose has run 1:58.12 in the 800 this year, giving her another all-time mark. While this year’s field is full of sub-two-minute runners, Rose has proven she can reach a different level before. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it again in Eugene.

1500 meters — Predicted Winner: Chloe Foerster, Washington

Chloe Foerster’s my pick to win the women’s 1500 meters based on her performances in a pair of impressive wins over tough fields. Foerster ran 4:05.75 to win the Bryan Clay Invitational and 4:07.32 to win the Stanford Invitational. That 4:05 time is a top-10 all-time mark in a year where seven women joined the top-10 all-time performers list. It’s not easy to predict a winner here, but I’m going to go with the battle-tested Washington Husky.

3000 meter steeplechase — Predicted Winner: Doris Lemngole, Alabama

Steeplechase sensation Doris Lemngole has the top three all-time marks in collegiate history, two from this season. Lemgole is the pick here.

RECORD-BREAKING: Tracking every track and field record broken in the 2025 season

5000 meters — Predicted Winner: Pamela Kosgei, New Mexico

Pamela Kosgei has run the second-fastest 5000 meters in NCAA history, and her PR is less than half a second away from the collegiate record. She’s the favorite here.

10,000 meters — Predicted Winner: Pamela Kosgei, New Mexico

I’m predicting Pamela Kosgei will pull off the distance double. Kosgei has run 31:02.73 in the 10K this year, No. 2 all-time.

4×100 meter relay — Predicted Winner: Southern California

USC has four sprinters in the 100 meter semifinals. The Trojans also have the fastest 4×100 meter squad in the country this year. USC’s the pick here.

4×400 meter relay — Predicted Winner: Arkansas

Arkansas has won the last two outdoor 4×400 meter relay titles and has the top time in the country this year. I’m not picking against the Razorbacks.

Long jump — Predicted Winner: Alexis Brown, Baylor

I have Alexis Brown completing the season sweep in the long jump. Brown has jumped over 6.89 meters eight times this season (four wind-legal), with a season-best of 7.03 meters. No one else has surpassed 6.82 meters this year. Brown has what it takes to pull off the sweep.

Triple jump — Predicted Winner: Winny Bii, Texas A&M.

The triple jump is wide open this year. Three women have all cleared 14 meters, with another reaching 13.99 meters. Texas A&M’s Winny Bii and Oklahoma’s Agur Dwol have each cleared 14 meters at two meets this season. My pick is Winny Bii since she made two 14 meter triple jumps at her last two meets.

High jump — Predicted Winner: Elena Kulichenko, Georgia

Elena Kulichenko has tied for the NCAA high jump title at the last indoor and outdoor championships. While she hasn’t cleared 1.90 meters outdoors in 2025, she has an outdoor PR of 1.97 meters. I think she’ll be atop the podium yet again.

BROOMS OUT: 16 indoor champions looking for a season sweep at the 2025 outdoor championships

Pole vault — Predicted Winner: Amanda Moll, Washington

Amanda Moll completes arguably the greatest season in women’s collegiate pole vault history with an outdoor title. She already has the outdoor record.

Discus — Predicted Winner: Jayden Ulrich, Louisville

Jayden Ulrich threw 66.14 meters in her season opener back in March, then threw 69.39 meters in April (No. 2 performer in NCAA history) and enters the NCAA championship final off of a first round meet where she surpassed 64.50 meters twice. Ulrich is the pick here after all of those performances.

Shot put — Predicted Winner: Mya Lesnar, Colorado State

Mya Lesnar had a shot put series where she threw 17.05m, 19.28m, 19.60m and 18.99m. The latter three throws would all lead the NCAA. Lesnar also has three throws outside of that series that have reached 18.50 meters. No other athlete has more than three 18.50m throws total this season. Lesnar has been the most consistent to throw the shot put long distances this season.

Hammer — Predicted Winner: Stephanie Ratcliffe, Georgia

At the SEC Championships, Stephanie Ratcliffe’s shortest hammer throw was 68.35 meters. She had four throws that surpassed 70 meters at the meet. Ratcliffe hadn’t thrown shorter than 69 meters in her last three meets before the first-round competition. She still finished with the second-best throw across the first rounds at 67.13m. Ratcliffe is peaking at the right time.

Javelin — Predicted Winner: Lianna Davidson, Georgia

Lianna Davidson finished second in the javelin in the 2024 championships when she was at Texas A&M. This year she threw 63.79 meters, the third-best throw in collegiate history, back in March. While Davidson’s mark trails her teammate Manuela Rotundo this year, Davidson is the veteran Bulldog with the SEC title. I think Davidson’s championship experience carries her to a title.

Heptathlon — Predicted Winner: Jadin O’Brien, Notre Dame

Jadin O’Brien finally gets the elusive heptathlon title after winning three NCAA titles in the pentathlon indoors. O’Brien is my pick here because she’s already reached 6,200-plus points twice this season and has three total performances in her career. No one else has reached that threshold more than once.

AWARD WATCH: Here are the Bowerman frontrunners entering the 2025 NCAA outdoor championships

Men’s event predictions

100 meters — Predicted Winner: Jordan Anthony, Arkansas

By this point, every track fan knows Jordan Anthony ran a windy 9.75 in the first round West meet. But don’t let performance overshadow a pair of 9.95 and 9.96 sprints run at SEC championships on back-to-back days. Anthony is the only athlete with two 9.9 100 meters at the same meet; no other sprinter has run sub-10 seconds twice in the same month.

I’m expecting the NCAA title to take a sub-10 second race, and Anthony is the most likely to run the fastest on the biggest stage.

UP NEXT: These records could fall at the DI outdoor track championships

110 hurdles — Predicted Winner: Kendrick Smallwood, Texas

Kendrick Smallwood has run a pair of 13.13 races at his last two meets. Those two performances make him my favorite entering the championships.

200 meters — Predicted Winner: Jordan Anthony, Arkansas

I have Jordan Anthony pulling off the sweep of the short sprints. Auburn’s Makanakaishe Charamba and Kentucky’s Carli Makarawu — a pair of Olympic finalists — pose the biggest threat to preventing the sweep, but Anthony is the SEC champion among the group. 

400 meters — Predicted Winner: Samuel Ogazi, Alabama

My pick from a loaded 400 meter group came down to who I think is most likely to run sub-45 on the championship stage. Samuel Ogazi has run sub-45 twice this year (plus another 45.04 race) and ran 44.52 at last year’s championships. Even last year, Ogazi ran sub-45 twice before Eugene, proving he can run fast even with a lengthy season.

400 hurdles — Predicted Winner: Nathaniel Ezekiel, Baylor

Nathaniel Ezekiel is the only male to break 48 seconds in the 400 hurdles this season. He’s also only running the 400 hurdles individually at championships, scratching from the 400 open where he could’ve been eligible based on his regular season. That singular event focus should drive him to a championship.

MORE: Every indoor and outdoor track and field individual event champion from the 21st century

800 meters — Predicted Winner: Christian Jackson, Virginia Tech

Christian Jackson caught my eye after running 1:44.83 to win the ACC title and 1:45.31 to lead the East region. Those are two impressive times late in the season, giving Jackson momentum entering racing in Eugene.

1500 meters — Predicted Winner: Liam Murphy, Villanova

Liam Murphy is the collegiate record holder in the 1500 meters. I’m not picking against him.

3000 meter steeplechase — Predicted Winner: James Corrigan, BYU

The steeplechase might come down to the Olympian vs. the freshman. BYU’s James Corrigan has built up this outdoor season after representing Team USA in the Olympics in the steeplechase last year. He still ran 8:22.20 with the build-up. 

Meanwhile, Louisville freshman Geoffrey Kirwa ran the No. 3 outdoor steeplechase in collegiate history in 8:13.89 — still slower than Corrigan’s PR. Fellow freshman Mathew Kosgei (New Mexico) and Collins Kiprop Kipngok (Kentucky) are other top contenders, but I’m going to lean on Corrigan’s experience to win the title in my prediction.

5000 meters — Predicted Winner: Habtom Samuel, New Mexico

Habtom Samuel is the collegiate record holder in the 5000 meters and is the best distance runner in the country. He’s my pick here.

10,000 meters — Predicted Winner: Habtom Samuel, New Mexico

Habtom Samuel isn’t the 10K collegiate record holder. That would be his teammate Ishmael Kipkurui. However, Samuel is the defending 10K champion, achieving the feat while falling last year. Samuel’s ability to overcome adversity on multiple occasions makes me think that he can withstand whatever happens in this year’s 10K and go back-to-back.

MORE: Every potential repeat champion at the 2025 DI outdoor track and field championships

4×100 meter relay — Predicted Winner: Auburn

While Auburn’s relay squad doesn’t have the fastest time in the NCAA this season, the Tigers do return all four runners from last season’s quartet that ran 38.03 to win the NCAA title. I think the continuity can get Auburn over the top to kick off the championship meets final men’s day.

4×400 meter relay — Predicted Winner: Florida

It’s hard to pick against the Gators in a 4×4. It’s even harder when they have thrown out two different groups that have both run top-five times in the country, no slower than 3:02.01. Florida’s the pick here.

Long jump — Predicted Winner: Charles Godfred, Minnesota

Charles Godfred has five long jumps of over 8.00 meters this year. He’s my pick to win the long jump.

Triple jump — Predicted Winner: Brandon Green, Oklahoma

Brandon Green has jumped 16.90 or greater on three occasions (one over the allowable) and over 16.55 meters four other times. No other athlete has surpassed 16.54 meters this year. Green should win the triple jump.

High jump — Predicted Winner: Riyon Rankin, Georgia

Riyon Rankin cleared 2.27 meters and 2.29 meters in his last two meets before the first round competition. The sophomore is trending upward entering the championship season and he’s my pick to win the championship.

Pole vault — Predicted Winner: Logan Hammer, Utah State

5.68. 5.70. 5.65. 5.65. Those are Logan Hammer’s clearances from his last four meets before the West first round meet. Hammer was consistently clearing a height that could win him an NCAA title throughout the regular season. That’ll pay off in Eugene.

Discus — Predicted Winner: Mykolas Alekna, California

I think this is the year Mykolas Alekna finally puts it together on the biggest stage. He’s already the multi-time collegiate record holder in the discus. All that’s missing is an NCAA title.

Shot put — Predicted Winner: Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Ole Miss

Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan makes it four straight shot put titles. While the Ole Miss Rebel only has the No. 2 mark nationally entering the final, he’s been the most consistent shot putter in the country with six throws over 20.3 meters in the month of May.

Hammer — Predicted Winner: Angelos Mantzouranis, Minnesota

This pick came down to two Minnesota Gophers: Angelos Mantzouranis and Kostas Zaltos. I went with Mantzouranis since he hasn’t thrown below 75 meters since March.

Javelin — Predicted Winner: Keyshawn Strachan, Nebraska

Keyshawn Strachan has two throws over 80 meters and five throws over 77 meters this season. I think that consistent ability to reach 77 meters will carry Strachan to a title.

Decathlon — Predicted Winner: Peyton Bair, Mississippi State

After winning the indoor heptathlon, I think Peyton Bair pulls off the sweep in the combined events in 2025. Bair only has one heptathlon under his belt from back in April, but he did PR in the open 400 meters in May.

The inaugural Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned boys volleyball state tournament takes place this week at St. Thomas.

It’s a three-day, eight-team event that opens with Tuesday’s quarterfinals and ends Thursday with one team left standing as a history maker.

Here are three East Metro teams with a chance to stake their claim as the first state champion.

Eastview

The Lightning (27-3) are the No. 2 seed this week, and for good reason. Eastview can win this tournament. It just took top-seeded Eden Prairie to five sets in mid-May and beat the Eagles 2-0 in a tournament in Bloomington in late April.

The Lightning feature just three seniors, a scary proposition given the fact that taking a set from Eastview in matches this year was a legitimate feat. It didn’t drop a set in 24 of its 30 matches to date.

The Lightning will meet seventh-seeded Hopkins at 1 p.m.

North St. Paul

The Polars (25-2) are the No. 5 seed and will take on fourth-seeded Spring Lake Park at 3 p.m. But the seeding may undersell the Polars’ potency.

North St. Paul’s only two losses all season came at the hands of Eastview, the No. 2 seed in this week’s tournament, and it beat Spring Lake Park less than a month ago.

The Polars featured a balanced attack with a number of players through which they can run their offense and score.

St. Paul Central

The Minutemen are the de facto home team in St. Paul this week after edging Eagan in a five-set thriller in their section final.

Central (23-7) is the No. 6 seed and will square off with third-seeded Rogers at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The Minutemen have won nine straight matches and star Josiah Walker, who touts 208 kills offensively to go with 101 digs. But the Central offense runs through Gus Walz, who has a whopping 568 assists.

An emotional 16-year-old schoolgirl is being hailed as the future of Australian swimming after earning world championship selection.

Sienna Toohey left seasoned campaigners including Kaylee McKeown in awe with a stunning swim at Australia’s selection trials in Adelaide on Tuesday night.

The Albury teen, who only started swimming because she wanted to play water polo, triumphed in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Toohey’s victory, in a personal best time of one minute 06.55 seconds, secured her berth at the world titles in Singapore from July 27 to August 3.

“All of these people being my idols, now I get to be on the team with them,” Toohey said.

“These are people that I was watching two years ago, saying I want to be like them.”

The daughter of the relieving principal at Albury High School, Toohey initially wanted to be a water polo player.

“My parents told me that I couldn’t do water polo if I didn’t swim, so I started swimming,” she said.

“And then my water polo progressed and my swimming was too at the same time.

“I got to the point where I had to choose swimming or water polo. Obviously, I chose swimming – it was the right choice.”

Five-time Olympic gold medallist McKeown was among those impressed with Toohey’s feat at the South Australian Aquatic Centre.

“I was 16 when I made my first team and it really taught me a lot being with the older guys,” McKeown said after winning the 100m backstroke final on Tuesday night.

“I’m excited to see young swimmers coming through the ranks.

“The more experience that they can get leading into LA (the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics), we have a really good chance of doing Australia proud.”

McKeown, who has told of the mental toll during her decorated career, offered some advice to the precocious Toohey.

“Just to enjoy yourself,” McKeown said.

“The more you be serious, the more you’re harsh on yourself, you keep just digging yourself in a bit of a hole and it’s quite hard to get out of.”

For Toohey, she now will revise plans which had centred on the goal of swimming at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“The team I was first aiming to get on was definitely that one,” she said.

“Now that I’ve made this one, we’ll have to push up the timeline a bit more.”

Also on Tuesday night, Alex Perkins threatened the national women’s 50m butterfly record by clocking 25.36 seconds, 0.05 shy of Holly Barratt’s benchmark set six years ago.

Injury-plagued Ed Sommerville, 20, made his first senior long-course national team by winning the men’s 200m freestyle in 1:44.93 ahead of Sam Short (1:45.71).

Joshua Edwards-Smith prevailed in the men’s 100m backstroke in 54.28 and and Matt Temple took out the men’s 100m butterfly in 51.00.