Rabbit Barnes, Clara Lippert and Oliver Smeal each set a school record this weekend as the Colorado College track & field teams competed at the APU Franson Last Chance Meet in Azusa, Calif.
 
Barnes smashed his own school record in the men’s 800, finishing 11^th with a time of 1:49.08, surpassing his previous mark of 1:51.31 and posting the third-fastest time in Division III this spring.
 
Lippert broke a 16-year old record in the women’s 400, placing 11^th in 56.48 seconds, beating the old record of 57.59, set by Brittney Moore in 2009. Lippert also placed 19^th in the 200 and long jump.
 
Smeal, meanwhile, broke the men’s javelin record for the third time this season with a toss of 181’9″, more than three feet more than his previous record of 178’7″. He finished seventh in the event.
 
Several other Tigers posted Top 10 results at the meet, including Isabel Olson and Alison Mueller-Hickler finishing sixth (17:04.00) and ninth (17:20.39), respectively, in the women’s 5K, while Britt Helgaas was eighth in the women’s 10K with a time of 37.43.49.
 
The men’s 4×100 relay team of Chase Marks, Holden Perry, Tyson Robertson and Smeal finished eighth in 42.19 seconds.
 
Also this weekend, Owen Shi finished fourth in the shot put and Easton Capser fifth in the javelin at the Air Force Twilight Open.
 
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, May 14, at the two-day Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier in Rock Island, Ill.
 

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (May 10, 2025) – The Tufts University men’s track and field team continued to improve as they finished up competition at the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza on Saturday in Williamstown.

Eric Meyer took a sixth place finish in the hammer throw for the best field finish in the event for the Jumbos. His mark of 49.89m was ahead of junior Martin Decker in ninth with a 47.85m.

Quinn Hampson continued to show remarkable progress as his pace somehow got even quicker. He managed yet another personal best time of 3:51.21 to bring home sixth place and lead teammate Cullen McCaleb with a 3:57.73. Simon Donovan was just behind McCaleb with a 3:58.56.

Calvin Cummings kept his momentum from last weekend going with a third place finish in the 3000m steeplechase. It was his third straight finish with a new personal best as his 9:19.02 mark was good for a nearly five second improvement on his career best.

Jonah Reisner had to wait until the sunlight began to wane to truly shine, as he breezed through the 5000m run for fifth place. His time of 14:16.57 smashed his personal best and set the second-best time in Tufts program history. Amokrane Aouchiche also set a new personal best as he finished seventh in 14:29.60 for the fifth best time in program history.

Tufts will now shift their sights to the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Men’s Track and Field Championships at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio on May 22nd.

 

–JUMBOS–

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 3 UCLA men’s volleyball program took down No. 2 Hawai’i in straight sets, 3-0, in the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships at the Covelli Center on the campus of Ohio State University. Set scores on Saturday evening were 25-14, 25-23, 25-22.

With the win, the Bruins advance to their third national championship in the past three seasons. UCLA will take on the No. 1 seed Long Beach State in a rematch of the 2024 final, which the Bruins won in Long Beach, 3-1.

The Bruins hit .370 while limiting Hawai’i to a season-low .188 hitting percentage. Sean Kelly led the Bruins with 13 kills on 23 swings, while Zach Rama added another 10 for the Bruins. Andrew Rowan added 34 assists to dictate the Bruins offense, and defensively Sean McQuiggan recorded seven blocks.

The Bruins stormed out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set, and rattled off six straight points to take to silence the crowd. During that run Cooper Robinson provided two service aces and a couple of kills.

UCLA extended its lead to 17-8 later in the set as the Bruins continued to pile pressure on the Rainbow Warriors from the service line and the back line.

Later on in the set, the Bruins went up 23-13 courtesy of Rama from the back row before the Bruins took the first set 25-14 when Rama slammed home his fourth kill of the set to clinch it for the Bruins

As for the second set, Hawai’i opened up an 8-6 advantage before the Bruins rallied back.

A triple block put the Bruins up 13-10 in the set, forcing the Rainbow Warriors to take a timeout. Hawai’i wasn’t done though and battled back to make it 17-17 with Finn Kearney tallying a kill.

The Bruins and Rainbow Warriors went blow for blow for the remainder of the set, as neither team took more than a two-point advantage.

Hawai’i went up 23-22 before McQuiggan hammered home a kill from the middle, making it 23 all. Sean Kelly then tallied his sixth kill of the match to put the Bruins up 24-23 before an attack error by the Rainbow Warriors gave the Bruins a 25-23 set two win, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, the Bruins took a 7-3 early lead as Kelly continued his strong night with another kill. Rowan and Robinson then recorded back-to-back kills to put the Bruins up 12-6, forcing Hawai’i to call another timeout.

Two huge solo blocks by McQuiggan then extended UCLA’s lead to 20-15, but Hawai’i roared back after that. The Rainbow Warriors closed the gap to 22-21 in favor of the Bruins, forcing John Hawks to use a timeout.

The Bruins then took a 24-22 lead courtesy of an attack error from the Rainbow Warriors before Rowan set up Robinson for his ninth kill of the match to clinch the set and the match for the Bruins, 25-22.

Up Next: UCLA will face the No. 1 seed Long Beach State in the NCAA Championship match on Monday, May 12 at 4 pm PT (7 pm ET). The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

 

Tyler Hendrickson

Tyler Hendrickson was born and raised in Long Beach, and started covering sports in his hometown in 2010. After five years as a sportswriter, Tyler joined the athletic department at Long Beach State University in 2015. He spent more than four years in the athletic communications department, working primarily with the Dirtbags baseball program. Tyler also co-authored of The History of Long Beach Poly: Scholars & Champions.

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