Cal Elects Eight to Athletic Hall of Fame, Including a Swimmer
Eight accomplished Golden Bears have been elected into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame. The Class of 2025 features: Layshia Clarendon (women’s basketball, 2009-13) – Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year led the Bears to the only Final Four appearance in program history Hana Cutura (volleyball, 2006-09) – Pac-12 Player of the Year is the program’s all-time kills […]
Eight accomplished Golden Bears have been elected into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2025 features:
Layshia Clarendon (women’s basketball, 2009-13) – Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year led the Bears to the only Final Four appearance in program history
Hana Cutura (volleyball, 2006-09) – Pac-12 Player of the Year is the program’s all-time kills leader
Damir Dugonjic (men’s swimming & diving, 2007-11) – Seven-time NCAA champion swam in three Olympic Games for Slovenia
Donna Fong (field hockey head coach, 1976-94) – Program’s first-ever head coach was a three-time conference Coach of the Year
Alex Mack (football, 2005-08) – All-American center went on to 13-year NFL career
Ivan Rackov (men’s water polo, 2008-11) – National player of the year and three-time All-American led Cal to the NCAA title match in 2010
Jeff Tedford (football head coach, 2002-12) – Program’s all-time wins leader led the Bears to seven straight bowl games
Michael Weaver (men’s golf, 2009-14) – All-American was Cal’s first men’s golfer to play in The Masters
The Class of 2024 and 2025 will be formally inducted together during the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame weekend Oct. 17-18. The classes will be honored during the Bears’ home football game against North Carolina on Oct. 17 followed by the Hall of Fame Gala the following evening on Oct. 18. Tables for the gala can be reserved here. Single tickets go on sale Aug. 1.
The Cal Athletics Hall of Fame now has 355 individuals and seven rowing teams. The school’s Hall of Fame, which is located on the west side of California Memorial Stadium, is open to all ticket holders after each home football game.
Dugonjic won seven NCAA championships, including three consecutive individual titles in the 100-yard breaststroke. His final breaststroke crown contributed to the Bears’ team championship in 2011. Dugonjic set the NCAA record in the 100 breast as a sophomore and was an eight-time All-American. He represented his native Slovenia in the Olympic Games in 2008, 2012 and 2016 and registered a pair of top-20 finishes in the 100 breaststroke.
IVAN RACKOV – Men’s Water Polo (2008-11)
Rackov was named the 2010 winner of the Peter J. Cutino Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA water polo. He was also named the 2010 ACWPC National Player of the Year. Rackov ranks fourth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 235 career goals and fifth on Cal’s single-season list with 79 goals in 20120. Rackov led the Bears to the NCAA championship game in 2010.
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Cal Athletics. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contactAdvertising@SwimmingWorld.com.
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Sports Market Place Directory 2025 Edition” book has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. Sports Market Place 2025 provides a one-stop resource for this billion-dollar industry. This will be an important resource for large public libraries, university libraries, university athletic programs, career services or job placement organizations, and is a must for anyone doing […]
Sports Market Place 2025 provides a one-stop resource for this billion-dollar industry. This will be an important resource for large public libraries, university libraries, university athletic programs, career services or job placement organizations, and is a must for anyone doing business in or marketing a product or service to the vast U.S. sports industry.
Sports Market Place is the classic sports reference work that has served the sports industry for over 50 years, offering full coverage of 103 sports – from Air Sports to Yachting – including data on fast-growing segments such as cycling, fitness, gymnastics, martial arts, running, swimming, and weightlifting. Over the years, this work has grown to include nearly 2,000 pages of valuable content, including professional, college and youth leagues and teams, sports media, events, facilities, sponsors, manufacturers, and professional services.
With this directory on your desk, you have a comprehensive tool providing current key information about the people, organizations and events involving the explosive sports industry at your fingertips. Sports Market Place provides must-have contact information (nearly 13,500 listings) including: 11,484 websites, 6,047 email addresses, and nearly 40,000 key executives.
Single Sports has over 2,109 sport-specific organizations, leagues and teams that comprise over 100 specific sports. It includes professional, major and minor leagues, coaches, managers, and an alphabetical index.
Multi Sports includes 12 specific categories, including athletic foundations, Olympic teams, halls of fame and youth sports organizations. It includes a total of 835 and an alphabetical index.
College Sports has 1,697 listings with associations, conferences, degree programs, and division I, II and III schools. You’ll find a comprehensive list of coaches and sports management programs, and an alphabetical index.
Media includes prominent newspapers and radio and television sports programming. Listings include editors, commentators, show hosts and an alphabetical index.
Sports Sponsors includes 119 sponsors that support most major sports, including college bowl games, and an alphabetical index.
Professional Services comprises 13 categories, from executive search services to ticket services, for a total of 1,684 listings, and an alphabetical index.
Facilities has 1,365 listings and includes seven categories from arenas to facility concession services. You’ll find stadiums, race tracks, architects, management services, and an alphabetical index.
Manufacturers & Retailers include 1,929 listings, with a separate section for Software Manufacturers. Listings include valuable contact information, including key executives, plus products and brands. This chapter includes two indexes – one by sport and one by subject.
Events, Meetings & Trade Shows include 1,060 listings, of which 130 are trade shows. Events and trade shows are listed separately by both sport and date. This section also includes two alphabetical indexes, one for trade shows and one for events.
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
Live Water Polo U16 Girls Inter-Regional Championships 2025
June 27, 2025 Eight teams are heading to Liverpool Aquatics centre as the North West’s Region hosts the U16 Girls Inter-Regional Championships this weekend. Five teams will battle it out for the top prize with North West Thunder, West Midland Warriors, South West Sharks, London Sharks and South East competing in Division One. They’ll face […]
Eight teams are heading to Liverpool Aquatics centre as the North West’s Region hosts the U16 Girls Inter-Regional Championships this weekend.
Five teams will battle it out for the top prize with North West Thunder, West Midland Warriors, South West Sharks, London Sharks and South East competing in Division One.
They’ll face off for the top honour after finishing as the highest ranked teams at the U14 inter-regionals two years ago.
In Division 2, Scotland, East Midlands and North East Steelers will go head to head in the event, which will see each side gain plenty of vital match experience.
You can follow all the scores from the competition with our live scoreboard below.
Digital Sports Summit takes attendees beyond broadcast
SVG Europe’s Will Strauss with Lewis Wiltshire, SVP and managing director of digital at IMG SVG Europe welcomed some 200 people to the Digital Sports Summit on Wednesday, where the strategies, tools, techniques and technology required to successfully create and distribute social, mobile and streamed sports content where explored. After opening remarks from George Lopez, […]
SVG Europe’s Will Strauss with Lewis Wiltshire, SVP and managing director of digital at IMG
SVG Europe welcomed some 200 people to the Digital Sports Summit on Wednesday, where the strategies, tools, techniques and technology required to successfully create and distribute social, mobile and streamed sports content where explored.
After opening remarks from George Lopez, head of global operations at title sponsor Tata Communications, attention turned to IMG’s Digital Trends Report 2025.
In a presentation and fireside chat, Lewis Wiltshire, SVP and managing director of digital at IMG, outline the technologies and developments that are expected to shape the sports media landscape for rightsholders over the next 12 months. First up was the notion of a “first” or “second” screen, with Wiltshire emphasising the parity between larger screens and mobile devices.
He said: “There are more than 7bn mobile phone contracts globally…so this is not ‘second screen’ tech. We’re not saying it’s become the ‘first’ screen, we just don’t think there is a hierarchy.
Wiltshire also spoke about 2025 being the true era of wearables, and the impact of connected glasses and spectacles that are equipped with cameras on the capture of content. And he also spoke about the changing nature of search, with people now – thanks to AI – expecting answers rather than a list of results.
The session then shifted to a ranking of publishing platforms, with YouTube taking top sport thanks largely to its monetisation options for content owners.
Kahlen Macaulay, head of international sports partnerships at Snapchat (pictured, below), then shared how sports broadcasters, federations and other rights holders/owners and brands can successfully make use of the platform, particularly to reach younger viewers.
Macaulay spoke about how Snap has moved beyond a platform for video content teams to something that can “drive marketing and affinity”.
“Adidas, Nike and a host of luxury brands understand that it’s not about selling product straightaway, it’s about brand building. Sky Sports, for example, know they aren’t going to get a 15 year-old to take out a subscription, but it’s about building that relationship.”
Next, Tom Halls, SailGP, director of social, Patrick Burch-Lovell, European Tour Productions, creative director, original and branded content, Alexandra Willis, the Premier League, director of digital media & audience development and chair Richard Craig-McFeely explored strategies for engaging sports fans with short-form content, taking a detailed look at how federations, leagues and broadcasters alike can use Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms to attract, retain, monetise and engage with sports fans.
And then, before breaking for lunch, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Reuters Imagen shared how they digitised and centralised the federation’s content library, with Kirsten Lincoln, Reuters Imagen, senior account manager, Tabitha Horsefield, ITF broadcast operations project lead and Eoin Kelly, ITF senior media rights manager exploring the journey from siloed management to a searchable, cloud-based platform.
After lunchtime networking, a fireside chat: with Tim Cocker, founder of Eggchasers Rugby (pictured, below), revealed how – and why – the podcast and YouTube channel acquired the rights to second tier French rugby union, the Pro D2.
Cocker spoke about adopting an “I’ll do it myself” approach, which when combined with the forward-thinking approach of French rugby authorities, resulted in the acquisition of a year long deal to air Thursday night matches live on his YouTube channel to viewers in the UK and Ireland.
Next up was a panel comprised of Colin McKevitt, Badger & Combes, MD & Lancashire CCC CIO, Duncan East, Buzz 16, MD, Joshua Barnett, After Party Studios, MD, Ed Abis, Dizplai, CEO plus chair and consultant Tom Bowers, who delved into the world of watchalongs, exploring why people want to shape content as well as watch it, and how best to enable more involved viewing experiences.
Leaning on his experience of working with the FA on the Women’s Super League (WSL), Little Dot Sport Partnerships Director David Scriven provided expert insight into how to launch, manage and run a YouTube sports channel.
And then, taking into account the sessions that preceded it, Scott Miles, Sky Sports, head of content delivery, Donald Sievewright, Matrox, EMEA director of sales and Alex Ferris, LucidLink, senior director of solutions engineering explored how content hubs can streamline the distribution of sports video across multiple platforms.
The day wrapped up with a special showcase session in which Rachael Burford, head of women’s rugby at the Rugby Players Association (RPA), and HBS/Skroller general manager Jamie Aitchison discussed how and why female rugby players are becoming digital content creators: a move that is both helping clubs and leagues resonate with new and different audiences, and also supporting current and former players as they persue new career paths beyond the game.
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GREENSBORO – It was a big season for North Carolina A&T men’s track and field, culminating on Thursday with two postseason outdoor track and field awards from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) for two of its student-athletes. Sophomore Xavier Partee claimed CAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Sophomore teammate […]
GREENSBORO – It was a big season for North Carolina A&T men’s track and field, culminating on Thursday with two postseason outdoor track and field awards from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) for two of its student-athletes.
Sophomore Xavier Partee claimed CAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Sophomore teammate Xzaviah Taylor captured CAA Men’s Athlete of the Year.
Taylor earned second-team All-American honors from the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the 400H. Taylor advanced to the NCAA East Prelims in 2024 in the 400H, but this season, he elevated to a new level. He won CAA outdoor titles in the 400H, 400m and he helped the 4×100 team finish second.
Taylor entered NCAA nationals with the best qualifying time coming out of the NCAA East Prelims in the 400H, running a time of 49.18 to break the program record. Additionally, he ran on the 4×400-meter relay team that won at the prestigious Drake Relays.
“It means a lot to me,” said Taylor. “I went through a couple of struggles my freshman year, learning how to run my races. Coming into my sophomore year, I made a conscious effort to put in the work. I focused on my craft. I did what I had to do, and I came to conference, and I doubled. It showed how much work I put in over the years.”
In addition to having a twin brother who excels at track, his father, Angelo Taylor, was a three-time Olympian and three-time world champion in the 4×400 relay. Therefore, he fully understands the journey and is going through the process to reach his ultimate goals.
“I just need to compete more, and having competed at NCAA nationals helps,” said Taylor. “I have to compete against the best even more. That was my first time there in my individual event, so it was a little nerve-wracking for me.
Taylor also acknowledged how much fun he had at nationals competing against the nation’s best.
“It showed me how much experience they had and that they had to wait their turn. The guy who won finished fifth two years ago, then he finished second the next year, and then, of course, this year, he won. It showed me he put in the work and just stayed patient.”
XAVIER PARTEE
Partee also has a father with a familiar name. Derrick Partee is a 2000 graduate of North Carolina A&T and the head boys basketball coach at Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro. Xavier said there is no question he comes from a basketball family. He planned to become a walk-on for the A&T men’s basketball team upon becoming a student at A&T.
Then, by some random chance, someone encouraged him to try track and field during his senior year at Smith High School. Partee started with the high jump, but he wasn’t sold on the event. Therefore, someone suggested the triple jump. Bingo!! That led Partee to come across another familiar name and face in the Triad area – Roy “Spaceman” Thompson.
Thompson is the former legendary director of track and field at A&T and a former track and field athlete at A&T who has coached a few jump champions over the years.
“Shout out to Space,” said Partee. “He showed me so much about the event. I fell in love with it.”
During his freshman outdoor season, Partee finished second in the triple jump at the 2024 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Before winning the CAA indoor championship in the triple jump in 2025, Partee jumped 51 feet, 1 ¾ inches, at Texas Tech’s Corky Classic to finish eighth.
“To go from 49 (feet) to skip 50 and go to 51, I wondered if it was a fluke,” said Partee.
He wondered about that for a while. Partee opened the outdoor season by sustaining an injury at High Point University during the Aggies outdoor track and field opener, forcing him to miss a month. When he returned, the Aggies were hosting the Aggie Invitational at Johnson Track. It was no fluke. Partee jumped 50 feet, 10 ½ inches, to win the event.
“I religiously rehabbed my hamstring injury every day,” Partee said. “Then, to do that, my first meet back, I believed I could really be something happen in this event.”
Partee jumped 52 feet, 4 ¾ inches at the NCAA East Prelims to qualify for nationals as a sophomore. He finished 17th nationally at nationals, jumping 50 feet, 3 ¼ inches.
“I really haven’t had a second to sit with it,” said Partee about being named CAA Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. “Right now, I just feel ready for the next step. I feel ready for next year. We put in a lot of work obviously to get here, so I’m excited about getting back to work to see how much better we can do.”
SCROLL DOWN TO READ ARTICLE Jim Callis is a senior writer for MLB.com. He covers prospects and ahead of next month’s draft, spoke about the Orioles and what their strategy might be on July 13th. This interview has been edited for brevity. Question: How does this draft class look as compared with past years? Jim […]
Jim Callis is a senior writer for MLB.com. He covers prospects and ahead of next month’s draft, spoke about the Orioles and what their strategy might be on July 13th.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Question: How does this draft class look as compared with past years?
Jim Callis: “I think it’s a little down compared to past years. You don’t have the top-of-the-draft-type talents. The last couple of years we’ve had a bunch of guys that we’d say would be overall No. 1 picks in most years
“In 2023, it was Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews and Wyatt Langford, Max Clark and Walker Jenkins. Last year, it was even more: Travis Bazzana, Charlie Condon and Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, Nick Kurtz, JJ Wetherholt and Jac Caglianone.
“This year, I don’t think anyone has separated themselves from the pack. The strength undoubtedly is that there are a lot of high school shortstops and high school infielders
Q: Is this a good year for the Orioles to have three picks in the top 31 and six in the top 100?
Callis: “I think it’s always good to have extra draft picks. They’re not picking at the top, so I actually think you could argue that the guy they get at 19 might not be that much different than the guy they get at No. 9. You have those extra picks at the end of the first round, and that helps, too.
“Any scout will tell you there’s always talent in the draft, and it’s the team’s job is to go out and find it, and the thing the Orioles have going for them is that they don’t pick before 19, but because of those extra picks, they have the fifth-highest draft pool in baseball. It’s only $500,000 behind the number one team. They have as much spending power as any team in baseball and can do some damage with it.”
Q: The Orioles have to restock the farm system because so many prospects have either graduated to the major leagues or been traded. Do you think they’ll draft for specific need with those first three picks or for the best available player?
Callis: “I think they’ll probably go best available player the way their draft board is lined up. You know this regime has not spent very many early picks at all on pitchers. The flip side is that the team needs pitching more than anything at both the major league level and the minor league level,
“I’m not convinced that they’re necessarily going to change that. I would be kind of surprised if they took a pitcher with one of those three first picks, especially at 19, but I do think it’s probably best player available because I think the way they line up their boards.”
Q: But isn’t there pressure on them to take a pitcher because it’s such an obvious need?
Callis: “If you look at what the organization needs, they still have a bunch of young hitters, and they’re trying to figure out how to get them in the lineup at the same time. Samuel Basallo is still in Triple-A. The pitching staff is kind of old and not really effective. I don’t think they have that many guys on the pitching staff under 30 years old playing major roles at the big league level.
“I don’t know that the owner is saying: ‘Hey, go get some pitching.’ They haven’t drafted that way, so I don’t think the front office is going to say we have to get more pitching.
“I think the pressure is more on the outside, and people saying, ‘They need to get some pitching. I don’t think they feel some internal pressure, like, ‘hey, we need to draft some pitchers.’ If you look at their philosophy, it clearly is, ‘we’re not going to spend high picks on pitchers, and we’ll find out the ways to find them. All things being equal, it would make sense that two of those first three picks to be pitchers. This regime has just not drafted many pitchers in the first three rounds.”
Q: How would you rate the Orioles’ farm system?
Callis: “It’s not as strong as it used to be, and that’s natural. It’s very hard to sustain a top farm system when you’re winning at the big league level. Instead of picking in the top five and having those huge bonus pools, you’re picking around 20, and you have less international money. You’re making trades like the Corbin Burnes trade, and you’re giving up prospects.
“It’s very rare to see a team win at the big league level and continue to sustain a top-shelf farm system. Coming into the year, we had the Orioles ranked as our No. 15 farm system. I haven’t contemplated farm system rankings because the draft’s approaching but they’d probably be down a little bit.
“Coby Mayo, who was ranked in our top 15 prospects, has graduated, out of rookie status, out of prospect status. It’s a farm system with one top 100 prospect, and that’s Samuel Basallo, who is one of the best hitters in the minor leagues, and he’s interesting.
“There’s Enrique Bradfield. He’s interesting. We have him as the No. 2 prospect, and he’s kind of polarizing. He can definitely run, steal bases and play a good center field, but there’s mixed opinions of how much impact he has on the bat. Chayce McDermott is kind of a rough year. He has a good arm. Vance Honeycutt, last year’s No. 1 pick. He had probably the best tools on the college side of the draft, but he’s hitting .185 in High-A, and they were swing-and-miss concerns with him.
“The farm system isn’t at that level where it was the best farm system in baseball. There have been some positive developments. [Aberdeen right-hander] Michael Forret has pitched pretty well. That’s a positive development. They need more of them. They’re kind of in the contender status of farm systems.”
Q: Considering those last two drafts, was it that they were drafting lower or did the Orioles lose their touch?
Callis: “Nobody has a good draft year after year. When you’re picking No. 1 and you have a huge bonus pool, you can take Adley Rutschman and you can push Gunnar Henderson down to your second-round pick. You can’t do that at 19 or at 22 or wherever they’re picking.
“It’s early, but last year’s draft does not look great right now. Vance Honeycutt is really struggling, and to be honest, there were swing-and-miss concerns with him. [Second pick in 2024] Griff O’Ferrall isn’t really hitting, and he was a glove-first shortstop. I don’t think we thought he’d be hitting .207 in High-A.
“[Second rounder] Ethan Anderson had an OK year at Virginia, and he’s struggling a little bit in High-A, too. You could argue guys are being pushed aggressively, too. Coming out of the ACC, you should be able to handle High-A in your first year, also.
“I wouldn’t say that last year’s draft is in the books, and we know what it is, but it’s not looking very good right now. The guys who made the good picks in prior drafts. I wouldn’t say they’ve lost their mojo.
“If you want a positive development, there’s a guy they spent extra money on in the 16th round, Nate George, who’s a really athletic high school kid from Illinois. He’s played really well. He might be a nice late-round find. It’s still early, but you would hope that your ’24 draft class was looking better than it has been in ’25.”
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected].
Johnson Named Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year
Track & Field | 6/26/2025 5:59:00 PM
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GREENSBORO – Allen Johnson pulled off the double on Thursday by winning Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year three months after winning CAA Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year. The conference announced its postseason honors on […]
GREENSBORO – Allen Johnson pulled off the double on Thursday by winning Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year three months after winning CAA Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year. The conference announced its postseason honors on Thursday.
“I’m humbled, really,” said Johnson. “It is a time of reflection. To realize where the program was when I got here in 2022. Looking back on the journey we undertook in 2023 and seeing what we have accomplished to date is humbling.
There were so many trials and tribulations along the way, which was unbelievable. If it weren’t for the type of student athletes we have in this program, this wouldn’t be possible. It wasn’t for the kind of coaches I have on this staff, this wouldn’t be possible. If it weren’t for the type of people I work with in athletics and at the university, this wouldn’t be possible. I didn’t do this alone. I have had a lot of help.”
Johnson led the Aggies to the 2025 CAA men’s indoor and outdoor track and field championships, winning the outdoor title at A&T’s Marcus T. Johnson Track. The Aggies won the outdoor title by 36 points over Monmouth, claiming titles in the 400 meters, 800m, 400-meter hurdles, triple jump, shot put, and the 4×400-meter relay.
In addition, the Aggies took the top four spots in the 400m, the top three spots in the shot put, and the top two spots in the 800m and the 400H. Johnson then sent 14 male student-athletes to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Xzaviah Taylor (400H, 4×100, 4×400), his twin brother Isaiah Taylor (110H, 400H, 4×100), Partree (triple jump), Correy McManus Jr. (4×100), Jaeden Gumbs (4×100), Brandon Nya (4×100), Elijah Thomas (4×400), Caleb Gurnell (4×400), and Dyimond Walker (4×400) all advanced to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
