James Molgaard / KLC fotos

Mykolas Alekna (left) and Valentina Savva (right) each lead the ACC in their respective events.

T&F5/6/2025 2:44 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Is Only Program With Multiple Honorees On Weekly List

California track & field’s Mykolas Alekna and Valentina Savva were honored by the ACC with its Men’s Field Athlete of the Week and Women’s Freshman of the Week awards, respectively, for the second time this season following their outstanding performances last Saturday at the 130th Big Meet.
 
Alekna, the discus world record-holder who has appeared on all five releases of The Bowerman Watch List this season, broke the Big Meet record for the third time in his career in his third-straight 70-meter outing with a mark of 71.29m (233-10). This is the second time that Alekna has been recognized with an ACC weekly award, also doing so after his season opener of 70.09m (229-11). He was named Pac-12 Men’s Field Athlete of the Week seven times in his first two seasons (2022-23).
 
Savva, the NCAA’s top hammer-throwing freshman and No. 4 overall, posted her second-consecutive throw over 69 meters with a winning mark of 69.03m (226-5). This is her third outdoor ACC award – and her fourth ACC award overall – this season, having previously been named the Indoor Women’s Freshman of the Week on Jan. 21 and the Outdoor Women’s Freshman of the Week on April 8 and 22. She becomes just the second Cal woman to be honored three times in a conference outdoor season, joining fellow hammer thrower and Olympic champion Camryn Rogers (2022).
 
Alekna, Savva, and the Bears will kick off the 2025 postseason at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 15-17.
 
ACC Athletes of the Week – May 6, 2025
Men’s Track – Ethan Strand, North Carolina
Women’s Track – Grace Hartman, NC State
Men’s Field – Mykolas Alekna, California
Women’s Field – Synclair Savage, Louisville
Men’s Freshman – Micahi Danzy, Florida State
Women’s Freshman – Valentina Savva, California
 
2025 ACC Athletes of the Week – California Winners
David Foster – Men’s Indoor Track (Jan. 21)
Valentina Savva – Women’s Indoor Freshman (Jan. 21)
Giavonna Meeks – Women’s Indoor Field (Jan. 28)
Giavonna Meeks – Women’s Indoor Field (Feb. 11)
Johnny Goode – Men’s Outdoor Track (March 25)
Brandon Cheeks II – Men’s Outdoor Freshman (March 25)
Mykolas Alekna – Men’s Outdoor Field (April 8)
Valentina Savva – Women’s Outdoor Freshman (April 8)
Valentina Savva – Women’s Outdoor Freshman (April 22)
Mykolas Alekna – Men’s Outdoor Field (May 6)
Valentina Savva – Women’s Outdoor Freshman (May 6)
 
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For complete coverage of Cal track & field, follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalTFXC), Instagram (@caltfxc) and Facebook (@Cal Cross Country/Track and Field).
 

A sign of a program with a strong foundation is the ability to replace departing seniors with newcomers and hardly miss a beat.

That’s what Canon-McMillan boys volleyball team has accomplished in recent years.

Even after graduating four starters from last year’s team, the Big Macs are in position to extend their section title streak to four.

They are tied with Mt. Lebanon for first place in the WPIAL Class 3A Section 1 standings and wins in their two games, against Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park, guarantees at least a share of the section championship.

“Our program has grown a lot since 2020,” Canon-McMillan coach Sheila Mitchell said. “We’ve brought more kids that are into volleyball and athletes that play multiple sports. We’ve created a culture where kids are having fun and they are winning at the same time. I think some kids are seeing that and want to be part of it.”

The Big Macs are 12-2 overall and 7-1 in section play.

They shared a section title in 2022 with Upper St. Clair and won it outright the last two years.

Another shared section title may be on the horizon, because Canon-McMillan and Mt. Lebanon have already split their season series.

Both matches went five sets. Mt. Lebanon took the first one and Canon-McMillan won the rematch.

“It was our first section loss in three years, which was tough, but Mt. Lebanon is a tough team, so we couldn’t hang our heads too low,” Mitchell said. “We came back and got them the second time we played them. The first one we won the first set and then it went back and forth. The second game they won the first set, and the same thing happened where it went back and forth again. We were two evenly matched teams.”

Four key players, Justin Peters, Nolan Rosing, Jack Steele and Landon Patterson, returned for the Big Macs.

Peters, a senior, is the equivalent to a utility man in baseball. He sets in the back row and when he rotates to the net he hits from the right side.

Mitchell said Peters leads the team in kills, assists and service aces.

“We run a 6-2 (rotation), which means there’s always a setter in the back row,” Mitchell said. “Justin sets in the back row and hits in the front row, because he’s a very strong hitter.”

Alongside Peters in the front row is Landon Patterson and Jack Steele.

Patterson, a junior, is an outside hitter and is second on the team in kills.

Steele is a 6-4 senior that patrols the middle of the net. His size makes for a deterrent for opponents trying to hit over the block.

“Jack is very powerful offensively and defensively with his block,” Mitchell said. “The big-tall middles don’t always get the serving opportunities they want, but Jack is a very good server with some aces on the season and we keep him in the back row for defense.”

Rosing, a senior, is the starting libero and works as a defensive captain in the back row.

A good example of a newcomer stepping in right away and making a difference is freshman setter Aydin Winkleblech. Aydin is the younger brother of former Canon-McMillan baseball standout Austyn Winkleblech.

Winkleblech entered the starting lineup immediately and has performed well.

“He’s come in right away and been strong enough to run our offense,” Mitchell said. “He’s falling right in line with Justin’s skills. I think he’ll be a key player for us the next few years.”

Canon-McMillan made it to the Class 3A quarterfinals last season before losing to longtime WPIAL boys volleyball power North Allegheny, which has won a record 22 titles.

Northern schools like North Allegheny, Shaler, Seneca Valley and Butler have traditionally been the strongest teams in Class 3A, but the Big Macs are building a winning program and will look to continue to compete and grow as this year’s playoffs arrive.

“We’re going to try and put the best six on the court and have the best team around them to help them to try and beat those teams,” Mitchell said. “We know they are strong, but I wouldn’t say we can’t do it. Never say never.”

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s water polo team swept the Big West’s major awards, and a total of seven members of the program received postseason recognition from the conference.

The Big West announced its 2025 awards on May 2. Bernadette Doyle’s all-around performance earned the senior conference Player of the Year honors in a voting of the league’s coaches. Ema Vernoux, the team’s leading goal scorer, was named the Freshman of the Year, and James Robinson was voted Coach of the Year in his first season leading the Rainbow Wahine.

Doyle and Vernoux, both attackers, also made the All-Big West First Team along with goalkeeper Daisy Logtens. Senior utility Jordan Wedderburn was a second-team selection and junior attacker Roni Perlman earned honorable mention recognition. Vernoux and attacker Gabrielle Doyle also made the All-Freshman team.

The Rainbow Wahine are preparing for the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship in Indianapolis. UH is the fourth-seed in the bracket and will face California in a first-round match on May 9 at the Indiana University Natatorium.

Read more on HawaiiAthletics.com

Unveiled during March Madness, the campaign is a case study in how brands can use purpose-led storytelling, female representation, and financial education to build deep emotional resonance and social impact. At the POSSIBLE conference in Miami, LSU Tigers guard and hip-hop artist Flau’jae Johnson joined MassMutual’s head of brand strategy and customer growth Kristin LaFemina and Deep Blue Sports & Entertainment founder Laura Correnti to break down what made the campaign land – and how other marketers can follow suit.

The campaign features Johnson alongside U.S. soccer star Christen Press and tennis player Madison Keys, drawing parallels between athletic preparation and financial readiness – highlighting strategy, teamwork, and discipline as essential elements in both arenas.

“We as a brand have always invested a lot in women in sports, and it just was the right opportunity that came along for us to put a message in the market about how MassMutual is a trusted financial partner to women,” LaFemina explained during the panel.

MassMutual’s proprietary research revealed a significant 40% gap in financial confidence between women and men – a “meaningful” difference, according to LaFemina, who emphasized the importance of trusted financial guidance and advice for women.

The campaign marks a milestone in women’s sports marketing, with LaFemina noting that MassMutual is “the first brand to put three female athletes in a hero cinematic film like we did other than Nike.”

For Johnson, whose NIL (name, image, and likeness) success has made her a standout among college athletes, the partnership represents an authentic alignment of values. “MassMutual, they’re all about the future, protecting your future, but also protecting the people you love and securing your financial future,” Johnson explained.

As a Gen Z athlete with significant influence across multiple platforms, Johnson believes financial literacy has become increasingly important to her generation. “A lot of our generation are becoming entrepreneurs, and they’re using social media… people want to learn about financing,” Johnson said, adding that she tries to use her platform to emphasize how “these four years can set you up for your next 40.”

Deep Blue’s Correnti, whose agency is dedicated exclusively to bringing more commercial investment to women’s sports, highlighted a critical “systems issue” that has historically limited investment in women’s athletics. “Women’s sports still today in 2025 continue to be transacted on a CPM basis,” Correnti explained, noting that until recently, most women’s sporting events weren’t even broadcast in primetime. “How can you evaluate, invest in, and measure something on a basis of which it hasn’t had a fair opportunity to even compete?”

The campaign’s distribution strategy purposefully extended beyond just women’s sports, with LaFemina confirming that they have “a full schedule of this work running in men’s sports as well.”

This approach recognizes the significant economic opportunity, with LaFemina noting that “women control a huge amount of economic activity today, and they’re set to inherit… trillions more. So if you’re a brand that’s not there in service of women, then you’re going to miss a big opportunity.”

The campaign’s female-led approach extended behind the scenes as well, featuring an all-women marketing team at MassMutual, a female director, and a woman-owned agency. This representation has generated significant positive response, with LaFemina sharing that when they showcased the work internally, “they had a standing ovation. People were crying.”

For Johnson, whose song “Ready or Not” was featured in the campaign, the partnership offered another platform to tell her story authentically. “I think me being vocal and me being confident is, like, 100% of the reason,” she said of her involvement.

As for measuring success, LaFemina explained they’re tracking “all of the things – the brand awareness, brand meaningfulness, brand equity, attribute growth, customer growth.” But the most significant impact may be in inspiring behavioral change, with research showing that when women start to learn more about investing and “how you can make your money work for you even when you’re not working for it, they gain confidence.”

Female athletes, who according to Correnti are “3 to 4 times that of their male counterparts in NIL deals,” represent a significant new generation of wealth creation. The MassMutual campaign aims to ensure these athletes have the infrastructure in place for long-term financial success beyond their playing careers.

As women’s sports continue their explosive growth, partnerships like MassMutual’s “Stay Ready” campaign demonstrate how brands can authentically connect with this audience while addressing real needs – creating what Correnti calls a move “out of necessity to opportunity” for the next generation of female athletes.

The University of Notre Dame led the way among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools and matched its institutional record with 17 perfect scores in the latest release of Academic Progress Rating (APR) statistics from the NCAA. 

The Irish ranked ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference institution Duke (16) and the Big Ten’s Michigan (13) among FBS schools. Boston College, Clemson and Northwestern each also posted 10 perfect APR scores.  

Notre Dame baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s golf, men’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s soccer, softball, women’s tennis and volleyball were the 17 Irish programs with a perfect 1,000 APR score. 

Among the football programs that participated in the 2024-25 College Football Playoff, Notre Dame (990) joined Ohio State (1000) and Clemson (995) in posting an APR of 990 or higher. 

Notre Dame’s 17 programs with scores of 1,000 marked the 10th time in the 19-year history of the APR in which at least 13 Irish teams had scored perfectly (also in 2006, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Notre Dame’s number of perfect scores has ranked either first or second among all FBS programs for 19 consecutive years. Notre Dame led FBS schools in 1,000 scores in 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020 and 2019 (both years tied with Stanford at 13), 2016 (with 16), 2015 (17), 2013 and 2012 (both with 12), 2009 (with nine), 2008 (with eight, tied with Duke) and 2006 (with 14, tied with Boston College). 

Notre Dame finished second in the number of 1,000 scores in 2022, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2011, 2010 and 2007.

The APR, created to provide more of a real‐time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric where scholarship student-athletes earn one point each term for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. Schools that don’t offer scholarships track their recruited student-athletes.

Every Division I sports team submits data to have its Academic Progress Rate calculated each academic year. The NCAA reports both single-year rates and four-year rates, on which penalties for poor academic performance are based. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA’s searchable database.

2024 University of Notre Dame APR Ratings by Sport

• Baseball — 1000
• Men’s Basketball – 975
• Women’s Basketball – 1000
  Men’s Cross Country – 1000
• Women’s Cross Country – 1000
• Men’s Fencing – 1000
• Women’s Fencing – 1000
• Football – 990
• Men’s Golf – 1000
• Women’s Golf – 1000
• Hockey – 997
• Men’s Lacrosse – 1000
• Women’s Lacrosse – 1000
• Rowing – 996
• Men’s Soccer – 984
• Women’s Soccer – 1000
• Diving – 1000
• Men’s Swimming and Diving – 1000
• Women’s Swimming and Diving – 998
• Men’s Tennis – 993
• Women’s Tennis – 1000
• Men’s Track and Field – 1000
• Women’s Track and Field – 100
• Softball – 1000
• Volleyball – 1000

Here is where Notre Dame has ranked annually among FBS institutions in terms of raw numbers of individual team 1,000 APR scores:

2024 –– 1. Notre Dame 17 (7 men’s sports, 10 women’s sports)

2. Duke 16
3. Michigan 13

2023 –– 1. Notre Dame 16 (8 men’s sports, 8 women’s sports) 

2. Duke 14
3. NC State 11

2022 –– 1. Duke 16

2. Notre Dame 14 (8 men’s sports, 10 women’s sports)
3. NC State & Northwestern 10

2021 –– 1. Notre Dame 15 (6 men’s sports, 9 women’s sports)

2. Duke 13
3. Northwestern 11

2020 —  1. (tie) Notre Dame (7 men’s sports, 6 women’s sports)

Stanford 13

3. Northwestern 12

2019 — 1. Notre Dame 13 (6 men’s sports, 7 women’s sports)

2. (tie) Stanford, Northwestern 12
3. Boston College 11

2018 — 1. Stanford 16

2. Notre Dame 12 (5 men’s, 7 women’s)
3. (tie) Boston College, Northwestern 11

2017 — 1. Stanford 14

2. Notre Dame 12 (4 men’s, 8 women’s)
3. Boston College 11

2016 — 1. Notre Dame 16 (7 men’s, 9 women’s)

2. Stanford 14
3. Boston College 12

2015 — 1. Notre Dame 17 (9 men’s, 8 women’s)

2. Stanford 15
3. Northwestern 12

2014 — 1. Stanford 12

2. Notre Dame 11 (7 men’s, 4 women’s)
3. Northwestern 10

2013 — 1. Notre Dame 12 (8 men’s, 4 women’s)

2. Stanford 11
3. Duke 10

2012 — 1. Notre Dame 12 (8 men’s, 4 women’s)

2. (tie) Boston College, Duke 9; 
3. (tie) Northwestern, Vanderbilt 8

2011 — 1. Duke 10

2. Notre Dame 9 (5 men’s, 4 women’s)
3. Boston College 6

2010 — 1. Duke 10

2. Notre Dame 8 (5 men’s, 3 women’s)
3. Boston College 7

2009 — 1. Notre Dame 9 (4 men’s, 5 women’s)

2. Duke 8
3. (tie) Boston College, Stanford 6

2008 — 1. (tie) Notre Dame (5 men’s, 3 women’s), Duke 8

3. Boston College 7
4. Stanford 5

2007 — 1. Boston College 10

2. Notre Dame 9 (5 men’s, 4 women’s)
3. (tie) Rice, Stanford, U.S. Naval Academy 7

2006 — 1. (tie) Notre Dame (7 men’s, 7 women’s), Boston College 14.