Audrey MacLean and Emily Rubio of the Middlebury women’s track and field team competed in the second day of the NCAA Championship in Geneva, Ohio. MacLean ran in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final and claimed second to tally All-American laurels for the second-consecutive season.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Rubio claimed 20th in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.60 meters.
• In the steeple, MacLean paced the pack throughout the entire race. The Panther held off a late charge by Hamilton’s Keira Rogan to earn runner-up honors with a time of 10:23.59. 

NOTES

• MacLean’s silver placing bests her sixth-place finish (10:36.28) from the 2024 championships in South Carolina.
• With her finish, the sophomore has now earned four All-American honors across cross country and track and field.

MacLean hits the track once more for the Panthers on Saturday, competing in the 5,000. The timed final begins at 4:25 p.m.

Growing up, my mother always looked fondly back at her time at SFA in Nacogdoches. One of the things that she enjoyed doing was bowling. 

It might have been just a class, but she still talks about it. I was interested to hear that SFA will no longer compete in the sport at an NCAA level.

According to KTRE, they are also dropping men’s and women’s golf and beach volleyball. The move will be official after this year, and students competing in those sports with academic scholarships will have many options.

SFA Bolstering The Other 14 NCAA Varsity Programs With Savings

Though it is sad to see those sports go, there are so many still at the school. When I heard there were still 14 different NCAA varsity programs at SFA, I was amazed.

SFA will still honor all the existing scholarships to any student-athletes who wish to finish their degree at the university. If they want to transfer to another school to continue playing a specific sport, they will have the full backing of the SFA sports program to help them with a transfer.

Michael McBroom, Athletics Director, is hoping this move will bolster the success of the other men’s and women’s sports.

“Decisions like these are never easy, but they are made in the best interest of the athletic program and the university as a whole,” said McBroom. “Over the past year, we have made significant progress in reducing annual athletics expenditures, especially in our travel costs. Unfortunately, those efforts have not been enough. In order for SFA Athletics to deliver the best possible championship experience for all of our student-athletes in the face of very real economic and facility challenges, we made the difficult decision to reduce the number of sports we sponsor.”

He went on to say they will continue to say this will put SFA in a better position moving forward, and that they are committed to improving their facilities and funding into the next era of SFA Athletics.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers track and field qualified 16 Scarlet Knights for the 2025 NCAA East First Round in Jacksonville, Florida from Wednesday, May 28 through Saturday, May 31.
 
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a solid showing at the 2025 Big Ten Championships that included eight podium finishes with three bronze medals. The trio of Brian O’Sullivan (pole vault), Donavan Anderson (triple jump) and Chloe Timberg (pole vault) finished third in their respective events and will represent Rutgers at the NCAA First Round.
 
Live results of the East First Round are available here, while the competition will stream live on ESPN+ (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4). Qualifiers out of these East First Round will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships held June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Wednesday, May 28
2:30 p.m.                 Javelin                             Steve Coponi
5:30 p.m.                 Pole Vault                        Nico Morales, Brian O’Sullivan, Kevin O’Sullivan
6 p.m.                       110M Hurdles                Chris Serrao
8:20 p.m.                 400M Hurdles                Bryce Tucker
 
Thursday, May 29
2:30 p.m.                 Javelin                             Alianna Eucker
4:30 p.m.                 Long Jump                      Paige Floriea
5:30 p.m.                 Pole Vault                        Emma Keating, Suzy Lacombe, Chloe Timberg
7:25 p.m.                 400M                               Charlee Crawford
 
Friday, May 30
2:30 p.m.                 Triple Jump                     Donavan Anderson
3:30 p.m.                 High Jump                      Malachi Yehudah
 
Saturday, May, 31
2:30 p.m.                 Triple Jump                     Faith Bethea
3:30 p.m.                 High Jump                      Jenovia Logan
 

Veronica Rauch had a choice; attend her high school graduation at St. Ignatius College Prep, or play in the IHSA State Quarterfinals for girls’ water polo. Both were happening just an hour apart.

As team captain, Rauch chose the latter. Rauch said there wasn’t even a decision to be made when it came to attending graduation or playing water polo.

“I’m the goalie, and I’m on the team, and it’s my responsibility and my desire to be at that game,” she said. “It’s a huge accomplishment for the team, and because of the accomplishment, I want to be there. Because of the name of the game, I want to be there.”

St. Ignatius water polo head coach Nicole Lum said the game was a nailbiter.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and I’ve never experienced anything quite like it,” she said.

“We had a player who got out there who had not played water polo before this season. She’s a junior, and she got in there, and she gave us a goal; and it was an incredible, incredible moment,” Rauch said.

That was followed by an incredible moment. Dr. Sterling Brown, the prefect of studies – or principal – at St. Ignatius, brought the graduation to Rauch.

“I knew it was far, but I didn’t realize what the timing would be,” he said.

The graduation was at 6 p.m. The game was at 7 p.m. Brown made the drive from the graduation in Chicago to Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, where the state quarterfinals were taking place.

“My experience for her has been four years of giving to this place, and I’m glad that in a very small way, we could give something back,” he said.

As for the game, the team didn’t win.

“They gave a Herculean effort, every last one of them. It was fantastic,” Lum said.

But Rauch said, in the end, one thing mattered most.

“The way we played was a win in itself,” she said.

Now that she has graduated, Rauch is heading to University of Alabama, where she’s going to study vocal performance. She wants to be an opera singer one day.

If her beautiful singing voice wasn’t enough, Rauch also speaks several languages, among them Mandarin.

Audrey MacLean and Zoe Wang of the Middlebury women’s track and field team opened competition at the three-day NCAA Championship taking place at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Wang led off the day in the pole vault, finishing in 22nd place with a height of 3.60 meters. 
• MacLean was one of 12 athletes to qualify for the finals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Panther led the way, crossing the line in first with a clocking of 10:33.39. 

MacLean competes in the final on Friday at 4:55 p.m. and participates in the 5,000 on Saturday at 4:25 p.m. Emily Rubio kicks off Friday competition with the high jump at 11:30 a.m.

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.