PELLA— Recording a pair of top-10 national marks at two different competitions over the weekend yielded the American Rivers Conference Male Athlete of the Week honors for Gunner Meyer on Monday.

Meyer also was Men’s Track and Field Track Events Performer of the Week. Ava Parkins was tabbed as Women’s Track and Field Track Events Performer of the Week.

Meyer ran Division III’s fastest 60-meter hurdles time at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa at 7.92 seconds. It was also an American Rivers Conference record time. He also high jumped 6 feet, 7.5 inches at the Dutch Holiday Preview, the seventh-best mark in Division III this season.

In the women’s 60-meter prelims at the Jimmy Grant Invitational, Parkins clocked in at 7.70 seconds to share second place on the program’s all-time list. It also makes her No.8 nationally. She didn’t run the finals after qualifying in seventh. She also finished third in the 300 meters in 39.35 seconds.

Next on the Dutch track and field schedule is the Dutch Athletics Classic on January 16, 2026.

The 2025 track and field calendar was exhilarating from start to finish, fueled by the indoor and outdoor world championships, the always-exciting Diamond League circuit, the seven World Marathon Majors, and everything in between.

As it so often does, Boston University’s indoor track played host to national and world records across the distance events, laying the groundwork for an outdoor campaign defined by breakthrough performances that had been a long time coming.

As a track and field fan, there were dozens of jumps, throws, and times that could credibly stake their claim as the best of the year, but as someone who has always favored the distance side of the sport, it’s safe to say I’m a bit biased.

With an electric 2026 season on the horizon, here are three of my many favorite performances from 2025.

Jane Hedengren Re-Wrote The Record Books

After a senior cross country campaign that saw her become the fastest high school girl ever to run a 5K on grass, former Timpview (Utah) standout and current BYU phenom Jane Hedengren rapidly emerged as a household name.

Over the last 12 months, Hedengren has cemented herself as one of the greatest high school athletes of all time, and through just one collegiate semester, she has already separated herself at the NCAA level.

In March, she delivered a historic double at Nike Indoor Nationals, running 4:26.14 in the mile and 15:13.26 in the 5000 meters, lowering the previous national records by nearly two seconds and more than 15 seconds, respectively.

That momentum carried into the outdoor season, where she set new U.S. high school national records in the mile (4:23.50), 5000 meters (14:57.93), two mile (9:17.75), and 3000 meters (8:40.03).

Less than five months later, Hedengren opened her BYU career by setting three straight 6K course records, two of which resulted in Big 12 and NCAA Regional titles, before finishing runner-up at the NCAA Championships.

Her penultimate race of 2025 capped the year in historic fashion. At the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Hedengren ran 14:44.79, shattering Doris Lemngole’s indoor collegiate record of 14:52.57 set in 2024 and Parker Valby’s outdoor collegiate record of 14:52.18 from the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Cooper Lutkenhaus Establishes Himself As The Next 800m Star

For nearly 30 years, Bell Gardens (Calif.) Michael Granville sat atop the high school record books in the 800, one of the few prep records that had yet to be unseated by this generation of distance talent.

Just a few years ago, the duo of Cade Flatt and Will Sumner came as close as anyone ever had, with the former finishing just three-hundredths of a second shy.

It wasn’t until this past June that Granville’s record was finally beaten, with Lutkenhaus doing so at the Brooks PR Invitational, stopping the clock at 1:46.26.

The summer of personal bests was just beginning for the Justin Northwest (Texas) sophomore, as 11 days later, he became the first high schooler to ever break 1:46, winning Nike Outdoor Nationals in 1:45.45.

Little did we know Lutkenhaus had a lot more in store for the American distance running circuit, and where else better to do it than at Hayward Field.

After running 1:47.23 and 1:45.57 to make it all the way to the U.S. Championships final, the record-breaking sophomore held his own with the sport’s elite, finishing runner-up to Donovan Brazier in 1:42.27.

The 16-year-old established a new world U18 record and now sits behind Botswana’s Nijel Amos on the world U20 all-time list.

Beatrice Chebet Becomes First Woman To Ever Break 14:00

At the 2023 Prefontaine Classic, which acted as the Diamond League final that season, Beatrice Chebet came close to history in the 5000m, battling the clock for 12.5 laps as she stopped the clock at 14:05.92, which at the time was No. 2 in world history.

Less than two years later, Chebet once again took on the 5000m distance in Eugene, Oregon, but this time left the Pacific Northwest with an accomplishment no other woman has ever matched. 

In a field that had 17 women sub-15, and 10 sub-14:30, Chebet took down compatriot Agnes Jebet Ngetich and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, with the trio finishing in 13:58.06, 14:01.29, and 14:04.41, respectively.

The 25-year-old became the first woman to ever break 14:00 after coming close on multiple occasions, and currently owns the fourth and seventh fastest performances in world history to pair nicely with her world record.

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don’t miss all the track and field season action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

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A season with championship aspirations was off to a scuffling start for the Gorham volleyball team. The offense was sputtering, and it was showing up on the scoreboard. The Rams dropped two of their first four matches, and coach Emma Tirrell knew it wasn’t the time to wait for things to sort themselves out.

“Our offense and our transition from passing to scoring a point just wasn’t generating enough,” she said.

Tirrell had an idea: Move the Rams’ best player, Liana Edwards, from playing both right-side hitter and setter to a full-time setter role, and switch from running a 6-2 with two setters to a 5-1 with one setter.

“It was that Liana needs to be touching the ball as much as possible,” Tirrell said. “(We thought) ‘Let’s see what happens when she’s the only setter.’”

With Edwards in her new role, the Rams flourished, winning 12 of their last 13 games and earning their third straight Class A championship. For her performance as Gorham’s versatile linchpin, Edwards is our choice for Varsity Maine Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Kellan Schwinn, Washington Academy’s outside hitter, was also considered.

Edwards said she was proud of how the Rams responded to the early struggles, and how they capped their season in impressive fashion with a 3-1 victory over Thornton Academy.

“Comparing this year’s state game to last year’s state game — last year, looking back, we didn’t have a lot of great, hard kills. We didn’t have a lot of swings,” Edwards said. “This year, in the Thornton Academy game, we really proved ourselves and got 10 times the amount of kills and points. We earned our points.”

In the middle of it all was Edwards, who, at 6 feet tall has the height of a middle blocker, the hard hit of an outside and the defensive abilities of a libero. She showcased that versatility during the season, totaling 337 assists, 171 digs, 90 kills and 41 aces.

“She’s a really talented volleyball athlete,” Tirrell said. “It is uncommon to have that (versatility). A lot of girls work their tails off during their whole entire career, but it’s just not something that comes to them as an athlete. It’s pretty cool and pretty rare that Liana has that.”

It’s setting, however, where Edwards feels most effective.

“Previously, I played soccer and I was a goalie,” she said. “I’ve always had something, they would say, special with my hands.”

She was at home at the position this fall, providing the Gorham hitters with precise passes for their spikes.

“Being a setter is like being the quarterback on your team,” Edwards said. “I’ve definitely worked a lot, in and out of the gym, on my mental game, making sure I don’t get in my head from my mistakes or other people’s mistakes.”

That work ethic, Tirrell said, isn’t new.

“She puts a lot of effort into meticulously watching videos of herself play to get better,” Tirrell said. “She wants to be her best.”

This year, however, Edwards became a stronger voice in and out of matches. She took a prominent role in a team meeting after the 2-2 start, in which the Rams talked over what they felt they needed to do to turn things around.

“She’s grown a lot with her communication,” Tirrell said. “This was the first year she really harnessed bringing her other teammates with her too, and leading.”

Edwards said leadership this season was a “priority.”

“We all had to relearn how to communicate with each other, and how to all gain our leadership skills back after not playing with each other for a long time,” she said. “Everyone put in their all, and we all bonded together.”

It’s hard to believe the 2025 Cheboygan-area fall sports season has been done for a while now.

Whether it was volleyball, cross country, or golf, there were great athletes across the board.  

Who do you think was the best girls athlete in the Cheboygan area this past fall? Be sure to vote in this poll, which opens on Monday, Dec. 29, and closes on Thursday, Jan. 1, at 11 p.m.

Here’s a look at the candidates:  

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –   Jordan Johnson of B-CU Men’s Basketball have been named Wildcat of the Week for the week of December 22-28, 2025.

Jordan Johnson was excellent for B-CU in a road contest at the No. 1 team in the nation, Arizona. He posted a team-high 18 points on 7-10 shooting including a 4-6 clip from three, two assists, and a rebound. 

Each week, The Bethune-Cookman Office of Athletic Communications recognizes one male and one female student-athlete through the Wildcats of the Week award.

This award recognizes student-athletes who have excelled in competition, in the classroom, and in the community over the past week, exemplifying the Championship Culture of Wildcat Athletics. 

2025-26 Wildcats of the Week

December 22-28

W: N/A (No Women’s Competition This Week

M: Jordan Johnson, Men’s Basketball

December 15-21

W: Tyler Butler, Women’s Basketball

M: Jakobi Heady, Men’s Basketball

December 8-14

W: N/A (No Women’s Competition This Week

M: Jakobi Heady, Men’s Basketball

December 1-7

W: Daimoni Dorsey, Women’s Basketball

M: Sha’Nard Walker, Track & Field

November 24-30

W: Chanelle McDonald, Women’s Basketball

M: Jakobi Heady, Men’s Basketball

November 17-23

W: Jordan Brooks, Women’s Basketball

M: Timmy McClain, Football

November 10-16

W: Shayla Henry, Volleyball

M: Javon Ross, Football

November 3-9

W: Madison Molock, Tennis

M: Arterio Morris, Men’s Basketball

October 27-November 2

W: Amya Jennings, Volleyball

M: Andrew Kiplagat, Cross Country

October 20-26

W: Sthefany Carvalho, Volleyball

M: Jaylen Lewis, Football

October 13-19

W: Melissa Gonzalez, Volleyball

M: N/A (No Men’s Competition this Week)

October 6-12

W: Valencia Butler, Cross Country

M: Andrew Kiplagat, Cross Country

September 29-October 5

W: Amya Jennings, Volleyball

M: Ali Scott Jr., Football

September 22-28

W: Sierra Herndon, Volleyball

M: Javon Ross, Football

September 15-21

W: Zahara El-Zein

M: Maleek Huggins, Football

September 8-14

W: Nola Hemphill, Volleyball

M: Cam’Ron Ransom, Football

September 1-7

W: Reese Wilson, Women’s Golf

M: Stephen Sparrow Jr., Football

August 25 – 31

W: Kaleigh Williams, Volleyball

M: Andrew Kiplagat, Cross Country

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