BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic beach volleyball senior Sydney Schroder sat down with Assistant Coach Kristi Tekavec for this week’s Inside the Owl’s Burrow: Life’s A Beach segment.
 
Coach Tekavec has been an instrumental part of the Sandy Owls’ success over her five seasons in Boca Raton.
 
Tekavec joined Florida Atlantic in 2020 as a volunteer assistant before being elevated to Assistant Coach in the fall of 2022.
 
The Owls have had tremendous success over the past five seasons, winning three conference championships (2021, 2023, 2025), in addition to earning three NCAA Championship appearances, including the program’s first in 2022. FAU has also had three 20+ win seasons during that span, including a program record 23 wins during the 2022 season.
 
Coach Tekavec also currently competes professionally in the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).
 
Enjoy getting to know Coach Tekavec on Life’s a Beach presented by Inside the Owls’ Burrow.

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ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Stanford sailing won its second national championship of the season on Friday evening, capturing the ICSA Women’s Fleet Race Championship for the third consecutive season. 

The Cardinal paced a strong 18-team field with 198 points, holding off runner-up Tulane (209 pts) and third-place Harvard (223 pts) through 16 races. 

Friday’s victory marks the program’s seventh overall national championship, as Stanford became the first school to win three consecutive Women’s Fleet Race Championships since the United States Naval Academy from 1979-81.

The Cardinal has been particularly dominant since claiming the program’s first women’s national title in 2023, having now won five of the last six national regattas. 

“This championship required a full team’s effort. Our team came together, picked each other up and found a level required to take home hardware,” said head coach Chris Klevan, who has guided the Cardinal to six national team crowns. “This year’s team took the lessons learned watching legends of the past and applied them to the present. That speaks to something more than just two days of hard work and perseverance. Our competition made the challenge harder, but in turn, the victory seemed extra sweet. I could not be more proud.”

Stanford varsity teams have now won 171 national championships overall (77 men, 92 women, 2 coed). This is Stanford’s fourth national team title of the 2024-25 campaign. In addition to Sailing also winning the ICSA Women’s Team Race championship last month, the Cardinal has secured national crowns in Artistic Swimming and Women’s Water Polo.

Action kicked off on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Eastern Semifinals, where the Cardinal outperformed the likes of Cornell, Boston College and Harvard. Over two days of competition, Stanford tallied 69 points and secured four victories, finishing with an 18-point lead over the rest of the field.

Following a rain-shortened Thursday session which featured just three races across both divisions, the Cardinal stood in fourth place in the team standings, trailing leader Tulane by 12 points.

The action continued on Friday as the Cardinal flourished in the final 13 races of the championship, taking a lead it never surrendered after six races. Fueled by six wins in the A division and 10 top-10 placements in the B division, Stanford held strong to secure its third straight Women’s Fleet Race title.

Vanessa Lahrkamp and Alice Schmid led the A division with seven wins and 52 points in 15/16 completed races. Lahrkamp teamed up with Ashtyn Tierney for a fifth place finish in race 7 to put the A division trio at 57 points overall, clearing Harvard’s Cordelia Burn and Margo Silliman by 32 points.

“B” boat duties were handled by a combination of Cardinal duos, starting with Ellie Harned and Kit Harned, who earned 67 points through the first eight races. The remaining eight races were controlled by Sophie Fisher and Piper Blackband with the duo recording 63 points as the Cardinal “B” boat earned an eighth place finish with 130 points overall.

PELLA —  Friday at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships saw a pair of Central College student-athletes secure a spot on the All-American podium.

Kale Hobart (sophomore, Mason City) took runner-up honors in the decathlon with 6,916 points. He started day two strong with a time of 14.70 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, the fastest time in the field. He also had the second-best discus throw with a mark of 127 feet, 7 inches.

 

Reid Pakkebier (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) also earned second-team All-American honors with an 11th place finish in the decathlon, scoring 6,329 points.

 

Peyton Steffen (junior, Marion) improved upon her career-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in fifth place in a time of 10 minutes, 28.78 seconds. She becomes the fourth Dutch female to land on the All-American podium in the steeplechase in the last two seasons.

 

Olivia Bohlen (junior, Belle Plaine) finished just off the podium in the women’s heptathlon, taking ninth place with 4,840 points. She still clinched second team All-American accolades.

 

In the men’s 110-meter hurdle preliminaries, Central’s Gunner Meyer (junior, Fairbank, Wapsie Valley HS) qualified for Saturday’s final in fifth with a time of 14.26 seconds. Grant Miller (junior, Norwalk) was 12th in the prelims (14.48 seconds) and earned second team All-American honors.

 

Central College NCAA Championships schedule of events

Saturday, May 25 (times are EST)

11 a.m. – men’s triple jump (prelims and finals)

2:10 p.m. – men’s 110-meter hurdles (finals)

4:25 p.m. – women’s 5000 meters (final)

 

DENVER – University of Denver volleyball coach Megan Pendergast has hired Gianna Bartalo to serve as an assistant coach, Pendergast announced on Thursday.

“We’re stoked to bring Gianna Bartalo home,” Pendergast said. “Her love for this program and deep understanding of what makes Denver special is rare, and something we’re incredibly proud to have on staff. Gi went through a competitive interview process and earned this opportunity every step of the way. She’ll lead the defensive side of the ball, where her volleyball IQ and firsthand knowledge of what it takes to win here will be immediately felt across our program.”

Bartalo led Denver in digs starting libero in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and ranks eighth all time in Denver program history with 1,202 career digs. In her final season at Cal, Bartalo posted 468 digs, good for the eighth-highest in a single season and fourth-best in the ACC.

“Returning to the University of Denver as an assistant coach is incredibly meaningful to me,” Bartalo said. “I’ve been watching Denver volleyball since I was 12 years old, and this program has shaped so much of who I am, both on and off the court. To be back at the University that has given me so much is an honor I don’t take lightly. I am very grateful to Megan Pendergast for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to come back home.”

 

 

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GENEVA, Ohio – Junior Isabel Wyatt concluded her standout season for the St. Olaf College women’s track and field team with a 19th-place finish in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon at the SPIRE Institute.

In her first appearance at the outdoor national meet, Wyatt finished seventh in heat one and 19th overall with a time of 2:16.53. The junior entered the meet as the No. 16 seed in the event with her school-record time of 2:09.44 from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Wyatt’s seventh-place finish in the first of the three heats left her with no chance to advance to Saturday’s final, as the top-two finishers in each heat plus the next three fastest times moved on. The junior was St. Olaf’s first outdoor national qualifier in the event since Andrea Gelle ’07 in 2007.

The showing brought an end to a decorated junior season for Wyatt, who was a Second Team All-American in the indoor 800-meter run after placing ninth in the country earlier this year. She was also the MIAC outdoor champion in the 800-meter run both indoors and outdoors and was named the MIAC Women’s Indoor Co-Track Athlete of the Year after adding a conference title in the 1,000-meter run. Between the indoor and outdoor seasons this year, Wyatt broke four school records and one MIAC record.

At the conclusion of the 800-meter run, St. Olaf sat in a tie for 34th in the team standings with two points from senior Alison Bode’s seventh-place performance in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday.

 

 

What sports are being discontinued and how was that determined?
– Baseball and softball are being discontinued. The decision to eliminate both sports was necessitated by university-wide budget cuts totaling $6 million, consideration of necessary future investments for both sports including the facilities, and a complex evolving NCAA landscape.

What other cost saving measures were considered before deciding to discontinue baseball and softball?

– Staff member positions were eliminated as part of the university’s budget cuts. Further cuts across the board to all sports and several units in athletics, instead of eliminating baseball and softball, were fully considered and analyzed. However, it was determined after a painstaking review that this course of action was the best path to ensure PFW’s overall success at the NCAA Division I level. 

 

Why is this being done now?

– There is no good time to make a decision of this nature. However, implementing these steps now will allow student-athletes as much time as possible to consider their academic and athletic options. The softball transfer portal is open now, and baseball’s window will open on June 2. Additionally, the window will stay open longer for Purdue Fort Wayne baseball and softball student-athletes looking to transfer due to the programs being discontinued.

 

Will scholarships be honored for impacted student-athletes?

– Yes, current baseball and softball student-athletes and committed incoming student-athletes will have their scholarships honored through the completion of their degree.

 

Will Purdue Fort Wayne assist student-athletes who desire to transfer?

– Yes. Student-athletes should contact the Athletics Compliance Office if they would like to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

 

How many individuals are directly affected by this decision?

– 56 student-athletes (36 baseball, 20 softball) and 3 full-time coaches

Could private donations or fundraising reinstate baseball or softball?

– No, they could not, due to the annual costs associated with fully addressing the financial challenges to properly support our student-athletes.  

 

How will Purdue Fort Wayne engage donors to honor their wishes regarding gifts to the baseball and softball programs?

– The Office of Development and Alumni Engagement will assist all donors regarding affected gifts.

What are the financial savings for the university from discontinuing baseball and softball?

– It is estimated the university will save upwards of $1 million annually following the elimination both sports.

 

Will discontinuing these sports impact Purdue Fort Wayne’s Horizon League or NCAA Division I affiliation?

– No, Purdue Fort Wayne still has the required 14 sponsored sports for NCAA Division I affiliation.

 

Is the university considering the discontinuation of other programs?

– No, Purdue Fort Wayne is committed to facilitating the growth and success of an NCAA Division I athletic department, which requires 14 sports. 

Will Purdue Fort Wayne’s Title IX compliance be impacted by the elimination of baseball and softball?

– Purdue Fort Wayne’s Title IX compliance will not be impacted.