Women’s Indoor Track and Field | 7/29/2025 11:30:00 AM

Empire 8 institutions Alfred University, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth University and Utica University were named 2024-25 NCAA Division III Women’s Track & Field All-Academic Teams, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Here is the criteria for a team to be named an NCAA Division III All-Academic Team:

• Cumulative team GPA (not 2024-25 academic year, not semester) of all student-athletes who used a season of eligibility must be at least a 3.1 on a 4.0 scale through the most recent semester/quarter, computed by the following method:
• Total the cumulative number of semester hours or quarter hours earned for all student-athletes who used a season of eligibility, including the most recent grading period;
• Total the cumulative number of quality points (GPA multiplied by the number of credit hours) earned by all student-athletes who used a season of eligibility, including the most recent grading period;
• Divide the cumulative number of quality points earned by the cumulative number of semester or quarter hours earned.
• Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale than 4.0 then must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0]. Data must be certifiable by the institution’s registrar.
• Graduate students must take all undergraduate plus graduate coursework into account.

Nazareth, led the fice E8 schools with a team GPA of 3.64, while the 2024-25 Empire 8 Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field champions, SUNY Geneseo were next with a 3.53 GPA. Alfred had a 3.46 team GPA, SUNY Brockport had a 3.31 team GPA and Utica wrapped things up with a 3.26 team GPA.
 
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com.
 
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CHICAGO, Ill. – Nebraska volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly and two players are heading to Chicago for the fourth annual Big Ten Media Days. Junior outside hitter Harper Murray and senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick are accompanying Busboom Kelly to the Windy City.

The Huskers take the podium at 3:27 p.m. CT on Monday, July 28 at the Big Ten Network Studios. Coverage of the event will be on the Big Ten Network.

Here are three storylines to watch during the event and its coverage:

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How newcomers are settling in and impacting team

Nebraska volleyball has added three players since its last spring match on May 3. Italian opposite hitter Virginia Adriano signed with the Huskers. Freshmen middle blockers Kenna Cogill and Manaia Ogbechie arrived in Lincoln this summer.

Adriano will compete with Baylor transfer Allie Sczech and freshman Ryan Hunter for the starting opposite job. With her experience in the best league in Italy, Adriano could earn the position at some point this season.

Allick and middle blocker Andi Jackson will block Cogill and Ogbechie from playing much at middle blocker this year. But the duo will learn lots from the four-year starter and first-team All-American.

Busboom Kelly is also a newcomer to this team. So far, she has made Nebraska her own program and added to an already great roster.

The libero position battle

The Huskers’ most intriguing position battle this offseason was the libero. Nebraska is searching for four-time All-American Lexi Rodriguez‘s replacement. Luckily, they have two great options in junior Laney Choboy and sophomore Olivia Mauch.

Choboy has played in 90 matches over her two seasons at Nebraska. She was the Huskers’ top defensive specialist in 2024 and their co-best in 2025. Choboy and Mauch both played consistently in the back row last season.

Mauch was one of the best passers in the country in 2025. As a freshman, she played in 36 matches and averaged 1.61 digs per set. She recorded 21 service aces and 13 set assists.

Both Choboy and Mauch are great passers, digs and servers. All of Husker Nation is interested to see who Busboom Kelly puts in the opposite-colored jersey. Either way, both will have a huge role this fall.

Outside hitter battle behind Murray

Murray has her six-rotation outside hitter position locked down. She is a smart, efficient attacker, one of the best OH passers in the country and has a dangerous serve. The junior has been working on a jump serve this off-season as well. But who will earn the L2 job?

Nebraska returns Taylor Landfair for her final season of college volleyball. In her first year as a Husker, the former Minnesota attacker played in 33 matches and averaged 2.49 kills per set. She earned the starting job over Lindsay Krause but was inconsistent.

After redshirting in 2024, Skyler Pierce will compete for playing time this season. Freshman outside Teraya Sigler was the top player in the Class of 2025 and won four Arizona state titles and two Club Open National Championships. She will push hard for the starting job.

Arizona Storm director details current, future and past Storm players turned Huskers

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Head beach volleyball coach Jose Loiola announced the addition of Maddie Holmgren as an assistant coach on Tuesday, July 29. Holmgren (née Parmelly) is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, playing for the Longhorns this past spring.

“I’m super excited to add Maddie to our program, and can’t wait to start working with her,” Loiola said. “I feel like we are on the same page with our goals for the team and the year ahead. We’re starting something here with a new mentality and I think the team will embrace her perspective and what she was able to accomplish in her playing career.”

Holmgren played a key role in Texas’ rise in year three of the program’s existence, going 27-7 for the Longhorns while competing primarily on court three this past spring. Texas won the 2025 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association tournament title, with Holmgren delivering the championship-clinching point against Florida State. She would also clinch the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory, a 3-2 decision over California. Before her time in Austin, Holmgren played at Florida Gulf Coast for four seasons. She left the Eagles with 66 career wins, which still ranks seventh in FGCU’s 14-year history. She finished her collegiate beach volleyball career with 93 total victories.

“I’m incredibly grateful and stoked to be a part of such a great community and a growing program. I appreciate the South Carolina staff for trusting me with this role and giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge of the game with other young women. I’m excited to learn from this team and one of the best coaches in the game, Jose. I can’t wait to get to work!”

Holmgren earned a master’s degree in Strategic Communication at Texas, with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from FGCU.

Holmgren joins Bailey Rima on Loiola’s first staff; Rima worked as a volunteer assistant for the 2024 season.

For continued coverage and updates on South Carolina beach volleyball, follow the Gamecocks on X and Instagram.

Event Info

Here’s how to watch the 2025 Citrus College vs Caltech – Men’s Water Polo broadcast on FloSwimming. The 2025 Citrus College vs Caltech – Men’s Water Polo broadcast starts on Sep 9, 2025. Stream or cast from your desktop, mobile or TV. Now available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV. Don’t forget to download the FloSports app on iOS or Android! If you can’t watch live, catch up with the replays! Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloSwimming subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

You open TikTok for a quick scroll or a laugh, and almost immediately, you’re met with slow-motion clips of athletes overlaid with suggestive captions and heart-eyed comments. But the focus isn’t on their record-breaking speed, their unmatched technique, or the years of training behind every move. Instead, it’s on their looks. Their bodies. Their desirability.

It’s easy to brush off as harmless: just another TikTok trend, another fancam, another thirst comment. But this kind of content is more than casual admiration. It’s part of a growing culture that blurs the line between appreciation and objectification, turning athletes from competitors into influencers, sex symbols, and sometimes, unwilling internet fantasies. While increased media coverage and popularity can showcase their talent, it also contributes to a problematic culture of hyper-sexualization. And while the sexualization of athletes has always been a concern, social media platforms have drastically expanded the issue. 

A notable example of this issue is former Seattle Kraken hockey player Alex Wennberg, who became the subject of widespread online objectification, particularly within TikTok’s BookTok community. Fans began casting him as the lead in a fictional romance series and flooding comment sections with graphic fantasies.

Famous BookTok influencer Kierra Lewis made particularly inappropriate comments about Wennberg, some of which include her praying to be turned into ice so he could “glide” on her and urging him to “krack [her] back,” on a platform with over a million followers. The latter phrase immediately took off within the TikTok community, turning into a viral joke — one that even the Seattle Kraken’s social media account joined in on.

But it wasn’t amusing to Wennberg or his wife. Felicia Wennberg took to Instagram to condemn the explicit behavior, calling out the community’s exhibition of predatory behavior and complete disregard for boundaries. Wennberg himself spoke up, sharing the emotional toll it had taken on his family.

“The aggressive language about real-life players is too much,” he posted on his Instagram story. “It has turned into daily and weekly comments on our personal social media. This is not something we support or want our child to grow up with. All we ask for is a little respect and common sense moving forward. We can all take a joke and funny comments, but when it turns personal and into something bigger that affects our family, we need to tell you that we’ve had enough.”

Even author Emily Rath, whose books inspired the fancasts, admitted things had gone too far. 

“They weren’t treating him like a hockey player or even like a fictional boyfriend,” Rath said. “You just saw them sexually fantasizing about him in crass and inappropriate ways in a public forum.”

The Kraken’s initial participation in the trend also raised concerns about the role of organizations in enabling objectification. By engaging with this content and providing a platform for it, the team inadvertently contributed to the normalization of this behavior. This controversy also raised a larger concern about online communities treating athletes as untouchable figures rather than individuals with personal lives and boundaries.

This problem is prevalent in more than just social media platforms. Another example of athlete objectification is seen with former professional tennis player Anna Kournikova. Despite Kournikova’s successful doubles career, where she reached No. 1 in the world and won Grand Slam titles, her legacy is often reduced to magazine covers and search engine results that labeled her as a model before an athlete. Her looks became the headline, her talent the footnote. Kournikova eventually became one of the most recognized names in tennis during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but for degrading reasons.

“Sometimes, when I do great, it’s, ‘Oh, after all she can play,’ or, ‘Finally she shows more than her looks,” Kournikova said. “I mean, please!”

Despite her long-standing career decorated with achievements, her case is a prime example of how hypersexualization can influence public opinion and how female athletes are marketed and remembered. The conversation around them isn’t about their skill or perseverance — it’s about how they look in a uniform or how their photos perform online. 

Some may argue that any attention, even if driven by sexualization, benefits athletes by increasing their popularity, securing brand deals, and boosting their marketability. Additionally, some athletes may not mind or may even embrace this aspect of fame.

But what’s the cost of being noticed only when you’re “hot enough”? What about the athletes who are more talented but less conventionally attractive? Additionally, this perspective overlooks the emotional toll and discomfort that hyper-sexualization brings to athletes who are publicly disturbed by it. These various benefits do not justify reducing athletes to objects of desire.

As high schoolers, we’re not immune. Whether it’s through “harmless” jokes, fan edits, or flirty comments, we can end up reinforcing the same objectifying culture. Admiring athletes is natural, but reducing them to their looks isn’t.

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