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Brown Track and Field Signs Tyson Through Team Impact

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown track and field head coach Ken Hunt announced a new team member, signing 8-year-old Tyson through Team IMPACT.  Tyson, who lives with a chronic gastrointestinal condition, was officially introduced at a signing day press conference on Tuesday at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center. He will participate in many activities with the team including […]

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown track and field head coach Ken Hunt announced a new team member, signing 8-year-old Tyson through Team IMPACT. 

Tyson, who lives with a chronic gastrointestinal condition, was officially introduced at a signing day press conference on Tuesday at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center. He will participate in many activities with the team including meets, practices, and other team events. 

“The Brown Track and Field team is lucky to have a new teammate like Tyson,” said sophomore middle distance runner Jake Haley. “He is what our team has been missing and is going to be the factor to take us to the next level!” 

Team IMPACT, a national non-profit organization has developed a unique multiyear program that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college athletic teams across the country. Based on a clinical model, Team IMPACT guides a symbiotic relationship between teams and children focused on socialization, empowerment, and resilience. 

“Team IMPACT is excited to see Tyson officially join his team,” said Emma Simches, Regional Director of Programs, Northeast at Team IMPACT. “We are proud to work alongside Brown, their athletic department and coaching staff to create lifelong bonds and life-changing outcomes between student-athletes and their Team IMPACT teammates.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of our student leadership team and the whole track team on signing a new teammate,” said Brown throwing coach Darcy Wilson

 

About Team IMPACT

Team IMPACT’s unique multi-year program signs children facing serious illness and disability onto college athletic teams across the country. Based on a clinical model, Team IMPACT guides a symbiotic relationship between teams and children focused on socialization, empowerment, and resilience, ensuring everyone involved has the personalized game plan they need to win – effectively building confidence and independence. Founded in 2011, Team IMPACT has matched over 2,600 children with 700 + college and universities in all 50 states, impacting more than 65,000 student-athletes. If you know a child or team who may be interested, please visit www.teamimpact.org. 

 



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GCU provides mental edge for MLB coaches

University of Miami pitching coach Laz Gutierrez (center) is one of several mental skills or performance directors who have earned doctorates from Grand Canyon University. (Photo by University of Miami) As a former major league baseball scout, Laz Gutierrez recognized that a player’s mental game is what separates most Division I college athletes. So when […]

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University of Miami pitching coach Laz Gutierrez (center) is one of several mental skills or performance directors who have earned doctorates from Grand Canyon University. (Photo by University of Miami)

As a former major league baseball scout, Laz Gutierrez recognized that a player’s mental game is what separates most Division I college athletes.

So when he wanted to study why pitchers suffered from the yips – the sudden and unexplained loss of ability to execute certain skills, such as throwing the ball – he enrolled at Grand Canyon University.

Gutierrez, who spent five years as the mental skills coordinator for the Boston Red Sox and serves as the pitching coach and mental skills director at the University of Miami, is one of several current or former major league mental skills or performance directors who have earned doctorates from GCU.

St. Louis Cardinals performance coach Carl Kochan delivered a speech to his fellow online doctoral graduates in fall 2024. (Photo by Ralph Freso)

After being a part of five World Series championships with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, Carl Kochan was hired as director of performance for the St. Louis Cardinals in December, around the same time he graduated after successfully defending his doctorate, titled “The Longitudinal, Grounded Theory Study on Psychological Resilience and Professionals.”

Kellen Lee is in his third season as the mental skills coach for the Seattle Mariners, five years after earning his doctorate from GCU in 2020 and serving as a master resilience trainer/performance expert for the U.S. Army.

Chad Bohling, who is scheduled to earn his doctorate this year, is in his 21st season with the New York Yankees, currently serving as the senior director of organizational performance.

And Justin Su’a, who is on track to earn his doctorate from GCU next spring, was the head of mental performance for the Tampa Bay Rays for five years before starting the Performance Advisory Group, which assists coaches, players and executives in professional sports.

The groundswell of mental skills staffers in baseball over the last 20 years illustrates teams’ efforts to address their players’ well-being, as well as their physical tools.

Performance coach Carl Kochan was part of five World Series championship teams. (Photo by St. Louis Cardinals).

“Remember, this is a people-person industry,” Kochan said. “So before a player is ever an athlete, he’s a human being. So, really, making sure that we have that human connection is priority No.1.”

He added, “Ultimately, getting to know somebody and understanding what they value, versus balancing what the organization needs, both as a player and as a staff member – that’s the fine line that we get to walk every day. And then, oh, by the way, try to win baseball games, too.”

One of the biggest ingredients is trust, and it didn’t hurt that Gutierrez knew Chris Sale – the 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner with Atlanta – when Sale pitched at Florida Gulf Coast University and Gutierrez scouted the South Florida region for Boston.

Sale was drafted by the Chicago White Sox, but the two connected quickly after Sale was traded to Boston after the 2016 season, when Gutierrez already transitioned to the mental skills department.

“He’s an easy guy to talk to because he was in the game and knew both sides of the ball,” Sale said. “He knew how to get information out of people and make them feel comfortable, but he also knew the game and knew when was the right time to go about it.”

Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale credits Laz Gutierrez (pictured) as a mental skills coach with Boston. (Photo by University of Miami)

Before one of Boston’s off-days, Sale planned to fly to Naples, Florida, to visit his wife and three children and invited Gutierrez, who then could rent a car to drive about 100 miles to see his family.

“There might have been only 14 seconds of silence the entire time,” Sale recalled of the flight. “We spent the whole time talking about anything and everything. Laz is one of my guys.”

As a former strength and conditioning coach, Kochan sought ways to improve his craft and marveled at how mental skills coach and former major league pitcher Bob Tewksbury and sports psychologist/former minor league manager Derin McMains conveyed tough and easy conversations and getting players to view things in a different light while with the Giants.

That swayed Kochan to pursue his doctorate in hopes of understanding what makes players and coaches tick when faced with adversity on a daily basis.

Lee has worked with service members who were thinking about their family and with college student-athletes concerned about an examination, so he recognizes the importance of helping a player direct their focus toward the task at hand and remain fully present.

“Being able to control their focus and focus on essentially what they can control in the moment is a key skill, a key tool in their toolkit to be able to optimize performance in the moment,” said Lee, who played baseball at UC San Diego, served as director of baseball operations at Santa Clara University and taught mental skills and physical education at Presentation High School, an all-girls school in San Jose, California.

Seattle mental skills coach Kellen Lee worked with U.S. Army members.(Photo by Seattle Mariners)

Lee’s dissertation focuses on the mental component of injury rehabilitation.

“I just saw that particular subgroup of athletes could seriously benefit from just making sure that their mind is good, super confident going back into sport,” Lee said. “Because fear of injury is really common. Fear of like, ‘Oh no, like, am I going to be as good as I was before?’”

Lee’s sounding board includes wife Jaclyn, who is an athletic trainer in San Jose, and brother Korey, a catcher with the Chicago White Sox and his spring training roommate, thanks to the proximity of their spring facilities.

“I tell our players that I feel like I have the answers to the test, because my brother will tell me everything about what players are thinking about, what the pressure are at the high level, and I’m able to use some of those stories to connect what I spent years and years and years studying and understanding and being able to apply it in a very real way,” Lee said. “I’m using real-life examples coming directly from a player.”

Lee liked that GCU professors emphasized that he choose a topic he was passionate about, rather than be steered in a certain direction.

“I felt the power to be able to determine where I wanted to go and how I wanted to go about it,” he said.

GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]

***

Related content:

GCU News: Doctoral graduate earns green light on traffic stop study

GCU News: Prized baseball possessions in hands of GCU student



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Women’s Track & Field Qualifies Three for NCAA Outdoor Championships

Story Links ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women’s track & field team will send three student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio from May 22-24. Laura Suppa and Rachel Larson will compete in the 100-meter hurdles, while Madeleine Wright will be in […]

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ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women’s track & field team will send three student-athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio from May 22-24.

Laura Suppa and Rachel Larson will compete in the 100-meter hurdles, while Madeleine Wright will be in action in the high jump.

Suppa, who finished 13th at last year’s Outdoor Championships, just set IC’s school record in the event at 13.86 seconds to move up to fourth nationally, while Larson is seeded seventh at 13.98 seconds. Both will run in the preliminary race at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 23, with the final set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 24.

Wright is seeded 11th in a jammed high jump competition at 1.68 meters. Eight qualifying athletes are tied for 11th entering the 11:30 a.m. start on Friday.

All three athletes have been named All-Americans during their career. Suppa is a three-time All-American with a top finish of fourth in the 60-meter hurdles, which occurred at this year’s NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, while Larson finished sixth in the same race. Wright was a Second Team All-American at indoors this season, placing 14th.

 



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From Kentucky Wildcat to Pro Volleyball Champion: Kaz Brown shines on PVF’s biggest stage

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Former Kentucky Wildcat, Kaz Brown, is a Professional Volleyball Federation champion after she and the Orlando Valkyries defeated the Indy Ignite in four sets on Mother’s Day to claim the league’s second ever title. “The overwhelming emotion was joy,” Brown said. “The moment felt very joyful to be spending that championship […]

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Kaz Brown

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Former Kentucky Wildcat, Kaz Brown, is a Professional Volleyball Federation champion after she and the Orlando Valkyries defeated the Indy Ignite in four sets on Mother’s Day to claim the league’s second ever title.

“The overwhelming emotion was joy,” Brown said. “The moment felt very joyful to be spending that championship weekend with teammates, with family, with friends, which is one of the biggest perks.”

But before she was winning championships at the professional level, Brown dominated at the University of Kentucky, becoming the Wildcats all time leader in total blocks, solo blocks and block assists. After college, she would take her talents overseas, playing volleyball in Germany, Ukraine, France and Greece for a handful of years. That experience would shape her into the player she is today, becoming the first ever Middle Blocker of the Year in 2024.

“Being overseas prepared me a lot from a mental standpoint,” Brown said. You’re kind of over there alone and you kind of have to be the one to check yourself and and keep yourself in check. I think that benefited me greatly in my professional career.”

In the 2025 regular season, Brown set new career highs with 228 kills, 73 blocks, 56 digs and 19 aces. And in the playoffs, she picked up right where she left off, finishing with a career high seven blocks in the semifinals against the Atlanta Vibe and helping Orlando close out in day for the championship.

“I would have to say our experience is really what set us apart,” Brown said. “Having players who have been on a big stage before and have been able to perform and compete at that level, I think was huge for us.”

From Lexington stand out to 2025 champion, Brown is proving that Kentucky talent belongs at the top.

“I love the University of Kentucky,” Brown said. “I had the best four years of my life there to date. And so to be able to win a title at the pro level, I mean, I have I have so many people to thank, And the University of Kentucky volleyball program is definitely at the top of that list.”





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Cal Poly Athletics Unveils Next Chapter

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly Athletics has announced the establishment of the Players Trust, a groundbreaking initiative that will help attract and retain student-athletes through the support of alumni, parents and friends, putting Cal Poly on the forefront of the new landscape of college athletics. The House v. NCAA settlement has allowed universities […]

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly Athletics has announced the establishment of the Players Trust, a groundbreaking initiative that will help attract and retain student-athletes through the support of alumni, parents and friends, putting Cal Poly on the forefront of the new landscape of college athletics.

The House v. NCAA settlement has allowed universities more freedom to increase the number of scholarships provided and offer supplemental scholarship opportunities alongside existing NIL policies. This has opened the door for Cal Poly Athletics to create a balance of financial opportunity for student-athletes who thrive both athletically and academically, leading to the creation of the Players Trust.



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NCAA Reforms Put Olympic Sports on the Ropes

NCAA Reforms Put Olympic Sports on the Ropes: What’s at Stake for Swimming and Beyond The Knight Commission will convene Tuesday, May 20, for what may be one of the most consequential conversations in the history of college athletics. With NCAA President Charlie Baker on the agenda and Olympic sport leaders in attendance, the stakes […]

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NCAA Reforms Put Olympic Sports on the Ropes: What’s at Stake for Swimming and Beyond

The Knight Commission will convene Tuesday, May 20, for what may be one of the most consequential conversations in the history of college athletics. With NCAA President Charlie Baker on the agenda and Olympic sport leaders in attendance, the stakes are high—and for swimming, they’re personal. Formed in 1989, the Knight Commission is designed to promote reform in collegiate athletics.

Triggered by the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement, the collegiate sports model is shifting fast. Schools are preparing to directly pay athletes. Scholarship limits are being lifted. And in the scramble to manage new financial pressures, Olympic sports are being cut.

Cal Poly eliminated men’s and women’s swimming this spring, citing a $450,000 annual burden from the settlement. Grand Canyon dropped its nationally ranked men’s volleyball team. Coaches from every corner of the country are already reducing rosters—often without notice. This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening now.

While football and men’s basketball will absorb the coming changes, non-revenue sports are left to fend for themselves. And the NCAA’s own data confirms the threat: more than 65% of U.S. Olympians have come through college programs.

What’s at Risk

Swimming & Diving is not alone. Programs across Olympic sports—from wrestling to rowing to track—are bracing for impact. Some will lose scholarships. Others will shrink teams. A few may be gone for good. Here’s a look at how Division I sports stack up under the pressure of the settlement:

Sport Revenue? Programs (M/W) Risk of Cuts/Roster Reductions
Swimming & Diving No 137 / 200 High (Cal Poly)
Track & Field / XC No 300+ / 300+ High (roster limits underway)
Wrestling No 80 / 4 High (historically vulnerable)
Water Polo No 29 / 37 High (few programs, high cost)
Rowing (W) No 93 High (caps hit walk-on depth)
Gymnastics No 12 / 4 Medium–High (few programs remain)
Soccer No 212 / 349 Medium–High (caps shrinking teams)
Baseball / Softball Partial 307 / 309 Medium (cuts to baseball walk-ons)
Basketball Yes / Moderate 364 / 362 Low (minimal changes)

What We’re Looking For

The May 20 meeting will set the tone for how Olympic sports are—or aren’t—protected going forward. Swimming World will be in the room, listening to what Baker and others say not just about revenue sharing and governance, but about opportunity, equity, and the role of swimming and similar sports in the future of college athletics.

We know the scoreboard. We know the cuts. And we know what’s at stake.

Now it’s time to see who will stand up for the sports that built Team USA.

We’ll have a followup after the meeting with analysis and insight from Tuesday’s session. Until then, the message is clear:

The pipeline to the Olympics runs through college campuses. Let’s not shut it down.



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Kamara to Represent Bowie State at NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Story Links BOWIE, MD – Bowie State standout thrower Yassine Kamara is set to make her second-straight appearance at the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, that will take place from Thursday, May 22 to Saturday, May 24 in Pueblo, Colo., at Colorado State University Pueblo’s Thunderbowl Stadium.  Meet: NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field […]

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BOWIE, MD – Bowie State standout thrower Yassine Kamara is set to make her second-straight appearance at the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, that will take place from Thursday, May 22 to Saturday, May 24 in Pueblo, Colo., at Colorado State University Pueblo’s Thunderbowl Stadium. 

Meet: NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship

When: Thursday, May. 22 – Saturday, May. 24

Location: Pueblo, Colo. (CSUP Thunderbowl)

Meet Information: Click Here

Event Schedule: Click Here

Watch: Click Here

Tickets: Click Here

Also accompanying Bowie State from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) conference is Claflin University who leads the league with four student-athletes while Johnson C. Smith and Virginia State add two qualifiers each, respectively.

Kamara will compete in the women’s discus throw on Friday, May 23 at 2 p.m., and the women’s shot put on Saturday, May 24 at 1:15 p.m., both taking place at CSUP Thunderbowl Stadium.

Last Timeout

Kamara’s last outing was during the CIAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships where she captured the gold medal in the discus with a throw of 50.16 meters and secured the silver medal in the shot put with a mark of 13.09 meters at the Durham County Stadium in Durham, N.C., on May 3.

For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State Athletics and its 13 varsity sport teams, visit bsubulldogs.com.



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