Lyons Township High School junior TJ Carr and senior Jack Michaelson received the text from boys gymnastics coach Sam Zeman on Thursday morning still somewhat in disbelief. 

In roughly 14 hours, the Lions went from being the highest-scoring sectional team not to make the 10-team Illinois High School Gymnastics Coaches Association state meet to then the last team to advance for Saturday’s competition at Hoffman Estates.

“It was a roller coaster,” Carr said. “(Michaelson and I) were sitting in class. We looked at each other and we’re like, ‘Wow. That’s crazy.’ ”

The award is Vigilante’s third Coach of the Year award this year, as Princeton earned the distinction in both the cross country and indoor seasons as well. 

It also marks the second consecutive year that Vigilante and his staff have earned the honor since Vigilante was named head coach in 2023.

Dominating Outdoor Heps, the Tigers earned Princeton’s 23rd outdoor championship this weekend and completed 12th all-time Triple Crown. It is the program’s second Triple Crown under Vigilante since he was named head coach in 2023.

With a final score of 212.5, Princeton took the title, defeating second-place Harvard, who had 128 points. 

In the Ivy League’s All-Ivy selections, Princeton boasted four First Team and 10 Second Team selections. 

Asher Robbins was named to the All-Ivy Academic Team, as the neuroscience major and Heps scorer balanced academics and athletics this season. 

First Team All-Ivy

Greg Foster, Long Jump

Greg Foster, 110mH

Casey Helm, Discus

Jackson Clarke, 200m 

Second Team All-Ivy 

Drew Mruk, Javelin

Jacob Nenow, 10,000m

Joe Licata, Shot Put

Marcelo Parra Ramon, 3000m Steeplechase

Jadon Spain, 100m

Sam Roman, 800m

Avery Shunneson, Discus

Chris Paige, 400mH

Joey Gant, 200m

Myles Hogan, 5000

Men’s 4×400 – Karl Dietz, Samuel Rodman, Joey Gant, Xavier Donaldson

Paly Boys Volleyball swept MacDonald 3-0 on 3/26. It was their first game in a series of 3 games against their new league opponent. 

The MacDonald Condor had not won a game within league competition up to this point, meaning the Vikings were heavy favorites coming into the matchup.

The team is now at a record of 7-1 (outside of tournaments), a dominating start to the season.

“We played really well, I like how we work together,” sophomore Tiam Maurstad said. Maurstad has been a key part of the Vikings team to start the season. “We need to keep the momentum we have throughout the rest of the season,” Maurstad said. 

The Vikings remain undefeated in league play, a remarkable feat for the team. Looking ahead, it doesn’t get a lot harder for the team, so their impressive record may represent future play. 

The Vikings outscored the MacDonald Condor 25-18 in the first set of the match, setting a scene of the rest of the match. 

“We wanted to steal the momentum early,” sophomore Hiro Kenehan said. 

The score of the second set was once again 25-18, with a Vikings win once again. “We didn’t want to give them a chance to get back into the match, so winning the second set was very important to our gameplan,” sophomore Ben Kim said.

The score of the final set was 25-16, completing the sweep for the Vikings. 

Although the Vikings were a heavy favorite coming into the game, they still had to execute, and they did just that by sweeping the MacDonald Condor. 

IRVINE, Calif. – On Tuesday, a record five Concordia University Irvine track and field athletes were officially selected as national qualifiers for the upcoming NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

This is by far the most individuals to earn this opportunity from CUI in the NCAA D2 era.

The National meet will take place in Pueblo, Colorado from Thursday, May 22 to Saturday, May 24 at the ThunderBowl and is hosted by Colorado State Pueblo University.

A two-time Second Team All-American, Dylan Fox gets to compete for a third time on the national stage. Fox is a three-time PacWest Champion in the long jump and will look to fly in the air to new heights in Pueblo. An Irvine High School alum, Fox finished 10th in his signature event last May and placed 11th overall in 2023. Fox was also just recognized as the 2025 Male Athlete of the Year at the annual CUI Senior Legacy Award Banquet.

Indoor All-American and PacWest Conference long jump champion Jasmyn Crawford also qualified for nationals in the long jump. The Bonita, Calif. native heads to Pueblo seeking to become an All-American on the outdoor track just a couple months after becoming Concordia’s first female to be an Indoor Track & Field First Team All-American. A few weeks ago, at the 2025 CUI Senior Legacy Banquet, Crawford was named Concordia’s 2025 Female Athlete of the Year. The Christian High School alum is also the first woman in school history at Whittier College to be an All-American after finishing fourth in the 100 meter dash at the 2023 NCAA D3 nationals.

Jori Paradis is also heading back to the NCAA Championships after finishing 15th overall a year ago in the 1500 meter race. In back-to-back weekends, Paradis set the CUI school record in the 1500 last Saturday in Azusa. The Silverton, Oregon native bested her previous school record in that event from just a week prior by a whopping 2.4 seconds.

Riley Norris just set the school record with her third place finish in the heptathlon over the weekend at the Franson Last Chance Meet. In fact, Norris broke own her mark to rewrite the record books and jump into the Top 18 in points across all of NCAA DII. Her total of 5,086 points catapulted her into the Top 13 in the nation for the heptathlon. The Villa Park High School alum from Orange also finished a strong second in the heptathlon at the PacWest Championships.

Costa Mesa High School alum Tayla Crenshaw put together an outstanding season with the Concordia throwers, especially in the discus. Crenshaw was rewarded with an opportunity to join her teammates in this select group after tossing the discus 48.36 meters at the Titan Tune-Up this past Friday. The former UCI thrower also finished second in that event at the PacWest Championships.

Overall, the Concordia track and field programs had a combined 24 provisional marks in contention to go to nationals. There were 10 on the men’s side and 14 from the women’s team, and together that was six more than last year’s combined 18 National provisional marks.

For more information on when which events are scheduled, CLICK HERE

Good luck to the Golden Eagles as they head to Colorado to cap off a historic season!

CLICK HERE for the updated women’s track and field schedule

CLICK HERE for the updated men’s track and field schedule

 

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Fresh off back-to-back conference tournament appearances in the last two seasons, Villanova volleyball’s path to the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament was announced by head coach Josh Steinbach on Tuesday as the Wildcats unveiled their 2025 fall slate.

“We’ve put together a challenging non-conference schedule this year that will prepare us well for a BIG EAST slate that’s as difficult as ever,” Steinbach said. “We’re really excited about where we are and think it’ll be a fun season, but this schedule will certainly test us.”

The season starts out the same way last year’s did, taking part in the Catholic Challenge against Santa Clara and Notre Dame with the Fighting Irish set to host this iteration in South Bend.

Villanova will head to New York for a midweek matchup at Binghamton before returning to Jake Nevin Field House for the home opener, hosting the Villanova Classic against Fairfield, High Point and Yale from Sept. 5-7.

The ‘Cats visit Temple the following Wednesday before a trip to Old Dominion for a pair of matches against the Monarchs and Delaware, then round out the non-conference slate with three bouts at the South Dakota Tournament.

BIG EAST play starts with a road trip as the Wildcats will play at St. John’s on Sept. 26 before visiting Seton Hall the following day.

Butler and Xavier come to the Main Line on Oct. 3 & 4 and Creighton heads to town on the 11th after Villanova makes a Thursday trip to Georgetown.

The Wildcats trek to New England for matches against Providence and Connecticut, then welcome a pair of Midwest opponents to VU when DePaul and Marquette visit from Oct. 24-25.

October ends with a match at Xavier on Halloween and November starts with a contest at Butler.

Villanova has three of its final four regular season contests in the friendly confines of Jake Nevin Field House, visiting Creighton on Nov. 7 for the road finale but welcoming in Georgetown (Nov. 5), Connecticut (Nov. 14) and Providence (Nov. 15) to cap the year.

This year’s BIG EAST Championship will be hosted by the Marquette Golden Eagles with the league’s top four finishers descending upon Milwaukee from Nov. 22-23.

Olympic Medalist, NCAA Champion Bella Sims Transfers to Michigan

After two years swimming for the University of Florida, Olympian Bella Sims has committed to transfer to the University of Michigan.

The Wolverines announced her commitment on social media.

“Excited to welcome US Olympian and World Champion (Bella Sims) to Ann Arbor!”

Bella Sims was an Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo as part of the 800 free relay. The has won three world championship medals on relays for the U.S. as well.

Sims will have two remaining years of eligibility at Michigan.

The Wolverines have not had a star of this magnitude in the past four years since NCAA champion Maggie Mac Neil transferred to LSU.

Michigan has been rebuilding with solid pieces since and had a strong NCAA meet, finishing ninth. Add Sims to the mix and the Wolverines will continue to trend upward under coach Matt Bowe.

As a freshman at Florida, Sims was the NCAA champion in both the 200 freestyle (1:40.90) and 500 free (4:32.47) in 2024 and took third in the 200 back (1:48.47).

As a sophomore, Bella Sims focused on backstroke and finished second in the 100 back (49.12) and 200 back (1:47.11) at NCAAs in March.

Now, she will join a Michigan team on the rise to return to a top five program in the country.

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