The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Girls Athlete of the Year for the 2024-25 school year is Mae Kordas, a senior multi-sport athlete at Cathedral Catholic High School. Here’s why Kordas stands as the best in San Diego this year:

Mae Kordas

High School: Cathedral Catholic

Year: Senior

Sports: Volleyball and beach volleyball

Positions: Outside hitter, opposite hitter and middle blocker (indoor) and blocker (beach)

College: Kordas is headed to Notre Dame, where she will play indoor volleyball.

Highlights: Two years ago, Kordas stood on the sidelines as a postseason callup from junior varsity. She watched the Dons win a state championship and get crowned mythical national champions. As a junior, she earned court time and finished sixth on the team with 67 kills. This season, the Dons again captured the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title and reached the SoCal Regional championship match.

Positionless player: If you think she’s a six-rotation outside player, Kordas will slide to the middle. If you think she’s a middle, she’ll camp out on the right side and stuff your best attacker. If you think she’s an opposite hitter, she’ll slide right into serve-receive and pass nails. Kordas finished her high school career as one of the most complete volleyball players in section history, earning Gatorade California Player of the Year honors.

By the numbers: The Dons won their seventh state title as Kordas finished with 469 kills, 118 blocks and 108 digs. She also won a CIF title on the sand as a senior.

On taking state: “When it first happened, I didn’t process it because I didn’t think we were going to do that well on the season,” she said. “But now, looking back on it, it’s just so crazy to me. Being able to represent my school and my program, it’s just so amazing.”

On her favorite part of volleyball: “How competitive it is,” she said. “Being with my teammates and all fighting for the same thing. My team these past couple years has been really special, and we all got super fired up and wouldn’t let anyone stop us. Being on the court with them and fighting and never giving up has probably been my favorite part.”

Favorite memory of her four years at Cathedral Catholic: “Beating (No. 2 in the nation Santa Ana) Mater Dei this year in the regional final because it was my last game at home,” she said. “You always want to go into a game with a winning mindset, but realistically this might be our last game because Mater Dei was looking really good. We beat them earlier this season, but I knew that maybe that was fueling them. I think we beat them in four (25-20, 22-25,25-20, 25-22). I hadn’t seen that many people at a Cathedral Catholic game in a long time. Having that be my last game was really special.”

She said it:  “I can’t think of anybody else that would be better for that nomination,” said Maya Evens, Kordas’ longtime Cathedral and club volleyball teammate who is also headed to Notre Dame. “She’s worked so so hard. I’ve watched her at practice and seen her get better every day. The way she carries herself so incredibly humble. She holds herself high, and it’s honestly so impressive to watch. I’m so proud of her, and I think that no one else deserves it as much as she does.”

Family tree: Kordas’ parents attended Notre Dame. Mom Brett (Hensel), a Torrey Pines Class of 1992 grad, played volleyball for the Fighting Irish, while dad James played football for the school’s famed football team. Mae Kordas originally committed to Yale but changed her course after club nationals this spring.

On choosing Notre Dame: “If you ask anyone, I’m the biggest Notre Dame fan. I literally wear Notre Dame gear every day to school, so no one was really surprised,” she said. “Growing up in a Notre Dame family, it’s one of the strongest sports fan bases. They have an amazing community there. I feel like I’ve already been a part of it since I was a kid.”

On playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which had three of the top five teams in the final 2024 AVCA rankings: “It’s one of the best conferences in volleyball,” Kordas said. “It will motivate me to be the best version of myself. That’s what I want for myself. I’m going to have to work really hard because there are some really good volleyball players there. The competition isgreat.”

Originally Published: June 23, 2025 at 9:55 AM PDT

Middlebury Hall of Famer and 1910 graduate Ray Fisher has been selected as part of 21 inductees into the Class of 2025 College Baseball Hall of Fame. Fisher, who will be inducted as a coach, was a standout pitcher for Middlebury from 1907-10 and had a stellar professional baseball career before transitioning to coaching duties for the University of Michigan. 

Born in Middlebury, Vermont, Fisher arrived on campus in 1907 and immediately made an impact, striking out 18 batters in his first collegiate start against Colgate. The Panther accounted for all four of Middlebury’s victories that season, with three coming in shutout fashion.

After his sophomore year, Fisher signed a minor league contract with the Hartford Senators. As a rookie, he posted a .923 winning percentage, a record that stood for more than 50 years. Although he was no longer eligible to play collegiate baseball, Fisher returned to the Panthers as a coach in 1910, graduating alongside his teammates.

Fisher embarked on a 10-year major league career that began with the New York Highlanders in 1910. The right-hander achieved 100 career triumphs and a 2.82 career earned run average in over 1,700 innings on the mound. As a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1919, Fisher posted a 14-5 record and helped the squad to the National League pennant and its first World Series Championship.

Retiring in 1921, Fisher accepted an offer from the University of Michigan to be its head baseball coach and re-integrated the squad in 1923. Over 38 seasons at the helm, the Wolverines tallied 661 wins, 15 Big Ten Titles, and defeated Texas for the program’s initial College World Series Championship in 1953. In 1970, the university renamed the baseball field after Fisher.

In addition to Middlebury’s Hall of Fame, the late Fisher is a member of the College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Michigan Hall of Honor, and the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. The class will be honored at the 2026 Night of Champions presented by Prairiefire on February 12, 2026, in Overland Park, Kansas, the home of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Jun 23, 2025

BRADENTON, Fla. (June 23, 2025) – IMG Academy, the world’s leading sports education brand, made history as the Track and Field program girls 4x800m relay team became the first quartet to win all four major track and field meets including their historic win at Outdoor Nationals this weekend, Millrose Games, Indoor Nationals, and Penn Relays. The team made up of three juniors and one sophomore—Aurora Bertelsen Del Solar, Mackenzie Winning, Danielle Graham, and Anyla Robinson, respectively—is the fastest girls 4x800m relay team in the history of U.S. high school track and field.

The team first won at the Millrose Games, where they ran a Florida No. 1 Indoor all-time 8:55.47. Most notably, they then shattered the National Record at the New Balance Nationals Indoor by two seconds, setting a new all-time indoor national record at 8:46.04. The relay team beat their own time at the Penn Relays and set the new No.1 Florida all-time record in indoor or outdoor 8:40.51. They recorded a time fast enough to have won at the collegiate level in the same event and meet this year. Finally, the girls 4x800m relay team was crowned the New Balance Nationals Outdoor National Champions.

“The girls 4x800m relay team is one of the most talented groups of girls we have seen in the history of high school track and field,” said Mark Napier, Director of Track and Field at IMG Academy. “To have only started training together at the beginning of August to now have broken national records, doing what no one has done before, showcases their strength and dedication and IMG Academy’s commitment to fostering the growth and development of top student-athletes to win their future.”

The girls 4x800m relay swept the season, winning all four major meets throughout the year and breaking two national records. The quartet is the first to do so in a single season and will all be returning to IMG Academy in the fall for the senior and junior seasons. This team will stay together for another season to continue making history.

The track and field program sent 54 student-athletes who qualified for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor, the most from a single high school program. As a whole, the program produced 29 All-
Americans and participated in 20 finals events across eight different event groups at outdoor nationals. In addition to the girls 4x800m relay, IMG Academy’s National Champions include:

• Yuliya Maslouskaya was crowned the girls heptathlon outdoor national champion, with a US High School No. 2 All-Time score behind Olympian Anna Hall.
• Winston Schroder was named the boys decathlon outdoor national champion, the only freshman in New Balance Nationals Outdoor history to win the decathlon title. IMG Academy was the only high school to produce champions in both boys and girls multis events.
• Mikey Swanson and Reegan Clutter earned freshman division champions titles and set meet records in the 400m and javelin, respectively.

At New Balance Nationals Indoor, the girls 4x800m relay broke the national record, and Michael Swanson became the first freshman to go under 49 seconds (48.77) in the 400m and broke the meet record. The boys 4x800m relay was crowned fourth in the nation for All-American. Garrett McNeil earned second place in the championship pentathlon for All-American, and Yuliya Maslouskaya, 2024 Heptathlon National Champion, was second in the nation for the heptathlon and named an All-American.

The track and field program claimed impressive titles and records this year, contributing to a historic milestone for IMG Academy — the most national and world champions achieved in a single academic year. They join a prestigious group of student-athletes and sports programs excelling at IMG Academy, including:

• The IMG Academy Girls National Basketball Team secured their first-ever Chipotle National Championship.
• IMG Academy Varsity Football team captured its second straight SSIA State Championship.
• Tennis student-athlete Wakana Sonobe won the Australian Open Junior Championship and earned a World Junior No. 1 ranking.
• The girls lacrosse program made history by securing a spot in the Top-20 rankings of USA Lacrosse.

About IMG Academy

IMG Academy is the world’s leading sports education brand, providing a holistic education model that empowers student-athletes to win their future, preparing them for college and for life. IMG Academy provides growth opportunities for all student-athletes through an innovative suite of on-campus and online experiences:

• Boarding school and camps, via a state-of-the-art campus in Bradenton, Fla.
• Online coaching via the IMG Academy+ brand, with a focus on personal development through the lens of sport and performance
• Online college recruiting, via the NCSA brand, providing content, tools, coaching and access to a network of 40,000 college coaches

To learn more about IMG Academy and its on-campus and online experiences, visit www.imgacademy.com.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball will host its annual Alumni Weekend this fall in conjunction with the third annual Kathy DeBoer Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance, set to take place from Thursday, Sept. 18 through Saturday, Sept. 20 inside historic Jenison Field House. 

MSU’s 2025 alumni weekend will celebrate the anniversaries of two history-making Spartan volleyball teams – the 50-year anniversary of the 1975 AIAW Final Four and first postseason team in program history, and the 30-year anniversary of MSU’s only volleyball team to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, the 1995 team. 

Jenison Field House hosted the majority of the Spartans’ home matches from 1993 until the program’s move to the Breslin Center following the 2021 season. MSU ranked inside the top 10 nationally in average attendance from 2015 to 2021 and set a then-program attendance record of 6,838 fans against Michigan in 2016. 

MSU hosted NCAA Tournament matches inside Jenison in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2016. 

 

2025 KATHY DEBOER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE 

Thursday, Sept. 18 – Binghamton vs. Michigan State 

Friday, Sept. 19 – Bowling Green vs. Michigan State 

Saturday, Sept. 20 – SIUE vs. Michigan State 

Match times, as well as a full tournament schedule, will be announced at a later date. Season ticket renewals and new season ticket memberships are available for purchase through the Spartan Ticket Office online or by calling (517) 355-1610. 

ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud State women’s hockey head coach Brian Idalski has been named the first head coach of Professional Women’s Hockey League expansion team, PWHL Vancouver, the league/organization announced on Monday.

“We are excited for Brian and his future in the PWHL,” St. Cloud State Director of Athletics Holly Schreiner said in a news release. “It is always great to have Husky connections at that level. We will immediately begin the process to fill Brian’s vacant position.”

Idalski coached professional women’s hockey in Russia from 2019-22 after being the head women’s coach at the University of North Dakota from 2007-17. He also coached China’s women’s hockey team in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to join an organization and city like Vancouver and want to thank Cara and the league for their trust and belief in me,” Idalski said. “The PWHL has had a huge impact on the global game, and to be a part of that — with expansion helping push it even further forward — is an unbelievable feeling.

“I’ve been associated with a lot of players across the PWHL, either coaching them personally or against them over the years, so this role brings me full circle with an eagerness to work with the league’s world-class talent. The team that Cara has assembled is fantastic and I embrace the challenge that comes with our high expectations.”

Cara Gardner Morey, PWHL Vancouver’s general manager, is impressed with Idalski on a number of levels.

“Brian is a proven winner who knows our sport, the players, and has coached at the highest levels,” Gardner Morey said in a news release from the team. “What stands out in Brian’s experience is his ability to build and transform the programs he is a part of, from his work in professional leagues, at the Olympics, and turning collegiate teams into nationally ranked contenders. I’m excited that he will lead our incredible group in Vancouver and can’t wait to see his vision and influence shape our foundation.”

The 2022-23 U.S. College Hockey Online National Coach of the Year departs St. Cloud after three seasons in which he helped turn the program around. Under Idalski, SCSU went 50-50-9 and recorded three of its eight highest single season win totals in program history and set numerous individual and team records.

In his debut season in 2022-23, Idalski led the Huskies to 18 wins, tying the program’s single-season record. SCSU also established a record of 36 conference points (reset again in 2023-24 with 39), earning a point from all seven conference opponents for the first time in 13 years.

The Huskies finished fifth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), its best finish since 2015-16 and first season with a .500 or better record since 2009-10. SCSU received its first national ranking since 2009 and has remained among the country’s top-15 consistently ever since.

In addition to being named USCHO National Coach of the Year in 2022-23, he was also a CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association National Coach of the Year finalist and was named co-WCHA Coach of the Year.

He was the first St. Cloud State Hockey coach — men’s or women’s — to be named a national coach of the year and the second women’s coach to earn conference honors.

In 2024-25, Idalski became the second coach in program history to amass 50 wins and was the first to do so in three seasons or less. He also became the first coach in program history to beat Minnesota on the road (0-60-2 prior) and was the second coach to post three consecutive 15-plus win seasons.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Athletics Department announced Monday (June 23) that Fred Richard (men’s gymnastics) and Savannah Sutherland (women’s track and field) have been named the 2024-25 U-M Athletes of the Year.

Richard is the fifth men’s gymnast to earn the honor and the first since Sam Mikulak in 2011. Sutherland’s win marks the 10th time a women’s track athlete has earned the department’s top honor and the first since Tiffany Ofili repeated in 2008 and 2009.

Both student-athletes are eligible to be named Big Ten Conference Athletes of the Year, the winners of which are determined by a media vote. The University of Michigan Athlete of the Year Award was first presented in 1982.

Fred Richard (Men’s Gymnastics)

Richard is the department’s male honoree after leading Michigan to the 2025 NCAA championship and Big Ten championship. He won the 2025 NCAA all-around title, marking his second in the event and fourth overall individual national championship of his career.

Leading Michigan to its seventh national championship in program history and fifth straight Big Ten championship, Richard was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships for the third straight season and to the All-Big Ten first team. He earned All-America honors in the all-around and all six events, marking the first time in NCAA history a men’s gymnast has earned seven All-America citations in a single season.

He was crowned Big Ten all-around champion for the third straight year, the first Wolverine to win three straight since Rick McCurdy from 1969-71. A three-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week this past season, he earned Gymnast of the Week honors from the College Gymnastics Association on March 27.

A member of the USA Gymnastics National Senior Team, he earned a runner-up finish in the all-around at the 2024 U.S. Championships (170.250). He won the floor exercise title (29.500), took sixth on still rings (28.300) and second on high bar (28.800).

He also represented Team USA at the 2024 Olympics, helping lead the team to a bronze medal for the first time since 2008 and finishing 15th in the all-around finals.

Savannah Sutherland (Women’s Track and Field)

Sutherland is the department’s female Athlete of the Year after capping her career with a pair of national championships in the 400-meter hurdles (2023, 2025). She is just the third Wolverine in program history to win multiple NCAA individual titles. Sutherland was named the 2025 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, marking her third straight year earning the honor.

Sutherland captured her second national title in the 400-meter hurdles and her third straight top-two finish at the NCAA Championships on June 14. She ran a personal-best 52.46 seconds to finish 2.20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and set five records — the NCAA record, NCAA Championship meet record, Big Ten record, Michigan program record and Canadian national record. She earned first team All-America honors for her performance.

The senior is now just the second runner in NCAA history to break 53 seconds, with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone setting the previous collegiate record of 52.75 in 2018. The time ranks No. 9 in the world on the all-time performance list and is tied for the second-fastest time in the world this season.

Sutherland also ran the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, clocking 50.71 for the fastest second leg and second-fastest split of the race. The relay squad finished 19th overall with a time of 3:33.75 to earn All-America honorable mention.

The Borden, Saskatchewan, native capped an impressive career in her final season for the Maize and Blue, winning her third straight Big Ten title in the 400-meter hurdles before setting the NCAA East First Round meet record (54.39) for the second consecutive year. She also helped set the program record in the 4×400-meter relay twice this season and earned a third-place finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

In the indoor season, Sutherland set a Canadian and program record with her time of 51.23 in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships, placing fourth for her highest career finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She won the Big Ten 400-meter indoor title for the second straight year on March 1 after setting the program 200-meter record (23.26).

Sutherland was named Regional Athlete of the Year for the Great Lakes Region for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

She also represented Canada at the 2024 Olympics, finishing seventh (53.88) in the 400-meter hurdle finals — the first Canadian to reach the event finals since 1996 — and sixth in the 4×400-meter relay (3:22.01).