Eventually some team is going to beat Stevenson girls water polo, and for a while Saturday, May 24 in Lincolnshire, it looked like it might be Lyons to do the job.
The problem is, Stevenson (36-0) and head coach Jeff Wimer (839-174-3) know how to overcome nearly all situations or problems that may arise.
Outscored 3-0 in the middle quarter and trailing 4-2 entering the fourth quarter of the state championship game might have sunk a number of teams, but not Stevenson.
The Patriots stormed back to…

When the Bradford family walks together on a beach, at an airport, in a restaurant, eyes turn. They aren’t just tall, they’re giants. They aren’t a basketball family — they play volleyball. On Memorial Day, mom, dad, daughter and son were at the beach looking for games.

Lee Bradford was a 6-foot-7 middle blocker at Pepperdine in the 1990s. His wife, Sara, is 6-1 and played basketball at Fordham. Their oldest daughter, Carissa, was the 6-2 City Section volleyball player of the year at Granada Hills, played at Tennessee and South Alabama and is now head coach at Bates College.

Their son, Derek, is 6-8, won a CIF title with Royal and now trains with the USA beach volleyball team. Their son, Grayson, is a 6-11 senior at Mira Costa and plays for a state championship on Saturday in Fresno. He’s committed to UCLA.

Even the youngest in the family, 12-year-old daughter Brooke, is 5-10 and headed for volleyball stardom. Talk about good height genes — no giant shoes go unused in this family.

The Bradford volleyball family (left to right). Derek (6-foot-8), Lee (6-7), Sara (6-1), Brooke (5-10), Carissa (6-2), Grayson (6-11).

(Courtesy Bradford family.)

Dad gave his kids a choice growing up. “I love the sport and offered free private lessons,” he said.

They took him up and the rest is history. Lee has been a teacher at Granada Hills and used to be an assistant coach to Tom Harp. He eventually moved his family to Manhattan Beach after driving to the South Bay for years for club competition.

“We made a really good decision four years ago to go to a high level club program,” he said. “It’s been a great journey.”

At 6 feet 11, Grayson Bradford towers over everyone playing volleyball for Mira Costa. He’s headed to UCLA.

(Steve Galluzzo)

Grayson has been a key player for Mira Costa, which won the Southern Section Division 1 championship, then the Southern California regional championship and play San José Archbishop Mitty in the first state Division 1 boys title match on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College.

It’s a weekend for championships. The Southern Section baseball will be held Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton and Blair Field in Long Beach.

The Southern Section softball finals are Friday and Saturday in Irvine.

The state track and field championships will be Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis (temperatures will hit triple digits). The state tennis championships are Saturday in Fresno.

The City Section softball finals are Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

Tuesday’s Division 1 baseball semifinals produced a shocker. No. 1-seeded Corona, which started the year considered as high school baseball’s version of the Dodgers, was beaten by St. John Bosco 2-0. It was the first high school pitching defeat for Seth Hernandez, who came in 18-0.

St. John Bosco has unleashed a closer extraordinaire in junior Jack Champlin. Last week, in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, Villa Park had the winning run on third and Champlin was brought in to get a strikeout. He threw 2 1/3 hitless relief before the Braves won 5-4 in nine innings.

He was inserted into the game with a 2-0 count, one runner on and one out in the seventh inning against Corona. He walked the first first batter, then got a strikeout and fly out to end the game.

He said of the situation, ““I love it,” he said. “There’s close to 1,000 people and it’s electric. I didn’t feel any pressure, didn’t feel nervous. It’s just fun to compete against all these Power 5 players.”

Jack Champlin of St. John Bosco picked up the save in 2-0 win over Corona.

(Nick Koza)

That kind of closer’s mentality and confidence should help St. John Bosco in Friday’s 7 p.m. Division final against Santa Margarita at Cal State Fullerton. Champlin will gladly take the ball whenever coach Andy Rojo offers it.

“I haven’t had a blown save,” he said.

That’s not the kiss of death. That’s a teenager who wants the ball with the game on the line.

With the competition went down to the final league event of the 2024-25 academic year, Hope College emerged as the winner of the MIAA Commissioner’s Cup for the fifth consecutive time and for a league-record 41st year.

Totaling 145.5 points over three athletic seasons, Hope edged runner-up Calvin University by one point in the closest finish since Hope topped Calvin by a one-point margin during the 2009-10 school year.



The MIAA Commissioner’s Cup is awarded based on the cumulative performance of member schools in 18 men’s and women’s league-sponsored sports.



Hope held off Calvin thanks to seven outright regular-season titles, one co-championship and two clutch performances this spring.



In men’s sports, Hope finished as the league champion in football, men’s lacrosse and men’s golf, and co-champion in men’s soccer. In women’s sports, Hope claimed league titles in volleyball, women’s swimming and diving, women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis.



Hope created key late point swings in softball and men’s golf.



In softball, the Flying Dutch swept a doubleheader from Calvin in the regular-season finale on May 3, forcing a three-way tie between Hope, Calvin and Kalamazoo College that garnered each team six points. If Calvin had swept the Flying Dutch, Hope would have finished in sixth place and earned just four points.



In men’s golf, the Flying Dutchmen overcame an early eight-stroke deficit on May 7-8 at Bella Vista Golf Course in Coldwater to win the MIAA Spring Finale and secure an outright league championship that earned nine points. Entering the 36-hole MIAA Spring Finale, Hope held a 10-stroke lead over Trine University and a 19-stroke lead over Calvin after 72 holes last fall.



Trine placed third in the overall standings with 138 points and was followed by Adrian College and Albion (tied for fourth with 102.5 points apiece), Kalamazoo College (89.5), Alma College (75), The University of Olivet (60.5) and Saint Mary’s College (34.5).



In men’s sports, Hope topped the MIAA with 73.5 points, followed by Calvin (72), Trine (67.5), Albion (56), Adrian (54), Kalamazoo (45.5), Alma (42) and Olivet (39).



In women’s sports, Hope totaled 72 points, trailing only Calvin (72.5). Trine had the third-most with 70.5, followed by Adrian (48.5), Albion (46.5), Kalamazoo (44), Saint Mary’s (34.5), Alma (33) and Olivet (21.5).

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – North Dakota State’s Sam Roller advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the javelin on Wednesday afternoon, headlining the action for the Bison men’s track & field team at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
 
Roller (Thompson, N.D.) threw 231-1 (70.43m) on his final attempt, setting a career-best by three feet. He ultimately finished eighth in the meet, with the top 12 finishers earning qualifying spots to the NCAA Championships in Eugene on June 11.
 
Roller became the fifth Bison ever to surpass 70 meters in the javelin.
 
Senior Zack Ramos finished 19th in the shot put with a throw of 60-00.50 (18.30m) – an improvement of 16 places over his seed entering the meet.
 
Bison sophomore Jayden Williams placed 27th in the long jump for his NCAA Prelims debut, posting a mark of 23-11 (7.29m).
 
In the 110m hurdles, Blake Nyenati (13.92) finished 28th, Brooks Turner (13.96) took 32nd, and Brock Johnsen (14.20) was 40th. The trio concludes the season ranked first, second and fourth, respectively, in NDSU history.
 
 
Javelin-to-NCAAs Pipeline
Roller’s NCAA Championships appearance will be the 10th for the North Dakota State men in the javelin over the past 10 seasons.
 

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