Santa Fe Christian recently announced the return of alumni Graham Saber as head coach of the boys water polo team — a full circle moment for the former standout athlete whose journey began at SFC.

Saber’s SFC roots run deep. He was part of a gritty team that trained in backyard pools and laid the groundwork for one of the most legendary seasons in SFC water polo history. In his senior year, Saber led the Eagles to a 25-7 record and a historic playoff run in CIF’s top division, including a dramatic upset over #1-ranked La Jolla — a comeback still remembered in San Diego water polo circles. The Eagles fell just short in the CIF Final against perennial powerhouse The Bishop’s School, according to a news release.

That season, Saber rewrote the SFC record books, setting single-season marks in goals (160), assists (102), and steals (158). His performance earned him All-American honors, All-CIF First Team, Union-Tribune All-Academic Team, and North County Times Player of the Year.

Saber continued his collegiate career at Pepperdine University before transferring to UC San Diego, where he helped the Tritons capture their first conference title in five years. As a senior, he netted 83 goals — sixth-most in UCSD history — and was recognized as an ACWPC All-American, All-WWPA Tournament First Team, All-NCAA Tournament First Team, and WWPA Player of the Week. He finished the season with 16 hat tricks and scored multiple goals in 22 straight games.

Now back at SFC, Coach Saber brings not only elite playing experience and tactical acumen but also a mission-driven coaching philosophy.

“Coaching isn’t just about the scoreboard — though make no mistake, we’re here to compete. It’s about forging men of grit, discipline, and unshakable faith,” said Saber in the news release. “In a world desperate for strong, God-fearing leaders, we’re building warriors who play with fire, lead with integrity, and honor Christ in everything they do. That’s the mission.”

Also joining Saber on the pool deck is Jonny Haahr, his 2006 co-captain and the player who hit the game-winning shot in the legendary La Jolla upset. A multi-sport athlete and valedictorian of SFC’s Class of 2007, Haahr went on to attend Cornell University, where he competed in javelin and served as vice president of The Navigators Christian fellowship. He returns to SFC with a sharp mind, strong leadership roots, and a heart for mentoring the next generation.

“I was at the games where Coach Saber and Haahr shocked the county, and watching them play was supernatural and electric,” said SFC Athletic Director Doug Miller in the news release. “Our players and our community will rally around these SFC legends and I’m confident the excitement for this sport will explode. More importantly, these new coaches are also some of the most grounded Godly leaders of young men, and I’m committed to their success in that capacity as well.”

BYU’s James Corrigan won the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday night at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon, taking the lead with less than 200 meters to go and pulling away from a field loaded with Kenyans to notch another win for Steeplechase U.

Corrigan recorded a time of 8:16.41 to become the fourth-fastest collegian ever. In the process, he beat the event’s second-fastest collegian ever, Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa.

The first two laps of the 7 ½-lap race were slow and tactical, but then Iowa State’s Joash Ruto, a native Kenyan, accelerated and opened up a 10-meter gap on the field and the real racing had begun.

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Kirwa, another Kenyan, pulled the field to close the gap on Ruto over the next couple of laps, with Corrigan running fifth. With about 900 meters to go, Kirwa passed Ruto, and with 800 meters to go he accelerated and opened up a gap. Corrigan was some 10 meters back, still in fifth.

“James has the talent to kick off of a slow or fast pace. Any scenario is going to be OK if he maintains contact,” said BYU coach Ed Eyestone.

“With two laps to go, I was mildly concerned because he was running fifth in traffic and (Kirwa) was opening a gap.”

Corrigan swung wide on the backstretch to skirt traffic and put himself in position to run down Kirwa, but with one lap to go he had slipped even farther behind, some 15 meters or more.

Eyestone had seen Corrigan’s closing speed at the end of workouts and was hopeful as he watched from the stands. Sure enough, Corrigan began to quicken his pace and was gaining ground as they headed into the backstretch.

“He kept his head and the last 300 meters you could see he was cutting into the lead,” said the coach.

Kirwa and Corrigan reached the final water jump together, but Corrigan maintained his momentum better coming out of it. Kirwa trailed by only one stride as they turned into the homestretch, but Corrigan pulled away with 50 meters to go.

It was an astonishing win on many levels for Corrigan, the ninth-place finisher in the 2024 NCAA championships. Earlier this week, Eyestone surveyed the competition in the steeplechase at nationals and noted, “It might be more difficult to get top three at the NCAAs than at (the U.S. national championships).”

Another coach told ESPN, “This is shaping up to be one of the best steeplechase fields ever at these championships.”

That was largely because the field was dominated by Kenyans, who are to distance running — and especially the steeplechase — what Juilliard students are to music.

Kenyans have won nine of the last 11 Olympic finals and 19 total medals. They make up nine of the 13 fastest steeplechasers of all-time.

At this week’s NCAA track and field championships, Kenyans swept the first five places in the 10,000-meter run and the first two places in the 5,000. The only race they couldn’t win was the steeplechase, even though they represented seven of the 12 finalists.

“It was a little daunting in that respect,” said Corrigan afterward. “It was definitely the fastest race I’ve been in during a major competition.

“I was happy that I was still able to win with a hot pace like that. The Kenyans have a great heritage (in the steeplechase), but BYU has a good heritage, too.”

BYU has become Steeplechase U. Five BYU athletes have won the steeplechase — Josh McAdams in 2006, Kyle Perry in 2009 and, more recently, Courtney Wayment in 2022, Kenneth Rooks in 2023 and now Corrigan in 2025.

BYU’s Lexy Lowry, who will compete in the final of the women’s steeplechase Saturday at these NCAA championships, is the fifth-fastest collegian ever and will be joined in the final by teammate Taylor Lovell.

Rooks and Corrigan finished first and third, respectively, at last summer’s U.S. Olympic trials to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Paris. Rooks won the silver medal in the steeplechase, delivering one of the biggest surprises of the Olympic track competition.

The win by Corrigan was worth 10 team points and played a big part in putting BYU in a three-way tie for 11th place, with 19 points for the championships.

BYU’s other scorers were Danny Bryant (sixth in the shot put), Ben Barton (sixth in the decathlon), BYU’s 4 x 400-meter relay team (seventh) and Creed Thompson (eighth in the 10,000-meter run).

Competing in the last event of the men’s competition, the BYU relay team of Eli Hazlett, Josh Taylor, Jonah Heimuli and Trey Jackson produced a school-record time of 3:02.51, finishing one place behind Alabama and one place ahead of USC.

Friday’s win will likely mark the end of Corrigan’s collegiate career, even though he has another year of NCAA eligibility remaining. He already has an NIL deal with Nike and shoe companies will offer him a professional contract the moment he declares that he is finished with collegiate competition..

“I’ve got options now,” said Corrigan. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’ll talk to my coaches and my agent and we’ll shop around a little.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 14, 2025) – 2024 Olympian Dana Rettke returns to the U.S. Women’s National Team lineup for week two of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), June 18-22, in Belgrade, Serbia.

Libero Lexi Rodriguez and middle blocker Brionne Butler will also make their first appearances this year. Rodriguez is making her VNL debut, although she competed for the senior team at the 2024 Pan American Cup Final Six. Butler made her senior national team debut in 2019 and was on VNL rosters in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The VNL brings together the world’s top 18 teams for three action-packed weeks of preliminary play, with each team competing in four matches per week. Only the top eight teams will earn a spot in the Final Round, where a VNL title will be on the line.

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Returning for week two are outside hitters Sara Franklin, Roni Jones-Perry and Logan Eggleston; middles Molly McCage and Amber Igiede; opposites Logan Lednicky, Madi Skinner and Olivia Babcock, Setters Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres and Ella Powel, and libero Morgan Hentz.

The U.S. Women are the reigning Olympic silver medalists and ranked No. 3 in the world. They have won the VNL three times (2018, ’19, ’21) since its inception in 2018. In 2024, they lost in the quarterfinals to eventual Olympic champion Italy, who will be their first opponent in Brazil.

U.S. Women’s Week Two Roster for 2025 VNL

U.S. Women’s Preliminary Roster for 2025 VNL
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
7 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., Univ. of Nebraska Great Lakes)
8 Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
9 Madisen Skinner (OH, 6-2, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky and Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
13 Amber Igiede (MB, 6-3, Baton Rouge, La., Univ. of Hawaii, Delta)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
21 Roni Jones-Perry (OH, 6-0, West Jordan, Utah, BYU, Intermountain)
22 Sarah Franklin (OH, 6-4, Lake Worth, Fla., Univ. of Wisconsin, Florida)
24 Olivia Babcock (Opp, 6-4, Los Angeles, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
27 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
28 Logan Lednicky (Opp, 6-3, Sugar Land, Texas, Univ. of Texas A&M, Lone Star)
29 Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Spring, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
32 Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres (S, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Texas, Aloha)
33 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)

Reserve
15 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)

Coaches
Head Coach:  Erik Sullivan
Assistant Coach: Mike Wall
Second Assistant Coach: Brandon Taliaferro
Second Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Second Assistant Coach: Joe Trinsey
Team Manager: Rob Browning
Team Doctors:  William Briner, James Suchy, Chris Lee, Andrew Gregory
Physiotherapist: Kara Kessans
Physical Trainers: Shawn Hueglin, Shannon Boone
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker, Katy Stanfill
Performance Analyst: Virginia Pham

Week 2 Schedule: Belgrade, Serbia (all times PDT)
Matches will be shown on VBTV, Big Ten Network and/or CBS Sports Network. Please check listings for BTN and CBSN.

June 18 at 11 a.m. vs. Serbia
June 19 at 7:30 a.m. vs. Poland
June 21 at 7:30 a.m. vs. Netherlands
June 22 at 7:30 a.m. vs. France

Week 1 Results: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 4 Italy def. USA, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 30-28)
June 5 Brazil def. USA, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
June 6 Czechia def. USA, 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 27-25)
June 8 USA def Korea, 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-17)

FIVE OF THE ENTRANTS had broken 70m (229-8) during the season, and each was a legitimate candidate to take the title. Three of them started strongly, Shelby Frank of Texas Tech taking the early lead with her 228-3 (69.59) opener. She was jumped a few throws later by Texas State’s Lara Roberts, who went 229-6 (69.97). Emma Robbins of Oklahoma State sat 3rd after her initial offering of 227-3 (69.27).

The other two contenders, ’23 champion Stephanie Ratcliffe and West Point cadet Emily Fink, stumbled a bit out of the gate, which was interesting because they probably had more at stake than the others. (Details to follow in  “Last Lap.”)

Fink was the first thrower in her flight, and she stepped in for round 2 determined to reach a distance that would at least guarantee her 6 throws. Unfortunately, she was called for a foul at the front of the ring. Her coach, Brian Woodbury, protested, but to no avail. One more misfire and she was done.

Frank notched another solid attempt, 227-4 (69.31), after which her coach, Cliff Felkins, guaranteed she would throw 71m if she just kept plugging away.

Roberts improved to 231-0 (70.42), and Ratcliffe jumped in the fray with a 228-6 (69.64) toss that vaulted her to 2nd.

Round 3 began with Fink launching a throw that looked to be 70m, but once again she was called for a foul. Video replay showed her heels hovering over the top of the ring as she released the implement, but they did not appear to touch down. Once again, Woodbury protested, and once again he was denied. It was a devastating end to a remarkable college career. Woodbury believes that Fink is talented enough to be an Olympian. “If she can throw 71m taking 19 credits and sleeping 4 hours a night,” he asked, “what could she do if she trained like a normal thrower?” Stay tuned.

Frank, plugging away as directed, hit 229-4 (69.90) that round to knock Ratcliffe to 3rd. This left Roberts in the lead and Robbins in 4th.

In round 4, Ratcliffe made her move, dropping a 234-2 (71.37) season’s best to take the lead.

There were no more changes in the standings until round 6 when Frank, still plugging, popped a 233-1 (71.05) PR to jump into 2nd and make her coach look like a genius. “Felkins told me to have faith and go in and just move the ball,” she explained afterwards. “I smiled before I got in the ring, just thankful to be here at my last national meet. Then I got in and moved the ball. And it went 71m!”

Roberts, the final thrower of the comp, could not answer, and finished 3rd. She’ll be off to the World University Games this summer, representing Australia, and has 2 more years of eligibility, as does Cal’s Giavonna Meeks, who came out of the first flight and smashed a PR of 226-2 (68.94) to take 5th behind Robbins.

WOMEN’S HAMMER RESULTS

(June 12)

1. Stephanie Ratcliffe’ (Ga-Aus) 234-2 (71.37)

(217-7, 228-6, 221-6, 234-2, 229-0, 229-5) (66.33, 69.64, 67.51, 71.37, 69.81, 69.92);

2. Shelby Frank (TxT) 233-1 (71.05) PR (10, x AmC)

(228-3, 227-4, 229-4, 219-0, 221-10, 233-1) (69.59, 69.31, 69.90, 66.77, 67.63, 71.05);

3. **Lara Roberts’ (TxSt-Aus) 231-0 (70.42)

(229-6, 231-0, 225-1, 220-9, 220-0, 218-10) (69.97, 70.42, 68.61, 67.28, 67.07, 66.70);

4. Emma Robbins (OkSt) 227-3 (69.27)

(227-3, 215-4, f, 217-3, f, 222-8) (69.27, 65.63, f, 66.23, f, 67.87);

5. **Giavonna Meeks (Cal) 226-2 (68.94) PR

(203-3, 219-4, 185-1, 220-5, 226-2, 215-0) (61.95, 66.87, 56.41, 67.18, 68.94, 65.55);

6. Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir’ (VaC-Ice) 225-3 (68.66)

(220-6, 225-3, 219-3, 219-3, 216-6, 212-5) (67.20, 68.66, 66.84, 66.83, 65.98, 64.75);

7. Kenna Curry (ND) 223-7 (68.16) PR

(223-7, f, 205-0, 213-9, 213-6, f) (68.16, f, 62.49, 65.17, 65.09, f);

8. Chloe Lindeman (Wi) 222-6 (67.82)

(222-1, 218-10, 222-6, 215-6, f, 213-9) (67.70, 66.70, 67.82, 65.68, f, 65.15);

9. **Emilia Kolokotroni’ (Harv-Cyp) 222-6 (67.82) PR; 10. ***Valentina Savva’ (Cal-Cyp) 219-3 (66.84); 11. **Mariana Pestana’ (VaT-Por) 217-10 (66.41); 12. Monique Hardy (KsSt) 213-9 (65.17); 13. *Kali Terza (KennSt) 213-2 (64.98); 14. Annika Kelly’ (Va-Est) 212-10 (64.87); 15. Chioma Njoku (Md) 212-9 (64.86); 16. *Paola Bueno’ (Lib-Mex) 212-6 (64.78); 17. ***Marie Rougetet’ (MsSt-Fra) 212-2 (64.66); 18. **Audrey Jacobs’ (Cal-Neth) 209-1 (63.74); 19. Kassidy Gallagher (Ok) 208-3 (63.47); 20. **Kennedy Clarke (Ok) 207-10 (63.36); 21. **Kajsa Borrman’ (CoSt-Swe) 207-3 (63.19); 22. Emily Fink (Army) 204-1 (62.20); 23. **Kate Powers (Ky) 197-2 (60.10);… 3f—**Skylar Soli (Ms).

Arkansas track and field sprinter Jordan Anthony is in a class of his own.

Track & Field | 6/13/2025 10:15:00 PM

EUGENE, Ore. – North Carolina A&T sophomore Xavier Partee finished 17th nationally in the men’s triple during the second of the men’s competition at the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field on Friday night. It was the third day overall for the NCAA nationals, and Partee completed only his second year of competing in the triple jump.

But there is good news about his placement at nationals. Like others within the A&T track and field program, his future could result in much better results as the men’s and women’s teams get stronger with more experience. Those better results started on Friday as Partee went beyond 50 feet for his fifth straight meet.

His first jump went 50 feet, 2 ¾ before he finished the evening by jumping 50 feet, 3 ¼ inches to place with the 17th-best jump. It will garner him honorable mention All-American honors from the United States Track and Field Cross Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Partee started his stride in 2025 by winning the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) indoor title in the men’s triple jump by jumping 50 feet, 10 inches. He started the outdoor season by jumping 49 feet, 11 inches at the University of Florida’s Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. He shared the spotlight during the outdoor season with freshman teammate Ty’Heak Buie.

Buie stepped to the forefront by jumping 52 feet, 4 inches at A&T’s Aggie Invitational at Marcus T. Johnson Track on April 19. Both jumpers had the marks to reach the 2025 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round after Partee pulled off the double by winning the CAA outdoor title at 52 feet, 1 ¼ inches. Buie finished third but sustained an injury and did not participate in the regionals.

Partee followed his CAA performance by jumping a personal record 52 feet, 4 ¾ inches at East Prelims to advance to NCAA nationals. Partee credited discipline and consistency, along with his teammates, coaches, family members, and friends, for helping him reach NCAA nationals even though it was only his second year participating in track and field.

Now that he has seen the national standard, he will look to build on his first appearance at NCAA nationals. Oklahoma University’s Brandon Green Jr. won the national championship on Friday in the triple jump at 55 feet, 2 inches.

The Aggies still have two more participants scheduled to compete on Saturday, the final day of NCAA nationals. Both are women’s jumpers in juniors Spirit Morgan and Olivia Dowd. Morgan will compete in the women’s high jump at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and Dowd will compete in the women’s triple jump at 9:10 p.m. EST.