COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University athletics department recorded another stellar semester in the classroom, posting a 3.17 term grade point average during the Spring 2025 semester.
 
Across its 14 programs, the department holds a cumulative GPA of 3.21, with all but two programs recording a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better. In the Spring 2025 semester, all but two programs posted a term GPA of 3.00 or better.
 
“This semester’s academic achievements underscore the exceptional dedication and discipline demonstrated by our student-athletes, in addition to the focused and supportive learning environment created by our faculty, staff and university community,” said Director of Athletics Jim Curry. “As we hit new academic heights within our athletics programs, we our confident that a strong foundation is in place that will support a comprehensive culture of excellence as we prepare to embark on full Division I membership status this fall.”
 
Individually, 229 student-athletes (which represents 72 percent of all student-athletes) posted term GPAs of 3.00 or better during the spring semester, including 70 student-athletes that posted perfect 4.0 GPAs. The 229 student-athletes with 3.00 or better term GPAs is the most for the department in the Division I era and most since the COVID-19 affected Spring 2020 semester.
 
Here is the list of the 10 programs that record term GPA of 3.00 or better during the Spring 2025 semester.
 

 

East Texas A&M also graduated 65 Lion student-athletes during May commencement ceremonies. In the fall, an additional 18 student-athletes participated in the December commencement ceremonies.
 
“Our student-athletes continue to raise the bar both on the playing surface and in the classroom. This semester’s achievements reflect the dedication of our student-athletes, as well as the support of our coaches and academic staff, and the strength of our university community,” said provost Dr. Tammi Vacha-Haase. “We are proud to celebrate their success as scholars and leaders on this campus.”
 
In the 2024-25 academic year, 230 student-athletes were listed on the SLC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which is the most in an academic year since joining the conference. Following a record-breaking fall, 118 student-athletes in the spring and winter sports of men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s golf, softball, men’s track and field, and women’s track and field were named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which is a new record for the spring.
 
Below is the list of the 229 student-athletes that recorded a term GPA of 3.00 or above in the spring. Those marked with a ‘*’ earned a perfect 4.0 semester GPA.
 
 
MEN’S BASKETBALL

 
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

 
FOOTBALL

 
MEN’S GOLF

 
WOMEN’S GOLF

 
SOCCER

 
SOFTBALL

 
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK & FIELD

 
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK & FIELD

 
VOLLEYBALL

 

-ETAMU-

Penn State volleyball instantly received two class of 2027 commitments once coaches were legally allowed to contact rising juniors. Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley is still dominating the recruitment field as the Nittany Lions received its third commit in two days.

Alongside right-side hitter Nejari Crooks and middle blocker Taylor Harrington, outside hitter Olivia Henry announced that she, too, will be heading to Happy Valley for her NCAA career.

Could Penn State volleyball have the No. 1 class of 2027 recruiting class?

All three front row players are high ranked recruits, with Harrington being the lowest at No. 16. Now with Henry joining the court, the Nittany Lions have the No. 2 overall recruit from the class of 2027. She’s also the No. 1 outside hitter of the class. Henry will also play with future teammate and incoming freshman Gabrielle Nichols before attending Penn State. The outside hitter, like Nichols, will play for the 2025 Girls U19 National Team.

For the next few seasons, the outside hitter group will have a lot to prove. Aside from the No. 2 class of 2027 recruit committing to Penn State, the Nittany Lions currently have two Big Ten All-Freshman Team and two incoming freshman vying for an open starter spot. Since Jess Mruzik graduated after the 2025-26 season, the outside hitter position will be up for grabs and can continue to change depending on incoming recruits.

Moving beyond the early stages of 2027 recruiting, eyeing back row players will round out Schumacher-Cawley class. Even though there are young defensemen that will likely stay with the program, the class of 2026 is scarce when it comes to defensive specialists. Libero Gillian Grimes is also graduating after the 2025-26 season, so having a defensive focus going further with the class of 2027 will prepare the Nittany Lions for years to come.

So what does this mean for Penn State?

After winning the championship title, it’s unsurprising that Schumacher-Cawley is dominating the recruitment realm, even beyond the class of 2026. Having representation on national levels outside of the NCAA, like the Girls U19 National Team and U19 Pan American Cup, keeps all eyes on Penn State.

Not only will Schumacher-Cawley have one of the top, if not the No. 1, 2027 recruitment classes but it should be expected for Penn State to be one of the top recruitment leaders for the next few years.

Having these early verbal commits from some of the top recruits in the nation mixed with high-profile transfers, like outside hitter Emmi Sellman, will only make the Nittany Lions stronger down the line. Even with a difficult schedule ahead for the 2025-26 season, and most likely for the next few seasons to come, the talent on the current and future rosters can live up to the challenge.

Another Big Ten title win is well within reach for Schumacher-Cawley’s group, and potentially more NCAA titles. Continuing to grow on the 2024-25 foundation will open doors for Penn State to become a consistently elite program as it was in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In Vanhoy’s third full year at the helm, the Cal Poly men’s track and field team repeated as Big West Champions this spring using an astonishing 114 points from Vanhoy’s distance squad to claim their second Big West title in program history. Vanhoy’s distance crew won five individual conference titles on the men’s side (800, 1,500, 3,000 steeplechase, 5,000 and 10,000) to lead the way and set the tone for the Mustangs.

The Cal Poly men posted a program record 14 entries in the NCAA West Preliminaries and went onto qualify three athletes for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, tied for the most individual NCAA qualifiers by the Cal Poly men’s team in the Division I era, joining the 1979 squad. The three All-Americans, including a pair of First Teamers, allowed the Mustang men to earn their fifth highest team finish ever at the NCAA Division I meet and their best since 2000. Cal Poly finished in a tie with four other schools for 37th with 8 team points, tied for the second most team points the Mustang men have scored at the Division I meet. Vanhoy coached McCarthy to First Team All-American honors indoors and outdoors this year.

Speaking of McCarthy, the Pleasanton, Calif. native continued to add to his legendary career this spring, placing fifth overall in the men’s 800-meter at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn First Team All-American honors outdoors for the second time in his career and the first time since 2023. The performance outdoors coupled with his third-place finish at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships allowed McCarthy to become the eighth three-time NCAA Division I First Team All-American in program history and first since Sharon Day-Monroe earned All-American status seven times across her career (2004-08). McCarthy also became the first Cal Poly athlete since Day-Monroe in 2008 to achieve a pair of Division I All-American finishes in the same event during a year.

This is the ninth time a Cal Poly athlete has won the Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Year award and McCarthy is the Mustangs’ second multiple-time winner, joining five-time All-American Kaaron Conwright (1998, 2000).

The career best finish at the NCAA outdoor meet capped off an incredible year by McCarthy. The three-time NCAA West Preliminaries qualifier earned Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet honors this year after scoring 20 team points in Cal Poly’s conference championship victory. He broke the Jack Rose Track facility record in the 800 (1:46.62) en route to claiming his third career Big West title in the event, joining Mark Schilling (1973-77) as the only athletes in conference history to win three championships in the event. He also obliterated the Big West meet record in the men’s 1,500 by over three seconds (3:39.35) to capture his first conference title in the event, helping him become just the fifth Big West athlete ever to sweep the men’s 800 and 1,500.

This year, McCarthy broke school records in the outdoor 800, indoor 800, indoor 1,000 and mile, became the third men’s Division I indoor All-American in school history and first since 1973, and ran the fastest indoor 800 by an American in collegiate history (1:45.19) at the BU Last Chance National Qualifier.

The year to remember for McCarthy comes after he missed the entire 2024 outdoor season and nearly the entire indoor season due to a stress fracture in his foot. McCarthy will return next season and has one year of eligibility left in both indoor and outdoor track, and no eligibility remaining in cross country.

Andee Poteet resigned as the head coach of the Beckville Ladycats volleyball team and will take an assistant coaching position at Longview she announced on Monday.

Poteet, who led Beckville the last three seasons, cited her four-year-old son Beckham and Longview being less than a mile from her home as the reasons for making what she called a very difficult decision to make in leaving Beckville.

“It has to do with Beckham, I need to start spending more time with him,” Poteet said. “I get ‘I miss you mommy all the time’ and it tugs at your heart strings.”

In her three seasons Poteet kept the blue train rolling by compiling a record of 97-41 with three-straight undefeated district titles, three-straight district Coach of the Year titles and making it to the third round of the postseason each season.

Poteet will be teaching Physical Education at Longview.

“I’m not leaving because I knew I we weren’t going to be good this year,” Poteet said. “They are still going to be good this year and can make a complete run in the playoffs this year. That was hard because they are still going to be a stellar program.”

This season Beckville will return the likes of soon-to-be senior and middle blocker Kellen Weaver who as an all-state selection a year ago.

Along with Weaver the Ladycats return Carli Tuttle, Adyson Davis, Emily Grandgeorge and Kaitlyn Mauritzen.

Poteet said she did a lot of crying on Monday because Weaver, Grandgeorge and Mauritzen were all freshmen when she first came to Beckville.

“I told (the team) that I was given an opportunity to be closer to home and to be able to spend more time with Beckham,” Poteet said. “You’re going to have to make hard decisions in your life and this was one that was a hard decision.

“I wish them nothing but the best and told them that they are going to be great this year. That’s how I told them.”

Poteet had topsy-turvy run that started when she inherited a team that previously won the 2A state title back in 2021.

That season was a state title or bust team talent wise but untimely injuries derailed Beckville with a brutal five-set loss to Iola in the regional semifinals that year.

In what was expected to be a rebuild season Poteet led a very youthful and inexperienced Beckville team continuing their unbeaten district streak that dates back to Oct. 12 of 2012 going and a return trip to the regional semifinals.

This past season Beckville looked very much like the teams the over the last decade and a half but with the classes getting split into two divisions, Beckville fell to Iola in the regional quarterfinals.

“It was awesome,” Poteet said of her three years coaching at Beckville. “Each year brought me different stress and each year brought me different joys. My first year everybody wanted us to go back to state and we had the injuries and that next year there’s no way they could keep this up after they lost six seniors and to prove them wrong. That was probably one of my favorite years I’ve had as a coach.”

At Longview Poteet will be able to spend more time with Beckham and being an assistant coach is a completely different approach according to Poteet.

“Big thing is the stress level,” she said. “I feel like a lot of stress has been taken off. Trying to keep that district winning streak alive at Beckville is a lot of stress in itself. The work load has gotten a lot lighter on me, it’s night and day.”

Poteet’s tenure at Beckville was brief and over that span she showed she knew how to coach.

From being able to win over a community and fan base who expected a state title her first year, to overachieving her second year and to showing that Beckville regardless of school size is still one of the premier volleyball teams in all of East Texas in her final season.

Poteet will always be thankful for her time at Beckville.

“You can’t ask for a better community than Beckville,” Poteet said. “In my letter I said that I appreciated the privilege of working alongside such an exceptional team and I’m extremely grateful for the all encouragement I received. Coming into a town like this they swooped me up and showed nothing but courage and lovingness towards me and the whole coaching staff. It was a hard, hard decision.”

(All times Eastern)

Schedule subject to change and/or blackouts

Saturday, June 21

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL (MEN’S)

11 p.m.

FS2 — AFL: Gold Coast at Greater Western Sydney

AUTO RACING

8:55 a.m.

FS1 — FIM MotoGP: The Brembo Grand Prix of Italy – Sprint Race, Tuscany, Italy

10 a.m.

FS1 — NXT IndyCar Series: Practice, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

11 a.m.

FS1 — NTT IndyCar Series: Practice, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

12:35 p.m.

PRIME VIDEO — NASCAR Cup Series: Practice, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

1:30 p.m.

FS1 — NXT IndyCar Series: Qualifying, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

1:45 p.m.

PRIME VIDEO — NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

2:30 p.m.

FS1 — NTT IndyCar Series: Qualifying, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

3:30 p.m.

CW — NASCAR Xfinity Series: The Explore the Pocono Mountains 250, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

9 p.m.

FS2 — ARCA Menards Series: The Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy at Elko Speedway, Elko Speedway, Elko New Market, Minn.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

1 p.m.

CW — AVP League: Week 4 – Day 1, East Hampton, N.Y.

CFL FOOTBALL

4 p.m.

CBSSN — Ottawa at Calgary

7 p.m.

CBSSN — Winnipeg at B.C.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

7 p.m.

ESPN — Men’s College World Series – Final: Coastal Carolina vs. LSU, Game 1, Omaha Neb.

ESPNU — Men’s College World Series – Final: Coastal Carolina vs. LSU, Game 1, Omaha Neb. (UmpCast)

FOOTBALL (WOMEN’S)

3 p.m.

ESPN2 — 2025 WNFC IX Cup Championship: Washington vs. Texas, Frisco, Texas

GOLF

1 p.m.

GOLF — PGA Tour: The Travelers Championship, Third Round, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

1:30 p.m.

NBC — LPGA Tour: The 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Third Round, Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, Frisco, Texas

3 p.m.

CBS — PGA Tour: The Travelers Championship, Third Round, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

GOLF — PGA Tour Champions: The Kaulig Companies Championship, Third Round, Firestone Country Club South Course, Akron, Ohio

HORSE RACING

9 a.m.

NBC — Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: The Royal Ascot, Ascot Racehorse, Ascot, United Kingdom

12:30 p.m.

FS1 — NYRA: America’s Day at the Races

1:30 p.m.

FS2 — NYRA: America’s Day at the Races

LACROSSE (MEN’S)

4 p.m.

ESPN — PLL: New York vs. Philadelphia, Baltimore

7 p.m.

ESPN2 — PLL: Boston vs. Maryland, Baltimore

MIXED MARTIALS ARTS

Noon

ESPN — UFC Fight Night Prelims: Undercard Bouts, Baku, Azerbaijan

3 p.m.

ABC — UFC Fight Night Main Card: Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (Light Heavyweights), Baku, Azerbaijan

MLB BASEBALL

Noon

MLBN — Regional Coverage: Detroit at Tampa Bay (12:10 p.m.) OR Baltimore at N.Y. Yankees (1:05 p.m.)

4 p.m.

FS1 — Texas at Pittsburgh

7 p.m.

FOX — Regional Coverage: Kansas City at San Diego OR N.Y Mets at Philadelphia

10 p.m.

MLBN — Regional Coverage: Washington at L.A. Dodgers (10:10 p.m.) OR Cleveland at Athletics (10:05 p.m.)

RUGBY (MEN’S)

5:30 a.m.

FS2 — NRL: Melbourne at South Sydney

1 p.m.

ESPN2 — MLR Eastern Conference Final: Chicago at New England

9 p.m.

ESPN2 — MLR Western Conference Final: Houston at Utah

SOCCER (MEN’S)

7 p.m.

FS1 — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: Curacao vs. Canada, Group B, Houston

9 p.m.

TBS — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: CA River Plate vs. CF Monterrey, Group E, Pasadena, Calif.

TRUTV — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: CA River Plate vs. CF Monterrey, Group E, Pasadena, Calif.

10 p.m.

FS1 — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: Honduras vs. El Salvador, Group B, Houston

SOCCER (WOMEN’S)

7:30 p.m.

ION — NWSL: Bay FC at NJ/NY Gotham FC

10 p.m.

ION — NWSL: Chicago at Portland

SOFTBALL

5 p.m.

ESPNU — Athletes Unlimited: Talons vs. Volts, Norman, Okla.

7 p.m.

MLBN — Athletes Unlimited: Bandits vs. Blaze, Wichita Kansas

TENNIS

6 a.m.

TENNIS — London-ATP, Halle-ATP, Berlin-WTA, Nottingham-WTA Semifinals

6 a.m. (Sunday)

TENNIS — London-ATP, Halle-ATP, Berlin-WTA, Nottingham-WTA Finals

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN’S)

10:30 a.m.

CBSSN — FIVB Nations League Pool Play: Netherlands vs. U.S., Pool 6, Belgrade, Serbia

WNBA BASKETBALL

1 p.m.

ABC — Phoenix at Chicago

8 p.m.

NBATV — Los Angeles at Minnesota

_____

(All times Eastern)

Schedule subject to change and/or blackouts

Sunday, June 22

AUTO RACING

7:30 a.m.

FS1 — FIM MotoGP: The Brembo Grand Prix of Italy, Tuscany, Italy

10 a.m.

FS1 — NTT IndyCar Series: Warmup, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

11 a.m.

FS1 — NXT IndyCar Series: The Grand Prix at Road America, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Noon

CBS — ABB FIA Formula-E: The Jakarta Grand Prix – Round 12, North Jakarta, Indonesia (Taped)

NBC — IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: The Saleh’s Six Hours of Glen, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

1:30 p.m.

FOX — NTT IndyCar Series: The Xpel Grand Prix at Road America, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

2 p.m.

FS1 — NHRA: Qualifying, Virginia Motorsports Park, North Dinwiddie, Va. (Taped)

PRIME VIDEO — NASCAR Cup Series: The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

4 p.m.

CBSSN — FIM Motocross: The MX2, Matterly Basin, Great Britain (Taped)

FOX — NHRA: The Virginia NHRA Nationals, Virginia Motorsports Park, North Dinwiddie, Va.

5 p.m.

CBSSN — FIM Motocross: The MXGP, Matterly Basin, Great Britain (Taped)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

1 p.m.

CBSSN — AVP League: Week 4 – Day 2, East Hampton, N.Y.

BIG3 BASKETBALL

1 p.m.

CBS — Week 2: Detroit Amps vs. Miami 305, Boston Ball Hogs vs. DMV Trilogy, Houston Rig Hands vs. Chicago Triplets, L.A. Riot vs. Dallas Power, Baltimore

COLLEGE BASEBALL

2:30 p.m.

ABC — Men’s College World Series – Final: LSU vs. Coastal Carolina, Game 2, Omaha, Neb.

ESPNU — Men’s College World Series – Final: LSU vs. Coastal Carolina, Game 2, Omaha, Neb. (UmpCast)

GOLF

1 p.m.

GOLF — PGA Tour: The Travelers Championship, Final Round, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

3 p.m.

CBS — PGA Tour: The Travelers Championship, Final Round, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

GOLF — PGA Tour Champions: The Kaulig Companies Championship, Final Round, Firestone Country Club South Course, Akron, Ohio

NBC — LPGA Tour: The 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Final Round, Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, Frisco, Texas

HORSE RACING

12:30 p.m.

FS1 — NYRA: America’s Day at the Races

2 p.m.

FS2 — NYRA: America’s Day at the Races

4 p.m.

FS1 — NYRA: America’s Day at the Races

LACROSSE (MEN’S)

Noon

ABC — PLL: Utah vs. Denver, Baltimore

MLB BASEBALL

1:30 p.m.

MLBN — Regional Coverage: Texas at Pittsburgh (1:35 p.m.) OR Atlanta at Miami (1:40 p.m.)

4:30 p.m.

MLBN — Regional Coverage: Kansas City at San Diego (4:10 p.m.) OR Boston at San Francisco (4:05 p.m.)

7 p.m.

ESPN — N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia

ESPN2 — N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia (StatCast)

NBA BASKETBALL

8 p.m.

ABC — NBA Finals: Indiana at Oklahoma City, Game 7

SOCCER (MEN’S)

3 p.m.

TNT — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: Real Madrid vs. CF Pachuca, Group H, Charlotte, N.C.

TRUTV — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: Real Madrid vs. CF Pachuca, Group H, Charlotte, N.C.

7 p.m.

FOX — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: U.S. vs. Haiti, Group D, Arlington, Texas

FS1 — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: Saudi Arabia vs. Trinidad and Tobago, Group D, Las Vegas

9 p.m.

TNT — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: Manchester City vs. Al Ain FC, Group G, Atlanta

TRUTV — FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage: Manchester City vs. Al Ain FC, Group G, Atlanta

10 p.m.

FS1 — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: Mexico vs. Costa Rica, Group A, Las Vegas

FS2 — CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: Dominican Republic vs. Suriname, Group A, Arlington, Texas

SOCCER (WOMEN’S)

10 p.m.

CBSSN — NWSL: Washington at San Diego

SOFTBALL

7 p.m.

ESPNU — Athletes Unlimited: Talons vs. Volts, Norman, Okla.

TENNIS

6 a.m.

TENNIS — London-ATP, Halle-ATP, Berlin-WTA, Nottingham-WTA Finals

11:30 a.m.

TENNIS — Bad Hoburg-WTA Early Rounds

5:30 a.m. (Monday)

TENNIS — Eastbourne-ATP/WTA, Mallorca-ATP, Bad Homburg-WTA Early Rounds

6 a.m. (Monday)

TENNIS — Eastbourne-ATP/WTA, Mallorca-ATP, Bad Homburg-WTA Early Rounds

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN’S)

10:30 a.m.

CBSSN — FIVB Nations League Pool Play: France vs. U.S., Pool 6, Belgrade, Serbia

WNBA BASKETBALL

3 p.m.

ESPN — Indiana at Las Vegas

7 p.m.

NBATV — New York at Seattle

_____

Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West announced its 2025 Track & Field Awards on Friday. To no surprise, decathlete Brad Thomas was named Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.
 
After his record performance at the Big West Championships Multis, it was only fitting that Thomas received this honor. With a podium finish in nine of the 10 events, including four first-place finishes, he ended with 8,108 points—a school, meet, and overall conference record. Naturally, he finished first in the Decathlon and was named Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet.
 
Outside of the Big West, Thomas wrapped up his phenomenal senior season last week at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. His second-place finish of 7,888 points etched his name in history as UC Santa Barbara’s highest-placing decathlete ever. With the top-eight finish, he also earned All-America First Team distinction.
 

Thomas becomes the first Gaucho Men’s Track & Field member to receive a Big West end-of-season individual award since Shyan Vaziri won Track Athlete of the Year in 2016. He is the first Gaucho to ever win Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.