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Four Men’s Track and Field athletes set for NCAA Division II Championship, action begins Thursday

Story Links PUEBLO, Colo. – The Lock Haven men’s track and field team is set to send four athletes, Matthew Muthler (Decathlon), Eric Zalar (Hammer), Ryan Miller (400-Meter) and Peter Bellomo (Javelin) to Pueblo, Colorado to compete on the biggest stage in the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship hosted by Colorado State […]

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PUEBLO, Colo. – The Lock Haven men’s track and field team is set to send four athletes, Matthew Muthler (Decathlon), Eric Zalar (Hammer), Ryan Miller (400-Meter) and Peter Bellomo (Javelin) to Pueblo, Colorado to compete on the biggest stage in the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship hosted by Colorado State University-Pueblo.
 
The NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships will take place at the CSU Pueblo Thunder Bowl in Pueblo, Colorado, hosted by Colorado State University–Pueblo on May 22-24.

“Our teams have had a historic season and to have four men qualify for the NCAA Championships is the icing on the cake,” head coach Aaron Russell said. “It is such an amazing opportunity for each of them to capitalize on the hard work they’ve put in over the last 12 months.  Both Matthew and Ryan returned for graduate school this year to use their final year of eligibility, so to see their sacrifice and dedication pay off is really heartwarming.  They’ve both contributed so much to our programs and I’m really excited to see them leave their mark on the national stage.  Sophomores Peter Bellomo and Eric Zalar might be making their outdoor national debuts as well, but nobody should count them out from making runs at All-America accolades.  Both have been at or near the top of every competition they’ve competed in this year, and I think you’ll see that experience pay off in Colorado.”

 

2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championship

May 22 – 24 (Thursday – Saturday)

CSU Pueblo Thunderbowl | Colorado State University-Pueblo | Pueblo, Colo.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP HOME PAGE

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

LEONE TIMING

LIVE VIDEO

 

2025 Pennsylvania State Athletic Championships (PSAC) Indoor Champion and All-American in the Heptathlon, Matt Muthler, is seeded fourth going into the championship week after his record setting performance of 7355 points, which was a new point total for the PSAC All-Time, PSAC Championship meet, and a new Lock Haven program record.

 

Muthler will start the championship meet for the Bald Eagles when he competes in five of the decathlon events on Thursday (May 22). The following events on day one of the two-day decathlon will 100-Meter at 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. EST), Long Jump at 1:15 p.m. (3:15 p.m. EST)*, Shot Put at 2:25 p.m. (4:25 p.m. EST)*, High Jump at 3:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.)* and 400-Meter at 5:15 p.m. (7:15 p.m.)*.

 

On Friday (May 23) Muthler will compete in the 110-Meter Hurdles at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. EST)*, Discus Throw at 10:20 a.m. (12:20 p.m. EST)*, Pole Vault at 11:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. EST)*, Javelin Throw at 1:50 p.m. (3:50 p.m. EST)* and 1500-Meter at 2:55 p.m. (4:55 p.m. EST)*

 

*Indicates estimate times

 

In the hammer throw, Eric Zalar earned his trip with a throw of 200-1 at the Penn Relays. The throw was the second furthest in program history. Zalar goes into the championship seeded 15th out of 22. He will throw on Thursday (May 22) at 3:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EST).

 

Ryan Miller is seeded 20th after his time Lock Haven program record time of 46.74 in the 400-meter. The 400-meter preliminary round will be on Thursday (May 22) at 5:55 p.m. (7:55 p.m. EST). The finals for that event will be on Saturday (May 24) at 6:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EST).

 

Peter Bellomo threw his best javelin throw at the Lock Haven Qualifier with a mark of 213-5, which is the fifth-best throw in program history. The throw from the Lock Haven Qualifier puts P. Bellomo 21st going into the NCAA Championship and will throw on Saturday (May 24) at 2:45 p.m. (4:45 p.m. EST).

 



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Fellin sprints to history at Kutztown – Times News Online

Kutztown University junior Michael Fellin had a season he won’t soon forget — particularly the 2024-25 indoor campaign. The Marian Catholic graduate emerged as one of the top 60-meter runners in Division II and became the fastest sprinter in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. “My indoor season was a memory I will hold on to […]

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Local volleyball standouts play at national volleyball

DALLAS, TEXAS — Kansas Fight Club (8-2) finished 11th in the elite USA Division of the USA Volleyball Association Junior Nationals. Great Bend’s Kya Behr, Hoisington’s Sophia Simic, Ellinwood’s Kyndal Moore and Inman’s Suttyn Harris competed for Fight Club. Harris was sidelined when she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury. The girls kept Harris […]

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DALLAS, TEXAS — Kansas Fight Club (8-2) finished 11th in the elite USA Division of the USA Volleyball Association Junior Nationals.

Great Bend’s Kya Behr, Hoisington’s Sophia Simic, Ellinwood’s Kyndal Moore and Inman’s Suttyn Harris competed for Fight Club. Harris was sidelined when she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury.

The girls kept Harris in their hearts and minds and played inspired volleyball and finished 8-2 with a ninth-place finish in the USA Division at Dallas, Texas.

USA DIVISION

Fight Club def.  Madtown, 25-15, 25-21; Fight Club def. Angel, 25-20, 25-18; Skyline def. Fight Club, 25-20, 25-12; Fight Club def. UVa, 25-22, 25-16; Fight Club def. Heaika, 25-15, 25-13; Fight Club def. Madtown, 25-23, 29-31, 15-9; Fight Club def. Black Adidas, 25-18, 15-17;  Fight Club def. Tsunami, 12-25, 25-21, 15-8; Fight Club def. Dynasty, 25-23, 25-23; Texas Tornadoes def. Fight Club, 25-23, 25-21 



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41st annual Lake George Blueberry Festival returns July 25-27

LAKE GEORGE — The 41st annual Lake George Blueberry Festival is set for July 25-27, with activities for all ages including live music, sporting events, a car show, and of course, blueberry baked goods. From 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 25, at Trinity Lutheran Church, there will be a homemade from-scratch pie and […]

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LAKE GEORGE — The 41st annual Lake George Blueberry Festival is set for July 25-27, with activities for all ages including live music, sporting events, a car show, and of course, blueberry baked goods.

From 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 25, at Trinity Lutheran Church, there will be a homemade from-scratch pie and ice cream social. Blueberry, peach, strawberry-rhubarb and apple pies will be available. During the social, the 2025 Blueberry King and Queen will be crowned on the Lake George Stage.

Following the social, attendees are encouraged to stay for live music by the Golden Harbor Quartet starting at 7 p.m. at the Lake George Bible Chapel. Community members are asked to bring their own chair.

At 7:30 p.m., sand volleyball will kick off at Lake George Community Park.

A full day of events will take place on Saturday, July 26.

A “Run Through the Pines” 5K run/walk will wind through the beautiful trails of Lake George. Registration starts at 7 a.m. with the race starting at 7:30 a.m. There is a $10 cash-only fee to enter. The first 50 participants will receive a T-shirt and medals will be awarded to the first three overall finishers and first two finishers in each age category.

At 10:30 a.m., teams of two can compete in canoe races on Lake Paine. Registration is free and will start at 10 a.m. at Lake Paine Beach.

A strong man competition will be held at noon at Lake George Community Park. Registration starts at 11:30 a.m.

Hungry participants can stop by the food stand at Lake George Community Park for lunch from noon until they are sold out.

At 1 p.m., a bean bag tournament will take place at Lake George Community Park.

Festival goers can see vintage and classic cars during the “Cruising Back to Lake George” car show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lake George Community Park. Admission is free for all and awards will be given for People’s Choice, Best in Show and Furthest Distance Traveled.

A free kids carnival with bike drawing will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at the town hall.

Also from 1 to 3 p.m., participants can play bingo at the Lake George Senior Citizens Center.

Bumps on a Log will provide live music from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Woodland Store.

A fireman’s ham and bean feed from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the fire hall will be followed by a raffle drawing.

At 5 p.m., a tug-of-war competition is set to take place in front of town hall. Participants need to gather a team of eight people to compete.

The day will close with dancing to The Snowmen at the Woodland Store backyard stage from 8 p.m. to midnight.

A variety of events are scheduled for Sunday, July 27, starting with a fireman’s blueberry pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the fire hall.

A kids pedal tractor pull will take place in front of Tin Lizzie Antiques. Registration starts at 10:30 a.m. and the pull starts at 11:30 a.m. It is free and sponsored by Sanford Health, Paul Bunyan Communications, Park Rapids Ford and Kabekona Collision.

A horseshoe tournament will be held at Lake George Community Park, with registration starting at noon followed by the tournament at 1 p.m.

The festival will wrap up with a 3 p.m. church softball game at Lake George Community Park.

Our newsroom sometimes reports stories under the byline “Pioneer Staff Report.” This byline is used when reporters rewrite basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as an email or press release that requires little or no reporting.

Other times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

For questions about a staff report, call (218) 333-9796 or email news@bemidjipioneer.com.





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Players are not afraid of failure, but of success, we have to solve that

For twelve years and four world championships, Montenegrin water polo players have been waiting to break the quarter-final barrier: since Barcelona 2013 and their second-place finish, they have failed to make it among the top four on the planet. They will try to do it in Singapore, from July 11 to August 3 – led […]

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For twelve years and four world championships, Montenegrin water polo players have been waiting to break the quarter-final barrier: since Barcelona 2013 and their second-place finish, they have failed to make it among the top four on the planet.

They will try to do it in Singapore, from July 11 to August 3 – led by Dejan Savić, an expert who knows how to do big things at big competitions.

Ahead of the new edition of the Water Polo World Cup, the 50-year-old Belgrade native had an interesting explanation for why the “sharks” have usually stopped in the most important match in recent years.

“The quarter-finals are the most stressful game for everyone, and in my opinion, this can be viewed from a different angle. In the younger categories, we actually only have two clubs on the club scene in Montenegro, and practically the final is played immediately, and those stressful situations that the quarter-finals and semi-finals bring are not overcome. Every small mistake in youth is a big one in old age. I talked to the guys and my view of things is that no one is afraid of failure, but of success – what will happen if we go further. We have to solve that,” said Savić.

The “Sharks” will play in Singapore in Group D, which includes Croatia, Greece and China. The winner of the group will advance to the quarterfinals, while the second and third-placed teams will play in the round of 16 against the teams that finish second and third in Group C (USA, Brazil, Canada, Singapore).


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LCCP’s fast rise to dominance

LCCP’s fast rise to dominance Published 1:13 pm Friday, July 4, 2025 Lake Charles College Prep has emerged as one of the state’s most dominant track and field programs in the last decade, building off the 400 meters and relays while developing other events to complement the Trailblazers’ strength, winning indoor and outdoor state championships. […]

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LCCP’s fast rise to dominance

Published 1:13 pm Friday, July 4, 2025

Lake Charles College Prep has emerged as one of the state’s most dominant track and field programs in the last decade, building off the 400 meters and relays while developing other events to complement the Trailblazers’ strength, winning indoor and outdoor state championships. (American Press)

In less than a decade, the Lake Charles College Prep boys track and field has become a powerhouse program with three state championships and a trio of runners-up.

The 2025 season was the Trailblazers’ most successful yet. A year after runner-up finishes at the state indoor and outdoor meets in Baton Rouge, they won the Class 3A outdoor state championship and the Division II indoor title in February. They are the first area school to win an indoor and outdoor state championship in the same season since the St. Louis Catholic girls team accomplished the feat in 2022.

“The kids naturally work hard,” said head coach Jackie Rhine. “Some of the programs you have to pull it out of kids to work hard. At Prep, almost every sport across the board, the kids understand what the standard is, and it’s going to be hard work on the track and off the track.”

Rhine attributes the success in his three seasons to building the team around the 400-meter run and relays. In the last three seasons, LCCP has won 14 relay state medals, including three consecutive golds in the 4×400 and back-to-back indoor 4x800s. Careion Franklin won three medals in the 400, including an indoor state runner-up in 2024.

“I believe everyone runs the 400, and when you have a program like that, it normally gives you success,” Rhine said. “I knew I had sprinters.

“Let’s build a 4×800 and let’s build some 800-meter runners and let’s see how that goes. And it meshed well. We had the sprinters, we had the distance runners and that was the recipe for a state championship.”

Rhine said track and field benefits all sports at the school.

“With the help of the football coaches, he (football head coach Erick Franklin) almost made it mandatory that his skilled position guys go run track,” Rhine said.

While LCCP has plenty of sprinters, distance runners and jumpers, he said the team will be even more formidable once it develops some throwers.

“That’s my next goal to build our throws, you know, to have a complete program, 360,” Rhine said. “We need to get out throwing our throws above the par and that’s our next project. So we’ll have field … we have jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumpers, we’ll have sprinters and we’ll have distance runners and we’ll have throwers and then we’ll be tough to compete with for a long time to come.”

Things started slowly for LCCP. The school opened in 2014 and started a junior varsity team in 2016. In its first varsity meet, the Barbe Buc Relays in 2017, the Trailblazers scored a single point. By the end of the 2018 season, led by head Charles Jackson, they qualified for the regional meet in four events.

Former Westlake High School and McNeese State standout Terance Cahee took over the program in 2019. LCCP qualified for the state meet for the first time and scored two points with a fifth-place finish in the 4×100 with three future Division I athletes in Dillon Simon, Trevonte Citizen and Solomon Lewis plus Caleb Robinson.

The COVID-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 season, but 2021 proved to be their breakthrough year. Under Cahee, who coaches safties at McNeese, the Trailblazers won the first team state championship in school history. They tied Madison Prep Academy with 60 points for the Class 3A title.

2021 also brought the team’s first individual state champion. Marcus Francis won the outdoor discus title. He was also the runner-up in the outdoor and indoor (Division II) shot put and was the program’s first Cagle Award winner along with Thaddeus Campbell. Campbell helped lead the Trailblazers to gold in the indoor 4×200 and 4×400 that season, plus the outdoor 4×200 and a silver in the 4×100. He was the outdoor 300 hurdles and triple jump runner-up.



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Cierra Ray had ‘unbelievable’ volleyball season – Times Herald Online

One of the most overused words in sports these days is “unbelievable.” If Shohei Ohtani hits a home run, it’s not “unbelievable.” He has already hit 255 in his career and his getting paid $700 million to hit bombs. No, unbelievable would be Ohtani hitting a home run without any arms, legs or eyes and […]

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One of the most overused words in sports these days is “unbelievable.” If Shohei Ohtani hits a home run, it’s not “unbelievable.” He has already hit 255 in his career and his getting paid $700 million to hit bombs.

No, unbelievable would be Ohtani hitting a home run without any arms, legs or eyes and to do it while while wearing ice skates and randomly quoting “Caddyshack 2” lines. That’s unbelievable.

However, the season St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School volleyball senior Cierra Ray had this past school year was, well, kind of unbelievable. When a St. Pat’s player called the Times-Herald in the fall of 2024 to report a match score against Albany and how many kills Ray had in the four-set win, our response was pretty much straight from Ron Burgundy in the film “Anchorman.”

“I don’t believe you.”

The number was just too insane for one match.

“Forty three,” Ray said, with a laugh before the question could even be finished by the Times-Herald this week. “Before that match one of the opponents family members told me, ‘Be great but don’t kill us. Do what you have to do, but don’t hurt anyone, don’t kill anyone.’”

She didn’t take the advice.

The next hour that evening resembled Billy Madison playing dodgeball with kindergartners — she was hurting people all over the place en route to a win.

To think of how astronomical 43 kills is in a single match, one must realize that 20 kills in a five-set match is considered very well played for an outside hitter. Thirty kills starts to raise eyebrows. Forty? Getting over 40 kills in only a four-set match is like your childhood friend saying they hit .900 during a baseball season with 200 homers or Napoleon Dynamite’s uncle saying he could throw a football over a mountain in Colorado.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent High volleyball star Cierra Ray brings in another dig at a recent Bruins' match.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent High volleyball star Cierra Ray brings in another dig at a recent Bruins’ match.

Forty-three kills in a single match?

“Did this really happen?”

Ray’s season is absolutely true. She kept right on rolling after the 43-kill match. She had more kills than James Bond, adding 594 in a season (sixth in California and 99th in the United States) that saw her get at least 20 in a match 13 times and at least 14 in a match 24 times. She also had 365 digs on the year. She finished with 992 career kills while at St. Patrick-St. Vincent.

Her Bruins went 29-10 overall, and won the Tri-County Athletic League with a 9-1 record, with the lone loss being a match Ray missed due to illness. The team eventually lost in the section semifinals to Hilmar.

So why there were great female athletes in the area in 2024-25, none were better than Ray. We salute the other candidates — Bethel’s Precilla Williams, Vallejo’s Zurrie Washington, Benicia’s Ava Rojas and St. Pat’s Aiani Prater — but Cierra Ray is our Times-Herald 2024-25 Female Athlete of the Year.

Ray’s success didn’t come overnight. St. Pat’s head coach Danette Domecus said earlier this year that the senior headed to Dominican University was one that constantly worked on her craft.

“She’s a student of the game. Every time she’s in the gym, she gets better and better at the things she works on,” Domecus said at Ray’s signing day. “We’re really going to miss her — just the presence she brings in the gym and the leadership she brings when she’s on the court playing.

“I’m so proud of her for being able to take that jump and get to a school with somebody that I also coached,” Domecus continued. “She’s going to do wonders for them. She’s such a great player on the court, worked super hard for her teammates, and I just can’t say enough about her and her efforts.”

St. Patrick-St. Vincent High players Danica Pagtakhan (21), Cierra Ray (middle) and Dior Duru talk Wednesday before the second set against St. Joe's of Alameda. The Bruins lost the playoff match in three sets. (Matt O'Donnell/Special to the Times-Herald)
St. Patrick-St. Vincent High players Danica Pagtakhan (21), Cierra Ray (middle) and Dior Duru talk Wednesday before the second set against St. Joe’s of Alameda. The Bruins lost the playoff match in three sets. (Matt O’Donnell/Special to the Times-Herald)

Those efforts really shined in the 43-kill game — a number Ray didn’t know about it until a day later.

“My uncle came up to me after the game,” Ray said. “He’s a dad of a player on the Albany team. He said, ‘Dude you are insane, you had to have broken some kind of record with the number of kills you had tonight.’ I don’t know why I had 43 in that game.”

Later in the year the Times-Herald asked St. Pat’s if the amount of kills was a record but the program didn’t know for sure.

Ray said that her ultimate goal was team-oriented.

“In order for myself to win the league MVP, our team basically need to win the league,” Ray said. “So when I won the MVP it was a joy because we had won the league and by the end of the season I started to realize how good our team was. But it was also a relief because in that moment I knew more work had to be done because I saw the work that had to be done in order to do well in the postseason.”

Ray was part of a solid one-two punch with soon-to-be junior Dior Duru, who had nearly 500 kills herself this past year. In a way, with a two-year age gap between the two, Ray was mentoring the next version of her.

“When I was a freshman I was so scared of everyone,” Ray said, with a laugh. “I was just this tall White girl that didn’t know anything. So three years later with Dior I knew how she felt. I knew her from middle school, but I had never played on a team with her. But I knew how good she was. She’s not quiet but weird and funny when she wants to be. Once I saw her skill and potential I knew I had to be a role model to her. Because if I started messing around, she would mess around. I needed to focus on the court, so she would focus on the court.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sophomore do so much,” Ray continued. “For her to step up this year was so big. A lot of matches it was myself, Dior and Danica Pagtakhan leading the way and others following to form a great team.

“To see how much we increased our skill and drive to go as far, it was shocking,” Ray said. “I didn’t take as much time to reflect as I should have. We ended the high school season and the next day I was already in practice for my club team. So I didn’t take the time to reflect on what we had done. I took that time later at our end of the season banquet. That was when I realized how much we had accomplished and how we hadn’t had this kind of success in a while.”

Ray said she felt more comfortable being a vocal leader during her senior year.

“My junior year I let all the seniors talk and say everything because they’re older than me and I don’t want to boss them around. I didn’t feel like I had all the power,” Ray said. “I think that at some times I might put some players in their place if they were acting out, but I definitely felt more comfortable as a senior being more vocal because I was the oldest.”

It turns out she was also the best.



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