Arkansas won’t have to worry about being left out of the SEC Gymnastics Championships moving forward.

The 2025 Southeastern Conference Spring Meetings concluded Thursday, with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressing several topics, including conference athletic directors approving including all nine SEC schools that sponsor gymnastics to participate in the SEC Gymnastics Championships starting in 2026.

After a season that saw the Razorbacks beat LSU and Florida – teams ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time of competition – during the regular season, Arkansas still ended up as the ninth place team in the SEC by National Qualifying Score (NQS) and was subsequently eliminated from competing at the conference championship meet. This, despite being the No. 16 team in the country at the time (the Razorbacks would finish No. 12 overall after the NCAA tournament). The team also lost out on an away meet score to potentially include in its NQS, which could’ve impacted postseason seeding.

With the addition of Oklahoma to the SEC gymnastics ranks, the conference changed the format of the meet for 2025, opting to leave one school – whoever finished last in the regular season rankings by NQS – out of the conference championship, including individuals. This decision faced backlash from fans, athletes, and coaches throughout the season, especially as Arkansas proved it was capable of wreaking havoc on the conference’s top teams.

Part of the hang up on having nine teams was the issue of having five teams in either the afternoon or evening session, which would mean adding a bye rotation and increasing the runtime of the meet by approximately 20-30 minutes – a potential obstacle for the meet broadcast as networks continue to try to optimize the viewer experience. According to Whole Hog Sports, the 2026 SEC Gymnastics Championships will see the bottom four teams compete in the afternoon session and the top five teams compete in the evening session.

“All nine [teams] will be invited,” Sankey said. “Noting just the high level of competition and the impact on some of the score opportunities, it’s important for all of us to compete together.”

ITA All-America honors are awarded to student-athletes that advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Individual Championships in November or finished in the top 20 of the final ITA singles rankings released last Wednesday, and Baris did both.

Baris has now earned ITA All-American honors in 2023, 2024 and 2025. He is MSU’s only multiple All-American recipient, now with three of the Spartans’ seven total All-America honors, joining Mashiska Washington (singles) in 1994, current MSU head coach Harry Jadun and John Mullane (doubles) in 2015, Max Sheldon (doubles) with Baris in 2023.

A junior from Okemos, Michigan, Baris earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades this spring, logging 23 overall singles wins this season, including 10 during dual action, in helping the Spartans reach the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament. Last fall, Baris was the NCAA Individual Championships National Runner-Up, falling to National Champion Michael Zheng of Columbia in the title match.

The Spartans ended their 2024-25 campaign at 17-10, concluding their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Overall, Michigan State was making its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament, first doing so in 2013. 

MSU’s 17-10 overall record gives the Green & White 40 wins over last two years, the most wins in back-to-back seasons since 2012-13, the Spartans’ previous NCAA Tournament trip when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete.

 

Aaronson Mansberger received a wealth of accolades in his first season on the University of Michigan’s men’s gymnastics team.

The 2024 Carmel High School graduate was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times. He also was named Michigan’s 2024-25 Rookie of the Year for men’s gymnastics and was named a College Gymnastics Association Regular Season All-American.

But those are not the accomplishments that meant the most to him.

“Helping the team win its fifth straight Big Ten Conference title and first NCAA title in over 10 years (April 19) brought me more joy than any individual title ever could,” Mansberger said. “It was a really special moment to look up at the home crowd at (Michigan’s) Crisler Arena and see all of our friends and supporters cheering us on after bringing home the championships.”

Next up for Mansberger is competing June 28 in the men’s national qualifier.

“My goal is to qualify from that meet to the U.S. Championships in August, which serves as the selection competition for the U.S. Senior National Team and the 2025 World Championships Team,” he said. “Looking ahead to next college season, my goal is to improve my dismount skill. I fell at the (Big Ten) pommel horse final and NCAA Championships and I want to increase the difficulty score in my routine while maintaining the high-execution scores I received last season.”

Mansberger’s season-high score of 14.7 in the Big Ten team competition qualified for second place for the pommel horse final. The next evening, he fell on his dismount and scored 13.575, which placed him sixth. In the NCAA Championships, he had the third-highest score with 14.466 after qualifications. In the finals the next night, he again fell on his dismount and scored 13.4, which placed  17th.

Mansberger said his uncharacteristic falls on his dismount in the Big Ten and NCAA finals are why he knows there’s still work to do to improve his consistency.

“I showed very high potential by being in the top three of both the Big Ten and NCAA after qualifications, but I wasn’t able to finish strong in finals,” said Mansberger, who trained at Interactive Academy in Zionsville from the time he was 5 years old through high school.

Mansberger said the falls taught him that he still needs work on his mental and physical preparation.

“I didn’t have a perfect record, but I was able to prove myself as someone the team can rely on to anchor the pommel horse lineup,” he said. “In my club career before college, I struggled with performing under pressure. This year, I did a lot of mental training, and this helped me perform my routine more reliably. Knowing that my 24 teammates had my back no matter what gave me confidence.”

Adam Nightingale has spent plenty of time around Isaac Howard to know what makes him tick as a hockey player and as a human. 

Therefore, the Michigan State men’s hockey coach had a succinct description of Howard.

“I’ve never seen him have a bad day at the rink,” Nightingale said. “He’s hungry to get better. Loves, loves winning. Super-competitive player and obviously gifted offensively.”

Those traits paved the way for a terrific junior season with the Spartans. Howard led the nation in points per game at 1.41 en route to becoming the third player in Michigan State history to win the Hobey Baker Award. 

The accolades kept coming for Howard, as he recently was named USA Hockey’s Jim Johannson College Player of the Year. He will be among a number of individuals honored at the USA Hockey President’s Dinner on June 6 in Denver.

Nightingale has had a front row seat for a lot of Howard’s development. He coached Howard for two years at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and then the last two seasons at Michigan State. 

Howard, who hails from Hudson, Wisconsin, spent his freshman season at Minnesota-Duluth before transferring to Michigan State.

Howard, a 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound left wing with a left-handed shot, has always had top-tier talent. Following Howard’s two years with the NTDP, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

But this season, Howard seemed to kick it into another gear by becoming a reliable goal scorer at the collegiate level. After scoring six goals in 35 games at Duluth and eight in 42 games in his first season with the Spartans, Howard racked up 26 goals to go along with 26 assists this season. He led the Big Ten in goals as Michigan State won the league regular-season and tournament championships.

“The combination of the play away from the puck and, I thought last year, he created a lot, was maybe a little snakebit too, the puck didn’t go in for him as much, but he created a lot of good chances,” Nightingale said. “I just think improving away from the puck, he’s created even more quality chances. He works hard on a shot after practice and then in our shooting room. He definitely has a nose for the net.”

Howard did display a tremendous ability to score with the NTDP, notching 32 and 33 goals in his two seasons, accompanied by 41 and 49 assists. Howard also has a wealth of international experience, highlighted by scoring two goals in the gold-medal game of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, helping the Americans win the tournament for the first time since 2021. 

Howard recently got more international experience by being one of two college players on the U.S. roster for the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship. 

“He’s really matured as a player since I first came to know him with the National Team Development Program, watching him really work hard,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations. “The first year there was hard on him, but he’s really matured into a nice player and person. On and off the ice, he gives it everything he has. So, he’s a really wonderful guy.”

Even with all the accolades coming his way — the Hobey Baker, USA Hockey’s College Player of the Year, All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year — Nightingale hasn’t noticed much of a change in Howard’s demeanor.

“He’s a team guy,” Nightingale concluded. “He’s handled it well. He’s acknowledged that he’s played with good linemates and it’s a big deal for Michigan State to have a Hobey Baker winner and now the Jim Johannson award. So, he’s handled it with humility and class.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Former Holy Cross women’s ice hockey standout Stacey Hochkins (Class of 2012) has been selected as the 2025 USA Hockey Adult Player of the Year. She will be honored at the USA Hockey President’s Awards Dinner on Friday, June 6, at the Denver Marriott Tech Center.

Currently an assistant coach at Lawrence Tech University and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and St. Catherine’s High School, Hochkins has continued to connect with the game as an avid adult hockey player since her time at Holy Cross. She laced up her skates to take part in the 2025 USA Hockey-Long Drink Adult Women’s National Championships in Wesley Chapels, Fla., with the Foundry 13 Little Caesars Women’s Hockey Team, leading her team to the 21+ Tier I division championship title.

Hochkins has helped grow the Little Caesars Women’s Hockey program from humble beginnings. The program has gone from just nine players in 2021 to 32 players at the 2025 event, enough for two full teams. Hochkins’ love for the sport goes beyond playing. She just finished her first season as an assistant coach for Lawrence Tech University’s ACHA Division II women’s hockey program, and also completed her second campaign as an assistant coach with the joint team of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and St. Catherine’s, a prep school based in the Detroit suburbs, who skate in the Michigan Girls High School Hockey League.

Hochkins was a standout forward for the Crusaders from 2008-2012. She was a four-time first team All-ECAC East selection, in addition to being named All-America and All-New England three times. During her senior year, Hochkins led the team with a school-record 28 goals and 18 assists for 46 points. She ended her collegiate career as Holy Cross’ all-time leader in all six major offensive categories, totaling 103 goals, 86 assists, 189 points, 18 game-winning goals, 22 power play goals and 15 shorthanded goals. A two-year team captain, Hochkins led the Crusaders to an overall record of 80-19-7 during her four years on the team. She was inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2019, and had her jersey retired in 2024.

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