PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University’s Samuel M. Mencoff ’78 Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun ’92, Ph.D., announced the appointment of Jackie Puccino as the new head coach of the women’s water polo program. 
 
“Jackie’s passion for student-athlete development and tremendous vision for the continued success of our program was impressive,” Calhoun said. “We look forward to the team’s bright future under her leadership.”
 
“I’m deeply grateful to Grace Calhoun, Ray Grant, and Jake Silverman for the incredible opportunity to lead the women’s water polo program,” said Puccino. “I’m honored and energized to begin this journey with such a talented roster. A special thank you to Felix Mercado for his tireless dedication and unwavering belief in this program. I’m excited to work together to continue and build upon that legacy.”
 
Puccino brings over a decade of coaching experience and is recognized for her leadership and commitment to student-athlete development. Most recently, Puccino served as an assistant coach for USC Women’s Water Polo in 2025, as the Trojans went 29-5 overall en route to an NCAA Championship appearance.
 
“We are thrilled to welcome Jackie Puccino to the Brown Bears family,” Director of Water Polo Felix Mercado said. “Her extensive coaching background and dedication to student-athlete success make her an excellent fit to lead our women’s water polo program.”
 
Before USC, Puccino spent six seasons at Harvard, serving as a coach of both the Crimson women’s and men’s programs. Puccino joined the Crimson staff as an assistant in 2018 and was elevated to associate head coach in 2023. During her time in Cambridge, Harvard teams posted a combined eight 20-win seasons, including the Crimson women’s first-ever conference championship game appearance in 2022 and a 2019 NCAA appearance for the Harvard men.
 
Puccino began her coaching career with the Palomar College women’s program, earning PCAC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016. She spent a year as the women’s head coach at San Diego Mesa College, winning the 2017 PCAC title and her third PCAC Coach of the Year nod. 
 
As a player, Puccino earned All-America First Team honors at Palomar College before going on to Marist, where she earned a degree in psychology in 2012. Puccino also holds a master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific.
 
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JACKIE
“Jackie is truly one of a kind, hardworking, honest, and selfless! She’s a culture builder with tremendous coaching knowledge and experience. Jackie is a winner and has won at every coaching stop in her career, and Brown is getting a gem of a coach! I wish her all the success and will be cheering for her and her team from afar.”
 – Casey Moon, USC Women’s Water Polo Head Coach
 
“Jackie will do an amazing job leading the Brown Women’s Water Polo program. I know it has been her dream to be an Ivy League head coach, and she has worked hard for this moment. Jackie represents everything that the Ivy League stands for. I’m confident she will be incredibly successful at Brown… hopefully just not against us!”
 – Ted Minnis, The Friends of Harvard Water Polo Head Coach
 
“Jackie Puccino is a remarkable leader and a rising star in our sport. She is everything you look for in a head coach—innovative, grounded, competitive, and ambitious. Jackie does it the right way, prioritizing the holistic well-being of the program. She’s a tireless advocate for excellence and equity and ready to make a lasting impact at Brown.” 
 – Cassie Curnside, Michigan Women’s Water Polo Head Coach
 
BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS FOUNDATION

The Brown University Sports Foundation (BUSF) is the backbone of our athletics program, playing a crucial role in enhancing the student-athlete experience. This is possible through philanthropic support from our alumni, parents, fans, and friends. Your gift through the Sports Foundation can immediately impact today’s Brown Bears, helping them excel in the classroom, in competition, and, most importantly, in the community. Please click here to learn more about how you can support the Bears.

 

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The boys and girls outdoor track and field teams distinguished themselves at last week’s Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association Division 6 State Championship at Tufts University, winning gold in the girls 2-mile and boys high jump and medaling in 10 other events. The girls team also won a spot on the winners podium with their fifth-place finish among the 45 participating schools.

Senior Evelyn Wool won the girls 2-mile with a time of 11 minutes, 2.04 seconds, shaving 8.25 seconds off her personal record. She is now ranked seventh among this year’s Massachusetts 2-milers and 74th in the nation.

It was junior Rosie Bradley, however, who was first to take control of the 2-mile race, according to Coach Marisa Steele. “After a relatively slow first two laps, Rosie … broke away from the pack with Evelyn in tow,” she said. Wool took over the lead with three laps to go and closed hard to set a PR of 11:02.04, with Bradley finishing second, 13 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

Wool also raced in the 1-mile event, placing second and setting another personal record in the process. “Unfortunately, she was overtaken by her Littleton nemesis, Erin Regan, in the final lap,” said Steele.

Vasilis Psathas dominated the boys high jump. “He was clean over all the jumps through 6 feet, 4 inches,” meaning that he had no misses at all during the competition through the opening height of 5 feet, 8 inches through 6 feet, 4 inches, said Steele. Two other competitors cleared 6 feet 4 inches, but Vasilis won the gold medal outright as the other competitors had missed jumps at lower heights.

At MIAA sanctioned track and field events, the top 8 finishers get medals. Other Bromfield medal winners were the fourth-place boys and seventh-place girls 4×800-meter relay teams; Ben McWaters, who placed fourth in the boys 2-mile; Sienna Schulz, fourth in the girls high jump; Harrison Binnick, seventh in the boys 800-meter, and Rosie Bradley, eighth in the girls 1-mile.

Three Bromfield athletes qualified for this year’s MIAA Meet of Champions, scheduled to get underway at Fitchburg State College June 5 and June 7. Wool and Bradley will compete in the girls 2-mile, and Psathas will compete in the boys high jump.

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MIAA Division 6 Outdoor Track and Field State Championship, May 30 and June 1

Girls

• 1-mile: Evelyn Wool, second, 5 minutes, 8.80 seconds (PR); Rosie Bradley, eighth, 5:18.72
• 2-mile: Evelyn Wool, first, 11:02.04 (PR); Rosie Bradley, second, 11:11.81; Abby Wool, 27th,12:44.62
• High jump: Sienna Schulz, fourth, 5 feet, 00 inches
• Javelin throw: Ashley Aftosmis, 24th, 83-01
• Pole vault: Laci Ostaszewski, seventh, 8-00
• 4×800 relay: Evelyn Wool, Rosie Bradley, Gabriella Temps, and Jacquie Wilkins, seventh, 10:50.96

Boys

• 800-meter: Harrison Binnick, seventh, 2:02.19; Liam Kemeza, ninth, 2:02.46
• 1-mile: Ben McWaters, ninth, 4:41.29
• 2-mile: Ben McWaters, fourth, 9:43.16 (PR); Christian Johannesen, 20th, 10:26.70; Kai Kemeza, 27th, 10:40.49
• High jump: Vasilis Psathas, first, 6-04 (PR)
• Pole vault: Cole Maddalone, 14th, 10-00
• 4×800 relay: Harrison Binnick, Christian Johannesen, Liam Kemeza, and Ben McWaters, fourth, 8:31.36

Editor’s note: PR indicates that a result is a personal record.

Full caption: Clark Fork’s Olivia Yetter recently committed to continue her track & field career at Lewis-Clark State College (NAIA) in Lewiston. She’s competed on the Wampus Cats’ varsity track & field team for four years and is a two-time 2A State Championship qualifier, having placed 10th in the preliminary round of the 100-meter hurdles her senior season. Over the last three years, she’s placed amongst the top 10 at the 2A District 1-2 Championships, which hosts roughly 20 teams, in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. She posted a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles her junior season and was fifth in the event her senior season at the district meet. Also a sprinter, she finishes her high school career with 10 gold medals, three silvers, and six bronze to go along with personal bests of 17.40 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, 51.82 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles, 14.17 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 30.03 seconds in the 200-meter dash. “Olivia’s personality and desire to get better is pretty infectious,” Lewis-Clark State head coach Mike Collins said in an interview by the LCSC Sports Information Department. “Another one of those regional small-town kids that I love to recruit. We believe that she has a lot of potential and with her energy, once we get her into the weight room and she starts to adapt to the training, she will start to surprise some people, including herself. Looking forward to seeing her growth as a Warrior.” Pictured, front row, from left are Karla Yetter (mother), Olivia Yetter, and Tim Yetter (father). Back row, from left are Clark Fork High Assistant Principal and Athletic Director KC MacDonald, Clark Fork High assistant track & field coach Nona Young and Clark Fork High Principal Phil Kemink.

East Rowan’s Alli Corl.

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

GRANITE QUARRY — If you were a movie director and requested a volleyball player as an extra, Hollywood Central Casting would send over East Rowan rising senior Alexandra “Alli” Corl.

Six feet tall, blonde, cheerful and motivated, Corl looks and talks like a volleyball player.

Fortunately for East Rowan and for Corl’s next school, Southern Wesleyan University, Corl not only looks the part, she gets it done on the court.

As a junior, she had 307 kills, third in the South Piedmont Conference. She also accumulated 289 digs, 40 blocks and 45 aces. Those well-rounded stats indicate versatility and the ability to impact a match whether she’s on the front or the back.

Corl wasn’t just an All-Conference and All-County player for coach Sandy Lytton, she was an All-Region player. All-Region girls are special.

As far as her senior year, the sky is the limit for Corl. She could be in the running for things like conference and county player of the year.

“We’ll have another strong team at East,” Corl said. “We lost Cameron Ostle, and she was such an important piece for us, but we can still be very good.”

Corl has talent, good size, good spring, good awareness, but talent doesn’t mean much if it’s not harnessed and polished. She makes sure she gets volleyball reps almost year-round. Even on a June Monday night she was driving to Bermuda Run to practice with her strong club team — Triad United — that competes in tournaments as far away as Florida.

Corl’s parents let Alli and her twin sister, Ava, who is a good East volleyball player but is 4 inches shorter than Alli, sample just about every athletic activity when they were younger.

“I was 9 years old when I had my first experiences with volleyball,” Corl said. “I’m grateful my parents put me in a lot of different sports. I had a chance to play soccer. I played basketball through middle school. I did the pole vault for East track this year (and placed eighth in the South Piedmont Conference Meet). But by the time I got to high school, I knew volleyball was going to be my best sport. And by my sophomore year, I knew I had a chance to play in college if I really worked hard at it. That became a priority. College volleyball became my dream.”

Corl had 202 kills for East as a varsity sophomore. That was encouraging. She followed that success with her stout junior season, not only boosting her kills total by 50 percent, but dramatically improving her percentages. Those percentages are critical. If you’re hitting the ball out half the time, you’re scoring as many points for your opponents as you are for your team.

Corl wound up committing far earlier than she ever dreamed possible. Southern Wesleyan saw her play with he club team and the Warrior coaches began recruiting her as an outside hitter.

While Southern Wesleyan sounds like a school in the middle of nowhere, it’s  part of civilization. It’s only about 10 minutes away from Clemson University.

SWU plays at the Division II level and plays in Conference Carolinas, which has 15 volleyball schools competing in five divisions. Most of the member schools — North Greenville, Barton, Belmont Abbey, UNC Pembroke, Francis Marion, Chowan, Lees-McRae, Mount Olive, etc. — are well known to everyone who follows D-II athletics.

“When I visited Southern Wesleyan, there were a lot of surprises, all of them good,” Corl said. “I loved the dorms, liked the campus, really liked the coaches and the team. Just about everything was exactly what I was looking for in a college. I like where it’s located, not too close to home, but also not too far. I committed early because their offer was just too good for me to pass up. Quite a bit of athletic money and with academic scholarships, it will be close to a full ride. Recruiting can be so stressful, but now that’s over. Now I can just go out there and enjoy my last season of high school volleyball.”

Corl will take a 4.17 GPA into her senior year, so she hasn’t let herself become so obsessed with volleyball that she’s neglected her schoolwork. Her college major isn’t set in stone yet, but she is interested in the legal system, criminology and forensics.

A little more than a year ago, Casey Malone said he worked almost to the 11th hour putting the finishing touches on a refurbished Potts Field ahead of Colorado’s final appearance at the Pac-12 outdoor track and field championships.

Yet the continuing overhaul of the college athletics landscape is going to put a dent into the number of athletes calling the newly-remodeled Potts Field home. And it is costing the University of Colorado two of the most recognizable faces within the Buffaloes’ track and field program.

Quincy University, a NCAA Division II institution and member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, invites applications for the position of Assistant Women’s Volleyball Coach. Responsibilities:

Serves as a representative of the University, promoting QU’s mission, image and goals to colleagues and the community. All aspects of recruitment including – scouting perspective student athletes, organizing staff recruiting calendar schedules, and the coordination of on campus recruit Assists in coaching, and training student athletes Assist and coordinate with camp & clinics Assist in field and facility maintenance Perform other duties assigned by the Head Coach

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree Playing experience and/or coaching experience at the collegiate level Strong written and oral communication Ability to work with diverse student Flexible working hours (nights and weekends). Energetic and hard working with a willingness to learn

Salary: $28,000 – $30,000

Benefits: We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, dental, and vision insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA); life insurance; long-term and short-term disability coverage; paid vacation, sick days, and holidays; parental leave; a 403(b) retirement plan; and tuition remission for employees and their dependents.

Send letter of application, resume and three professional references to:

Mark Jones, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach

c/o Office of Human Resources

 Quincy University

 1800 College Ave.

 Quincy, IL  62301

 or

hr@quincy.edu.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

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