COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Utah State’s men’s track & field team fielded 10 athletes in five events at the 2025 NCAA West First Rounds in College Station, Texas, on Friday.
 
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team, comprised of freshmen Daniel Chase, Ayodele Ojo, Mathew Hall and Diego Aguirre-Stewart, led the way for the Aggies, finishing in a time of 39.54 that finished one-tenth of a second shy of qualifying for the national championships, The quartet, who are the only relay team at the NCAA West First Rounds comprised of entirely freshmen, also posted the third-fastest time in Utah State history in the event.
 
A pair of Aggies competed in the second heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Garrett Woodhouse clocked in at 8:51.69 to finish seventh in the heat and 20th in the field, improving on his starting seed by 14 places. Junior Logan Garnica finished in 9:48.24 to take 46th place overall, capping off a 2024-25 athletic campaign that included setting the Utah State record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and earning the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
 
Senior Nate Franz and sophomore Joseph Turner got things started for the Aggies in the discus on Friday. Franz placed 30th in the competition with a throw of 54.95 meters (180-3), finishing his Aggie career with four all-time top-10 marks and two Mountain West silver medals. Turner, who joined Franz on the discus podium at the MW Outdoor Championships, posted a mark of 50.37 meters (165-3) to finish 44th. Each of the throwers made their first career appearance at the NCAA West First Rounds.
 
Freshman Taite Priestley capped off his stellar debut in a Utah State uniform by clearing 2.09 meters (6-10.25) in the high jump to tie for 25th in the competition. The Preston, Idaho, product matched the height he cleared two weeks ago to claim a bronze medal at the MW Outdoor Championships.
 
Sophomore Landon Bott competed in the quarterfinals of the 800 meters, where he placed sixth in his heat and 21st overall with a time of 1:49.14. Bott, who won MW gold medals in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters, made his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA West quarterfinals.
 
Saturday’s competition will turn back to the women’s side, where sophomore Shelby Jensen will feature in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and a pair of Aggies, senior Emma Thornley and junior Sarah Ellis, will race in the 5,000 meters. Live coverage will continue from College Station on ESPN+.
 
Fans can follow the Utah State track and field programs on X at USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on X at USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
 
2025 NCAA West First Rounds – Day 3
E.B. Cushing Stadium | College Station, Texas | May 30, 2025
 
USU Men’s Results:
 

Event (Heat)	USU Finishers (qualifiers for next round in bold)
800 Meters (2)	6. Landon Bott, 1:49.14.
3,000-Meter Steeplechase (2)	7. Garrett Woodhouse, 8:51.69; 16. Logan Garnica, 9:48.24.
4×100-Meter Relay (3)	5. Utah State (Daniel Chase, Ayodele Ojo, Mathew Hall, Diego Aguirre-Stewart), 39.54.
High Jump	25. Taite Priestley, 2.09 meters (6-10.25).
Discus	30. Nate Franz, 54.95 meters (180-3); 44. Joseph Turner, 50.37 meters (165-3).

 
-USU-
 

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – University of Missouri track and field’s Skylar Coffey advanced to the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in men’s discus with a throw of 58.93m (193-4) on day three of the opening round of the NCAA Championships at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Friday.

Coffey, a senior, recorded a personal-best mark in the event to punch his ticket to Eugene, Oregon, the final site of the NCAA Championships on June 11-14. With a ninth-place result, he will join Callan Saldutto and Valentina Barrios at the national championship meet.

Tarique George also posted a new top distance in the event, throwing 57.97m (190-2), taking 13th. Both Coffey and George’s results are the fifth- and eighth-best in the event in school history, respectively. 

Missouri’s day concluded in men’s triple jump, where Sterling Scott concluded his season with a 14th-place finish after a 15.84m (51-11.75) mark. 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 – NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, ROUND ONE – DAY THRE
Field Events	Place-Athlete-Mark | Notes (PR = personal record)
Discus (M)	9th – Skylar Coffey: 58.93m (193-4), PR 13th – Tarique George: 57.97m (190-2), PR
Triple Jump (M)	14th – Sterling Scott: 15.84m (51-11.75)

UP NEXT

The Tigers conclude action at round one of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, May 31, beginning with the women’s discus at 1 p.m., where Ames Burton will represent Mizzou.

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In one of the biggest recruiting swings in college hockey in recent memory, the University of North Dakota received verbal commitments from bluechip prospects and future first-round NHL Draft picks Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff, according to multiple reports including from Grand Forks Herald reporter Brad Schlossman, who was first with the Reschny news.

The duo played for the Victoria Royals in the WHL last season with Reschny growing into a likely top-20 pick for the 2025 NHL Draft and Verhoeff putting together a season that has him trending towards top-three selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Verhoeff is still just 16 years old, but it is believed he will have completed the necessary requirements to be eligible to play for UND in the fall. He turns 17 in June.

Reschny, meanwhile, turned 18 in April and is expected to be eligible to start in the fall as well.

These are two of the biggest commitments to come to the public eye out of one of the Canadian Hockey League’s three member leagues since the NCAA announced that players from the CHL would no longer be ineligible for competition.

Several high-profile CHL players have made verbal commitments, including a number of already-drafted and soon-to-be drafted players, but Reschny and Verhoeff represent two of the highest-ranked players to make the commitment to an NCAA program.

The fact that they’re both coming from the same WHL team and committing to the same school at the same time is also notable.

For the University of North Dakota, they’re gaining two elite-level players that should be able to impact their lineup immediately next season.

Who Is North Dakota Commit Cole Reschny?

Reschny shined on the international and junior stages this year with tremendous numbers. The 5-foot-10 playmaking winger had 92 points in 62 games during the WHL regular season and another 25 in just 11 games during the playoffs. He represented Canada at the preseason Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, putting up seven points in five games, and joined Canada at the IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship this spring, posting eight points in five games. Canada won both of those tournaments.

The Macklin, Saskatchewan native has been projected to be selected in the 15 to 25 range of the first round of this year’s NHL Draft.

Reschny has tremendous hand skills, which made him an effective producer. Despite not being especially big, he thinks the game at a high pace and is able to move pucks effectively with or without pressure. His one-on-one skills helps him beat defenders and keep goalies guessing, while he always seems to be in control. If he were bigger, we’d be talking about a player that is more in the top-10 discussion than top-20 for this year’s draft.

Who Is North Dakota Commit Keaton Verhoeff?

Verhoeff, meanwhile, has been viewed as a prodigious talent who already has the frame of a NHL defenseman at just 16 years old. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound teenager is a right-shot defenseman with a nose for the net. 

He scored 21 goals for Victoria this season, third-most by a defenseman 16 or younger in WHL history. He was the first U17 blueliner in 40 years to eclipse 20 goals in a season in the league.

Verhoeff also won gold with Reschny at the U18 Worlds in the spring and was a standout performer at last fall’s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

He is a quality defender with good mobility for his size and has shown signs he is growing into his physical game. He projects as a two-way defenseman who should be equally capable on both ends of the ice.

He will be North Dakota’s bet defense prospect since Jake Sanderson entered the school five years ago after being selected fifth overall by the Ottawa Senators.

Verhoeff is viewed by some at this very early stage as a likely No. 2 prospect behind projected No. 1 Gavin McKenna for 2026.

What This Means For North Dakota Hockey

The University of North Dakota made some big changes to their program this season, replacing longtime head coach Brad Berry with longtime assistant Dane Jackson. The school also hired a general manager for their program, bringing in alumnus Bryn Chyzyk who served in that same role for the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks. UND also brought back alum Matt Smaby, a former NHL defenseman, to be an associate head coach after a successful four-year run as Waterloo’s head coach.

Chyzyk has become known in the UND fanbase for his cryptic GIF posting on X when the team has landed a new big recruit. Most, however, probably didn’t realize how big today’s recruiting news would be.

pic.twitter.com/erFWYHMJDC

— Bryn Chyzyk (@brynchyzyk) May 30, 2025

One of the blue blood programs of college hockey, North Dakota is coming off a season in which it missed the NCAA tournament and saw a number of key players including Chicago Blackhawks first-round pick Sacha Boisvert transfer out of the program.

Adding a pair of blue-chippers like Reschny and Verhoeff puts them right back on track in rebuilding its reputation as one of the top outlets for future NHL players.

Oddly enough, these commitments come at the expense of one of North Dakota’s all-time greats, James Patrick, who is the head coach of the Victoria Royals.

While Victoria is losing two of its best players, the team recently signed one of its own top prospects, Eli McKamey, who received exceptional status to play in the BCHL at 15 last season. Now 16, McKamey is also verbally committed to play college hockey in a few years — at North Dakota.

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If Matt Davis could describe his collegiate career in three words, it would be “successful, relentless and fun.”
 
The University of Denver hockey senior—a two-time NCAA National Champion, the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player and NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team member—wrapped up his career with the Pioneers this past season.
 
He helped lead DU back to the NCAA Frozen Four after a historic 2023-24 season when he got his second national championship ring—but this time as the starting goaltender for Denver.
 
Across the four games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, he recorded a 0.63 goals-against average, a .979 save percentage and one shutout in 283:32 of playing time. He posted a 35-save shutout to secure the big win in the national title game on April 13, 2024 versus Boston College, becoming the eighth goalie in NCAA history to mark a clean sheet in the title game and the third Pioneer to do it. 
 
His first ring was acquired as the backup goaltender behind Magnus Chrona as a freshman in 2022. When asked about his favorite memory at DU, he said, “Just pick and choose from which national championship. I’m not too picky.”
 
To get the team to the final in 2024, Davis recorded a 23-5-3 overall record, 2.34 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and two shutouts in 31 games. His 23 wins as a junior were the 14th-most in a season in school history and his .790 winning percentage was the best mark by a Pioneer keeper since Mike Richter Award-winner Tanner Jaillet in 2016-17 (.811). 
 
Even with Davis’ postseason accomplishments in 2024, there were still defining moments that made him develop as a player that didn’t get the spotlight.
 
“I mean it was no secret with the biggest question mark (that season) was probably in goal for us as a team, and there’s a couple games there toward the end of the year where I felt I learned a lot through the losses too,” he recalled.  “One (moment) would be when we won, but I played terribly. It was probably [Minnesota] Duluth last year. I think I let them get back into the game, and I learned a lot from that. After that I feel like we grew a lot in the goalie room and that was a pretty, pretty big defining moment for us—just learning through that adversity.”  
 
Academically, the Calgary, Alberta, native has been chosen as an ACHA National All-American Scholar three times and to the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team and as an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete all four years. He was also recognized with the 2024-25 NCHC Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
In his sophomore campaign, he posted an 8-1-0 record and one shutout while making eight starts and appearing in 13 games while leading the team with a 1.77 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. On Dec. 16-17, 2022, he made his first consecutive start for the Pioneers, recording his second career shutout on the Friday with a 5-0 win and then stopped 17 shots for the weekend sweep against Lindenwood. In his first career postseason contest, the Canadian saved 30-of-32 shotes versus Miami in Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 10, 2023.
 
To begin his career with Denver, Davis saw action in six games and made four starts as a freshman while backing up Chrona. He accomplished a 3-1-0 record and one shutout while leading the team with a 1.96 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. He recorded a shutout with a 25-save effort in his first NCAA start on Oct. 16, 2021 versus Air Force. 
 
Even as a first-year player, he was making his mark in Pioneer history. He made 24 saves on 26 shots in the regular-season finale versus Colorado College on March 5, 2022 to help Denver capture its second-ever Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions.
 
Among the goaltending legends of Denver, he finished his career with a .921 save percentage, a 63-17-4 record, a 2.13 goals-against average and more than 5,000 minutes in the crease for the team that bleeds crimson and gold. He’s tied for fifth in both career wins and goals-against average in the DU record book and is ninth in career save percentage and 13th in shutouts (5).
 
He didn’t leave DU quietly, as he was named a Mike Richter Award Semifinalist and posted career bests in games played and wins as a senior last year. He started in 40 games, tying for the most in a single season in program history (fourth goalie) and his 29 victories led the NCAA and marked the second-most all-time at the school; only George Kirkwood has had more with 30 wins in 1960-61. He won a career-best 20 straight games across two seasons from March 9, 2024 versus Colorado College to Nov. 14, 2024 at North Dakota, registering three career-best shutout streaks during that time.  
 
For his last run with the Pioneers, he posted a 29-10-1 record, .924 save percentage, 2.07 goals-against average and one shutout in 2024-25 as they reached the national semifinals for the 20th time in the program annals. He also made 997 saves during the year while minding 2,374 minutes in the Pioneers’ net—the ninth-most stops in DU history.
 
Throughout his four years at the University of Denver, he didn’t only grow as a goaltender, but also as a person. 
 
“I learned a lot. I mean I learned how to take care of myself outside of the rink. That’s been a big one,” says Davis. “Just kind of how to navigate playing games and all that. It’s been a pretty special experience. I’ve felt like I’ve really matured as a person. I think that’s probably the most important thing that I’ve taken from my experience here and, of course, a lot of on-ice lessons and off-ice lessons.”   

 

D2 Soccer Camp set for June 16-20 at Thompson High School

Published 5:01 pm Friday, May 30, 2025

Paul Holmgren
Holmgren played 10 NHL seasons as a forward with the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars. He scored 323 points (144 goals, 179 assists) in 527 regular-season games and 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists) in 82 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Flyers selected Holmgren in the sixth round (No. 108) of the 1975 NHL Draft.
Over five decades, mostly with the Flyers, Holmgren is the only person in their history to be a player (1975-84), assistant coach (1985-88), coach (1988-92), general manager (2006-14) and president (2014-19). He was also director of pro scouting (1995-97), director of player personnel (1997-99), assistant general manager (1999-06) and team president (2014-19).
Holmgren made his NHL debut March 25, 1976, against the Rangers at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, the first of 500 games with the Flyers. He scored an NHL career-high 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 74 games in 1979-80 to help the Flyers to a 35-game undefeated streak (25 wins, 10 ties) and the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost the best-of-7 series to the Islanders in six games. In Game 2, an 8-3 Flyers win, Holmgren became the first United States-born player to score a hat trick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Holmgren was traded to Minnesota on Feb. 23, 1984. He retired after the 1984-85 season and returned to Philadelphia to coach under Mike Keenan. He became the first former Flyers player to become their coach on June 1, 1988 and was 107-126-31 over four seasons.
“To be able to play in the NHL, I consider a high honor,” Holmgren said. “I was able to coach in the NHL, be a GM in the NHL. All those are honors for me … I realize, I know I’ve been blessed to get to know the people I’ve got to know along the way. I got to work for (Flyers owner) Ed Snider, I worked with Bob Clarke, he was my roommate for many years. I got to know (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman, I got to know Brian Burke, legends in the game … I worked with Mike Keenan. I coached Mark Howe, I coached Chris Pronger. So many great things have happened because I was fortunate enough, blessed enough to be able to be part of this game, this great game of hockey.”
Holmgren worked four seasons for the Hartford Whalers. He was named coach June 15, 1992 and added general manager duties before the 1993-94 season. He stepped down as coach 17 games into that season to focus on the GM job but was reappointed coach on June 28, 1994 after Jim Rutherford was named GM. Holmgren was 54-93-14 in 161 games in four seasons coaching the Whalers.
Holmgren’s relationship with USA Hockey mirrors his time with the Flyers. He represented the United States internationally as a player, coach and in the front office. He played for the United States in the IIHF Under-20 World Junior Championship in 1974, was an assistant general manager for Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey 2016; assistant GM of the 2006 U.S. Men’s National Team; and an assistant for the United States at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Holmgren played one season (1974-75) at the University of Minnesota and scored 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 37 games.
“I look back and I hear people talk about work and this and that and I had a bad day at work,” Holmgren said. “I don’t remember having a bad day at work, I really don’t. I got to play hockey, I got to be involved in hockey, I got to watch a lot of hockey games. And if it wasn’t for USA Hockey and all the work they’ve done at the grassroots level, for me growing up, who knows what would have happened, but I was able to be involved in hockey my whole life and for that I’m grateful.”