MOSCOW, Idaho – Tracy Hellman and Idaho Track & Field is excited to announce the hiring of Julie Taylor as the newest assistant coach for the Vandals. 

With decades of experience coaching and developing elite Division I throwers, Taylor is one of the premier coaches in the Pacific Northwest and will be returning to her alma mater after a highly successful 11-year stint at Washington State.  

Joining the program in 2014, Taylor coached multiple Cougar throwers to numerous All-Conference and All-American accolades, including Brock Eager, who took home the Pac-12 title in the hammer throw in 2017 and 2019. Eager also earned back-to-back-to-back All-American Honors at the NCAA Championships from 2017-19. Of all the top-10 throwing marks in WSU’s record book, thirty-one of them occurred during Taylor’s time in Pullman.

Prior to Washington State, the veteran coach held the same position at Idaho, bringing previously unseen levels of success to the Vandals’ track and field program. An accomplished thrower for UI herself, Taylor set outdoor records in both the shot put and discus during her career. However, her Vandal athletes were so successful that they broke enough records to knock their coach out of the top-10 entirely, a testament to her development of elite throwers in Moscow. 

While coaching at Idaho, Julie’s throwers qualified for the NCAA Championships 48 times and won two NCAA championships, 26 WAC titles, eight Big West titles, and nine Big Sky titles while accumulating 28 All-America honors. In her last nine years coaching the Vandal throwers before joining WSU, a school record was broken in eight of them. 

The 2008 Vandals, under Taylor, were the only men’s NCAA program to have four competitors eclipse the 200-foot mark in the hammer throw, a feat accomplished all in the same meet. The Idaho men won the team title at the 2012 WAC Outdoor Championships, backed by three individual titles and 68 points from the throwers. 

Prior to these, Julie Taylor coached the first and only individual NCAA women’s champion in school history. Katja Schreiber won the national title in 2001 with a school record heave of 197’11” in the discus.

A standout thrower for the Vandals from 1983-86, Taylor broke both the shot put and discus school records and earned three All-Big Sky honors during her career. She scored points at every conference meet of her career and still ranks 31st in Idaho history in all-time outdoor conference scoring with 28 points.

Julie will be joined in her role by her husband, Tim Taylor. Another All-Big Sky, All-American, and top-10 thrower for the Vandals, Tim served as a volunteer assistant coach for Idaho during Julie’s first stint in Moscow, continued the role in Pullman, and will resume this position alongside his wife. 

Hellman, Director of the track and field program, is thrilled to have Julie returning to Moscow.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Julie and Tim back to Moscow to lead our throw program. Julie’s experience in the throws speaks for itself as she has not only developed elite throwers at the DI level, [but] she understands the type of student-athlete we want to attract here at Idaho.”

Hellman knows the standard that Taylor has set with her athletes, and looks forward to seeing that continue in the 25-26 season and beyond. 

“Idaho has a rich history in the throws and we are committed to getting back to that championship level. We are excited to elevate our throw program to one of the best in the NCAA. Winning the Big Sky Championships is a goal for our team, and to do that, we need a well-rounded program. The opportunity to bring in a veteran throws coach with proven success is a win-win. Welcome back to Moscow and Idaho, Julie!”

Women’s Volleyball | 7/17/2025 3:10:00 PM

2025 Schedule

Saint Francis women’s volleyball head coach Sara McMullen Spielvogel has announced her 2025 schedule. The schedule is highlighted with the home tournament, the Red Flash Classic, and a trip to play at Rutgers.

“We have loaded our non-conference schedule up with some very strong opponents,” said Spielvogel. “We are looking forward to the challenge this schedule will bring us to help us be battle tested for conference play.  One of the major highlighted games on our schedule is Rutgers. It will be a fun physical battle and mental battle for our athletes to play under the bright lights of a Big Ten opponent in their arena.”  

The Red Flash will open the season at the Rocket Invitational Presented by Delta Hotels by Marriott hosted by Toledo on August 29 and 30. It is the third time the Loretto program will play in a Toledo-hosted event after also competing in 2005 and 2016 in its tournament. The team will open the campaign against Albany for the third meeting in the series and the first since 2009 on the first day of the tournament. Saint Francis will then play Robert Morris and Toledo on the second day of the invitational. It will be the 88th meeting against Robert Morris, its old Northeast Conference (NEC) rival, while it’s the sixth time playing Toledo.

Saint Francis makes its 2025 home debut with the Red Flash Classic. It will be the fifth consecutive season Spielvogel has hosted the event and the 21st time overall on September 5-6. The squad is 6-4 in the previous four Red Flash Classics. The tournament field will include Siena, Youngstown State, and Lafayette. The Red Flash opens the event against Siena for the fifth meeting between the two teams, including a 3-0 Saint Francis win last season in the Red Flash Classic. It is the 38th meeting against Youngstown State, with the matchups taking place in odd years since 2015. The Loretto program defeated Youngstown State 3-1 in the last meeting in 2023. The team leads the series against Lafayette 4-1 and marks the first meeting since 2021. Youngstown State is competing in a Saint Francis-hosted tournament for the third time (1990, 2013), Siena is making its second-straight appearance, and Lafayette will be in the tournament for the first time. 

The non-conference portion of the schedule wraps up with three games in Central Jersey and two matches in Western Pennsylvania. Saint Francis begins this portion of the slate with two games at Rutgers, with a match against the Scarlet Knights on September 11 and a neutral-site game against New Hampshire in New Brunswick one day later. It will be the second meeting against Rutgers, the first since 1991, and the second competition against New Hampshire, the first since 1996. It will mark the 29th time the squad has played a big conference team, with two wins against West Virginia (2006, 2012) on its resume. The trip to the Garden State concludes at Rider on September 13. It will be the 24th encounter against Rider, mainly when the Broncs were a member of the NEC. It is the first meeting since 2011 against Rider, with the Red Flash taking all five meetings since the Broncs left the league after 1996.

The second meeting against Robert Morris takes place on September 19, and at Duquesne on September 20 wraps up non-conference play in the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational. It will be the 39th meeting against Duquesne with Saint Francis, with the Red Flash looking for its second win in four years against the Dukes after a thrilling 3-2 win in 2022. 

For the second consecutive season, NEC play consists of two-game series taking place at one location, but with the addition of New Haven, each team will play one team home and away during the week.

Saint Francis will host Stonehill (October 3-4), LIU (October 31-November 1), and Le Moyne (November 134-15), while traveling to New Haven (October 10-11), FDU (October 24-25), and Chicago State (November 7-8). The split series with Mercyhurst will see the two teams square off in Loretto on October 7 and in Erie on October 29. 

The Red Flash, the 1997 NEC regular season champions, looks to earn its 26th NEC Tournament appearance and fifth straight in 2025. The Red Flash advanced to the NEC Championship Game in 1989, 1993, 1995, and 1997 when the tournament was double elimination. 

NAPERVILLE – Jereme Ombogo of North Park and Ernie Waterson of Illinois Wesleyan have been named to the 2024-25 Academic All-America® men’s track & field/cross country team, according to a Wednesday announcement from College Sports Communicators.
 

Ombogo, a senior marketing & economics major with a 3.93 grade-point average, was selected for the Second Team. Waterson, a senior economics major with a 3.51 GPA, was tabbed for the Third Team.
 
Both student-athletes earned the national honor for the first time.
 
The Division III Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist the College Sports Communicators with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Division III Academic All-America® program.
 
Second Team
Jereme Ombogo, North Park
 
Third Team
Ernie Waterson, Illinois Wesleyan
 

BERLIN — A match-high 11 kills from Isabel Clark powered San Diego volleyball to a 3-0 sweep of Team Australia on Thursday afternoon, earning the Toreros their first win representing the United States at the 2025 World University Games.

USA prevailed in narrow 25-23 and 26-24 decisions in the first two sets at Max-Schmeling-Halle Arena, then raced to a 25-13 victory in the third and final frame to secure the match.

A balanced defensive effort aided Team USA in the win. The United States out-blocked the Australians by a 7-2 margin and had three players with eight or more digs, including a match-leading 12 from Olivia Bennett. Kylie Munday orchestrated the USA offense with precision, recording 33 assists.

Team USA trailed Team Australia early on in the first set before a kill from Kennedy Osunsanmi knotted the score at 8-8. The Americans went on to claim a mid-set lead that stretched to as many as five when Nemo Beach found her mark to make it 17-12. Australia rallied to tie the score at 20-20 and 22-22, but clutch kills from Osunsanmi and Beach sealed the frame in their favor and gave the USA a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set two was closely contested as well, and Team USA trailed until a kill from Clark tied it at 18-18. After falling back behind down the stretch, Team USA mounted a furious last-second comeback that was punctuated by a solo block from Clark to tie the set at 25-25 and a kill from Beach that secured a remarkable 26-24 victory for the United States as it pulled ahead 2-0 in the match.

The United States battled back-and-forth with Team Australia early on in the third set, but as the set neared its midpoint the Americans had taken a commanding 13-4 lead. That advantage swelled to as many as 13 enroute to a 23-13 win in the final frame and a 3-0 sweep of the Australians in the match.

San Diego/Team USA is back in action tomorrow (Friday) at 8:00 AM PST with another pool play matchup versus Chinese Taipei.

From July 16-27, 2025, San Diego volleyball will join around 8,500 other student-athletes and officials from over 150 countries in competing for medals in 18 sports at the World University Games, one of the largest multi-sport events in the world. The Toreros will be representing the USA as the nation’s only women’s volleyball team in the Games. 
 

BOISE, Idaho — Boise State Beach Volleyball Head Coach Allison Voigt announced her decision to step down from the program on Thursday, citing a desire to focus on her family.

“After multiple conversations with my family, friends and Director of Athletics Jeramiah Dickey, I have decided to step away from my coaching role at Boise State to focus on my family,” Voigt said. “At this stage in my life, I want to focus on being the best mother I can be to my two girls.”

Voigt, the winningest coach in program history, leaves behind a legacy of success. Since taking over the program in 2019, she amassed a 119-63 career coaching record. Under her leadership, the Broncos became a dominant force in the West, winning over 20 games in each of the past four seasons. This past season, Voigt led the team to its first regular season and conference tournament championship, earning an automatic spot in the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship for the first time in program history.

Jeramiah Dickey, Boise State Director of Athletics, praised Voigt’s contributions. “Allison is a tremendous human, and we’re grateful for her leadership for the last seven years with our beach volleyball program and 10 years total at Boise State,” he said. “She was a Bar Raiser for us, setting up our program for future competitive excellence.”

Voigt’s commitment to developing student-athletes off the sand was also notable. The Broncos earned back-to-back SLC Student-Athletes of the Year and received the AVCA Team Academic award every season under her guidance.

Alex Venardos, who has been with the program since 2016, will succeed Voigt as head coach. Venardos expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying, “I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to take over this historic program. I’m extremely passionate about Boise State beach volleyball and can’t wait to continue leading this program to compete among the nation’s best.”

Venardos has been instrumental in the program’s recent success, helping guide the Broncos to their first NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship appearance and a conference championship title. His promotion marks a new era for Boise State Beach Volleyball as the team looks to build on its achievements.

Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop University Athletic Director Chuck Rey announced the hiring of Raffael Craig as the head track & field/cross country coach on Thursday afternoon, to see Craig become the third head coach in the history of the track & field program

“We are excited to welcome Raffael Craig as the next Head Coach for Track & Field and Cross Country, a leader whose integrity, vision, character, and energy sets the tone for a bold new era in our program’s history,” stated Rey. “His commitment to developing culture, character, and well-rounded student-athletes, while striving for championships, aligns perfectly with Winthrop Eagles values and mission.”

He spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Purdue, coaching the jumpers and combined athlete events. Under his guidance, he saw 17 All-Big Ten athlete honors, including a First-Team All-American in the pentathlon, with a Second-Team All-American honor in the triple jump. Rounding out his time in West Lafayette, he helped lead thirteen athletes to Purdue All-Time Top-Ten honors, adding on three school records in the women’s pentathlon in 2025.

“I’m incredibly honored to be named the head track & field and cross country coach at Winthrop University,” said Craig. “This program has tremendous potential, and I’m excited to build a culture focused on development, discipline, and long-term success. I look forward to working with our support staff to give our student-athletes the best experience while they help me Rock the Hill.”

Prior to Purdue, Craig served as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech University, coaching the Conference USA Champion in the heptathlon event, along with three additional top-six finishes in long jump and triple jump. Before his time with the Bulldogs, he tipped his toes into the collegiate sphere with a volunteer position at Texas Tech University, helping to lead six Red Raiders to earn All-American accolades, being highlighted by the 2021 NCAA Indoor triple jump champion, Ruth Urso.

Ahead of his time in the college ranks, Craig spent 15 years at Millville High School in Millville, New Jersey. At Millville, he led the team to #1 Ranked Public School spot in New Jersey, following that up with a 2020 Preseason New Jersey #1 Public School ranking. Under his tutelage, Craig guided 18 athletes to colleges on scholarships, coaching the 2019 New Balance Outdoor National Champion, Bryanna Craig, in the heptathlon.

Craig, a 2000 Big East pentathlon champion at the University of Connecticut, earned All-Big East honors four times during his collegiate career. He was inducted into the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and went on to become an eight-time USATF Masters Indoor Track & Field national champion in 2018 and 2019.