Wabash College’s Will Neubauer earned All-American honors in the 800-meter run at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the Spire Academy Stadium in Geneva, Ohio. The senior crossed the line in 1:51.26 to finish seventh in the final. This is Neubauer’s second All-American accolade this season, as he finished eighth in the 800-meter run at the 2025 Indoor Championships.
 
Neubauer finished in front of Buena Vista’s Kyle Miller, who had the fastest qualifying time going into the final, and Lynchburg’s Sam Llaneza, who won the 1,500-meter run at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Dickinson’s Trevor Richwine won the race with the lone sub-1:50 mark in 1:49.99.
 
Going into the championships, Neubauer was seeded 18th in the field and had the slowest personal best out of the advancers to the final. But the senior didn’t let the fast marks of his competition get to him. Neubauer clocked the fifth-fastest time in the preliminary heats, solidifying his spot into Saturday’s final. In a championship environment, the senior executed the controllables and fought all the way to the end.
 
“Knowing I wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be in the final made it even more special,” said Neubauer. “I was one of the last guys into the meet, and finished seventh. Going into the final, it was really anybody’s race; and it wasn’t a race until the last 150 meters.”
 
“Will got himself where we wanted him to be early,” said head cross country and associate head track and field coach Tyler McCreary. “The weather impacted the pace as no one really wanted to take on the wind. Will responded extremely well to the shift in the race from what was expected. The composure he showed throughout the weekend was impressive, but also what we’ve come to expect from an elite racer like Will.”
 
Neubauer is now the second outdoor 800-meter All-American for Wabash in the outdoor 800-meter run. Jake Waterman ’13 who finished sixth in 2011 and won the event in 2012. Neubauer is also the fourth Little Giant in school history to become an All-American both indoors and outdoors.
 
“This last race encapsulates my development from a time chaser to a championship racer,” said Neubauer. “Being able to have that great race at the right time is important. It can be the difference between making the final and not making it. I finish my career here at Wabash as a better game-time competitor, not worrying about time, but putting in all of the hard work and wisdom my coaches have instilled in me these last four years. The track and field staff at Wabash is truly special, and none of this would be achieved without them.”
 
“Will leaves Wabash as one of the most decorated runners in our rich history,” said McCreary. “To me, he is responsible for the emergence of our elite mid-distance program when he came here four years ago. We hope his accomplishments help us bring in future 800-meter runners who can aim to match his accomplishments. I hope his composure and competitive nature have a lasting impact on our program. Will is such a special young man and we were all so fortunate to have him help lead the Redpack to a new level that we hope to build on.”

Rome, 24 May 2025 – La Pro Recco on the roof of Europe, the Ligurian team has folded 12-9 Radnicki in the return match, conquering the Euro Cup for the first time in its history.

Driven by Sandro Sukno, the Pro Recco athletes have graduated on Tuesday as champions of Italy for the 37th time. A season not to forget that brought three trophies: in addition to the Scudetto and the Euro Cup, the Ligurians won the Coppa Italia Unipol on March 16 in Naples, beating Rari Nantes Savona 11-5.

The Euro Cup it was the only missing trophy in the rich trophy cabinet of Pro Recco, which counts 36 league titles, 18 Italian cups, 11 Champions Leagues, 9 European super cups and an Adriatic League.  

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.

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.”

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.