Photo courtesy of Katherine Mendenhall.

When 5-foot-7 Katherine Mendenhall walks onto the track, it’s strictly business — it’s a mental game. The academic stress and personal problems take a step back for the time she’s jumping over the crossbar.

This mentality is one that helped the 23-year-old high jumper qualify for, and participate in, the NCAA East Regional Track and Field meet in Jacksonville, Florida at the end of May.

Mendenhall is not alone in her accomplishments. The BGSU track and field team’s historic season included winning the conference championship for both indoor and outdoor seasons.

“I mean it just feels unreal. It feels so special, and it feels really special to be a part of something so historic and something that’s never happened before,” Mendenhall said. “That’s really the word I can think—it’s just so unreal [and] there’s so many words to describe how it feels but that’s how I would sum it up.”

Mendenhall and five other track and field athletes represented BGSU at the University of North Florida regional event, including Kylee Cubbison, Trista Fintel, Morgan Patterson, Sabrina Imes and Bianca Staples.

Mendenhall, a graduate student set to graduate in August with a Master of Business Administration degree, currently works for the City of Dublin. Despite her high-achieving accomplishments, she said you have to leave it all behind when competing.

“Just making sure your s— is aligned, like making sure that you know while being an athlete, you’re not stressing about school at the time — you got all the things that you needed done before you compete. You kind of need to leave your s— at the door, and I think personally that’s kind of my thing. When I get out there, it’s like a switch is flipped,” Mendenhall said.

Having her priorities straight proved to work for Mendenhall. She said she remembers the moment clearly when she found out she was the very first BGSU high jumper in history to qualify for regionals.

“That was such an exciting day, and I remember jumping that mark and I sat down for like 15 minutes just with my face in my hands because I was so struck that I jumped that,” said Mendenhall. “I was so struck that I knew I was gonna go to Florida.”

She called the high jump an art, and one requiring intricate technique.

As an undergrad student, Mendenhall maintained a 4.0 GPA. She’s also received the Academic All-MAC Award and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Award.

She said being both a student and an athlete is something she’s proud of.

“Being a student-athlete, and that’s hard because a sport is a job itself, and school is — they’re both full-time jobs. So, I think being able to do those … What I’m proud of is being able to have the balance of being a student and being an athlete and being able to do both of those sufficiently,” she said.

Although her collegiate career has come to an end, Mendenhall said the realization hasn’t even set in yet.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet because I think this is normal — we have our winter and spring season, and then we go straight in the summer, and we don’t do track. So, I think right now, I’m not even thinking about it, but I think once the fall hits and, you know, I see everyone back at the track doing our off-season workouts, I think that’s when it will hit. And that’s when I’ll probably have like an identity crisis,” Mendenhall said with a laugh.

Houston athletic director Eddie Nunez during the introductory press conference, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Houston, Texas.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement Friday night, allowing universities to pay current players directly starting July 1. Schools can share up to $20.5 million of their revenues with players during the upcoming academic year.

The quick turnaround poses challenges for athletic directors nationwide, but Houston’s Eddie Nuñez remains fully committed. 

“We’ve kinda spoken about this throughout the year, so yes, we will be fully supporting our student athletes at the full amount of the $20.5 million,” he told reporters in May. “We’re all in. We’re gonna do this the right way.”

Nuñez and his staff have been working to increase Houston’s revenue since he took over as athletic director in August 2024, a critical task given that the Cougars operate with the lowest budget among Power Four schools. Now, with the implementation of direct revenue sharing, things just got a bit more complicated.

 “We looked at the percentages from before I got here, from our time in the American, about what sports generated what percentage of the revenue. Then we added what we’ve gathered from our first year in the Big 12. We combined that with our own internal budget and data: which sports bring in revenue through ticket sales, media rights and other sources,” Nuñez told The Cougar in January.  

Now the question remains: Will that mean every single student-athlete or every team?

“There are some sports, honestly, that don’t bring in any revenue. But even with that in mind, we’re committed and both the Chancellor and I have said this to try to do something for every team,” he said. “I want to distribute what we can as broadly as possible, while understanding that sports like football and men’s basketball will likely be higher, because of their role in media and TV revenue, and that’s okay. We need football to be extremely successful, because when football is strong, it helps elevate every other program.”

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The 26^th Annual Peter J. Cutino Awards—college water polo’s highest individual honor will be presented on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Named for legendary coach Peter J. Cutino, the award recognizes the top male and female NCAA Division I water polo players each season.

The ceremony will be live‑streamed free on Overnght.com, featuring red‑carpet interviews, finalist features, and the full awards presentation.

2025 Men’s Finalists

• Ryder Dodd (UCLA) – Set the MPSF single‑season scoring record with 102 goals, led Bruins to a national title, and earned NCAA Tournament MVP honors
• Max Miller (USC) – Two‑time First‑Team All‑American; 54 goals this year and 147 career goals, 16^th all‑time for the Trojans
• Mihailo Vukazic (Pacific) – 2024 West Coast Conference Player of the Year; 63 goals in 20 games and a First‑Team All‑American selection

 2025 Women’s Finalists

• Emily Ausmus (USC) – MPSF Newcomer of the Year; USC single‑season record 114 goals, plus 55 assists and 46 steals
• Tilly Kearns (USC) – Redshirt senior with 100 goals this season; finishes USC career third all‑time with 262 goals
• Ryann Neushul (Stanford) – MPSF Player of the Year; 60 goals and the only four‑time NCAA champion in Stanford history

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, June 7, 2025
• Venue: The Olympic Club – San Francisco, CA
• Broadcast: Live on Overnght.com

For more on the finalists, check out Swimming World’s Water Polo coverage from this year’s NCAA Championships.

First presented in 1999, the Cutino Award is determined by votes from NCAA coaches nationwide and honors athletes who exemplify skill, sportsmanship, and leadership.
Winners receive a handcrafted walnut‑and‑brass trophy, while the perpetual trophy remains on display at The Olympic Club.

Stay tuned to Swimming World’s Water Polo hub for live coverage, post‑event interviews, and full reaction once the 2025 Cutino Award winners are revealed.

Past winners:

Alexis Brown, the fastest DII Woman in history, has been named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Track Athlete of the Year. Coaches Paris Vaughan and Kayonna Lewis also took home region honors, as Vaughan was named Southeast Region Women’s Track & Field Coach of the Year and Lewis was named the Assistant Coach of the Year.

Brown proved herself as the fastest DII Woman of all-time at this year’s NCAA DII National Championships, winning the 100 and 200 meters in record breaking fashion. The junior from Mableton, Georgia, became the first DII woman to ever break 11 seconds in the 100 with a time of 10.93 (+1.8) in the final. She came back just over an hour later with a time of 22.37 (+3.7) in the 200 final. Her time of 22.35 (+1.8) in the 200 meter prelims set yet another DII record in that event. In total, Brown has the 10 fastest times in DII history in the 100 meters, including five this year. She also has three of the top-five 200 meter times, all ran this year.

Vaughan helped lead the Bears to a 12th-place team finish at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, led by 100/200 champ Brown, who set DII records in both events. Lenoir-Rhyne also was team runner-up at the SAC Championships, winning five events. Lewis coached the Brown to a 100/200 double victory at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, setting DII records in both events. She also guided Lenoir-Rhyne’s 4×100 relay team to First-Team All-America honors.

{Information provided by Lenoir-Rhyne Athletics}

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It all started at Sierra Vista Pool. That’s where then nine-year-old Atticus Bowman took the plunge and started playing water polo in the city of Albuquerque’s Metro Aquatic League. “They really taught me how to swim, they taught me how to play water polo and really get the basics down,” said Bowman.

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The league teaches kids from ages five to 14 to swim, dive, or play water polo competitively.

Bowman showing great promise early on, “He’s always been a pretty talented player. Very, very smart student of the game, and he knows where to be, when to be, and how to support the team,” recalled former coach and Aquatics Division Manager for the city Kent Vigil, former coach and Aquatics Division Manager for the City of Albuquerque.

At age 11, Bowman was recruited to play water polo at the more advanced club level.

Vigil told KRQE News 13 that the league is not just about swimming, but also learning valuable life skills, “These programs are also a great opportunity for the kids to get out of the house, meet some friends, get some really good exercise, and learn maybe something that will become a new passion for them.”

For Bowman, water polo became a way of life. His athletic abilities helped him further his education. “I got recruited to go play water polo at Penn State, and I couldn’t have been there without the Metro League. I wouldn’t have had a good starting point. I wouldn’t have had as much fun going into the sport.”

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A year into playing water polo at the collegiate level, Bowman is back at the pool he started at encouraging other local kids to dive in, “I think it’s a great way to really build skills, build character, make great friends. Overall, it gives you work ethic, drive, discipline to be better and better every day,” emphasized Bowman.

In the future, Bowman hopes to compete at the national level, “But first, I’m going to start by finishing out college.”

The program starts on Monday, June 9. Click here to learn more.

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