TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama had three student-athletes named to the College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-District Team for baseball, the CSC announced Tuesday.

The Crimson Tide’s three honorees include Zane Adams, Tyler Fay, and Will Hodo. The trio are part of a total of 21 baseball players that have earned a combined 28 all-district accolades in Alabama history. With their selection, UA has had least one all-district honoree in each of the last six seasons dating back to 2020. Prior to the current stretch, Alabama had not had an Academic All-District Team member since 2011.

In total, Alabama has earned 10 Academic All-America honors since 1972, including first-team honorees Dr. Jeff Laubenthal (1993), Lance Cormier (2002) and Emeel Salem (2006, 07). The most recent Academic All-America selection for the Tide was Owen Diodati when he was named as a third-teamer in 2022.

The CSC Academic All-America program recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes baseball honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III along with NAIA.

Zane Adams

Academic All-District

• Advancing towards a degree in sport management
• Owns a 3.87 grade-point average following two seasons at Alabama
• Named to SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll in 2023-24
• Trending towards SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll selection in 2025

Tyler Fay

Academic All-District

• Pursuing a degree in marketing
• Maintains 3.76 grade-point average across three years at Alabama
• Garnered CSC Academic All-District honors for the second consecutive season
• Earned a spot on the Dean’s list on three separate occasions
• A 2024 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll selection on-pace for an identical distinction in 2025

Will Hodo

Academic All-District

• Completed his bachelor’s degree in exercise science
• Compiled a 3.84 cumulative grade-point average in four years at UA
• Named to CSC Academic All-District Team for the second consecutive season
• A four-time Dean’s List honoree who also earned a spot on the President’s List once
• The Crimson Tide’s 2024 and 2025 nominee for SEC Scholar-Athlete
• Selected to the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll in 2023 and 2024
• Tabbed to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll for 2021-22

Some people are destined to be hockey lifers. 

At some point, their playing careers will end in some random house league game with no real fanfare. Even once they’re done playing, they’ll continue in the sport, helping others find the type of love of hockey that they have had for a lifetime.

Stacey Hochkins is one of those folks.

A former college star at Holy Cross, Hochkins has already transitioned into a hybrid role. The 34-year-old still plays adult hockey and won a national title with the Little Caesars Women’s Hockey program this past April. When she isn’t playing, Hochkins coaches with a Detroit-area high school girls team and a college women’s team.

Brad Johnson has seen Hochkins’ impact for years. He has coached her since 2014 in what is now the Little Caesars program.

“We can talk about hockey, and we can talk about her talent, talk about her leadership, but none of that happens if she also just genuinely doesn’t care about her teammates and what we’re doing and care about in a bigger picture,” Johnson said. “Because I also don’t believe that if she was just in it to show up and play and then go home without trying to build our players up and help them get better — without trying to encourage more of our players to get involved in youth hockey, to be role models, some of the role models that these players maybe didn’t have when they were younger with predominantly male coaches — I don’t think if she genuinely didn’t care about all of that that I’d be talking to you right now.”

Hochkins’ impact on and off the ice is why USA Hockey named her the 2025 Adult Player of the Year. Hochkins and others will be honored at the USA Hockey President’s Dinner in Denver on June 6.

A knee injury while trying to play overseas with the Salzburg Eagles in Austria cut her professional career short. That came after a decorated run at Holy Cross, where she finished as the career leader in goals (103), assists (86) and, of course, points (189). She also scored a record 18 game-winning goals and was a four-time first-team All-ECAC selection and conference Player of the Year as a sophomore. 

In 2024, she became the first Crusaders women’s hockey player to have her jersey retired.

Knowing there wasn’t a lot of high-level hockey left for her after the injury, Hochkins returned to Michigan and connected with Johnson through a mutual acquaintance. He quickly found out why the New Boston, Michigan, native was so successful as a player.

“She’s a very competitive player, still at her ripe age now,” Johnson said. “Still very competitive. Wants to win and works her butt off in everything she does, but definitely on the ice one of the fiercer competitors in my 30 years of coaching … and now I’ve had the opportunity to coach her for over a decade. … But she’s also not over the top with the competitiveness. So as far as sportsmanship goes, she’s always on the right side of that.”

Hochkins is a staunch advocate for growing girls and women’s hockey. She is certainly around it enough. Hochkins is an assistant coach on the combined Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s and Saint Catherine’s high school team as well as an assistant at Lawrence Tech at the college level. 

In addition to playing with Little Caesars, she also laces up the skates for adult league rec games and dabbles with inline hockey. Sometimes she shows up at the Little Caesars games to be an unofficial assistant coach, too.

“We wouldn’t have a program without her,” Johnson said, “but a great deal of success that we’ve had over the years, which includes a couple of national championships at the adult level — one in 2018 and then most recently just a couple weeks ago — I don’t know if we win either of those national championships without Stacey on our team. We’ve got a lot of great players, I don’t want to take anything away from other players, but her being around the team, both on and off the ice is a major contribution to our success.”

Much like her younger days, Hochkins has often been the best player on whatever team she was playing on. While there has been — and still is — a “Get the puck to Stacey” mindset, Hochkins has always been about boosting up those around her to set the stage for this and future generations of female hockey players.

“She builds a foundation for players to respect her, both as a player and as a leader,” Johnson said. “Again, going back to leading by example, she does it in a respectful way and she does it in a way that the players see how hard she works, but she doesn’t talk down to them or ride players or anything like that. They feel like it elevates their level. Our players do skate harder when Stacey’s going because you watch her go out there on a shift and work harder than anybody else on the ice. They want to go out and do the same thing. It’s unspoken, but it’s definitely palpable and I see it.”

A perfect description of a hockey lifer who goes about her business each day yet is important in ways she might not imagine.

“I don’t think it’s something that she’s going to wear this [award] as a badge of honor, but I think it also helps her understand that she’s made a difference — and she absolutely has,” Johnson said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Middlebury College has announced the transition of Ali Paquette into the newly endowed assistant director of athletics position. Paquette will assume her new role on July 1, while a national search for a director of athletic communications is currently underway.

The move is part of a departmental reorganization, prompted by an anonymous gift that provides for an endowed leadership position in athletics, as well as endowed funding for the crew programs, which will now be overseen by the department. Franklin Dean-Farrar, the assistant director of athletics for operations and events, will now supervise both club programs. In her new position, Paquette will support some of Dean-Farrar’s current responsibilities, such as postseason NCAA events and strategic facility projects. She will maintain oversight of the Athletic Communications Department and will continue to serve as a liaison with the Office of Advancement and to oversee student-athlete education.

“I am excited for this next chapter of Middlebury Athletics,” said Director of Athletics Erin Quinn ’86. “Ali Paquette has been serving our department exceptionally well over the past several years in the dual role of director of athletic communications and assistant director of athletics. This reorganization will allow Ali to provide leadership to the new director of athletic communications while scaling her contributions to the department more broadly.”

Paquette joined the athletic communications staff at Middlebury in January of 2020 as the assistant director and was promoted to assistant athletic director/director of athletic communications in May of 2022. In her role as director, Paquette oversees promotion and coverage for all 31 varsity programs including statistics, releases, website management, contract administration with Northeast Sports Network, and running and curating content for Middlebury athletics flagship social media accounts, as well as working with local news media. Paquette has been a media relations staff member for multiple NESCAC and NCAA Championship events. She has served as the athletic communications professional for several national championship events, including the 2022 NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship, which drew more than 2,000 fans in Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena and concluded with Middlebury hoisting the trophy.

“I am thrilled to take on this new role within Middlebury Athletics,” said Paquette. “I am very grateful for Erin’s mentorship over the years and for his support in me as a leader. I want to thank the donor who made this position possible. This is a great opportunity for me to make a broader impact on our athletics community, as it will bolster support for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff in many ways. I am very excited for the future of our department and athletics programs, and look forward to the new year ahead.”

Paquette is an active member of the College Sports Communicators (CSC), currently serving as a member of the professional development committee. She is the 2024–25 D3SIDA president and has been a member of the CSC Division III cabinet since 2020. She is also a member of NACDA. Paquette has earned several national CSC awards, including the then-CoSIDA Rising Star Award in 2022, along with the 2021 CoSIDA ChangeMaker Innovation Award and the 2019 CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Award in the general feature category.

In 2018, she received her Master of Science in Sport Management and Athletic Administration from Southern New Hampshire University. A 2013 graduate of Salve Regina, Paquette was a four-year member and captain of the Seahawks’ cross-country and track-and-field teams.

The department has begun a national search for the director of athletic communications role. Interested parties can apply here.

IRVING, Texas — Former Massachusetts football running back Rene Ingoglia has been named to the 2026 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame as a 2026 Divisional Player candidate, the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced on Monday (June 2).

Ingoglia finished his collegiate career as one of the top running backs in school history and was a two-time All-America selection (1994 and 1995) and he was also a three-time All-Yankee Conference selection. Ingoglia became the school and Yankee Conference’s all-time leading career rusher with 4,623 yards after he ran for 656 yards during his rookie year, 1,284 yards as a sophomore, 1,505 yards as a junior and 1,178 yards as a senior.

Ingoglia closed out four years of dominance with 10 program records and a pair of the Yankee Conference’s top statistical marks. He was the first UMass player in history to average more than 100 yards per game rushing over a career (112.8), posted 21 career 100-plus yard games, three career 200-plus yard performances and outrushed the entire opposing team 18 times in his career.

Following his college career, Ingoglia played parts of three NFL seasons (1996-98) with the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins. He then competed for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 1999, where he helped the team to the World Bowl Championship.

A Massachusetts Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Ingoglia continues to work as a color analyst for ESPN.

The 2026 ballot includes 79 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 100 players and 35 coaches from the divisional ranks.

NFF College Football Hall of Fame Criteria:

To be eligible for the NFF College Football Hall of Fame, players must have been named a First Team All-American by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 full seasons prior; played within the last 50 years; and cannot be currently playing professional football. Coaches must have coached a minimum of 10 years and 100 games as a head football coach; won at least 60 percent of their games; and be retired from coaching for at least three full seasons. If a coach is retired and over the age of 70, there is no waiting period. If he is over the age of 75, he is eligible as an active coach. In all cases, the candidate’s post-football record as a citizen may also be weighed. For more information on the voting procedures click here.

The announcement of the 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2026, with specific details to be announced in the future. The Class will be officially inducted during the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 8, 2026, at the Bellagio Hotel & Resort, and permanently immortalized at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

On any given day during a sports season, you can choose from nearly 100 high school sporting events in Michigan to watch online.

More than 600 high schools are partners with the NFHS Network, and their freshman, JV, and varsity games all air live on that platform. In fact, since the MHSAA joined the Network in 2013, more than 216,000 events from Michigan have aired, trailing only Georgia and California. During the 2023-24 school year alone, nearly 47,000 events from Michigan were on live.

The NFHS Network is also home to the Finals in boys & girls cross country, boys & girls soccer, boys & girls Lower and Upper Peninsula swimming & diving, girls volleyball, 8-player football, competitive cheer, gymnastics, ice hockey, skiing, wrestling, baseball, softball, boys & girls lacrosse, and track & field. And starting with the 2025-26 school year, Finals in field hockey, boys volleyball, 11-player football, and boys & girls basketball will also air on the Network.

But it wasn’t always this easy to have so much content on your phone, computer, or TV.

During the mid-1950s, the MHSAA Representative Council began to explore the possibilities of having the Boys Basketball Finals televised. The Council discussed ideas of having all four classes broadcast to statewide audiences, and creating a modest new revenue stream while protecting existing ticket sales, which was already happening in some states.

It wasn’t until 1961 that a proposal from WJIM-TV in Lansing was approved by the Council on a one-year “experimental” basis.  All four title games would be shown, with WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, WPBN-TV in Traverse City and WTOM-TV in Cheboygan joining the network. Since the games were already sold out, a rights fee to protect against lost ticket sales was waived.

No live television took place in 1962, but Michigan State University’s WMSB-TV recorded the games to be shown the following day.

In 1963, only the Class A Final was televised on six stations – WXYZ-TV, Detroit; WJRT-TV, Flint/Saginaw/Bay City; WJIM-TV, Lansing; WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo; WWTV, Cadillac; and WWUP-TV, Sault Ste. Marie. At least one station – WXYZ (the flagship station of the network) – could make only a two-hour time slot available, and when that window closed, the broadcast ended before the end of the contest.

From 1964 through 1974, Final games were televised on anywhere from two to four stations, with MHSAA BULLETIN accounts listing WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids as the originating party most years up to 1970, and WOTV-TV in Grand Rapids from 1971-74. The BULLETIN reported that 10 stations carried the Class A game in 1968, and the number of stations varied for the other three games. Flint, Detroit and Cadillac were other markets in which games were regularly shown.

In 1975, the MHSAA struck up a relationship with Public Broadcasting for the games for seven years, with WCMU-TV in Mount Pleasant coordinating the network that included affiliates in Allendale, Detroit and University Center the first year. Stations in Alpena, East Lansing and Marquette would later be involved. WFUM-TV in Flint would assume responsibility for the network in 1981, and also produced one year of the MHSAA Football Finals at the Pontiac Silverdome.

The games went back the commercial air waves in 1982, originated by WILX-TV in Lansing and carried by stations in Cadillac, Flint and Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids affiliate, WXMI-TV, would assume control of network operations from 1986 to 1989, and included live telecasts of the Girls Basketball Finals in its market.

When the Boys Basketball Finals moved to The Palace of Auburn Hills in 1990, Palace Sports & Entertainment produced and distributed the games statewide with WKBD-Southfield as the flagship station. At the same time, the MHSAA began to produce Finals in girls basketball, volleyball, soccer, ice hockey and other sports to be shown live and delayed on Pro-Am Sports (PASS Sports). Football Finals and the Football Selection Sunday Show also aired for several years on PASS. (A large collection of those games are available to view on the MHSAA YouTube channel.)

In 1998, the MHSAA began a 28-year partnership with Fox Sports Detroit (which became Bally Sports Detroit in 2021 and FanDuel Sports Network Detroit in 2024). Fox Sports broadcast Boys and Girls Basketball Semifinals and Finals and Football Finals, and also produced the football playoffs selection show during this time.

Starting in 2007, the MHSAA created the School Broadcast Program – which allowed schools to provide content to Comcast, which aired the games throughout the state on a delayed basis.

Six years later, the NFHS Network was born – with Michigan one of the founding states. The Network has shared nearly $1.5 million dollars with partner schools since the Network’s start.

In 2017, the addition of the Pixellot camera – an automated unit equipped with multiple high-definition cameras that operates without human assistance by focusing on the ball and player movement – sped up the number of schools supplying content to the Network. Otisville LakeVille Memorial in 2017 became the first Michigan school – and one of the first nationally – to implement the technology that now broadcasts events from fields and gyms all over both peninsulas.

But perhaps the most rapid acceleration of digital broadcast presence occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to live audience limits during much of the 2020-21 school year and made putting events online a must so families and friends could follow the action. And following that rapid rise in live streaming, the number of broadcasts has only continued to grow.

For those unable to attend a game in person, it’s never been easier to watch the game from home or anywhere with an internet connection.

(Retired MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties John Johnson contributed significant research to this report.)

Previous “Century of School Sports” Spotlights

May 27: Upper Peninsula Helps Make Michigan’s School Sports Story Unique – Read
May 20: From Nearly A to Z, Schools Repped by 221 Nicknames – Read
May 13: These Record-Setters were Nearly Impossible to Defeat – Read
May 6: 200+ Representatives Fill All-Time Council Roster – Read
April 29: MHSAA Programs Prioritize Health & Safety – Read
April 23: Patches Signify Registered Officials’ Role in MHSAA Story – Read
April 16: Student Advisory Council Gives Voice to Athletes – Read
April 9: State’s Storytellers Share Spring Memories – Read
April 2: Sharp Leadership Synonymous with MHSAA Success – Read
March 25: Athletic Directors Indispensable to Mission of School Sports – Read
March 18: 2025 Finals Begin Next Half-Century of Girls Hoops Championships – Read
March 11: Boys Basketball’s Best 1st to Earn MHSAA Finals Titles – Read
March 5: Everything We Do Begins with Participation – Read
Feb. 25: Slogans & Logos Remain Unforgettable Parts of MHSAA History – Read
Feb. 19: MHSAA Tickets Continue to Provide Fan-Friendly Value – Read
Feb. 11: We Recognize Those Who Make Our Games Go – Read
Feb. 4: WISL Conference Continues to Inspire Aspiring Leaders – Read
Jan. 28: Michigan’s National Impact Begins at NFHS’ Start – Read
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience – Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA’s Formation – Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace – Read
Dec. 31: State’s Storytellers Share Winter Memories – Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time – Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate – Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council – Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory – Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program – Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always – Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA’s Home Sweet Home – Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship – Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA’s Longest Running – Read
Oct. 15: State’s Storytellers Share Fall Memories – Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S’s of Educational Athletics – Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame – Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements – Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? – Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year – Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships – Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin – Read