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14 Penn State track and field athletes to compete at NCAA East First Round | Penn State Track & Field News

Published

7 months ago

May 27, 2025

A handful of women’s athletes from Penn State track and field will have another chance at redemption after a 10th-place finish at the Big Ten Championship.

Fourteen athletes will compete in the NCAA Track and Field East First Round in Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday and Saturday.

Audrey Friedman will open Thursday’s events at 2:30 p.m. with the women’s javelin throw. As the No. 25 seed with a throw of 49 meters, Friedman is 3.84 meters behind the 12th-seeded Arndis Oskarsdottir of FIU.

A trio of Nittany Lions will compete in the women’s pole vault, led by graduate student Victoria Atkinson, who’s the No. 25 seed. Graduate student Gabriella Recce is just behind at No. 29 with a jump of 4.18 meters, followed by junior Meredith Baham’s 4.11 meters at No. 45.

The three compete at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, and will be after the No. 12-seeded jump of 4.32 meters. Rutgers’ Chloe Timberg holds the No. 1 seed with a jump of 4.50 meters.

Another trio of Penn Staters will compete in the women’s 1500m at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. If they finish in the top 24, they will compete at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Graduate student Kileigh Kane leads the way with the No. 14 seed and a time of 4:12.49. The State College, Pennsylvania, native is less than a second off Michigan State’s Rachel Forsyth’s 4:11.92 for the No. 12 seed.

Track and Field Indoor National Open, Ada Rand 1 mile close-up — Ada Rand competes in the 1-mile run, finishing with a time of 4:47.68, during the Penn State National Open at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 in University Park, Pa.

Matthew Kemper

Freshman Ada Rand is seeded 26th with a time of 4:15.24 followed by junior Lea Hatcher’s 4:16.26 for the No. 31 seed. Margot Appleton of Virginia holds the No. 1 seed with a time of 4:05.68.

Graduate student Zoey Goldstein wraps up the Penn State sprinters, as she prepares for the women’s 400m at 7:25 p.m. Thursday. Goldstein is seeded No. 45 with a time of 53.07, nearly two seconds behind the No. 12 seed of 51.78 seconds.

If Goldstein has a career day on Thursday, she will compete in the quarterfinals at 7:25 p.m. Saturday.

Senior Allison Johnson will compete in the 800m at the NCAA East First Round for the third straight year, with her race starting at 7:50 p.m. Thursday.

Johnson is seeded 38th with a time of 2:04.79 and will be after the No. 12 seed of 2:02.45. If she advances to the quarterfinals, Johnson will compete at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

Graduate students Florence Caron and Sophia Toti will compete in the women’s 10,000-meters to cap off Day 2 of the NCAA East First Round. With a time of 32:26.52, Caron is seeded fifth ahead of Toti’s 32:58.91 for the No. 11 seed.

Based on seed times, both runners will advance to the NCAA championship as there is only one round for the 10k. However, just 15 seconds separate Toti and the No. 13 seed.

Freshman Hannah Riolo will make her NCAA East First Round debut in the women’s high jump at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. She is seeded 38th with a jump of 1.75 meters, just behind the No. 12 seed of 1.80 meters.

Two Nittany Lions will compete in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at 5:40 p.m. Graduate student Maddie Ullom is seeded 12th and should make the championship with her time of 10:03.01, but junior Allison Dougherty will have to make a move, seeded No. 34 with a time of 10:15.97.

Penn State ends the four-day meet with the women’s 5000m, where Kane and Caron will both compete in their second event of the competition.

Caron is seeded sixth and projected to qualify for her second event at nationals with a time of 15:31.63. Kane, however, is the last seed and will have to make big improvements from her time of 16:05.79.

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Texas volleyball loses middle blocker Ayden Ames

Published

11 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

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Less than 24 hours after Texas volleyball’s season ended with a loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament regional finals, middle blocker Ayden Ames reportedly intends to enter the transfer portal.

Ames becomes the first Longhorn to announce her intention to enter the portal, and she’ll be just the second regular member of the rotation not returning next season. Libero Emma Halter, the lone senior starter for a Texas team that went 26-4 this season, will next play for the Indy Ignite of Major League Volleyball.

Ames’ exit was first reported by On3.

A 6-foot-4 blue-chip recruit from the Dallas suburb of Prosper who once competed for the under-19 U.S. national team, Ames became a regular part of the lineup over the past two seasons after flipping from Nebraska to join Texas late in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

She enrolled in the spring of 2024 and immediately established herself as a key component of the Longhorns’ lineup. Texas coach Jerritt Elliott even called her “the most complete middle I’ve ever had as a freshman,” a powerful statement from a coach who has worked with All-Americans such as Asjia O’Neal, Molly McCage and Chiaka Ogbogu.

As a freshman, Ames started all 27 games and 96 sets for the season and finished second on the team with 88 blocks and was fifth on team with 150 kills and 1.56 kills per set average. She played in 29 of Texas’ 30 matches this season, but her numbers dipped slightly to 149 kills and 1.52 kills per set with a team-high 109 blocks.

In Sunday’s loss to Wisconsin, Elliott replaced Ames with freshman middle blocker Taylor Harvey after Texas dropped the first two sets. Ames didn’t have a kill or a block against the Badgers.

Pending any more portal exits for Texas, Harvey and redshirt sophomore Nya Bunton will enter the offseason as the only middle blockers on the Longhorns’ roster. Both saw extensive action this season, with Bunton ranking second on the team with 61 blocks.

Texas didn’t sign any middle blockers in its touted 2026 recruiting class, which means the position will likely be a top portal target for Elliott and his staff.

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Badgers news: Inside a magical Wisconsin Volleyball evening vs. Texas

Published

27 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

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When I saw that Kelly Sheffield’s Wisconsin Badgers had been stuck with a 3-seed, I was justifiably irritated. It seemed as if the NCAA Committee was not properly considering just how strong the Badgers had looked down the stretch. Drawing the No. 1 Texas Longhorns in one of the toughest places to play in college volleyball was also far from ideal.

But I eventually found a silver lining, at least for me: I’d be able to attend a Badger Volleyball match in Austin. Suddenly, I didn’t hate Wisconsin’s draw nearly as much.

There were several moments that made this night special, not the least of which was that I was able to experience it with my son. Another massive part of the amazing vibes was the incredible atmosphere at Gregory Gymnasium, an ancient 4,000-seat sardine can of noise and manic energy, where the fans are almost as close to the action as in Cameron Indoor at Duke.

A DJ kept up a steady mix of dance club jams, while two dueling bands–Wisconsin’s and Texas’s–were each trying to outdo the other (along with the cheerleaders and mascot, which was Bucky with no Bevo in sight). And make no mistake, the Horns fans came to play. They were as loud and engaged as anything I’ve seen at the Field House, right down to the National Champion Texas Men’s Swim Team disrobing one new layer the better Texas did in a given game, until it was a full-on, PG-13 Speedo show.

While Texas always felt like they were prowling and just about to steal things back–most notably by taking a 4-0 lead at the beginning of the fourth set after having won the third–Sheffield’s crew, led by stalwarts Mimi Colyer (23 kills), Charlie Fuerbringer (57 assists), and Carter Booth (11 kills, two blocks), stayed calm and collected, always had an answer, and were simply the better volleyball team on this magical night 1,183 miles from the Kohl Center.

After the furious final point sealed the deal for Bucky, I hightailed down a level to where a wild Badger celebration was unfurling. Getting the chance to sing Varsity and polka joyfully to The Bud Song on the floor of an SEC team’s barn was incredible and I will never forget it, even if me yelling to Coach that he’s ‘the best Sheffield ever in Wisconsin’ (in hindsight, an overly arcane Wisconsin sports reference involving a long ago Brewer) was a middling riff at best.

Yes, a horrifying Packers loss had ruined my day, but the Wisconsin Volleyball team soon sent my beaten-down sports fan soul soaring again on a cold but perfect night in the capital of Texas.

The Wisconsin Badgers were headed back to the Final Four. And everything in the world, for just a brief moment, felt right.

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Nebraska volleyball’s perfect season ends in Elite Eight heartbreaker

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43 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

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Badgers news: Wisconsin upsets Texas, to play Kentucky in Final Four

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

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The Wisconsin Badgers wore black for a reason on Sunday: they went to a Texas Funeral.

The No. 3 Badgers upset the No. 1 Texas Longhorns 3-1 on Sunday, sending them to the Final Four against the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats in an impressive win.

Wisconsin, facing the team that swept them earlier in the season, came ready to play. Falling behind 10-7 in the first set, the Badgers went on a four-point run before the two sides engaged in a back-and-forth battle, with neither side leading by more than two before Wisconsin had a monster end to the set.

Leading 18-17, the Badgers had an impressive 6-0 run thanks to a trio of Texas attack errors, a Mimi Colyer kill, a Kristen Simon service ace, and a Carter Booth kill. The Longhorns tried to mount a comeback, scoring five straight points, but Colyer got the set-winning kill, and Wisconsin started up 1-0.

The Badgers got off to a good start in the second half, starting off with a 10-6 lead. After the Longhorns went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to one, the Badgers controlled the remainder of the set, starting with a 3-0 run of their own. From there, Wisconsin led by at least three for the rest of the set, with Carter Booth and Mimi Colyer having a flurry of kills, and they ultimately took the second set 25-21 to go up 2-0.

But, the work wasn’t done just there. The Longhorns were still a big threat, and they showed that in the third set, taking an early 8-6 lead after going on a 4-1 run. Wisconsin fought back with a 4-1 run of their own moments later, retaking the lead 12-11, with Colyer recording four straight kills.

However, a five-point Texas run right after proved to be the difference in the set, as the Longhorns took a 16-12 lead and never relinquished it, despite Wisconsin fighting to cut the deficit to one at 20-19. Texas closed out the set on a 5-1 run, taking the third set and we had a ballgame.

Things did not look good at the start of the fourth set, as the Longhorns started the set on a 4-0 run, picking up where they left off in the third set. That’s when the tables turned. Wisconsin completely flipped the script on a 13-4 run to take a five-point lead, with reserve Trinity Shadd-Ceres having two clutch back-to-back kills.

Moments later, that lead was extended to 18-11, thanks to a Colyer kill and two more attack errors from Texas. The Longhorns had a four-point run, but the deficit was too much to overcome, as the Badgers closed the set on a 6-3 run to win the fourth set 25-19 and take the match.

Colyer had another impressive game, following her 27-kill performance against Stanford with a 23-kill performance on Sunday. Una Vajagic came up huge in the end, getting 15 kills while hitting .458, while Booth had 11 kills of her own.

Elsewhere, Charlie Fuerbringer followed her 61-assist game on Friday with 57 assists on Sunday, while Alicia Andrew had a team-high five blocks. Wisconsin had 25 attack errors and 10 service errors, but they were still too much for Texas to handle.

Now, they’re heading back to the Final Four, with the Kentucky Wildcats up next on Thursday.

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Huskies Place Six on Academic All-MAC Team

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Women’s Volleyball | December 15

CLEVELAND, Ohio—Six members of the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team have earned spots on the Mid-American Conference (MAC) All-Academic team following the 2025 season.

The Huskies volleyball team has had six or more honorees on the Academic All-MAC in each of the last ten seasons.

The Academic All-MAC honor is awarded to a student-athlete who has excelled in both athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests in that sport.

A total of 78 athletes from around the conference were honored.

Athlete, Year, Major, GPA
Kylie Schulze, Junior, Marketing, 3.81
Rylea Alvin, Sophomore, Psychology, 3.746
Emma McCartney, Sophomore, Biomedical Engineering, 3,709
Ava Grevengoed, Sophomore, Kinesiology, 3.515
Ella Strausberger, Sophomore, Marketing, 3.442
Alexa Hayes, Senior, Criminology, 3.389

Stay up-to-date with Huskie volleyball all-year long! Follow us on Twitter/X at @NIUVolleyball, on Facebook at NIU Volleyball, and on Instagram at @NIUVolley.

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Javin Richards Named America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week

Published

3 hours ago

December 16, 2025

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LOGAN, Utah – Utah State track and field senior Javin Richards has been named the America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, Dec. 14. The award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.

With their sponsorship of the student-athlete of the week, America First Credit Union donates funds directly to support student-athlete scholarships.

Richards broke the Utah State record in the indoor heptathlon, taking second place at the BYU December Invitational last week. His overall score of 5,536 points bested John Strang’s performance from 2009 and improved on his previous best of 5,330 points that had ranked second all-time. The Perry, Ohio, native set personal bests in the 60 meters, long jump, shot put and 1,000 meters en route to his record-setting performance. Richards currently ranks ninth in the country in the event.

Fans can follow the Utah State track and field programs on X at USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on X at USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:
MEN’S BASKETBALL – Senior forward Garry Clark (St. Louis, Missouri) helped Utah State to an 83-78 neutral-site victory over Illinois State at the Delta Center on Saturday. Against the Redbirds, Clark scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, including seven offensive boards, to go along with two assists and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench. Clark shot 7-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-1 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the win.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – Junior guard Aaliyah Gayles (Las Vegas, Nevada) led Utah State with 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds in its 80-73 home win against Idaho. Gayles went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, including 4-of-4 in the fourth quarter, as she scored eight points in the final frame to help clinch the win. Gayles also added two steals and one assist in the victory.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – Freshman Adia Ross (Tokyo, Japan) broke the Utah State record in the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.48 at the BYU December Invitational last week. In her first-ever indoor 60-meter competition, she bested the previous school record of 7.49, which was set in 1987 by Lola Ogunde, to place fourth in the event finals.

2025-26 America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week Winners

Sept. 1 – Miles Davis, Football

Sept. 8 – John Miller, Football

Sept. 15 – Bryson Barnes, Football

Sept. 22 – Bryson Barnes, Football

Sept. 29 – Loryn Helgesen, Volleyball

Oct. 6 – Kaylie Kofe, Volleyball

Oct. 13 – Tess Werts, Soccer

Oct. 20 – Loryn Helgesen, Volleyball

Oct. 27 – Loryn Helgesen, Volleyball

Nov. 3 – Mara Štiglic, Volleyball

Nov. 10 – Rine Yonaha, Soccer

Nov. 17 – Garry Clark, Men’s Basketball

Nov. 24 – MJ Collins, Men’s Basketball

Dec. 1 – Andrea Simovski, Volleyball

Dec. 8 – Loryn Helgesen, Volleyball

Dec. 15 – Javin Richards, Track and Field