Sports
Cal Poly Beach Volleyball Ranked Fourth in Final AVCA Rankings
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Following their run to the NCAA Championship semifinals last week, Cal Poly beach volleyball came in ranked No. 4 in the final AVCA Poll released Tuesday. The Mustangs were ranked behind the other three final four teams from last week’s NCAA Championship in national champion TCU, runner-up LMU, and UCLA. […]

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Following their run to the NCAA Championship semifinals last week, Cal Poly beach volleyball came in ranked No. 4 in the final AVCA Poll released Tuesday.
The Mustangs were ranked behind the other three final four teams from last week’s NCAA Championship in national champion TCU, runner-up LMU, and UCLA.
This marks the second straight year Cal Poly has been ranked in the top four in the final rankings. Last year, they finished ranked No. 3 in the country after also making it to the NCAA Championship Semifinals.
This year’s team finished with a record of 31-8, matching the most wins by a Mustang team in a season. They also made it to the Big West Championship finals and collected the program’s first wins over UCLA and LSU.
In addition, the Mustangs had four players be named AVCA All-Americans, and 10 players who earned All-Conference honors. Meanwhile, the No. 1 pair of senior Piper Ferch and sophomore Erin Inskeep broke the program record for career wins by a pair in a season with 58.
Cal Poly will lose nine players from this year’s team but return six of their 10 starters next year.
Sports
Richie Johnston finishes 12th in the steeplechase at NCAA DII Outdoor Championships
Story Links Hillsdale’s all-time record holder in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase finished his collegiate career on Friday in Pueblo, Colorado, by contesting for the first time the final of the steeplechase at the 2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. A three-time national meet qualifier, Johnston used a gutsy effort on Thursday to […]

Hillsdale’s all-time record holder in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase finished his collegiate career on Friday in Pueblo, Colorado, by contesting for the first time the final of the steeplechase at the 2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships.
A three-time national meet qualifier, Johnston used a gutsy effort on Thursday to advance past the preliminary round of the 3,000m steeplechase for the first time in his career. That meant a brutal turnaround of less than 24 hours at altitude to compete a second time in one of the most grueling events in track and field.
Johnston gave it his best attempt despite the challenges, and finished his race 12th in the nation with a final time of 9:39.64. Johnston’s finish means he will receive honorable mention All-American honors for the first time in his career, adding to a list of accomplishments that includes the school record and back-to-back G-MAC titles in the event.
Hillsdale now turns its focus to a big final day at the 2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships on Saturday, with three athletes looking to earn All-American honors competing within an hour of each other. The Chargers open the day with senior Cass Dobrowolski competing in the high jump at 6:45 p.m. ET. Twenty minutes later, junior Ben Haas competes in the shot put at 7:05 p.m. ET, looking to add another All-American honor to the national championship he won in the hammer throw on Thursday. Junior Ross Kuhn wraps things up for the Chargers at 7:45 p.m. ET, competing in the final of the 1,500m run after qualifying through the prelims on Thursday.
Sports
“I like a good challenge:” Montevallo tabs Matthew Allen to succeed Tena Niven as head volleyball coach – Shelby County Reporter
“I like a good challenge:” Montevallo tabs Matthew Allen to succeed Tena Niven as head volleyball coach Published 7:01 pm Friday, May 23, 2025 Montevallo High School named Matthew Allen as its new head volleyball coach as the former West Blocton head coach and Helena assistant will bring his track record of success to succeed […]

“I like a good challenge:” Montevallo tabs Matthew Allen to succeed Tena Niven as head volleyball coach
Published 7:01 pm Friday, May 23, 2025
- Montevallo High School named Matthew Allen as its new head volleyball coach as the former West Blocton head coach and Helena assistant will bring his track record of success to succeed the legendary Tena Niven. (Contributed/Allen Photography + Events)
By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
MONTEVALLO – For the first time in 15 years, the Montevallo Bulldogs will have a new face on the sidelines at volleyball games as Matthew Allen returns to his roots and takes over the program.
Montevallo officially announced Allen as the new head varsity volleyball coach in a social media post on Friday, May 16. He was officially introduced to the team at a special meeting on Tuesday, May 20 at the MHS library.
“Montevallo is always kind of been like a home away from home, so this is very exciting for me and my family,” Allen said.

Allen led West Blocton to its most successful season ever in 2024 before heading to Helena and now Montevallo ahead of the 2025 season. (Contributed/Allen Photography + Events)
Allen served as the head coach of West Blocton for three seasons. In his most recent campaign in 2024, he led them to a 12-6 record, a nine-win improvement over the 2023 season and the most single-season wins since the Tigers started their program in 2010.
As a result, Allen’s West Blocton team finished second in Class 4A, Area 6 and advanced to the South Super Regionals for the first time since 2014. He was also named The Tuscaloosa News Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Prior to that, Allen coached boys basketball for a season at Morgan Academy and made it to the state championship game. He got his start at Cornerstone Christian, doubling up as volleyball and boys basketball coach while amassing a 54-15 volleyball record in three years with the Chargers.
While Allen didn’t graduate from Montevallo High School, his roots run deep in the area. He attended Montevallo Elementary School as a kid before moving to the Bibb County, and many of his family members graduated from MHS.
After leaving West Blocton, Allen headed to Helena in March and was set to serve as an assistant coach for both the Huskies’ varsity volleyball and boys basketball teams.
However, Allen ultimately left Helena without coaching a single game after a curious internal job search within Shelby County Schools led to him discovering that Montevallo’s volleyball coaching job was open.
He then reached out to Tena Niven who he knew from sharing an area with the Bulldogs in 2022 and 2023. After he confirmed Niven was retiring, he took time to pray and consider the position while Niven worked to help the opportunity come together.
While he never meant to leave Helena after less than three months at the school, he felt strongly that God was leading him in Montevallo’s direction.
“I’m a man of faith, and I firmly believe that this was a door that the Lord opened, and me and my family have a lot of peace about it,” Allen said. “And like I said, this wasn’t something that I took easily.”
Allen steps in for a program legend in Niven, who coached volleyball for the last 15 seasons as part of a 24-year coaching career at MHS. She racked up 270 wins as well as 10 area championships, three regional titles and two trips to the Elite Eight in her time with Montevallo volleyball.
He knows the expectations will be through the roof as he takes over for a beloved coach who he himself respects, but he is prepared for what lies ahead and looks forward to building on what Niven left behind.
“I understand the legacy that coach Niven has, and I understand it’s going to be a challenge trying to step in for somebody like her, but I like a good challenge,” Allen said. “Stepping in for her, I think it’s actually going to be pretty easy because she has a really good foundation built and really good program built, so (it’s) something I’m excited to do.”
Allen is no stranger to overcoming the odds. He came to Cornerstone initially as a boys basketball coach with all of his volleyball knowledge coming from watching his sister play. However, after a year on the basketball court, the Chargers needed a volleyball coach, so he stepped up.
Allen didn’t let his lack of knowledge stop him, and as he dove into learning about volleyball, he fell in love with it. His fast learning combined with a strong senior class to help Cornerstone reach the AISA Final Four in his first season ever as a volleyball coach.
He chalks up his quick success to a strong work ethic and drive to be the best.
“I’m not going to just go in and halfway coach something even if I don’t know much about the sport,” Allen said. “I wasn’t there for volleyball. Basketball was my thing, so I could’ve easily just said, ‘I’m just going to get through it and get through to basketball,’ but started studying the game, started learning about it, and we had a fantastic year that year.”
He does carry over some principles from his time on the basketball court, namely a simple, fundamentals-based approach. In either sport, he isn’t focused on teaching specific plays or running a complicated offense and defense but instead wants to teach how to play the game the right way.
“I want my team to be very disciplined, want them to be very fundamentally sound, and once we get that established, we can start adding some things if we need to,” Allen said. “That’s the good thing about coming to coach Niven’s program is they’re going to be fundamentally sound, so there’s not much work to do there.”
With that foundation mostly laid, Allen hopes to instill a love of competition that paves the way for success both on and off the court.
“I want them to play together,” Allen said. “I want them to love competing, and not just competing on the court. Life itself is all about competition, and so if they can learn to compete on the court and learn how to overcome adversity, Nick Saban talks about the process, that’s what it’s all about. If we can get through that process of trying to be a winner, trying to be a champion, then they can learn some things that they can take with them throughout life and they can be a competitor in life.”
Montevallo enters its second season in Class 5A with high expectations after making the Class 5A Super Regionals in its first year in the classification. With a strong rising-senior trio of Emeli Guardado, Zoe Jones and Hunter Jordan returning fresh off All-State seasons, Allen will step into a program with a successful recent track record.
He wants to see the city of Montevallo get excited about the volleyball team this year and support them as they strive for even greater success in 2025.
“I really want to see is a big student section there every night, every game, big crowd there every night, every game, get this community rallied around these girls,” Allen said. “That’s what they want, and I think we can have a really special season.”
Sports
University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota will be well represented at the 2025 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field West First Round May 28-31 as 21 events qualified from the men’s team and 18 from the women’s side were declared Thursday. The Maroon and Gold will compete in a total of 39 combined events over four […]

The Maroon and Gold will compete in a total of 39 combined events over four days of action from E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University. The region’s top 48 student-athletes in individual events and the best 24 relay teams will compete with the men set for Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.
Coverage of the entire meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live results via Flash Results. The top 12 competitors from each individual event and the top 12 teams from each relay will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships set for June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore., at Hayward Field.
Women’s Declared Entrants (Event, Seeded Position, Qualifying Performance)
Erin Reidy – 1500m (18th. 4:14.31)
Ali Weimer – 10000m (12th. 33:03.15)
Maja Maunsbach – 100m Hurdles (11th. 13.09)
Dyandra Gray – 400m Hurdles (27th. 57.95), 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Zoie Dundon – 3000m Steeplechase (8th. 9:52.46)
Isabelle Schmitz – 3000m Steeplechase (9th. 9:55.19)
Kendra Kelley – 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Kennedy Martinson – 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Kitania Headley – 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Ellie Kuechle (ALT) – 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Laubenra Ben (ALT) – 4x400m Relay (23rd. 3:37.40)
Alliyah McNeil – High Jump (T34th. 1.78m | 5-10)
Nyalaam Jok – High Jump (T34th. 1.78m | 5-10)
Lexy Berger – Pole Vault (27th. 4.29m | 14-0 3/4)
Sofia Condon – Pole Vault (31st. 4.26m | 13-11 3/4)
Diarra Sow – Triple Jump (10th. 13.42m | 44-0 1/2)
Brooke Moore – Triple Jump (18th. 13.21m | 43-4 1/4)
Anthonett Nabwe – Shot Put (19th. 16.84m | 55-3), Discus (6th. 58.75m | 192-9), Hammer Throw (4th. 69.85m | 229-2)
Isabelle Schmidt – Shot Put (46th. 15.36m | 50-4 3/4)
Hadley Streit – Hammer Throw (14th. 65.65m | 215-5)
Men’s Declared Entrants (Event, Seeded Position, Qualifying Performance)
Devin Augustine – 100m (17th. 10.16), 200m (10th. 20.47), 4x100m Relay (2nd. 38.54)
Kion Benjamin – 100m (48th. 10.29), 4x100m Relay (2nd. 38.54)
Aaron Charles – 200m (27th. 20.66), 4x100m Relay (2nd. 38.54)
Christian Martin – 110m Hurdles (15th. 13.49), 4x400m Relay (18th. 3:06.46)
Michael Buchanan – 110m Hurdles (T33rd. 13.65)
Spencer Brown – 110m Hurdles (T33rd. 13.65)
Ahmed Khadar – 400m Hurdles (21st. 50.49)
Frankie Grey – 400m Hurdles (41st. 51.13), 4x400m Relay (18th. 3:06.46)
Emmett Gerres – 3000m Steeplechase (36th. 8:48.10)
Zion Campbell – 4x100m Relay (2nd. 38.54)
Dwyne Smith Jr. – 4x400m Relay (18th. 3:06.46)
Ramy Ayoub – 4x400m Relay (18th. 3:06.46)
Joseph Manser (ALT) – 4x400m Relay (18th. 3:06.46)
Sam Snitker – High Jump (48th. 2.10m | 6-10 3/4)
Jak Urlacher – Pole Vault (12th. 5.47m | 17-11 1/4)
Charles Godfred – Long Jump (2nd. 8.13m | 26-8 1/4)
Michael Buchanan – Long Jump (29th. 7.63m | 25-0 1/2)
Hakeem Ford – Triple Jump (2nd. 16.54m | 54-3 1/4)
Precious Opinion – Triple Jump (26th. 15.53m | 50-11 1/2)
Isaiah Schafer – Shot Put (6th. 19.87m | 65-2 1/4)
Angelos Mantzouranis – Hammer Throw (1st. 78.61m | 257-11)
Kostas Zaltos – Hammer Throw (2nd. 77.91m | 255-7)
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
Sports
U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Wins Opener at 2025 PVPA Zonal
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 24, 2025) — The U.S. Women’s Sitting National Team picked up where it left off in 2024 — with a victory. Kicking off the 2025 ParaVolley Pan America Zonal Championship, the U.S. Women, ranked No. 3 in the world, defeated No. 1 Canada, 3-0, (25-22, 25-21, 25-15). The U.S. (1-0) will […]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 24, 2025) — The U.S. Women’s Sitting National Team picked up where it left off in 2024 — with a victory. Kicking off the 2025 ParaVolley Pan America Zonal Championship, the U.S. Women, ranked No. 3 in the world, defeated No. 1 Canada, 3-0, (25-22, 25-21, 25-15).
The U.S. (1-0) will face No. 2 Brazil on Sunday, May 25 at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT. Matches are live streamed on our event page.
While two of the stars of the 2024 Paralympic Games, Heather Erickson and Katie Bridge, are not competing this year, two other Paralympians made their return to competition against Canada — 2020 Tokyo gold medalist Jillian Williams Coffee and three-time Paralympic medalist Kendra Hall.
“It was really awesome [being back on the court],” Coffee said. “I also have Major (her son) and my husband watching. Last I played, he was in my belly, so it was cool to have him here with me, too. Just to be with the girls again was unbelievable — the feeling, the excitement, and the energy is unmatched.”
Despite the three-set win, there were still a couple rough spots for the U.S. in the match, as expected with a different mix of athletes competing together for the first time.
“I think we did really well, but there’s a lot to work on, including serving and serve receive,” Coffee added. “We are pretty much a whole new lineup when it comes to the people on the court, so it takes some time to adjust to who’s next to us and getting comfortable with getting into that rhythm with each other. We’re getting there.”
Coffee scored five points on five kills in her first match back, but four-time Paralympic medalist Monique Matthews led the U.S. with 11 points on eight kills, one blocks and two aces.
Kaleo Kanahele Maclay scored seven points at setter in the first two sets, with three kills, two blocks and two aces. Lora Webster, Tia Edwards and Whitney Dosty each scored six. Webster had four kills and two blocks; Edwards had three kills and three blocks; and Dosty had six kills.
Nicky Nieves had two kills and two blocks; Emma Schieck had an ace and three kills; Lexi Patterson collected a kill; and MaKenzie Franklin and Raelene Elam each recorded a block.
The U.S. led Canada in kills, 34-24 and blocks, 12-8, but Canada had a 7-6 edge in aces. Canada’s Heidi Peters led all scorers with 15 points.
Full Match Stats (PDF)
Schedule/Results
May 24
USA def. Canada, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-15)
May 25
USA vs. Brazil, 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT
May 26
USA vs. Brazil, 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT
May 27
Gold medal match, 1 vs 2 at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT
Roster
No Name (Position, Height, Hometown)
1 Lora Webster (MB, 5-11, Point Lookout, N.Y.)
2 Bethany Zummo (L, 5-3, Dublin, Calif.)
3 Lexi Patterson (S/L, 5-4, Waseca, Minn.)
7 Monique Matthews (MB/OH, 6-0, Ardmore, Okla.)
8 Whitney Dosty (OH/OPP, 6-3, Tucson, Ariz.)
9 Tia Edwards (OH/MB, 5-7, Skiatook, Okla.)
11 Jillian Williams-Coffee (MB/OPP/OH, 5-10, Odem, Texas)
12 Emma Schieck (OH, 5-7, Statesville, N.C.)
14 Kaleo Kanahele Maclay (S, 5-6, Oklahoma City, Okla.)
15 Kendra Hall (5-7, Westfield, Ind.)
16 Nicky Nieves (MB/OH, 5-10, Kissimmee, Fla.)
18 Courtney Baker (OH, 5-9, Crofton, Ky.)
22 MaKenzie Franklin (OH, 6-0, Red Wing, Minn., North Country)
24 Raelene Elam (OH, 6-1, St. George, Utah, Northern California)
Sports
College track & field: Loras’ Seipel wins 3rd national long jump title | Local Sports
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Cannes 2025: Impressive Thriller ‘The Plague’ from Charlie Polinger
Cannes 2025: Impressive Thriller ‘The Plague’ from Charlie Polinger by Alex Billington May 24, 2025 A fresh new debut from a filmmaker who has real talent. One of the best first films at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival is titled The Plague, an American indie thriller made by filmmaker Charlie Polinger. During the intro at […]

Cannes 2025: Impressive Thriller ‘The Plague’ from Charlie Polinger
by Alex Billington
May 24, 2025

A fresh new debut from a filmmaker who has real talent. One of the best first films at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival is titled The Plague, an American indie thriller made by filmmaker Charlie Polinger. During the intro at its world premiere, actor Joel Edgerton (who also runs his own production company called Blue-Tongue Films – though they’re not involved in this film) stated that he’d already seen few of Polinger’s short films before reading the script for this & couldn’t wait for him to finally make his mark with his first feature. That moment is here and, yes, he has definitely made his mark. Even after watching many other films over the course of the festival, this one still stands out, it still lingers in my mind and the score still haunts me. Even if the story about bullying is a bit obvious, and even if it never dips into any full-on horror despite the feeling often that it might do so, it is still an impressive debut with top notch filmmaking across the board. The Plague plunges viewers into the chilling realm of kids picking on other kids and it’s proper freaky stuff.
Written & directed by Charlie Polinger, The Plague is set in the early 2000s and tells the story of a group of kids at a water polo summer camp. I know these sports camps as I went to a few when I was growing up & they were always awkward experiences for me, too. A bunch of feisty, young, bored kids thrown together for a week (without any parents). Newcomer Everett Blunck stars as a scrawny kid named Ben, who tries to gain the camaraderie of the other group of kids that already know each other. Kenny Rasmussen co-stars as Eli, a weird boy who has some skin problems that appear as rashes on his body. The other kids think this is some scary disease they dub “The Plague” and act as if it’s horrible, always making fun of him, constantly picking on him, not going near him. But Eli doesn’t seem to care and just does whatever he wants to do his own way, even if they keep bullying him. Kayo Martin also co-stars as Jake, the bullying ringleader who is always the one finding something to pick on with any kid. The performances from Everett Blunck and Kayo Martin are some of the best young performances I’ve seen in quite a while. They’re not only convincing but also challenging, diving into a disquieting dynamic that is necessary for this story to work as well as it does.
Aside from the kids being legit in their roles (and Joel Edgerton as their coach), this is proper filmmaking firing on all cylinders. There’s some incredibly unique cinematography by DP Steven Breckon, framing the pool and the buildings and every shot in a way that is instantly peculiar or unsettling yet also entrancing. This guy has an eye, that’s for sure, and I’m glad he teamed up with Polinger. The score rules – it’s a stirring horror score built around “aaah” and “oooh” vocals sampled into percussive music. The singer / composer Johan Lenox is the inventive musician behind this score and he deserves extra attention for creating this especially freaky score. Still thinking about it all the time… It’s part of what makes this movie so chilling to watch, keeping viewers on the edge of their seat even if it’s not actually horror. Ultimately the story is less about bullying and more about being yourself, not letting any peer pressure or conformity get to you. Not an easy task, especially when you’re a kid growing up who wants to be seen as cool and accepted in the group. It’s a helluva good film that’s entirely original and gripping – Polinger instantly proving he’s got the chops.
Alex’s Cannes 2025 Rating: 8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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