A Multigenerational Beachside Escape at Evermore Orlando Resort
Evermore Orlando Resort offers every type of accommodation you could think of, from villas, flats and vacation homes at Evermore to family suites at the adjacent Conrad Orlando hotel.
As for us? You’ll find us in a vacation home, and one with a slide in the place of stairs please! We stayed […]
Evermore Orlando Resort offers every type of accommodation you could think of, from villas, flats and vacation homes at Evermore to family suites at the adjacent Conrad Orlando hotel.
As for us? You’ll find us in a vacation home, and one with a slide in the place of stairs please! We stayed in an 11-bedroom home fully equipped for large parties and families, complete with a private pool. Each room was spacious and had its own bathroom. But what really blew us away was how the space was thoughtfully designed for families. Everyone had a seat at the table, and every space, from dining areas to living rooms, was large enough to gather comfortably. The outdoor space was just as impressive, with plenty of seating around the pool and grill. Because let’s be honest, it’s not a family vacation without someone grilling something delicious!
And yes, the slide instead of stairs between the third and second floors is real. The kids declared it a must-have for all future vacations and honestly, I agree.
If someone in your group prefers a hotel, that’s no problem. Conrad Orlando is just a short trolley ride away with shared access to Evermore Orlando’s many amenities. We used the trolley daily to explore dining options and unwind at Evermore Bay.
While we cooked most breakfasts in the fully stocked kitchen (seriously, they had every utensil we needed), we also used Evermore to Your Door, a service that delivers groceries right to your vacation home. Ordering essentials through the Evermore app saved us so much time. Of course, we didn’t cook every meal, because the dining options at Evermore are just too good to pass up!
CSC Recognizes Eight Track & Field Athletes to Academic All-District Selections
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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2025 Academic All-District® Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, were announced on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. High Point University track and field had eight athletes selected to the Academic All-District® teams, including Alyssa Hendrix, Sydney Horn, Brianna Malone, […]
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2025 Academic All-District® Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, were announced on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. High Point University track and field had eight athletes selected to the Academic All-District® teams, including Alyssa Hendrix, Sydney Horn, Brianna Malone, Rachel Vesper, Auriane Viola, Alex Constantinou, Shaun Thomas, and Cole Wilson.
CSC recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the track, in the field, and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men’s and women’s track & field honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
LaFollette Middle School hosted a youth volleyball camp on June 16, 17 and 19 for kids from third-grade to eighth-grade. “We’re just learning the fundamentals of volleyball,” said Jackie Pyle, head volleyball coach at LaFollette Middle. “We’re learning how to dig. We’re learning how our steps go for spiking and learning how to serve at […]
LaFollette Middle School hosted a youth volleyball camp on June 16, 17 and 19 for kids from third-grade to eighth-grade.
“We’re just learning the fundamentals of volleyball,” said Jackie Pyle, head volleyball coach at LaFollette Middle. “We’re learning how to dig. We’re learning how our steps go for spiking and learning how to serve at this point.”
About 30 kids attended the camp, Pyle said.
“For our first year ever doing it, I think it’s been a very great turnout,” Pyle said.
Volleyball youth camp, locally, takes on perhaps an even more critical importance than the youth camps of sports with established local leagues for elementary-aged students, such as football, basketball, baseball and soccer.
“I’ve seen a huge improvement, especially with their passing and how they’re staying low,” Pyle said about the campers on the last day of camp, June 19.
That progress is key, as sixth-graders Pyle sees at LMS tend to have limited experience with the sport.
“It’s very little experience, and we spend that whole, pretty much, year, getting them up to par,” Pyle said. “And they see little bit of time on there, and this right here, having these camps would get them already established and being ready to be on the floor come sixth-grade year for JV.”
Pyle is entering her second year as head volleyball coach at LMS.
“This is a very important camp because again, volleyball’s a growing sport,” Pyle said. “Getting these kids in at a younger age, helping them, will help them transition into middle school very well and then onto the high school program, as well.”
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VESTAL, N.Y. (binghamtonbearcats.com) – Binghamton Volleyball added 11 student-athletes to its 2025 roster, announced Head Coach Allie Yaeger Tuesday afternoon. The incoming class features nine freshmen and two transfer student-athletes from five different U.S. states and countries, bringing a variety of experience levels from high school, club, junior college, and […]
VESTAL, N.Y. (binghamtonbearcats.com) – Binghamton Volleyball added 11 student-athletes to its 2025 roster, announced Head Coach Allie Yaeger Tuesday afternoon. The incoming class features nine freshmen and two transfer student-athletes from five different U.S. states and countries, bringing a variety of experience levels from high school, club, junior college, and Division I volleyball.
“We are thrilled to welcome this exceptional group of student-athletes to our program,” said Yaeger. “They bring elite-level experience, leadership, and versatility that align with the future of Binghamton Volleyball.” 1 | Eve Roman | Libero/Defensive Specialist | 5-6 | Wayne, N.J. | Immaculate Heart Academy A four-year letterwinner at Immaculate Heart Academy, Roman’s high school career included three New Jersey state titles. She was a 2024 AVCA All-America Watchlist member, All-Region honoree and an AVCA Best and Brightest selection. Roman also received the 2024 MaxPreps Best Player in New Jersey Award and was named AVCA Player of the Week in 2023. Roman’s career high school statistics include 588 digs, 403 kills, and 111 aces. The incoming freshman played nine years of club volleyball for Sideout Sports Stars and Stripes. 3 | Alexandra Koleva | Setter | 5-9 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Florida A&M Koleva joins Binghamton as a transfer with collegiate experience at Florida A&M and Miami Dade College. At FAMU, she earned All-SWAC First Team honors and led the conference with 7.13 assists per set last season. She totaled 691 assists, 164 digs, and 29 aces in 40 matches and 110 sets for the Rattlers. Koleva’s father Radko played volleyball for the Bulgarian National Team while her mother Ani was a professional basketball player in Europe. 8 | Maya Coblentz-Brown | Right Side | 6-0 | Irvine, Calif. | TVT Community Day A four-year letterwinner and three-year team captain at TVT Community Day School, Coblentz-Brown is a two-time All-CIF First Team honoree. The 2021 CIF Player of the Year, she helped lead her team to a CIF Division Title. Coblentz-Brown’s accolades include the 2025 OCADA Express League Female Athlete of the Year Award and being named a 2025 Spectrum News Scholar Athlete. The incoming freshman played five years of club volleyball for three different teams. 9 | Maia Marin | Setter | 5-11 | Louisville, Ky. | Mercy Academy Marin was a three-year letterwinner at Mercy Academy, where she was named to the 2024 Kentucky District 24 All-District Team. She helped lead Mercy to three Region 6 titles, two district championships and multiple appearances in the Kentucky state quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Marin’s career totals include 1,447 assists, 404 digs, 200 kills, and 99 aces. She played eight years of club for the MidAmerica Volleyball Association.
11 | Hannah Olmstead | Middle Blocker | 6-1 | Victor, N.Y. | Victor A three-year varsity player at Victor Senior High School, Olmstead is a two-time All-Monroe County First Team selection and earned an honorable mention in 2022. She played six years of club volleyball for VolleyFX, spending three years on the top team. Olmstead’s mother Kathleen is a Binghamton alum. 16 | Jalia Dublin | Outside Hitter | 5-9 | Wayne, N.J. | The Lawrenceville School, N.J. Dublin was a four-year letterwinner and 2024 All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League selection at the Lawrenceville School. Over her high school career, Dublin compiled 692 kills and 103 aces, surpassing 200 kills in both her junior and senior seasons. She played six years of club volleyball with NJ Ronin. 17 | Merima Smajlovic | Outside Hitter | 5-11 | Istanbul, Turkey | Seattle Smajlovic transfers to Binghamton after three seasons at Seattle University in Washington. In 71 matches and 252 sets, she recorded 650 digs, 448 kills, 80 aces, and 74 blocks. Smajlovic tallied 10 career double-doubles and ranked fourth in the WAC with .38 aces per set as a junior. Her career highs include 20 kills vs. Tarleton and 20 digs vs. Abilene Christian. 19 | Selestine Liu-Asomua | Outside Hitter | 6-1 | Altona, Manitoba | W.C. Miller Collegiate Liu-Asomua was a two-time team MVP and team captain at W.C. Miller Collegiate. She played five years of club volleyball for the Junior Bisons where her team finished third at 2024 Nationals. Liu-Asomua also competed in beach volleyball at the national level and represented Team Manitoba and Team Canada in multiple events. 20 | Celeste Ocampo | Libero/Defensive Specialist | 5-0 | Little Elm, Texas | Leadership Prep A six-year letterwinner at Leadership Prep School, Ocampo earned the program’s Defensive Player of the Year twice and MVP honors as a sophomore. She also received Offensive Player of the Year recognition as a freshman. Ocampo has eight years of club experience with Mad Frog Volleyball. 23 | Francesca Pierdonati | Middle Blocker | 6-0 | Rome, Italy | Liceo Avogadro Roma Pierdonati brings international club experience to Vestal all the way from Italy where she played for four different teams. The incoming freshman earned three gold and two silver medals at regional championships and was part of a national runner-up squad. Her teams also placed third, fourth, and seventh at national competitions. Pierdonati was a two-year club team captain and the 2019 Christmas Tournament MVP.
24 | Matilda Tjernqvist | Middle Blocker | 6-1 | Habo, Sweden | Ållebergsgymnasiet Tjernqvist has competed extensively with Swedish national teams, winning two NEVZA gold medals (U17, U19) and a bronze (U19). She was named to multiple All-Star teams at the U18 Swedish Championships and served as captain of her 2022 U17 NEVZA team. Tjernqvist’s club team, Habo, won the U16 Swedish Championship during the 2020-21 season.
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Foust Named Associate Head Coach for Women's Basketball
Murray State women’s basketball Head Coach Rechelle Turner announced that Wyatt Foust has been promoted to Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2025-26 season. Foust helped lead the Racers to their first Missouri Valley Conference title and the first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2008. MSU finished the season second nationally in scoring at […]
Murray State women’s basketball Head Coach Rechelle Turner announced that Wyatt Foust has been promoted to Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Foust helped lead the Racers to their first Missouri Valley Conference title and the first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2008. MSU finished the season second nationally in scoring at 86.8 points per game.
“I’m extremely grateful for Coach Turner and our administration for this opportunity,” said Foust. “Coach Turner has elevated Murray State Women’s Basketball to a national level and I’m excited to continue to build on the success we have had in the Missouri Valley Conference”
Foust begins the third season of his second stint at Murray State after previously serving as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Racers and working as the recruting coordinator and assistant coach at Buffalo for the 2022-23 season.
Follow the Racers on Twitter (@MSURacers), Instagram (@RacersAthletics) and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Murray State Athletics. Follow Murray State women’s basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RacersWBB).
With the Carolina Hurricanes’ season over, its top brass will now turn its attention not just to offseason roster moves but also to another sport altogether: baseball. Owner Tom Dundon and his team continue to talk about helping Raleigh land one of two coveted Major League Baseball (MLB) expansion teams, even though it’s seen as […]
With the Carolina Hurricanes’ season over, its top brass will now turn its attention not just to offseason roster moves but also to another sport altogether: baseball.
Owner Tom Dundon and his team continue to talk about helping Raleigh land one of two coveted Major League Baseball (MLB) expansion teams, even though it’s seen as a dark horse against competitors Austin, Nashville, and Charlotte. It appears the current focus is on table stakes, like drumming up corporate support and identifying a potential stadium location. But pulling the upset might require sweetening the pot.
So why not think big?
What if Raleigh could show MLB decision-makers—mainly outgoing commissioner Rob Manfred—that it’s the perfect home not just for the next franchise but also for the future of the sport itself?
One of the biggest knocks on baseball is its stubborn refusal to change, even when it’s painfully obvious it needs to. Manfred knew this when he took over in 2015. He’s made innovation a priority, boosting investment in research and development (R&D) and introducing new rules and technology like the pitch clock, larger bases, and ball and strike challenges (which could start as early as the 2026 season). MLB attendance and viewership saw an uptick last year, but football has clearly displaced baseball as America’s pastime. To regain popularity, MLB needs to take some big swings.
Walt Barron Credit: Photo courtesy of the subject
As part of its pitch for a new MLB team, Raleigh could throw some serious fuel on the fire with a bold proposal: move the R&D team to North Carolina and reshape it not just for MLB but for baseball itself. Call it a think tank, an incubator, a laboratory, or an R&D center. The name is less important than its mission: to conceive, research, and test new ideas for the continued growth and health of baseball. This includes any and all new ideas related to rules, technology, equipment, training, rehab, marketing, management, and more—all of which would benefit the players, owners, employees, and perhaps most importantly, the fans.
Moving this function out of MLB headquarters would detach it from the daily pressures of running a league and give it the space to experiment. This group must be focused on what will help grow the sport long term, not just what might boost the business of Major League Baseball in the short term. What’s good for baseball will be good for professional baseball.
If you’re going to relocate an R&D department, it should be to a place that lives and breathes both innovation and baseball. Let’s start with the latter. As locals know and outsiders may not, Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle. This larger area offers far more in the world of sports than any individual city or township within, including generations of passion for basketball, soccer, hockey, and other sports.
But its baseball bona fides are underappreciated and unmatched compared to those of the other competing markets. There are top-shelf youth and travel ball leagues. There are perennially highly ranked collegiate programs at NC State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Duke University. There’s the coveted summer Coastal Plain League. USA Baseball is based in Cary, and Baseball America is based in Durham. We all know and love the Durham Bulls, but it’s also worth noting that North Carolina has more minor league teams per capita than any other state, many of which are within a short drive of Raleigh. MLB could stand to learn a thing or two from how minor league teams creatively engage and entertain fans without breaking their bank accounts.
This depth and breadth would allow MLB to test ideas thoroughly and responsibly, gathering input from all involved, fans included. Travel ball teams could beta test a new helmet or catcher’s gear. College umpires could beta test new technology for reviewing balls and strikes. Minor league teams could test the “Golden At-Bat” rule. The bad ideas would fall to the cutting-room floor. The ones that show promise get fine-tuned until they make it to the big leagues.
In terms of innovation, the Research Triangle is overflowing with talent and expertise. It’s in the name, after all. Within a 30-mile radius there are experts in a variety of fields MLB could tap into: professors, students, and administrators at highly ranked colleges and universities; doctors and trainers within the robust health-care community; programmers and data analysts at high-tech companies like Lenovo, SAS, SMT, Epic Games, and Red Hat (you see where this is going).
I think MLB knows it needs a more compelling vision for the future of its sport. I know Manfred will need big ideas to burnish his reputation among fans before he moves on. Expansion will be his swan song, and an idea like this could help shape his legacy.
The idea of forming such a diverse coalition may sound pie-in-the-sky, but if there’s one place that can pull it off, it’s the Triangle. Yes, we have our local college rivalries, but there’s also a lot of collective pride for this area as a whole. Smart, talented people move here from all over the country and world, not because they have to but because they want to. This MLB push is an opportunity to use that to our advantage, along with our already incredibly strong foundation in baseball and innovation.
Landing an MLB team here will require not just an owner’s financial means but also the entire community’s passion and wherewithal. It’s a shared responsibility and opportunity.
The Triangle is ready. Whaddaya say, Mr. Dundon? Let’s play ball.
Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.
Walt Barron is a local writer and strategic communications professional who has helped lead marketing and advertising strategy for brands like Mizuno USA, Marucci Sports, and ESPN. He writes human interest stories about sports on his Substack, “Sportingly Yours.”
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Five Central Michigan Track and Field student-athletes have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, announced today. The five are Emily Paupore, Emily McLean, Emily Yoshino, Emma Janesak and Chesney Wilke. Paupore is in consideration for Academic All-American from the organization, for which voting has opened on Tuesday.
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Five Central Michigan Track and Field student-athletes have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, announced today.
The five are Emily Paupore, Emily McLean, Emily Yoshino, Emma Janesak and Chesney Wilke. Paupore is in consideration for Academic All-American from the organization, for which voting has opened on Tuesday.
In order to earn the honor, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better and have either attained a Top-50 individual performance at the 2024 NCAA regional competition or a top 50 regional ranking in a single event in either indoor or outdoor track and field.
The five student-athletes, their year, hometown, major and grade point average: