Sports
Coolera
For the night of the Sligo county final in late October, win or lose, Taylor had arranged to stay over and fly back to England on the Monday. Inevitably, the game finished as a draw. The replay took place seven days later but he thought better of calling in another Monday off and returned home […]
For the night of the Sligo county final in late October, win or lose, Taylor had arranged to stay over and fly back to England on the Monday. Inevitably, the game finished as a draw. The replay took place seven days later but he thought better of calling in another Monday off and returned home that same night.As his Coolera-Strandhill team-mates celebrated their Sligo SFC triumph on the first Sunday in November, full-back Seán Taylor was undertaking what has become a familiar trip back to London. On the road to creating history, everybody’s journey is different.“That has been said to me a few times since the Connacht final, if it happens, it happens,” he says.On the field, there have been very few backward steps taken by Coolera-Strandhill over the past 12 months. And yet not many pundits or bookmakers are giving them much chance of beating Cuala on Sunday.His weekly schedule has revolved around making it back to Sligo for training or a match every Sunday.O’Carroll has been playing his club football in Sligo since 2021. His brother, Rory, continues to play for Crokes.“For me, I’d be excited by that prospect, not nervous; I’d embrace it. I marked Evan Regan [Ballina Stephenites], I marked Paul Carey [Pádraig Pearses] – Regan got one point from play, Carey didn’t score. For me I would embrace that one-on-one battle.”“Yeah, Ross would know the Cuala lads from playing against them with Kilmacud. He’s a great character, has great instinct and is a really strong player. We help each other and it’s great having him there.”Last summer Taylor moved to London to start a new job with Harlequins rugby club. The 25-year-old is the lead strength and conditioning coach for the club’s Academy Colleges & Education (ACE) programme. He is also the athletic development coach at Gordon’s School, Surrey, one of the feeder schools to Quins.
He was busy off the field at that time too, working as a strength and conditioning coach with the Sligo minor and under-20 football teams, and also the Sligo senior women’s side, so in advance of 2023 he had to take a step back from the goalkeeping role with the Yeats County.“A couple of mates of mine were playing with Strandhill, so I went down to train with them. After that first training session, I just left feeling I had found a new home.Taylor recently tallied up the figures; since August he reckons there have been 17 flights, two ferries and somewhere in the region of 42,000 kilometres travelled for the cause of Coolera-Strandhill, commuting over and back from the UK pretty much every weekend.And yet it’s not Taylor’s home club – rather, it’s one that has become a home. Originally from Ballyshannon, he played for the Aodh Ruadh club, winning a Donegal intermediate title in 2020. A former Donegal minor goalkeeper, he was the county’s netminder at that grade in 2017 on a team that also included Oisín Gallen and Peadar Mogan.“It was the culture the boys had within themselves, it was lighthearted fun but the standard of football was really high, the coaching – Enda Mitchell, John McPartland – I had never seen anything like it before.
“I just told them it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”“We embrace the challenge – since the Connacht final we haven’t been counting down the days, we’ve been counting down the hours. We can’t wait.”“I’ll be finished when we stop winning, I tell them.”“It was a special day for everybody involved in the club,” says Taylor, who chipped in with a point on the day.The rugby players going through his hands in London have become aware of Coolera-Strandhill’s odyssey in the club championship.“I have introduced a few Gaelic football games and drills to some of their training sessions, as a bit of fun, more for a mental break than anything.“The way they were able to talk with the lads and adapt a training session on their feet. They were so welcoming too. There was no rush or panic from them for me to sign – it was a case if I wanted to train, I could train.”
It was an opportunity Coolera-Strandhill took. Over in London, they have started to wonder when Seán Taylor will be finished with all of this madcap traversing of the Irish Sea just to play sport.Saturday mornings tend to involve a pitch session with the ACE team at Gordon’s School followed by a gym session from 10-11. As soon as the gym session finishes, Taylor immediately hops in a waiting taxi to Heathrow for a lunchtime flight to Ireland.On moving to Coolera-Strandhill, initially the plan was to look at playing in goal but with a strong goalkeeper in Keelan Harte already in situ, Taylor instead tried his luck out the field.“I stick our games on the TV in the gym too. The boys would be looking at it going, ‘What’s that?’ Is that you?’ You have these lads from Brixton and Basingstoke asking about Niall Murphy’s free-taking technique.And yet his goalkeeping abilities did not go unnoticed in Sligo. Former Donegal number one Paul Durcan is part of Tony McEntee’s back-room team with the Yeats County senior footballers and on his recommendation Taylor was invited and joined the squad as an option between the posts in 2022.“Even if we lost it would have been worthwhile,” he says. “Because the bond we have between lads is so strong.”But after moving to Sligo for college and subsequently getting work there, Taylor eventually decided to play his club football in the Yeats County and transferred to Coolera-Strandhill.“It makes me feel a sense of pride, knowing I wear the GAA badge. The boys would be asking me now on Monday mornings how the game had gone.”“Cuala have some stalwart players and we obviously have to look after a couple of men, but we are going with the perspective that they are going to have to come play us as well and look after some of our players. They don’t fear us, we don’t fear them.The Dublin champions will arrive to Breffni with the likes of Con O’Callaghan and Michael Fitzsimons leading their charge. Taylor is likely to mark O’Callaghan.Before the Connacht final, Taylor asked his bosses in London if cover could be arranged for the Monday afterwards. He wanted to be there, just in case.A couple more weeks yet so, if all goes to plan.Yet here they are, All-Ireland club semi-finalists, having won a maiden provincial title – and the first Sligo club in 41 years to be crowned Connacht kings. Such unprecedented success must make Taylor’s criss-crossing of the Irish Sea worthwhile.Quite well, has been the stock response of late – culminating in Coolera-Strandhill’s historic extra-time Connacht final win over Pádraig Pearses.“But what a challenge,” says Taylor. “To be in the top four in Ireland, to put Coolera-Strandhill on the map, to put Sligo football back on the map. So much good football is played in Sligo but it kind of goes under the radar.Having a Dub among their ranks won’t do Coolera-Strandhill any harm either. Centre back Ross O’Carroll’s home club is Kilmacud Crokes, southside neighbours and rivals of Cuala.[ Luke Keating’s late point gives Cuala the Leinster club titleOpens in new window ]Few outside of the Coolera-Strandhill dressingroom, and possibly even some within it, would have believed the club on Ireland’s western seaboard would still be playing football at this stage of the competition.He trains with Coolera-Strandhill on Sunday morning and usually flies from Knock to Stanstead on Sunday afternoon. Match days tend to mean later flights back to London.Nonetheless, the task ahead for the back-to-back Sligo champions is steep.[ Coolera-Strandhill become first Sligo club to win Connacht title in over 40 yearsOpens in new window ]
Sports
Five Montana Grizzlies qualify for NCAA West First Round track and field meet
MISSOULA — The Montana track and field program will send five athletes to College Station, Texas, next week for the NCAA West First Round. Ashley Carroll, Matthew Hockett, Kyle Iorg, Carson Weeden and Erin Wilde will represent the Grizzlies at the regional meet. The top 48 athletes from the West Region qualify for the First […]
MISSOULA — The Montana track and field program will send five athletes to College Station, Texas, next week for the NCAA West First Round. Ashley Carroll, Matthew Hockett, Kyle Iorg, Carson Weeden and Erin Wilde will represent the Grizzlies at the regional meet.
The top 48 athletes from the West Region qualify for the First Round, which will be held May 28-31.
Wilde, the now five-time Big Sky Champion in the women’s high jump, will be making her third straight appearance at regionals. She placed 38th as a freshman and 27th as a sophomore.
The Whitefish product is tied for 34th in the West with her mark of 5-10 set earlier this year at the Al Manuel Invitational.
Ashley Carroll reached the First Round in the women’s javelin. The runner-up at last week’s Big Sky Championship, Carroll has a season-best mark of 152-7 set at the Bengal Invitational on May 2. She ranks 47th in the region.
Carroll is making her first regional appearance. The sophomore from Shepherd placed fourth in the Big Sky as a freshman and followed it up with a second-place finish in 2025.
The Grizzlies will have two representatives in the men’s javelin competition. Kyle Iorg and Matthew Hockett will both be competing on Wednesday.
Iorg is ranked 21st in the West with a mark of 226-10 set at the Bengal Invitational on May 2. The true freshman improved in three straight meets during the regular season to reach the mark. He placed third at the Big Sky Championships last week.
Senior Matthew Hockett, who finished as the runner-up at the Big Sky Championships, will be going to his third career regional meet. He placed 41st in 2022 and 35th in 2023 before redshirting last season.
Hockett is ranked 28th in the region with his mark of 223-2 set in the season opening Al Manuel Invitational.
Carson Weeden locked up his spot in the First Round with a school-record performance at the Big Sky Championships. Weeden had a triple PR in Sacramento to finish second in the league with a mark of 17-4.5.
Weeden is ranked 27th in the region with his mark and will be making his first regional appearance.
Hockett and Iorg will compete on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Weeden will also be in action on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The women’s javelin competition for Carroll begins at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, and Wilde will wrap up Montana’s meet at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Sports
DePaul University Blue Demons – Official Athletics Website
CHICAGO – The NCAA announced Thursday afternoon that DePaul Track and Field has a total of 11 athletes with qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships West Preliminary Rounds in College Station, Texas. The total marks a significant jump from last year’s program-record eight qualifiers. The Blue Demons will be represented in sprints, throws, distance, jumps, […]
Among the returners are All-American Darius Brown (110m hurdles, 4x100m) who is making his fourth-straight appearance. He is joined by Alex Bernstein (hammer throw) and Jaiah Hopf (triple jump), each earning their third appearance, and Kash Allen (shot put), making her second. The remaining seven Blue Demon athletes are set to make their NCAA postseason debut.
On the women’s side, Jessica Beckman (discus), Jaiah Hopf (triple jump), and freshman Tessa Roe (steeplechase) earned bids, with all three securing top-40 regional rankings behind season-best efforts at either the BIG EAST Championships or the Gary Wieneke Memorial. Additionally, Kash Allen holds the No. 34 regional ranking in the shot put after winning the third BIG EAST title of her career.
Brown is joined on the men’s 4x100m squad by Dominic Cole, Charles Lewis, and Demetrius Rolle, who also qualified individually in the 100m. Dustin Hudak (800m), Jaiden Gary (shot put), and Bernstein round out the men’s qualifiers, with Paul Goins and Amaru Mazibuko traveling as relay alternates.
The NCAA West Preliminary Rounds will take place May 28-31 at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M. The top 12 in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
FOLLOW THE BLUE DEMONS
For all of the latest on DePaul Cross Country, Track & Field, stay tuned to DePaulBlueDemons.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Sports
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic beach volleyball senior Sydney Schroder sat down with Assistant Coach Kristi Tekavec for this week’s Inside the Owl’s Burrow: Life’s A Beach segment. Coach Tekavec has been an instrumental part of the Sandy Owls’ success over her five seasons in Boca Raton. Tekavec joined Florida Atlantic in […]
Coach Tekavec has been an instrumental part of the Sandy Owls’ success over her five seasons in Boca Raton.
Tekavec joined Florida Atlantic in 2020 as a volunteer assistant before being elevated to Assistant Coach in the fall of 2022.
The Owls have had tremendous success over the past five seasons, winning three conference championships (2021, 2023, 2025), in addition to earning three NCAA Championship appearances, including the program’s first in 2022. FAU has also had three 20+ win seasons during that span, including a program record 23 wins during the 2022 season.
Coach Tekavec also currently competes professionally in the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).
Enjoy getting to know Coach Tekavec on Life’s a Beach presented by Inside the Owls’ Burrow.
FOLLOW THE SANDY OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUBeachVB on X and Instagram, or like FAU Beach Volleyball on Facebook.
Sports
Sailing Completes Three-Peat – Stanford Cardinal
ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Stanford sailing won its second national championship of the season on Friday evening, capturing the ICSA Women’s Fleet Race Championship for the third consecutive season. The Cardinal paced a strong 18-team field with 198 points, holding off runner-up Tulane (209 pts) and third-place Harvard (223 pts) through 16 races. Friday’s victory […]
ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Stanford sailing won its second national championship of the season on Friday evening, capturing the ICSA Women’s Fleet Race Championship for the third consecutive season.
The Cardinal paced a strong 18-team field with 198 points, holding off runner-up Tulane (209 pts) and third-place Harvard (223 pts) through 16 races.
Friday’s victory marks the program’s seventh overall national championship, as Stanford became the first school to win three consecutive Women’s Fleet Race Championships since the United States Naval Academy from 1979-81.
The Cardinal has been particularly dominant since claiming the program’s first women’s national title in 2023, having now won five of the last six national regattas.
“This championship required a full team’s effort. Our team came together, picked each other up and found a level required to take home hardware,” said head coach Chris Klevan, who has guided the Cardinal to six national team crowns. “This year’s team took the lessons learned watching legends of the past and applied them to the present. That speaks to something more than just two days of hard work and perseverance. Our competition made the challenge harder, but in turn, the victory seemed extra sweet. I could not be more proud.”
Stanford varsity teams have now won 171 national championships overall (77 men, 92 women, 2 coed). This is Stanford’s fourth national team title of the 2024-25 campaign. In addition to Sailing also winning the ICSA Women’s Team Race championship last month, the Cardinal has secured national crowns in Artistic Swimming and Women’s Water Polo.
Action kicked off on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Eastern Semifinals, where the Cardinal outperformed the likes of Cornell, Boston College and Harvard. Over two days of competition, Stanford tallied 69 points and secured four victories, finishing with an 18-point lead over the rest of the field.
Following a rain-shortened Thursday session which featured just three races across both divisions, the Cardinal stood in fourth place in the team standings, trailing leader Tulane by 12 points.
The action continued on Friday as the Cardinal flourished in the final 13 races of the championship, taking a lead it never surrendered after six races. Fueled by six wins in the A division and 10 top-10 placements in the B division, Stanford held strong to secure its third straight Women’s Fleet Race title.
Vanessa Lahrkamp and Alice Schmid led the A division with seven wins and 52 points in 15/16 completed races. Lahrkamp teamed up with Ashtyn Tierney for a fifth place finish in race 7 to put the A division trio at 57 points overall, clearing Harvard’s Cordelia Burn and Margo Silliman by 32 points.
“B” boat duties were handled by a combination of Cardinal duos, starting with Ellie Harned and Kit Harned, who earned 67 points through the first eight races. The remaining eight races were controlled by Sophie Fisher and Piper Blackband with the duo recording 63 points as the Cardinal “B” boat earned an eighth place finish with 130 points overall.
Sports
Hobart, Steffen represent Central on All-American podiums
Story Links PELLA — Friday at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships saw a pair of Central College student-athletes secure a spot on the All-American podium. Kale Hobart (sophomore, Mason City) took runner-up honors in the decathlon with 6,916 points. He started day two strong with a time of […]
PELLA — Friday at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships saw a pair of Central College student-athletes secure a spot on the All-American podium.
Kale Hobart (sophomore, Mason City) took runner-up honors in the decathlon with 6,916 points. He started day two strong with a time of 14.70 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, the fastest time in the field. He also had the second-best discus throw with a mark of 127 feet, 7 inches.
Reid Pakkebier (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) also earned second-team All-American honors with an 11th place finish in the decathlon, scoring 6,329 points.
Peyton Steffen (junior, Marion) improved upon her career-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in fifth place in a time of 10 minutes, 28.78 seconds. She becomes the fourth Dutch female to land on the All-American podium in the steeplechase in the last two seasons.
Olivia Bohlen (junior, Belle Plaine) finished just off the podium in the women’s heptathlon, taking ninth place with 4,840 points. She still clinched second team All-American accolades.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdle preliminaries, Central’s Gunner Meyer (junior, Fairbank, Wapsie Valley HS) qualified for Saturday’s final in fifth with a time of 14.26 seconds. Grant Miller (junior, Norwalk) was 12th in the prelims (14.48 seconds) and earned second team All-American honors.
Central College NCAA Championships schedule of events
Saturday, May 25 (times are EST)
11 a.m. – men’s triple jump (prelims and finals)
2:10 p.m. – men’s 110-meter hurdles (finals)
4:25 p.m. – women’s 5000 meters (final)
Sports
Gianna Bartalo Returns to Denver Volleyball Program as Assistant Coach
Story Links DENVER – University of Denver volleyball coach Megan Pendergast has hired Gianna Bartalo to serve as an assistant coach, Pendergast announced on Thursday. “We’re stoked to bring Gianna Bartalo home,” Pendergast said. “Her love for this program and deep understanding of what makes Denver special is rare, and something we’re […]
DENVER – University of Denver volleyball coach Megan Pendergast has hired Gianna Bartalo to serve as an assistant coach, Pendergast announced on Thursday.
“We’re stoked to bring Gianna Bartalo home,” Pendergast said. “Her love for this program and deep understanding of what makes Denver special is rare, and something we’re incredibly proud to have on staff. Gi went through a competitive interview process and earned this opportunity every step of the way. She’ll lead the defensive side of the ball, where her volleyball IQ and firsthand knowledge of what it takes to win here will be immediately felt across our program.”
Bartalo led Denver in digs starting libero in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and ranks eighth all time in Denver program history with 1,202 career digs. In her final season at Cal, Bartalo posted 468 digs, good for the eighth-highest in a single season and fourth-best in the ACC.
“Returning to the University of Denver as an assistant coach is incredibly meaningful to me,” Bartalo said. “I’ve been watching Denver volleyball since I was 12 years old, and this program has shaped so much of who I am, both on and off the court. To be back at the University that has given me so much is an honor I don’t take lightly. I am very grateful to Megan Pendergast for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to come back home.”
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of Denver’s NCAA Division I sports.
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