NEW ORLEANS, La. – Two Warriors were named to the 2025 NCAA Division II USTFCCCA Outdoor Track & Field All-Region team. Freshmen Ella Voit and MacKenzie Wissbroecker each earned the honor after impressive seasons.
 
Voit, a freshman from Sauk Rapids, Minn., won the 2025 NSIC Outdoor 3000m Steeplechase championships after turning in a time of 10:48.26 last weekend. Voit has been a key component of the distance team during her first year at Winona State.
 
Wissbroecker, a freshman from Antigo, Wis., has rewritten the WSU record books in the long jump during her first season as a Warrior. Wissbroecker set the new Winona State outdoor long jump record twice with the best being a jump of 6.31 meters.
 

All Region honors for the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field season were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following the conclusion of the regular season. Top-5 individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region honors, in addition to each of the members of a top-3 ranked relay team.
 
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit: www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.
 

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Want to become a Brevard County firefighter? Now is your chance with an annual sponsorship award offered by Brevard County Fire Rescue.

One young scholarship recipient says he has a personal motivation to serve the public.

Jeff Gauvin steps away from the stress of working two jobs, seven days a week, with his music. His goal is to pay his car off.

Jeff Gauvin is looking to become a firefighter-paramedic after his grandmother passed away in a house fire two years ago.

“For me, it’s just something I want to be a part of, to make sure nobody else has to go through that phone call, because my dad called me when it happened,” Gauvin said. “I found out through him. That’s something I want to help prevent.”

Gauvin is on his way to becoming a first responder after being awarded one of 34 Brevard County Fire Rescue firefighter sponsorships.

Gauvin and the others will attend Eastern Florida State College for emergency medical technician or fire academy training.

Since the program began in 2021, the department has hired 72 recipients, and 19 more are currently in the hiring process.

Gauvin, who now works two jobs, seven days a week and gets away from the stress of that with his music, learned about the scholarship through a friend who is an EMT in Orlando.

“He’s going to work with me when I’m going through school and help me through the process,” Gauvin says.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, about 25,700 openings for firefighters/paramedics were expected nationwide each year from 2023 to 2033.

The national average for demand nationwide by 2026 is 8%, and Florida stands at 7%, according to the Labor Department.

The increase in demand can be attributed to injuries, job transfers and retirements, officials said.

The training to get new firefighters and paramedics ready for their jobs is physically taxing.

“I lift Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I run every day after work,” Gauvin said. “I just get it in.”

He recommends the path to anyone.

“They are with you the whole way through,” Gauvin said. “They’re telling you what to do. They are motivating you and giving you some words of encouragement.”

The fourth annual BCFR sponsorship signing day is May 28 at 3 p.m. at Station 48 in the Viera community.

From the moment she was hired as Kearny boys volleyball head coach Ashley Latushko has made it clear that expectations were high for this group.

Now after starting the season 12-5, including 10-1 within the HCIAL American Division, the Kardinals feel ready to show that they belong in the conversation with the best in North Jersey, heading into their Hudson County Tournament quarterfinal game against Bayonne that was set for May 12.

“They’re ready for it. I know for a fact they’re waiting for that,” said Latushko, a three-sport athlete at Kearny who later played volleyball and softball at NJCU. “I’ve had some of my players come to me and be like, coach, I played volleyball last night and someone came up to me talking to me about our team and I didn’t even know them. And I was like, exactly, you guys are making a name for yourselves.”

Up until this point, Kearny’s success has been a product of balance on the offensive end. That starts at outside hitter, where Latushko has three she’s confident in putting out there at any time.

Senior Christopher DelRosario has led the contingent with a team-high 106 kills to go with 63 digs. Fellow senior Miras Azamat has 58 kills while Gadiel Casanova, after missing nearly the first month of the season, has added 12 kills and 48 digs in his last six matches.

At the opposite is senior Denzel Holloman, who after playing in the middle last year has thrived in his new role, posting 96 kills and 61 digs to go with a team-high 24 blocks.

Kearny starts a pair of juniors in the middle with Caleb Baptista (56 kills, 15 blocks) and Mark Saravia (44 kills, 17 blocks).

With five different players recording 44 or more kills, balance has been a strength for this lineup and a priority for Latushko.

“I’m a big advocate of having all of our hitters to be shining,” Latushko said. “The outside hitters can’t be the only ones (on offense). I need my right side hitter, I need my middles (to be involved).”

Tasked with maintaining that balance has been senior setter Cristian Perez-Cruz, who has thrived in his first season of varsity volleyball. Perez has 324 assists to go with 66 digs.

“The transformation you’ve seen from tryouts to now has been phenomenal,” Latushko said of Perez-Cruz, who did have years of club volleyball experience entering his first season of varsity. “He’s come such a long way.”

Javier Rodriguez, the lone sophomore on the varsity roster is the starting libero and leads the team in digs with 82. Casanova has served as the defensive specialist in addition to his time on the outside, making him one of the area’s most versatile performers.

Senior Dwayne Hopson and juniors Isael Quintero and Misael Tiburcio have also seen time in the lineup over the course of the season and are trusted to come off the bench in a pinch.

Kearny, which earlier this season went on an eight game winning streak was awarded the third seed for the Hudson County Tournament with quarterfinal opponent Bayonne, the sixth seed. The winner will advance to the semifinal on Wednesday against the winner of second-seeded Hudson Catholic and seventh-seeded Weehawken.

The final, which Kearny has appeared in three of the last four years, is set for Saturday at County Prep High School in Jersey City.

Following the tournament, Kearny will try to clinch the HCIAL American Division title outright when it plays at Dickinson on May 19 before an independent match with HCIAL National Division champion Hudson Catholic at home on Wednesday before the state tournament begins after Memorial Day weekend.

For this veteran group that wants to be noticed, strong performances in both tournaments will accomplish just that.

“They want to be heard, they want to be looked at and I feel like that’s a little bit of a confidence boost for them as well,” Latushko said. “I tell them all the time that they are probably one of the best groups to come out of here the last couple of years and it’s showing.”

Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer

Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)

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