DURHAM, N.C. (May 3, 2024) – On Saturday in Durham County Memorial Stadium, Winston-Salem State University’s Women and Claflin University’s Men were crowned champions at the 2025 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

The WSSU Rams fought valiantly to edge out the defending champions, the Fayetteville State Broncos, by a mere 0.5 points, with final scores of 136.5 and 136, respectively. Claflin University secured third place with a score of 120.5.

Claflin University dominated the men’s competition, scoring an impressive 150 points. Virginia Union University followed closely, earning 143 points, while Virginia State University claimed third place with 93 points.

Head Coach Antonio Wells of Winston-Salem State was named CIAA Women’s Coach of the Year, while Claflin’s Head Coach Malcolm Watts was honored as CIAA Men’s Coach of the Year.

Individual accolades were also awarded, with WSSU’s Charnessa Reid named the Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and FSU’s Domanique Knowles named the Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. Johnson C. Smith University’s Tyson Williams was recognized as the Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, and Virginia Union University’s Zachary Jones was named the Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

FSU’s Knowles also captured the Women’s Field MVP award by contributing 23 points with a first-place win in the high jump, second place in triple jump, and fourth place in long jump. VUU’s Jones earned the Men’s Field MVP Award with 23 points from winning the shot-put and discus throw, and placing sixth in the javelin throw.

WSSU’s Elicia Bryant was named the Women’s Track MVP with her 23-point contribution from first place in the 1500m, second place in the 800m, and fourth place in the 3000m. The Men’s Track MVP went to Claflin University’s Jaevon Riley, who accumulated 22.5 points by winning first place in the 400m hurdles, 400m, and 4x400m relay.

Saturday’s women’s winners were Knowles of Fayetteville State (high jump), Yassine Kamara of Bowie State (discus), Jhnyia Knuckles of Claflin (triple jump), Charnessa Reid of Winston-Salem(100m hurdles), Kamani Johns of Lincoln (Pa.) (400m), Brianna Benloss of Winston-Salem State (100m, 200m), Brenda Cheboi of Fayetteville State (800m), Gabrielle Maye of Johnson C. Smith (400m hurdles), Rose Muturi of Virginia State (3000m), the Virginia State 4x100m relay team, and the Claflin 4x400m relay team.

Saturday’s men’s winners were Javion Watkins of Johnson C. Smith (javelin), Jahaz Morgan of Virginia State (triple jump), Zachary Jones of Virginia Union (discus), Lorenzo Pelham of Bowie State(110m hurdles), Jaevon Riley of Claflin (400m and 400m hurdles), Romar Stapleton of Claflin (100m), Zion Murry of Claflin (800m), Tyson Williams of Johnson C. Smith (200m), Franklin Kipchirchir of Virginia Union (5000m), and the Claflin 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.

Men’s Final Standings

1. Claflin – 150

2. Virginia Union – 143

3. Virginia State – 93

4. Johnson C. Smith – 91

5. Livingstone – 72

6. Bowie State – 52

7. Lincoln (PA.) – 27

7. Bluefield State – 27

Women’s Final Standings

1. Winston-Salem State – 136.5

2. Fayetteville State – 136

3. Claflin – 120.5

4. Virginia State – 57.5

5. Lincoln (PA.) – 35.5

6. Johnson C. Smith – 32

7. Bowie State – 29

7. Virginia Union – 29

9. Shaw – 20

10. Livingstone – 13

11. Bluefield State – 9

To view the full championship results, navigate here. 

The final stretch of Southern California girls high school beach volleyball hits the sand in Long Beach this weekend for the CIF-SS championships.

It was a great weekend for the Naperville North boys water polo team as the Huskies competed in the very powerful Stevenson Invitational.

No. 2-ranked Naperville North beat York 16-8 and Lyons 13-8 on Friday before rolling past Lincoln-Way East 13-5 in its first game on Saturday.

Due to prom commitments for both No. 1-ranked New Trier (25-2) and the Huskies (25-4) the title game consisted mainly of junior varsity players. And the Trevians swam away with the team title 8-5 over Naperville North.

Senior Mason Hoffmann was the leading scorer for the Huskies in the tournament with strong support from senior teammate Jack Reif. Junior Caden Tsao scored 2 goals against New Trier, but the Huskies were missing six seniors in the championship game.

“We were really happy with the tournament, and plus this is a really competitive tournament with the top four teams in the state here,” said Naperville North assistant coach George Horn. “Caden (Tsao) stepped up, but New Trier just had a little more experience out there than us.”

Third-ranked York (20-6) toppled the No. 4-ranked host Patriots 12-8 in the third-place game as sophomore Ethan Allen had a game-high 5 goals for the Dukes. York sophomore Teddy Kamenica scored 3 goals as the Dukes led 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

“They (Stevenson) are one of the top teams in the state, they have a lot of experience, and they’re well coached so to beat them is a confidence booster,” said York coach Brian Drumm, whose team beat Lincoln-Way East 14-3 on Friday. “C.J. Prodoehl had a nice defensive performance. He was kind of our anchor, and he had two shot blocks in the fourth quarter.”

The Patriots (20-9) had balanced scoring as Armeet Gill, Wes Linnenburger, Kenny Weisner, and Jared Carollo scored 2 goals each. Sophomore goalie Anthony Cardone was under heavy fire from York throughout the contest.

“We’re missing our starting center (Ben Tosyali), but our other guys really stepped up and played well,” said Stevenson coach Sean Wimer, whose team lost 15-10 to New Trier on Friday. “They were focusing on Armeet Gill and some of the other guys got opportunities and they made the most of them.”

The fifth-place game was a real shootout with Naperville Central (20-7) holding off defending state champion Lyons 15-13 for the win. Tied 7-7 at halftime, the Lions (13-10) could not contain James Behrend, who scored 6 goals for the Redhawks, and A.J. Landorff (5 goals). Junior Ben Kozak led Lyons with 4 goals. New Trier beat the Redhawks 13-6 Saturday.

“This has been one of the better tournaments in the state since I’ve been coming here, and all eight teams are ranked in the top 10 in the state,” said Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine, who is in his final season as head coach. “It was a high-scoring game. We played a very good team-oriented game, and the assists were coming from all over.”

After winning the state title, Lyons lost 16 seniors to graduation. “I thought we played well last night in our two games, and we usually don’t give up this many goals,” said Lyons coach Doug Eichstaedt, whose team beat Lincoln-Way East 9-4 and lost to York 7-4 on Friday. “We just couldn’t convert on some opportunities, but our defense wasn’t good enough to win.”

On Friday, the Redhawks beat No. 9 Palatine 10-7, and lost 15-8 to Stevenson. On Saturday, the Pirates (22-7) fell 11-7 to the host Patriots, 14-2 to No. 1-ranked New Trier, and 13-9 to LWE in the seventh-place game.

Danzy was victorious in the men’s 400-meters, moving up three spots on the all-time list with the third-fastest time in FSU history and career best of 45.0.

Tyson Williams placed second in the men’s 110 hurdles with a time of 13.71. Kyvon Tatham recorded his third straight top three finish in the men’s triple jump, placing second with a mark of 16.22m (53-02.75). LaQuan Ellis followed in sixth at 14.94m (14.94m (49-00.25).

Suus Altorf led the women’s mid-distance in the 800, placing third with a time of 2:04.56. Kaelyaah Liburd led the women’s sprints in the 400, placing second with a time of 52.10.

The Seminoles will begin postseason action at the ACC Championship on May 15-17 in Winston Salem, North Carolina hosted by Wake Forest.

NOLE SUMMARY: 

-Men’s discus throw: 

Jackson Hamilton | 12th | 44.86m (147-02.00)

Ryan Driscoll | 13th | 44.36m (145-06.00)

-Men’s discus throw: 

Zianna Curtis | 9th | 42.6

Ryan Driscoll | 13th | 44.36m (145-06.00)

-Women’s triple jump:

Kayla Pinkard  | 5th | 12.68m (41-07.25)

Oluwadara Soremi | 9th | 12.12m (39-09.25)

-Men’s triple jump: 

Kvyon Tatham | 2nd | 16.22m (53-02.75)

LaQuan Ellis | 6th | 14.94m (49-00.25)

-Men’s 110-meter hurdles: 

Tyson Williams | 2nd | 13.71

-Women’s 100-meters: 

Joella Lloyd | 6th | 11.51

Liana Tyson | 6th | 11.51

-Men’s 100-meters 

Neo Mosebi | 3rd | 10.13

-Women’s 800-meters:

Suus Altorf | 1st | 4:14.74

Brooke Mullins | 2nd | 4:18.69 (PB)

Nicole Dinan | 3rd | 4:22.34

Bike Schipperen | 4th | 4:22.46 (PB)

Emily Brown | 5th | 4:23.58

Elizabeth Barlow | 10th | 4:30.68

Lauren Mahan | 26th | 4:45.60

-Men’s 800-meters:

Zach Trotter | 17th | 1:52.37

Anthony Herrera | 28th | 1:53.48

-Men’s 400-meters:

Micahi Danzy | 1st | 45.0 (PB)

-Women’s 400-meters:

Kaelyaah Liburd | 2nd | 52.10

Alyia Green | 5th | 53.80

Takiyah Ferguson | 27th | 54.27

For more information on Florida State track and field, follow Twitter (X) @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.     

 

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Another banner season for Cal Poly came to a close in the semifinal round of the 2025 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship, battling to the end before falling to TCU, 3-1. 

 

Entering the bracket as the No. 6 seed, the Mustangs close the year with a 31-8 overall record matching the program’s highest total win tally. Cal Poly swept through No. 11 seed LSU and upended third-seeded Stanford, 3-1, on Saturday morning to advance to a second-straight semifinal appearance.  

Their luck ran out against No. 2 seed TCU, who earned a 3-1 win to advance to their first-ever National Collegiate Championship final. The Horned Frogs (31-5) are set to meet up with No. 4 seed LMU (38-6) on May 4 at 7:30 a.m. PT for the trophy. Whoever wins will be a first-time champion as only UCLA and USC have claimed the crown, historically.  

In Saturday’s semifinal round, TCU took first-set wins on four of five courts, despite the Mustangs finding themselves knotted late in the frame at both the No. 1 and 4 flights. The tight battle saw three courts go to a decisive third set 

At the 2s, Logan Walter and Izzy Martinez were able to cruise to the 21-15 win in the first set. In the second, the Cal Poly pair found themselves up 15-14 before TUC’s Hailey Hamlett and Maria Gonzalez rallied to take the lead and force a third with the 21-17 win. In the final frame, Cal Poly went up early in the set, but back-to-back points for TCU cut the margin to one at 7-6. However, Walter and Martinez were able to maintain the lead throughout and get on the board after a 15-13 final score.  

The point for the Mustangs still had the team looking for the rally, after TCU jumped out to the 2-0 lead in the match.  TCU’s Olympian pairing of Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno were able to win in straight sets at the 1s and also needed just two sets at Court 4 despite both first sets being extra point affairs.  

At Court 3, the TCU duo was able to secure a 21-13 win in the first, but Quinn Perry and Lindsey Sparks regrouped and responded to extend the match after a 21-18 win in the second. The frame was knotted at eight apiece before the Horned Frogs edged out to the lead. Sparks and Perry were able to stay within two points for the rest of the set, but TCU’s final point to the back line to win 15-12 sent the Horned Frogs into a frenzy to secure the semifinal win.  

TCU’s route to the championship match includes sweeps over No. 15 Georgia State and No. 7 Texas, with Cal Poly the only side to take a point from the Horned Frogs.  

   2025 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship – Semifinals   

No. 2 seed TCU 3, No. 6 seed Cal Poly 1 

No. 1 – Daniela Alvarez/Tania Moreno (TCU) def. Piper Ferch/Erin Inskeep (CP), 27-25, 21-12 

No. 2 – Izzy Martinez/Logan Walter (CP) def. Hailey Hamlett/Maria Gonzalez (TCU), 21-15, 17-21, 15-12 

No. 3 – Allanis Navas/Sofia Izuzquiza (TCU) def. Quinn Perry Lindsey Sparks (CP), 21-13-18-21, 15-13 

No. 4 – Ana Vergaara/Anhelina Khmil (TUC) def. Ella Connor/Madi Nichols (CP), 25-23, 21-18 

No. 5 – Abbey Reinard/Elise Lenahan (CP) vs. Stacy Reeves/Denie Konstantinova (TCU), 14-21, 21-18, 11-13 (unfinished) 

Order of finish: 1, 4, 2, 3*