BIRMINGHAM – Texas A&M track & field’s Carter Bajoit and Heather Abadie were named to the SEC Community Service Team, the league announced Thursday.
 

Bajoit has been a standout student-athlete and three-year team captain with the Texas A&M track & field team, known for his leadership and commitment to service. He leads weekly Bible studies through Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and launched PROJECT CHRISTMAS to support over 300 people in Houston each year.
 

From mentoring youth at the Boys & Girls Club to serving local causes in the Brazos valley, Carter’s impact earned him a spot on the 2024 SEC Community Service Team and landed him on NACDA Good Works Team which recognizes 20 standout student-athletes for their exceptional achievements in community service, athletics and academics.
 

Revered by his peers, Bajoit was given the honor of speaking at Texas A&M’s athletics graduation ceremony following his final season for the Maroon & White where he helped guide the team to its first SEC Indoor Championship title.
 

Abadie concluded a historic career in Aggieland, leaving a lasting impression on her teammates and the community. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native first kept her service at the local level, as she became a member of the track & field teams leadership council, finding ways to help her fellow teammates maximize their experience and impact while at Texas A&M.
 

Abadie also serves on the national stage, giving back to the sport by volunteering for USATF helping out with meets. The standout leaves Texas A&M as the school-record holder in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault events and a two time SEC Champion, while serving as a leader for that group throughout her four-year campaign.
 

The duo also took their service to the international stage, as both Bajoit and Abadie helped raise $36,000 for a mission trip to Panama, where student-athletes at Texas A&M served locals from the area.
 

To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.

Student-Athletes at the University of South Carolina ended the Spring 2025 semester with a departmental grade point average (GPA) of 3.45, it was announced today. This marks the department’s third-highest GPA on record and the 37th-consecutive semester with a departmental GPA above 3.0.

Softball (3.86) earned the highest team GPA, followed closely by men’s soccer (3.68) and women’s golf (3.67).  Overall, 17 of 18 teams earned a GPA of 3.0 or better during the spring semester.

The cumulative grade point average for all student-athletes in each sport since they have arrived at Carolina is 3.46, which stands as the second highest cumulative GPA ever for Gamecock student-athletes (Spring 2020 – 3.47).

“These numbers are representative of the importance that our student-athletes, coaches and staff put on academic excellence,” said Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati.  “I am proud of their accomplishments and the priority that they have on graduating from the University of South Carolina.”

“Our students continue to exhibit their competitive academic commitment at the University of South Carolina,” said Charlie Ball, Senior Associate Athletics Director – Academics. “We are excited to continue the tradition of exceling in the classroom and in their sports. These results are proof that our students believe in the importance of quality education and our academic staff’s dedication to their academic success, leading to the matriculation of graduation.”

The department named 98 student-athletes to the President’s List for earning a 4.0 GPA, 210 student-athletes to the Dean’s List (3.5) and 460 to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (3.0).

107 Gamecock student-athletes received their degrees at the Spring 2025 USC commencement ceremonies.

Gamecock student-athletes have led in the SEC Academic Honor Roll cumulatively for the last 10 years, leading in seven of those years.

 Team – Spring 2025 Semester GPA

Baseball – 3.13

Men’s Basketball – 2.83

Women’s Basketball – 3.672

Beach Volleyball – 3.44

Equestrian – 3.66

Football – 3.30

Men’s Golf – 3.41

Women’s Golf – 3.673

Men’s Soccer – 3.68

Women’s Soccer – 3.57

Softball – 3.86

Men’s Swimming/Diving – 3.57

Women’s Swimming/Diving – 3.61

Men’s Tennis – 3.54

Women’s Tennis – 3.64

Men’s Track & Field – 3.39

Women’s Track & Field / Cross Country – 3.32

Volleyball – 3.58

IRVINE, Calif. –  USA Water Polo dropped their roster for the World Aquatics Men’s Junior World Championships (U20) on Friday, June 5th at noon, calling redshirt sophomore Baxter Chelsom to action.
 
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, the goalkeeper debuted his career defending the cage in the 2024 season. Logging 171 minutes in collegiate waters thus far, he has made 50 saves across ten games. He had a career-high of ten saves against the formidable USC team on September 8th and only allowed three goals against University of Redlands and UC Merced.
 
Joining a daunting roster scraped together by head coach Jack Kocur, the roster of 15 looks to compete in Zagreb, Croatia starting competition on June 14th at 10:00am PST. They will go on to face off against Hungary at 8:30am PST on the 15th, and Montenegro the following day at 8:30am as well. The team will play in the top bracket, and a champion team will be crowned on the 21st of June.
 
Live stats and video will be available to cheer on our Aggie representative, more to come.
 

Two Pittsburgh Steelers players, including Mason Rudolph, who is currently in line to be the Steelers’ starting quarterback, recently attended a local rally for United States President Donald Trump.

The players received backlash for the appearance, and both are issuing statements doubling down on their decisions, a rather shocking move in the current political climate.

“There’s backlash every day you look on social media,” Rudolph said, according to Steelers Now. “That’s the nature of social media. It’s the nature of why America’s so great because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and speech is free.”

Mile Killebrew, the other attendee, released a similar statement.

“Here’s the deal. I remember what it was like being a kid, and me and my friends growing up, we either wanted to be the president or have the chance to meet him one day. And yesterday, I got to meet the president. I’m not apologetic about that. For anyone who thinks that’s a bad thing, to be honest, I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t there signing legislation. I was just there meeting the president and glad I did it.”

Fans reacted to the responses on social media.

“I love these guys more that they are unapologetic President Trump bringing steel jobs back to Pittsburgh supporters!” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“Great response! Stand firm with Rocky Bleir and Trump,” another person added.

“It would be OK if they said they support Trump too. They didn’t say that. Either way, there should be no controversy,” someone else wrote.

It’ll be interesting to see what their teammates think of their decision to attend the rally.

AUGUSTA, GA — The Peach Belt Conference has released the 2024-25 men’s Track & Field Team of Academic Distinction, presented by Barnes & Noble College.  The team is a part of the PBC’s larger initiative to celebrate the academic achievements of PBC student-athletes.  This team includes both indoor and outdoor track & field athletes.

To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must 1) participate in at least half of his/her team’s events and be either a starter or significant contributor; 2) achieved a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and 3) completed at least one full academic year at his or her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. The Peach Belt Conference Sports Information Directors oversee the program.

Barnes & Noble College currently operates more than 1,400 campus bookstores and their school-branded e-commerce sites, serving more than 6 million college students and faculty nationwide. As a strategic partner, Barnes & Noble College is a retail and learning company. The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

 

Name	Institution	Year	Hometown	GPA	Major (Minor)
Chris Abell	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Laurel, Mont.	3.573	Aerospace Engineering
Aidan Barnes	Embry-Riddle	Sr.	Las Vegas, Nev.	3.661	Human Factors Psychology
Roberto Barrera	Augusta	Jr.	Florida Blanca, Colombia	3.85	Business Administration
Reuel Belizaire	Flagler	Sr.	Loxahatchee, Fla.	3.52	Computer Information Systems
K’Anthony Benjamin	Embry-Riddle	Sr.	Sandy Point, St. Kitts	3.518	Aeronautics
Gabriel Best	Augusta	So.	Peachtree City, Ga.	3.87	Accounting
Jack Brooks	Embry-Riddle	Sr.	Bartow, Fla.	3.914	Computational Mathematics
Kenneth Brooks	Columbus State	Sr.	Fairburn, Ga.	4.00	Communications
Logan Burch	Flagler	Jr.	Cape Coral, Fla.	3.98	Coastal Environmental Science (Biology)
Michael Chatman	Augusta	So.		3.90	Cybersecurity
Simon Cole	Embry-Riddle	Sr.	Wakulla, Fla.	3.832	Computer Science
Elijah Corn	Augusta	So.	Dallas, Ga.	3.95	Cell and Molecular Biology
Drake Dalton	Columbus State	So.	Bogart, Ga.	3.77	Accounting (Finance)
Lucca Dimario	Embry-Riddle	So.	West Chester, Pa.	4.00	Computer Science
Bryce Dufrene	Flagler	So.	Mechaincsville, Md.	3.75	Biology
Joseph Elbert	Augusta	Jr.	Dallas, Ga.	3.96	Cybersecurity
Christian Fernandez	Flagler	Sr.	Miami, Fla.	3.77	Criminology
Logan Fisher	Columbus State	Sr.	Dallas, Ga.	4.00	Kinesiology
Miquel Fons	Flagler	So.	Manacor, Spain	3.97	Economics
Owen Hartshorn	Columbus State	Jr.	Columbus, Ga.	4.00	Robotics Engineering
Andrew Helfers	Augusta	Jr.	Newnan, Ga.	3.59	Kinesiology
Charles Hruda	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Tallahassee, Fla.	4.00	Master of Business Administration & Master of Civil Engineering
Avery Jaynes	Augusta	Sr.	Brooklet, Ga.	4.00	Sport Management
Alexander Kendall	Columbus State	Sr.	Canton, Ga.	4.00	Computer Science
Michael Klein	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	East Windsor, N.J.	3.636	Master of Business Administration
Jake Laird	USC Beaufort	Sr.	Columbia, S.C.	3.883	Interdisciplinary Studies
Ryan Lee	Augusta	Sr.	Lilburn, Ga.	4.00	Cell and Molecular Biology
Ryan Malarchick	Embry-Riddle	So.	Tomball, Texas	3.607	Engineering Physics
Brandon Martin	Augusta	Sr.	Commerce, Ga.	3.64	Biology
Christian McFarlane	Flagler	So.	Winter Garden, Fla.	3.62	Accounting
Ian McGrorty	Flagler	So.	Hershey, Pa.	3.55	Criminology
Ryan McKelphin	Columbus State	So.	Newnan, Ga.	3.58	Information Technology
Colin McNally	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Nokesvilla, Va.	3.714	Master of Aerospace Engineering
Michael Meriweather	Augusta	So.	Augusta, Ga.	3.51	Biology
Jacob Mitchell	USC Beaufort	Sr.	Rincon, Ga.	3.877	Information & Science Technology
Tereil Mitchum	Columbus State	Sr.	Macon, Ga.	3.88	Communications
Jeremy Mog	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.	3.667	Master of Software Engineering
Eli Moon	Embry-Riddle	So.	Clark, Colo.	3.516	Aerospace Engineering
Mattew Moore	Augusta	Sr.	Newnan, Ga.	4.00	Cybersecurity
Patrick Motes	Augusta	Sr.	Rome, Ga.	4.00	Communication
Ryan Musil	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	St. Augustine, Fla.	4.00	Master of Business Administration
Chase O’Connell	Embry-Riddle	So.	Allendale, N.J.	3.831	Aerospace Engineering
Reece Pasley	Columbus State	Jr.	Thomaston, Ga.	3.75	Political Science
Matthew Peach	Lander	Jr.	Weddington, N.C.	3.64	Business Administration
Nicholas Phillips	Columbus State	Sr.	Sugar Hill, Ga.	3.83	Communications
William Player	Columbus State	Sr.	Roswell, Ga.	3.83	Communications
Conrad Prisby	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Schereville, Ind.	4.00	Master of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Amonyay Pritchard	Flagler	So.	Hershey, Pa.	3.72	Business
Francisco Ramirez	Flagler	Sr.	Pace, Fla.	3.73	Coastal Environmental Science (Biology)
Shahzeb Rashid	Augusta	Jr..	Hoschton, Ga.	3.82	Cell and Molecular Biology
Mark Ravenscraft	Columbus State	Jr.	Marietta, Ga.	3.62	Finance
Tanner Rosolino	Embry-Riddle	Grad.	Port Orange, Fla.	3.50	Master of Aerospace Engineering
Brandon Santangelo	Embry-Riddle	Jr.	Alexandria, Va.	3.864	Aeronautical Science
Nicholas Scarangelli	Embry-Riddle	So.	Ocean City, N.J.	3.944	Computer Science
Joshua Sea	Flagler	So.	Jacksonville, Fla.	3.61	Sport Management
Noah Shepherd	Augusta	Jr.	Midland, Ga.	3.89	Kinesiology
Jaden Simpkins	Lander	So.	Simpsonville, S.C.	3.66	Business Administration
Jonah Simpson	Columbus State	So.	Warner Robins, Ga.	3.53	Computer Science (Data Analytics)
Elijah Sires	Columbus State	Sr.	McDonough, Ga.	3.74	Kinesiology
Sancho Smith	Clayton State	Jr.	Warwick, Bermuda	3.69	Accounting
David Stanley	Flagler	So.	Safety Harbor, Fla.	3.53	Coastal Environmental Science
Eli Smith	USC Beaufort	Sr.	Beaufort, S.C.	3.955	Elementary Education & Studio Art
Ethan Stout	Embry-Riddle	Jr.	Richland, Wash.	3.554	Aerospace Engineering
Aaron Strauber	Embry-Riddle	Sr.	Westminster, Colo.	3.585	Aerospace Engineering
Ethan Tank	Flagler	Sr.	Fort Myers, Fla.	4.00	Mathematics
Andrew Todd	Augusta	Sr.	Lilburn, Ga.	4.00	Kinesiology
Gavin Weinheimer	Embry-Riddle	Jr.	Austin, Texas	3.667	Aeronautical Science
Nathan Wyant	Embry-Riddle	So.	Felton, Pa.	4.00	Aerospace Engineering