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Bobcats Set for Big Sky Outdoor Championships

Published

7 months ago

May 13, 2025

BOZEMAN, Mont. — It all comes down to this.

The Montana State track and field team travels to Sacramento, California, this week for the 2025 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships, beginning Wednesday and continuing through Saturday at Hornet Stadium.

The entire meet will be streamed on ESPN+. Access to the meet schedule, live results, heat sheets, and more can be found here on the championship central webpage.

Action in the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon begins on Wednesday and Thursday, with prelims and finals in all other events contested on Friday and Saturday.

“The teams are both confident based on their training, past success, and the quality outdoor season we have put together up until this point,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “They are really close and invested in a common goal which really raises their level of confidence and provides motivation to perform well for the team.”

Last season, the Bobcat men won their first outdoor Big Sky championship since 2005, upsetting No. 11. Northern Arizona by a score of 186-185 in Bozeman.

Yet, it’s perhaps the Montana State women that enter this week in Sacramento with a better chance at the trophy looking for their first championship since 2003. Armed with the best team the Cats have ever assembled, MSU is primed to give traditional power Northern Arizona a run for their money.

Montana State’s women have set an astounding nine school records this season: 200 meters (Peyton Garrison), 1,500 meters (Kyla Christopher-Moody), 5,000 meters (Kyla Christopher-Moody), 3,000 meter steeplechase (Grace Gilbreth), long jump (Hailey Coey), shot put (Sydney Brewster), discus (Emma Brensdal), 4×100 meter relay (Reuter, Garrison, VanDyken, Wolff), and 4×400 meter relay (VanDyken, Garrison, Gandolfi, Hawkes).

It’ll be a challenging week as both Lumberjack teams enter Sacramento as favorites after winning the team titles at the indoor championships on their home track in Flagstaff.

However, the Bobcats are traditionally a better outdoor team with the addition of events such as the javelin, 400 meter hurdles, and steeplechase, among others.

Prior to last May when the Bobcat men pulled the upset, Northern Arizona had won three Big Sky outdoor titles in a row–even with last year’s loss, NAU has won 12 of the last 17 Big Sky titles dating back to 2007.

The Lumberjack women have won four consecutive outdoor championships and seven of the last eight.

On the women’s side, USTFCCCA’s most recent Conference Rating Index has NAU in the top spot at 1,218 and MSU in the second slot at 1,149. Idaho State is the next-closest school in third at 711. On the men’s side, NAU is first at 1,370, MSU is second at 1,001, and Montana is third at 731.

In the latest USTFCCCA Mountain Region Rankings, Montana State’s men were ranked No. 7 and Northern Arizona was ranked No. 5.

On the women’s side, Montana State was ranked No. 4 and Northern Arizona was ranked No. 3.

“We need to keep doing what we have been doing,” Weese said. “Don’t try to change things up. Just stay in our typical process, but stay on the gas pedal. It will be a balance between being aggressive while not trying to do anything out of character.”

Here are some things to keep an eye on this week in Sacramento:

MULTI’S KICK IT OFF

The duo of Nicola Paletti and Mathias Mees will aim to replicate their 1-2 finish in Flagstaff and get the Bobcats off on the right foot competing in the decathlon on Wednesday and Thursday. Paletti has won three straight conference titles in the multis, earning the crown in the heptathlon at the 2024 and 2025 indoor meets and winning on his home track last May in the decathlon at the 2025 outdoor meet. The second-year Bobcat from Bolzano, Italy, is in rare air in Montana State history—he’s currently tied with 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Mohl with three Big Sky titles in the multis. One more gold medal would give him the most in program history. Mees, a native of Belgium, earned silver behind Paletti in the heptathlon three months ago and is favored to repeat. On the women’s side, a lot will fall on the shoulders of freshman Hailey Ells with three-time All-Big Sky performer and Second Team All-American Shelby Schweyen out with an injury. Ells will be competing in her first outdoor heptathlon.

POLE VAULT POINTS

Montana State has reigned at the top of the Big Sky in the pole vault in recent years, punctuated by a sweep of the podium on the men’s side in Flagstaff. Colby Wilson enters his final outdoor conference championships looking for his fifth Big Sky title. The redshirt senior from Olympia, Washington, is a three-time NCAA Championships qualifier, holds the Big Sky championship meet records both indoors and outdoors, and was named 2025 Big Sky Most Outstanding Performer at the indoor conference meet. Jordan Lasher, a freshman from Yelm, Washington, earned a silver medal in February and will aim to replicate that feat with bronze medalist and teammate Bob Hartley out of the running while redshirting this outdoor season. On the women’s side, three Bobcats enter this week ranked in the top-six led by Megan Bell, a freshman who is at the top of the conference this season after clearing 13-08.25 on Friday in Bozeman at the Tom Gage Classic to earn Big Sky Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors. Bell ranks No. 3 in school history, with teammates Tatum Richards ranking No. 4 (13-06.25) and Libby Hansen ranking No. 8 (13-02.25).

JUMPS BATTLE

Hailey Coey and Eastern Washington’s Egypt Simmons are set for an electric showdown in the women’s long jump. Coey holds the Big Sky Conference indoor record with Simmons second all-time. Outdoors, Simmons holds the conference record with Coey in second. At the indoor championships in February, Coey beat her rival for the gold with an unforgettable walk-off winner in her sixth and final attempt. The Billings native currently ranks No. 10 in NCAA Division I after leaping 21-3.50 in Pocatello two weeks ago to re-break her own school record. On the men’s side, two-time All-Big Sky honoree Destiny Nkeonye will look for his elusive first gold medal while entering with the conference’s top mark (24-05.75).

STEEPLE U

The nation’s top-ranked men’s steeplechase group will look to continue its dominance in the event on Friday. After Duncan Hamilton won four straight conference titles from 2020-2023, Rob McManus is a heavy favorite to win his second straight gold medal and make it six straight years with a Bobcat on top. The three-time All-American is hoping to be flanked by Will Kelly and Owen Smith, who each have also run top-ten all-time marks in Montana State history this year in the event. On the women’s side, Grace Gilbreth is looking for another all-conference honor in her final outdoor Big Sky meet. The Bozeman native became the first Bobcat woman to break the 10-minute barrier with a school record at the Bryan Clay Invitational earlier this year, finishing in 9:58.84.

GO THE DISTANCE

Northern Arizona has established team dominance in the Big Sky thanks to arguably the best distance group in the country. At last year’s Big Sky Outdoor Championships in Bozeman, the Bobcat men were able to upset the 11th-ranked Lumberjacks on the back of the contributions of Ben Perrin and Matthew Richtman, who finished 2-3 in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters to help break up an onslaught of NAU points in the distance events. A big responsibility on the women’s side this year will fall on graduate student Kyla Christopher-Moody, who is enjoying perhaps the greatest season by an MSU woman’s distance runner in school history. The Michigan native has set four school records this year and placed third in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters in February to break up what would have been nearly an NAU clean sweep of all the available points in both events. On the men’s side, a name to watch is 2025 Second Team All-American Harvey Cramb. The Australian sophomore is entered in the 800 meters, where he holds the school record, and in the 1,500 meters, where he ranks second all-time in program history.

BREWSTER & BRENSDAL

The star sophomore duo of Sydney Brewster and Emma Brensdal aim to repeat their 1-2 finish from Flagstaff in the shot put while also looking to do damage on the podium in the discus. Brewster has been one of the biggest stories of the season, breaking the Big Sky Conference record and school record in the event multiple times this spring while being named Big Sky Women’s Field Athlete of the Week three times in a row. Brewster ranks 17th in the country this season. Her Montanan teammate, Emma Brensdal, took silver at the indoor conference meet and enters this week ranked second in the conference in the shot put and second in the discus. The sophomore broke the school record in the discus earlier this year with a throw of 165-5, eclipsing the previous mark of 160-6 that had been held by her throws coach and MSU Hall of Famer Jen Allen since 2001.

STACKING SPRINTS POINTS

Montana State’s women will be counting on big points from their sprinters, with two of the best in school history in juniors Jaeden Wolff and Peyton Garrison favorites to potentially get on the podium in the 100 and 200 meters. The pair hold the two fastest 200 meter times in school history and two of the five fastest 100 meter races ever run, with freshman Brooke Reuter and long jumper Hailey Coey also trying to make their way into Saturday’s finals and score points. In the 400 meters, junior Caroline Hawkes has earned silver at the conference meet three straight times dating back to the 2024 indoor championships. On the men’s side, the Cats will try to scratch out points with a deep bench that includes Xavier Simpson, Stryder Todd-Fields, Malikye Simpson, Noah Barbery, and Drake Wilkes. The first four are all ranked inside the top five in school history in the 100 meters and three are ranked in the top five at MSU in the 200 meters, but will have an uphill climb competing against a loaded group of Big Sky contenders in the sprint events.

RELAY REWARDS?

All four of Montana State’s relay records have been broken this spring, with the men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 marks all getting re-written across March and April. Last year, the men’s 4×400 meter relay team executed perhaps the biggest race in school history at the conference championships, winning gold with a Jett Grundy anchor leg that clinched a 186-185 walk-off win over NAU that led to an unforgettable track-storming. Three of the legs from that team remain, part of a general theme of consistency across all the relay squads. All four of Montana State’s relay teams have run either the first or second-fastest times in the conference this spring. If everything else goes perfect, one or both of this year’s outdoor titles could once again come down to the final event of the meet on Saturday afternoon—the 4×400 meter relay.

#GoCatsGo

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Virginia Track & Field Names Distance Carnival After Mark & Cynthia Lorenzoni

Published

11 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia track and field program will name the prestigious distance carnival at the Virginia Challenge on Friday, April 17th, the Mark & Cynthia Lorenzoni Distance Night at the Virginia Challenge.

Virginia is set to host the annual Virginia Challenge outdoor track & field meet on Friday and Saturday, April 17-18 at Lannigan Field. The meet is known to feature high level competition across all event areas, but especially in the distance events. The distance carnival is set to be named in honor of long time Virginia Track & Field/Cross Country supporters, Mark and Cynthia Lorenzoni. The Lorenzonis have served the Charlottesville community for over 40 years as the couple co-owns The Ragged Mountain Running and Walking Shop with their two eldest children, Alec and Audrey.

“When I think about volunteerism and commitment to the community, it would be difficult to imagine any family doing more than Mark & Cynthia Lorenzoni,” said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Vin Lananna. “For decades, Mark & Cynthia have positively impacted thousands of running enthusiasts. We are honored to recognize them with the Mark & Cynthia Lorenzoni Distance Night at the Virginia Challenge.”

“What an honor to be recognized in such a public arena and to be closely affiliated with an iconic program that has not only given our family so much to cheer for, but even more importantly, has enriched our lives through the hundreds of special friendships we’ve had the pleasure of sharing with our wonderful UVA Track & Field coaches and athletes over the past 45 years,” said Mark Lorenzoni.

A running family, Mark Lorenzoni began his running career back in high school. A recreational runner throughout college, Mark Lorenzoni took up road racing and even began his amateur coaching career by coaching his wife, Cynthia. Since then, he has coached runners at all levels while also continuing to run himself.

“What a wonderful surprise and great honor to have our family name affiliated with this magnificent program in such a thoughtful way,” said Mark Lorenzoni.

Also beginning her career back in high school, Cynthia Lorenzoni was undefeated in cross country and track & field before going on to compete in college at Michigan State. As a Spartan, Cynthia Lorenzoni finished runner-up at the Big 10 Cross Country Championships during her freshman season and finished 16th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships the same year. After college, she continued to train and compete post collegiately winning the Marine Corps Marathon twice, recorded a 13th place finish at the Boston Marathon and posted a personal best time of 2:38 in the marathon.

“We are humbled by this genuinely thoughtful gesture and we’re very grateful to Coach Vin, his hardworking and caring staff, to [Virginia Director of Athletics] Carla Williams and especially to all of our wonderful “kids” (what we fondly call our UVA Track & Field athletes) for this incredible honor,” said Mark Lorenzoni.

Mark and Cynthia, who have four children that all ran cross country in high school, have served the community for over 45 years. Not only as the founders of The Ragged Mountain Running and Walking Shop but between the two of them have also served on nearly 30 not-for-profit community boards and having directed, on a volunteer basis, close to 900 local races that have raised over $8 million for area organizations.

“Giving back to a sport that has given so much to our family, in so many meaningful ways, has truly been both one of the easiest and most rewarding things in our life together,” said Mark Lorenzoni.

The Lorenzonis commitment to the sport of cross country and track & field is evident not only in their personal pursuits and community endeavors but also in their continued support of the Virginia Track & Field/Cross Country program. The first annual Mark & Cynthia Lorenzoni Distance Night at the Virginia Challenge is set to take place on Friday, April 17^th at Lannigan Field.

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St. John’s Sweeps First BIG EAST Indoor Track and Field Weekly Honors

Published

27 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEW YORK – A pair of St. John’s track and field student-athletes swept the first BIG EAST Indoor Track and Field Weekly Honor Roll for the 2025-26 season. Nora Haugen captured Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, while teammate Linn Hertz Saebbo was tabbed Field Athlete of the Week, the league announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Both athletes finished in first place in their respective events to open the indoor campaign at the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational on Dec. 6 in Staten Island.

Haugen opened her indoor season by setting a program record, Norwegian national record, and the Ocean Breeze facility record in the 600-meter run. Her winning time of 1 minute, 26.93 seconds is the fastest time in the NCAA as of Wednesday, Dec. 17.

The senior was also a part of the St. John’s 4×400-meter relay team, which won the event at the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational with a time of 3:48.33.

Hertz Saebbo won the long jump at the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational on her final attempt. The grad student leapt 6.05 m (19 feet 10.25 inches) to win the event, setting a personal best in the process.

Her mark currently ranks the best in the BIG EAST for the long jump and the first time Hertz Saebbo has broken the six-meter barrier. The performance sits third all-time in St. John’s history and is currently tied for 15th in the NCAA Division I.

Wednesday’s recognition marks the second time that Haugen has garnered Athlete of the Week during her Red Storm career, capturing the honor back on May 8, 2024.

This is the first time Hertz Saebbo has appeared on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll. The last time a Johnnie was recognized by the conference for a weekly award was Jamora Alves, when she named Field Athlete of the Week on April 15, 2025.

St. John’s returns to the oval in late January, competing at the Dr. Sander Scorcher at The Nike Track and Field Center at The Armory in Washington Heights, N.Y.

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College Notes: Track & field alums continuing success | Sports

Published

44 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Standout performances were the order of the day for a number of indoor track and field athletes with ties to South County in the opening weeks of the season, with those efforts providing a base for potential improvement later in the campaign.

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Texas Longhorns volleyball: 5 key offseason questions

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2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Texas Longhorns setter Ella Swindle (1) celebrates a score during the NCAA Regional Final volleyball match against Wisconsin at Gregory Gym on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Austin.

Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

After Sunday’s home loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament regional finals, Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott gave himself about eight hours or so before he jumped back into the grind.

After all, the Longhorns’ staff had to conduct player meetings Monday morning to assess who’s staying, who may leave and who has questions or concerns before the team members left campus for the holiday break. But that’s how Elliott and his peers have to attack the offseason, which no longer means much off time in the portal era.

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“You try to turn it off, but if you’re going to survive in this profession, you can’t turn it off,” Elliott said after the loss to Wisconsin. “Maybe a few hours here and there, but at some point, you’re waking up in the middle of night with the thoughts of what needs to happen and what pieces you need.”

Texas Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott cheers on his team as Texas volleyball plays Indiana in a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament match in Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. The Longhorns will advance to Elite Eight with a 3-0 win.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman

Fortunately for Elliott, Texas doesn’t need many new pieces based on the returning talent as well as a strong crop of freshmen that will arrive in time for the spring semester. The Longhorns lose star libero Emma Halter to graduation and starting middle blocker Ayden Ames to the portal, but enough returning talent from a team that went 26-4 and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament should make the Longhorns one of the preseason favorites in 2026.

“We feel really good about it,” Elliott said, referring to the offseason. “We’ve got some really good human beings, and we’re in a healthy spot. Obviously we’ll spend some time as a coaching staff going through a lot of different aspects of the program and evaluating and understanding and then trying to rebuild the blocks that we need to be able to be more successful.”

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Here are five key questions Texas must answer in the offseason:

The Texas Longhorns bench watches from the sideline during the NCAA Regional Final volleyball match against Wisconsin at Gregory Gym on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Austin.

Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

Who will replace Emma Halter?

It won’t be easy to step into the shoes of the three-year starting libero; one of the Longhorns’ most popular players ever who ended her career No. 8 on the program’s all-time list with 1,307 career digs. But Ramsey Gary, a junior who started as a defensive specialist this season, spent two seasons as an All-Big Ten libero at Indiana before joining Texas and seems like a natural replacement. Reserve Anja Kujundžić also has starting experience as a libero, and incoming freshman Emma Cugino ranks as the No. 2 libero prospect in the 2026 class.

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MORE: Jerritt Elliott excited about new Texas volleyball arena, says it may open for 2029 season

How much will Texas miss Ayden Ames?

A lot, depending on who Elliott can lure in the portal. The 6-foot-4 middle blocker didn’t quite live up to her potential as the nation’s top recruit during a pair of seasons with Texas, but she did have more blocks than any other Longhorn over the past two years while starting almost every game. Right now, freshman Taylor Harvey and redshirt sophomore Nya Bunton are the only middles on the roster, and there wasn’t a middle signed in the 2026 class.

Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23), Texas Longhorns middle blocker Nya Bunton (55) and Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) triple block a hit from Indiana Hoosiers outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles (3) as Texas volleyball plays Indiana in a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament match in Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. The Longhorns will advance to Elite Eight with a 3-0 win.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman

What will be the top portal targets?

The middle blocking position will be the No. 1 priority in the portal. And No. 2. Heck, Elliott may try and sign three portal middles. And there’s already good options available in the portal:

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• Kansas’ Aurora Papac, who earned All-Big 12 freshman honors this past season;

• Florida’s Jaela Auguste, a first-team All-SEC player and a Texas native;

• Tennessee’s Zoe Humphrey, another Texas native who earned All-SEC freshman honors this season;

• and Tennessee’s Kiki Granberry, a multitime All-SEC player who redshirted this season because of an injury and has one year left of eligibility.

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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) spikes the ball during the NCAA Regional Final volleyball match against Wisconsin at Gregory Gym on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Austin.

Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

Which freshman has the best chance to make an immediate impact?

Outside hitter Henley Anderson of Dripping Springs is the top pin recruit in the nation for the 2026 class and the two-time Central Texas player of the year may be too good to keep off the court. She’ll join arguably the top set of outsides in the country with junior All-American Torrey Stafford and current freshmen Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal. Expect Anderson to fill the rotational roll that graduates Devin Kahahawai and Whitney Lauenstein shared this past season.

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Will Ella Swindle remain the starting setter?

It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster career for the fiery Swindle, a 6-foot-3 junior who helps set the emotional tone for the Longhorns. She started as a freshman and led Texas to the 2023 national title, she got benched in favor of the since-departed Averi Carlson in 2024, and she shared time with sophomore Rella Binney this season. Swindle may not be the most efficient setter in the SEC, but her size and spirited play remain an integral part of the Longhorns’ identity. Texas does have a touted setter coming with 2026 recruit Genevieve Harris, but whether the team pursues a setter in the portal could be a telling sign of Swindle’s status as a starter.

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Householder Earns Honorable Mention All-America Status from AVCA

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Youngstown, Ohio — The circuit of impressive honors continued for Youngstown State’s Abbie Householder on Wednesday as she was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Householder is just the second player in program history to earn All-America status, joining Paula Gursching in 2022. The outside hitter from Canfield, Ohio, was previously named the Horizon League Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, and she was an Honorable Mention AVCA All-Midwest Region selection.

Householder is the Horizon League’s only player to garner All-America honors this season, and Dayton’s Kamryn Hunt is the only other player from Ohio’s 13 Division I institutions or native of the Buckeye State to be on the prestigious list of All-Americans.

“We are so proud of Abbie for earning All-America honors,” said YSU head coach Riley Jarrett. “This is an amazing way to finish up her historic career here at YSU, and to truly leave her mark on our program. A lot of hard work and determination has gone into this recognition for Abbie, and I am so happy for her!”

Even with Youngstown State’s season ending on Nov. 22, Householder still ranks 20th in the country in total kills with 502, and she ranks 22nd in total points with 562.5. She ranks 42nd nationally with 4.22 kills per set, and she is 44th with 4.73 points per set. Each of those statistics led the Horizon League in 2025.

Householder finished her career as YSU’s all-time leader in kills with 1,427, passing the previous mark of 1,408 that had stood since 1999. She also is the career record holder with 4,241 attempts, and she ranks third in digs, fourth in points and sixth in aces. Householder is one of three Division I players who surpassed 1,400 career kills and 1,200 career digs this season.

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Rising Senior Libero Dionii Fraga Joins Alabama Volleyball

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball announced the addition of Dionii Fraga to its 2026 roster, who will join the Crimson Tide as a rising senior following previous stops at Oklahoma and Fresno State.

Fraga was the starting libero last season at Oklahoma and across two preceding seasons at Fresno State. In 27 matches with the Sooners last year, she led the team with 277 digs (2.61/set), including a season-best 16 win a five-set win over Missouri on Oct. 5. Prior to her arrival in Norman, she played in 63 matches over two seasons at Fresno State, earning All-Mountain West honors each year. She led the Bulldogs with 481 digs (3.91/set) as a sophomore after setting the program’s freshman digs record in 2023 with 544 (4.15/set). Following her breakout freshman campaign, she was named AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year.

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