Mid Valley rising freshman Olivia Thomas soared past her personal-best distance and finished ninth in the long jump while competing in the girls middle school division at the New Balance National Championship meet at the University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas landed at 17 feet, 1.5 inches, to finish ninth overall. Her leap came on her first attempt, and she had a mark of 17-0 on her final attempt. Her previous best mark was a 16-5.5 at the Phil Tochelli Junior High Championships this past spring.

Mariah Dawson from Trailblazer in Nashville, Tennessee, won the gold with a distance of 18-9.75.

Thomas also ran in the 100 hurdles trials and had a time of 18.31 seconds to finish 57th.

Abington Heights’ Rachel Regan finished 51st in the 100 hurdles in the girls middle school division with a time of 17.82.

Marietta Track Club’s E’Mani Johnson won the final race in 14.51 seconds.

Abington Heights’ Distance Medley Relay team of Marley Gilboy, Maggie Coleman, Reese Morgan, and Anna Pucilowski set a school record with a time of 12:30.33 to finish 32nd at the New Balance meet. The Lady Comets broke the record of 12:43.20. Union Catholic set a meet record with a time of 11:12.20.

Abington Heights’ 3,200 relay team of Erin Bartell, Anna Pucilowski, Maggie Coleman, and Reese Morgan ran a time of 9:36.67 to finish 33rd in the girls unseeded division. Burnt Hills Track Club finished first in 9:00.44.

Lakeland’s Kaylyn Davis finished 40th in the javelin in the Championship Division with a throw of 103-9. Lebanon’s Eliana Schneider won the gold with a mark of 147.3.

Abington Heights’ Justin Lezinski finished 52nd in the boys middle school shot put with a distance of 37-3.25. West Jefferson, Ohio’s Colton Mannon set a meet record with a distance of 52-6.

Adidas Championship

Mid Valley’s Natalie Talluto ran a time of 15.46 and finished 30th in the National Elite division of the 100 hurdles and had a time of 1:11.57 in the 300 hurdles at the adidas National Championship meet in North Carolina. Kherington Johnson of Warner Robins had the top qualifying time for the 100 hurdles in 14.41 and ran 14.68 to win the final. Sharnise Wortham, from Mayfield, Ohio, won the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:02.84.

Montrose’s team of Carl Nolt, Jamier Robinson, Nicolo Christian, and Maximus Kuwaye finished 39th in the National Elite boys 400 relay with a time of 44.37 at the adidas National Championship meet. Run U Xpress A had the top time in qualifying at 42.25 and ran 41.48 to win the title.

Every year on 23 June, Olympic Day brings the world together in celebration of sport and the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect. World Aquatics proudly joins the Olympic Movement in marking this occasion and in championing the power of sport to inspire and connect. 

The 2025 Olympic Day theme, “Let’s Move? Let’s Move.” encourages everyone to get active, bring someone with you and make movement part of your day. Aquatic sports are among the most accessible and inclusive ways for people of all ages to move. Whether you’re embracing water for the physical and mental benefits, competing at the highest level or supporting someone in their first experience of aquatics, it can be a celebration of movement and community. We are united by water for health, life, and sport. 

Today, World Aquatics encourages everyone to get active – in the pool, at the beach, in lakes or rivers – and enjoy the physical and mental benefits that aquatics brings.  

That spirit of global movement and shared responsibility was on full display at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where 1,439 athletes from 191 countries competed across swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming, making aquatics one of the most internationally represented sports at the Games. 

The Games also marked a breakthrough moment for World Aquatics’ digital presence, bringing together athletes and fans from around the world.

Compared to Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 delivered a 1,800% increase in digital engagement, with 1.3 billion impressions, 621 million engagements and 609 million video views. It was the most successful digital event in the organisation’s history. The online global aquatics community grew by 1.1 million during the Paris Games alone. 

Looking ahead, World Aquatics continues to build on this momentum. In just a few weeks, the world’s top athletes will gather for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025, where history will be made and global audiences will once again come together, through movement. 

As always, World Aquatics reminds everyone to enjoy aquatic activities safely. Whether you’re in open water or at your local pool, take appropriate precautions, follow local safety guidance and never swim alone.  

Today on Olympic Day, let’s move, let’s connect, as we are united by water! 

Find out more about Olympic Day here! 

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Hundreds of fans, athletes and coaches cheered on as the national championship banner was unveiled at the 2025 Penn State National Open, revealing Cheickna Traore’s 2024 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor National Championship 200-meter victory.

Fast forward a year later, and while the Nittany Lions won’t have a new championship banner hung from the indoor track, several athletes have pushed themselves one step closer to earning one.

The 2025 track and field season saw its share of highs and lows, from seven school records to a handful of Penn State’s top athletes being injured.

Freshman phenom Ajani Dwyer made his name known in the first meet of the indoor season, running the second-fastest 60-meter time in school history during his first collegiate race.

His 6.55-second personal best didn’t stand for long, as Dwyer soon tied the 6.54-second school record at the U.S. Championship where he finished sixth.

In the outdoor season, Dwyer came within 0.01 seconds of breaking the 100-meter record, but after suffering an injury at the Big Ten championship, his postseason hopes were ruined.

However, he wasn’t the only freshman men’s sprinter to break a school record this season.

In the final meet of the indoor regular season, Jake Palermo took the track and carved more than one second off his 400-meter personal best. The Rochester, New York, native put himself atop the record books with a time of 45.65 — his best of the season.

Three months later at the NCAA East First Round, Palermo set an outdoor personal-best 45.88. Two days later in the finals, he ran another personal-best with a time of 45.75 seconds, but missed the NCAA championship by one place.

Collectively, the men’s sprint squad crushed expectations in the men’s 4x400m, running a season-best at the NCAA East First Round to advance to the NCAA championship.

The group followed with another season-best and No. 3 time in school history in the NCAA championship prelims, securing second team All-American status.

Graduate student Zoey Goldstein made the most of her fifth year at Penn State. She entered the NCAA East First Round seeded 45th, but ran sub-53 seconds for the first time in her career, setting a personal-best 52.56 and the fifth-best time in Penn State history to earn her spot in the finals.

During the indoor season, freshman Tayissa Buchanan made a name for herself, becoming the team’s go-to 600-meter runner following a seventh-place finish at the Big Ten championship.

At 800 meters, school record-holder Hayley Kitching extended her record, running 2:01.14. She also came within two seconds of a school record in the 1,000-meters. However, she sustained an injury prior to her outdoor campaign.

Allon Clay, Olivier Desmeules, Yukichi Ishii and Darius Smallwood were a force to be reckoned with during the indoor season, with Desmeules earning Penn State’s only Big Ten championship in the men’s 600m.

Smallwood set the No. 3 time in the 600m and the No. 2 time in the 800m, while Ishii set the No. 3 time and Desmeules the No. 4 time in the 800m.

In the outdoor season, Handal Roban, who was coming off an injury, Desmeules and Clay earned bids to the NCAA East First Round. Roban and Clay advanced to the NCAA championship, finishing in 14th and ninth place, respectively.

Senior Florence Caron continued to impress in just her second season in the NCAA, furthering her own records in the indoor and outdoor 5,000-meters and the 10,000 meters. Caron competed at the NCAA championship in each event.

Multi-event athlete Maddie Pitts dominated the pentathlon and heptathlon, competing in both at the NCAA championship, as she continued to climb the record books at Penn State, moving to No. 3 all-time in the pentathlon and No. 5 in the heptathlon.

MORE TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE

The News-Press and Naples Daily News held their annual Southwest Florida Sports Awards Show on May 29 at Suncoast Arena on the campus of Southwest Florida State College. During the show, we announced the Seacrest Volleyball team as the 2024-25 Girls Team of the Year.