FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Klaire Kovatch, a former Montana high school standout at Seeley-Swan, is headed to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships following a strong showing in the discus last Saturday at the NCAA West Regional meet in College Station, Texas.

Kovatch entered the meet expected to qualify for nationals — her season-best mark ranked No. 9 in the region. Her first attempt of 172 feet, 8 inches was not enough to put her over the line, but her second throw of 178-2 vaulted her into qualifying position.

Kovatch sat in 12th place with a handful of competitors still to throw, but the she on as the final scores came through to earn a berth to the national meet.

Kovatch, a redshirt junior at CSU, was a three time Class C state discus champion in high school and helped Seeley-Swan to an overall team title in 2021. She was the 2021 Gatorade girls track and field athlete of the year for Montana in 2021.

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore. Other area athletes to qualify include Montana State’s Rob McManus (3,000-meter steeplechase), Harvey Cramb (1,500 meters), Hailey Coey (long jump), and the Bobcats’ 4×400 women’s relay team of Olivia Lewis, Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi and Caroline Hawkes.

The Mountain West, West Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference have all released their 2025 volleyball schedules.

Grand Canyon was not listed on any of those.

That’s important because Grand Canyon was a member of the WAC in 2024-25; was scheduled to be a member of the WCC in 2025-26; and will be a member of the MW in 2026-27. But where Grand Canyon will play next athletic season is unknown.

The Antelopes accepted an invitation to the WCC and was scheduled to join that league on July 1, 2025, or one month from now. But Grand Canyon rescinded its acceptance into the WCC after accepting the MW’s invitation last November. That leaves the WAC or MW as the two most likely conferences for Grand Canyon in 2025-26 unless the Antelopes go independent for one season. That would not be ideal.

Could Grand Canyon join the MW a year early for the 2025-26 season? That was mentioned as a possibility by the Antelopes in their statement when accepting the MW invitation several months ago.

“GCU will join the Mountain West no later than July 1, 2026, but possibly as early as the second quarter of 2025 if permitted under the conference’s bylaws,” Grand Canyon wrote in its statement in November.

Grand Canyon athletic director Jamie Boggs also hinted at that possibility after the Antelopes accepted the MW’s invitation last winter.

“The earliest possible time is when we will join,” Boggs told The Big Mountain podcast a few months ago. “We are excited to get in as soon as we can. When we mutually decide when we can enter is when we will, but I want to express how excited we are to get in this league.”

This looks more like a possibility since the five schools departing the MW for the Pac-12 — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State — have formally given their exit notice from the league on July 1, 2026. As a result of that official notice, those five schools, per the league’s handbook, also give up their spot as a voting member of the league’s Board of Directors.

That leaves only seven voting members in the league until July 1, 2026. Those schools include Nevada, UNLV, Air Force, New Mexico, San Jose State, Wyoming and Hawaii. If those seven schools want to add Grand Canyon for the 2025-26 season one year before UC Davis and UTEP join as well as Northern Illinois in football only, they can vote to make that a reality regardless of the feelings of the five departing schools, who are required to play whatever conference schedule the MW offers them.

Adding Grand Canyon in 2025-26 would give the MW 12 members in a number of its sports next season, including men’s and women’s basketball. One additional complicating factor would be conference distribution in 2025-26, including media-right money. But there’s a real chance the Antelopes would forgo its conference money for 2025-26 to simply have a home for next season before becoming a full-revenue member in 2026-27.

Adding Grand Canyon a year early also could help the MW from competitive standpoint as the Antelopes are good in a number of sports.

Grand Canyon won the WAC last season in softball, men’s tennis, women’s basketball and indoor men’s track and field; was second in men’s basketball, women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s tennis and men’s outdoor track and field; and third in baseball, women’s swimming and diving and indoor women’s track and field. That’s 12 top-three finishes with seven championships if you include conference tournaments.

Grand Canyon could step into the MW in 2025-26 and be competitive in most sports, and while that would mean tinkering with some schedules, the trade-off could be worthwhile even if the fit next season isn’t ideal. It is something to watch with the 2025-26 athletic season less than 100 days away. If I was running the MW, Grand Canyon would definitely be added for 2025-26, and it looks like that’s what the Antelopes want as well. Why delay the inevitable?

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.

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It includes those who will play indoor, sitting and beach volleyball during the period. 

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Peter Koumlelis, a former UConn thrower who recently revitalized the Villanova throwing program, has joined the Yale staff as an assistant coach for men’s and women’s track and field. Courtney Jaworski, Yale’s Mark T. Young ’68 Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, announced the hiring today.
 
Koumlelis spent the past seven seasons at Villanova, where he helped his athletes break the school records in every women’s throwing event, and the men’s hammer throw, multiple times. He coached two Big East Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award winners, 12 individual Big East champions, 13 NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifiers and 34 All-Big East performers. 
 
At the 2024 Outdoor Big East Championships, Koumlelis coached the men’s Outstanding Field Performer – Tristan Bolinsky, who became just the second men’s thrower in conference history to be a double winner in the shot put and the hammer in the same year. 
 
At the 2022 Indoor Big East Championships, Koumlelis coached the first thrower in Villanova history to be named the women’s Outstanding Field Performer – Sade Meeks. Meeks won the shot put and placed second in the weight throw.
 
Koumlelis joined the Villanova staff in 2019 after spending eight seasons in a similar role at UMBC, where his athletes won 25 individual America East titles and earned six All-America honors. Koumlelis was a part of four Coaching Staff of the Year honors at the America East Championships (2013 and 2014 men’s outdoor; 2013 and 2015 women’s indoor).
  
Prior to UMBC, Koumlelis worked at Hartford from 2008-11 and at Springfield College from 2004-08. At Hartford he coached his athletes to 14 school records, and at Springfield he coached three All-Americans. 
 
Koumlelis competed in the weight throw indoors and the hammer outdoors at Connecticut.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2003. He went on to earn his Master of Education, Psychology, Athletic Counseling from Springfield College in 2006.
 
Koumlelis joins a Yale staff under Jaworski that also includes Kyle Basista, Laura Broderick, Jeff Forino and Max Frye. 

Former Rainbow Wahine women’s volleyball standout Amber Igiede has been named to the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the opening week of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), marking her debut in the international tournament.

USA Volleyball announced the 14-player roster on May 30. During her time at UH, Igiede was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America third-team selection and four-time All-Big West first-team honoree.

The team will compete June 4–8 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament features 18 of the world’s top national teams competing over three weeks, with the top eight advancing to the finals in Poland in July.

Igiede, who played for League One Volleyball Houston in the league’s inaugural season, also helped the U.S. earn silver at the 2024 North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation Pan American Cup in Mexico. She previously represented the U.S. on the Women’s Collegiate National Team in 2022.

Read more at Hawaiiathletics.com.