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Gopher track and field gears up for NCAA finals as Minnesota women’s teams dominate early summer sports. – The Minnesota Daily

CECI HEINEN:  Hello everyone. This is Ceci Heinen and Megan Davis, and you are listening to the Gold Standard, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota sports.  Today our lovely sports reporter, Regan Guirguis, was too sick to join us in the studio, so I will be filling in on her behalf. I will […]

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CECI HEINEN:  Hello everyone. This is Ceci Heinen and Megan Davis, and you are listening to the Gold Standard, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota sports. 

Today our lovely sports reporter, Regan Guirguis, was too sick to join us in the studio, so I will be filling in on her behalf. I will do my best, but I’ll start just with some of Regan’s recent work. She did a story on the Gopher rowing team. They went to the Big Ten invitationals in Florida in mid-April, and at the end of the invitational, they claimed two first place finishes, which is amazing.

They beat Wisconsin, they beat Iowa, which is wonderful. Good for them. And there’s just a lot of really good stuff coming outta this team, and it looks like next year they’ll just improve even more. And so that’s super exciting. 

MEGAN DAVIS: Yeah. Super exciting. I have been mainly covering track and field these past probably like two months now, just because it’s one of the last Gopher sports that has been continuing as the semester has ended. And so they have their NCAA finals coming up on June 11 and it’s gonna be in Eugene, Oregon.

And that’s the exact same place that the Big Ten championship was at. And so I actually just talked to a bunch of them just asking them like does it make any difference. And they’re excited to go back to Eugene. The people who qualified for the NCAA finals did really well in Eugene during the Big Tens. 

And so, just some of the standout performances is that we had a really big performance from the throwing team, both men and women’s. Mantzouranis and Zaltos both throw hammer, and they’ve been fantastic all semester. 

HEINEN: Mm-hmm. 

DAVIS: I feel like there’s been multiple stories done on them and it makes sense because they’re throwing like five, six meters above the competition, and they’re constantly coming in first and second. They went to the NCAA west regional qualifying round at Texas A&M. The position was just switched, Zaltos came second and Mantzouranis came first. 

One thing that I did notice though, is that Annie Nabwe, who had been reporting on all semester, who’s a great hammer thrower, won and broke the meet record at the Big Ten championships. But then when it came time to qualify for the NCAA finals for the indoor season, she couldn’t qualify. 

Which was really sad because she said she was throwing 70 meters in practice the day of the Big Tens, she threw 69 meters to win the title. And if she threw that at the regionals, she would’ve gotten first place. I think what happened is that she had one bad toss and then she kept fouling. 

Because if you’re doing the hammer throw, you get five attempts. They keep the best one. And I wanted to talk to her this week, but she had her mandatory week off, so I’ll probably figure out more later, but

HEINEN: Yeah, that’s unfortunate. I’ve definitely heard you talk about her a lot this year. She seems like a standout player, so.

DAVIS: Yeah, she definitely is. I mean, she is a sophomore. For like Zaltos, this is his final year, so like breaking the meet record, going to the finals, obviously. What a time to do it. 

HEINEN: Do you think there’s Olympics in any of their futures? 

DAVIS: I would say so. I think because they’re both Greek. 

HEINEN: Okay. 

DAVIS: And so they’d be competing for the, I believe they’d compete for the Greek national team.

HEINEN: Can’t be that large of a team. 

DAVIS: It can’t be that large of a team, though, you would be surprised how many Greek throwers there are. 

HEINEN: Oh. 

DAVIS: I don’t know what’s going on in Greece over there. 

HEINEN: Well, that’s like the Kenyan runners, like, it’s just like some countries specialize in events. 

DAVIS: Yeah. And so for some reason Greece has a lot of fantastic throwers, but since the NCAA is incredibly competitive, I would say that they probably have a good shot. At least for qualifying. 

I also talked to Charles Godfred. He defended his Big Ten championship in the long jump and he also won it at the regionals, so he’ll be in the NCAA finals. He’s super excited about it. I believe he’s also a sophomore. He’s from Nigeria and so he has some crazy records over there as well.

And then the four by one hundred relay team broke the Gopher’s own Big Ten Championship record set in 2023. They also qualified, they’ll be at the NCAA finals. At the Big Ten championships the men placed second and they tied with Wisconsin, just under the Ducks who got first place. 

It was their stadium, so they have a little bit of a home field advantage. There’ll be 10 Gophers of the men’s team going to the finals, which is the most the Gophers have ever sent since 2003 when the NCAA finals were in Sacramento, so shout out Sacramento. 

The women still had a great Big Tens and great regionals, but they finished seventh at the Big Tens. The addition of the new Big Ten teams like USC, UCLA are all kind of powerhouses and track and field. And so, little bit more competition, but only two of them qualified for the NCAA. We have Ali Weimer who does the 10,000 meter, and we have Dyandra Gray who does the 400 meter hurdles. 

This is Dyandra Gray’s last year, so I know she really wanted to make it. I talked to her earlier in the year and I think, you know, she had some unfulfilled goals that she really wanted to get done before her time as a Gopher was over, and I think this was definitely one of them. So that’s super exciting for her. Weimer is a sophomore, she’s on a great path. She’ll be super exciting to watch in the future. 

Hakeem Ford placed eighth at the regionals in the triple jump. And so he’ll also be going to the NCAA final along with Christian Martin in the 110 meter hurdles. And then Jak Urlacher qualified for the pole vault. He did a first couple attempts and the wind was really strong, which made it like really difficult. He’ll be in the NCAA world finals so he can make it all up.

The only other thing I have is that like men’s basketball, there’s new transfer Kidd Tyson who didn’t play a lot in North Carolina, but a lot of three point shooting it looks like to be on the 2025-26 men’s basketball team. No true center though, so that’ll be interesting to see.

HEINEN: Yeah. Well, I was gonna quick talk just to move into the pro sports. The Lynx are doing amazing. 

DAVIS: Of course. 

HEINEN: They have started their season 8-0, who’s surprised? Not me. 

DAVIS: Not me. 

HEINEN: Natisha Hiedeman, she’s been playing great. She’s been making so many dynamic plays. She hit a game winner for them the other night.

DAVIS: Nice. 

HEINEN: She is doing great and I’m really happy to see her exceeding and excelling. And of course, Napheesa Collier is already in MVP talks.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

HEINEN: She is playing amazing, and the Lynx are looking pretty unstoppable right now. I will say, I think honestly, their only threat that I can see is the New York Liberty.

DAVIS: Yeah. I mean, they took it home last year. 

HEINEN: Yeah. 

DAVIS: It would be a nice rematch where the Lynx get to bring it home. 

HEINEN: Yeah. I would love that. 

DAVIS: That would be really beautiful. Speaking of bringing it home, the Frost, the PWHL. They brought it home second year in a row. 

HEINEN: Yep. Go women’s sports. 

DAVIS: Go women’s sports. I’m happy to see the women’s, I mean obviously the Frost of a huge fan base here in Minnesota. 

HEINEN: Yeah, for sure. 

DAVIS: I mean, you know, if the men’s teams keep losing guys, go to those Frost games. 

HEINEN: Seriously. 

DAVIS: The Wild aren’t showing anything promising. Go to the Lynx games. 

HEINEN: Yeah, the Timberwolves are disappointing. I, to be fair, I really do think the Thunder are just a better team. 

DAVIS: Oh, I one hundred percent agree. 

HEINEN: I was in denial for a while about it. Shai is really good. 

DAVIS: Unfortunately, they were just kind of the better team. I will say though, Minnesota could have put up more of a fight. You know, Anthony Edwards’s like body language, like towards the end of the series, once they were down by enough he just, it looked. 

HEINEN: He just sagged. 

DAVIS: Like it, he gave up. And you know, if you’re gonna be the star player over the team, you can’t show that. You could think it, you know. 

HEINEN: Even if you’re having an off game, you have to continue to try. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: Like, even if you aren’t hitting your shots, you have to be giving everything you can on every other factor of the game. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: And he wasn’t doing that. 

DAVIS: And he wasn’t doing that. And also, the Oklahoma City Thunder bench is crazy. 

HEINEN: Yeah.

DAVIS: The fact that they’re this deep, which will be interesting to see against Indiana because they also have a deep bench.

HEINEN: That’s gonna be a great matchup I think. 

DAVIS: I think it’ll be fun. I’m a little worried. I do think Oklahoma is going to take it in the end. 

HEINEN: Me as well.

DAVIS: I really want it to go to Indiana because I think that would be fun. You don’t get a lot of these kinda underdog east stories. So I just hope the Pacers put up a fight. 

HEINEN: I mean, I don’t follow the Pacers super close.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm.

HEINEN: But if there’s anything I’ve learned about them is that they don’t give up. 

DAVIS: And speaking of stars who you know, are always there, Halliburton like he’s gonna give it his all, regardless of what’s happening. And also, I’d like to shout out the Sacramento Kings for trading him to the Pacers.

HEINEN: Oh, I totally didn’t know that. 

DAVIS: The Kings, the Kings drafted Halliburton and decided that, you know what? 

HEINEN: We don’t want him. 

DAVIS: We’d rather, I think they traded him for De’Aaron Fox, who’s now in the Spurs, so it didn’t even kind of really make sense. 

HEINEN: Bad trade. 

DAVIS: What a great organization. 

HEINEN: Yeah. Speaking of trades, there’s lots of trade talk going on with the Timberwolves right now.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

HEINEN: Something that I’ve heard, which I don’t agree with, is us trading for Kevin Durant, which I don’t think that’ll end up happening. 

DAVIS: Absolutely, I really don’t know how they would do it. 

HEINEN: They’d have to trade Jaden McDaniels, and they aren’t gonna do that. 

DAVIS: I really don’t see the point of any team trading for Durant at this.

HEINEN: No, he’s old. 

DAVIS: He’s old. And it’s, you can’t give up half your team. 

HEINEN: Something that probably will happen, but that makes me really sad is trading Nickeil Alexander Walker. Because I think especially in the playoffs, like when I was watching those Thunder games, and it might’ve only been because Shai is his cousin, and he had like family grudge.

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: But he was the only one out there consistently, like getting low on defense. 

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

HEINEN: Playing hard, scoring on offense. He had some 20-point games like he was a standout player honestly, I think. And he’s been getting better and better over the seasons, and so it just makes me sad that he’s probably gonna go. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: Because I think a couple more seasons would really solidify him in the lineup for sure. 

DAVIS: Honestly, I’ve been hearing things that Naz Reid might not resign. 

HEINEN: Oh, shoot. What would happen then? 

DAVIS: Julius Randle obviously, like, it’s like. 

HEINEN: Yeah, he’s on a one year. 

DAVIS: What’s going to happen there? Thibs though of the Knicks got fired. 

HEINEN: I saw that. 

DAVIS: And lots of jokes about K.A.T. being able to fire Thibs twice.

HEINEN: Oh, facts. I didn’t even think about that. That’s insane. 

DAVIS: A lot of people were shocked and they were like, why would New York do this? This is their first Eastern Conference Finals in years.

HEINEN: Yeah. 

DAVIS: I would say I’m not as shocked because during that Pacer series the entire year, he didn’t play his bench. He’s gonna like. 

HEINEN: True. 

DAVIS: I’m gonna play, I’m gonna play the same guys. I’m gonna give him crazy minutes for a regular season game. 

HEINEN: They were wiped. 

DAVIS: Then it, he gets the Eastern Conference Finals and he is scrambling and he doesn’t know what to do. 

HEINEN: Mm-hmm. 

DAVIS: And so he starts throwing in bench guys who have played so few minutes over the like entire regular season. And then I don’t know if he expected them to be prepared. 

HEINEN: Yeah. And like I know K.A.T. had a knee injury for like the last three games. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: And I’m like, this is not, I’ve never agreed with that. Like in any sports, of like letting an injured player keep playing. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

HEINEN: So stupid. 

DAVIS: That’s when the coach needs to step up and be like, no, I know this is like a win or go home game, but like. We’re gonna need you in future seasons. 

HEINEN: I wonder if the Timberwolves will continue on with Finch. We lost in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row. 

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

HEINEN: In the, in the same fashion. 

DAVIS: Yeah. And I feel like, like the players seem to, like it seems to be completely up to them if they’re going to do well or not in the series. And I feel like with a good coach, like you could kind of coach that like up and down emotion out of players. 

Oh, the NHL Stanley Cup is happening. Does anyone care? It’s the Panthers and the Oilers again. It’s the same as it was last year. 

HEINEN: Oh, lame. 

DAVIS: Panthers took it last year. Oilers, obviously, McDavid wants that first cup. You know? It’s like the thorn in his side. 

HEINEN: Ugh. I hate repeat championships. Although if Lynx and Liberty go again, I wouldn’t be mad. 

DAVIS: That would be fun. That’s completely different. 

HEINEN: No, that’s very different. 

DAVIS: So different. 

HEINEN: Well, that is all we have for you guys today. I hope you’re all enjoying your summer and stay tuned for further Gold Standards throughout the summer months.

Thank you for listening, and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, you can drop them in our email inbox at [email protected]

I’m Ceci Heinen. 

DAVIS: And I’m Megan Davis. 

HEINEN: Have a great day, and this has been the Gold Standard.



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Olympia Track and Field Club turns kids into champions | Sports

Fifteen years ago, Maddette Smith recognized a void in Southwest Florida’s sports scene and founded the Olympia Track and Field Club to fill that void. “I’m a lover of track,” said Smith. “I went on a track scholarship myself. I traveled all over the world with track and field. When I first moved back to Southwest […]

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Fifteen years ago, Maddette Smith recognized a void in Southwest Florida’s sports scene and founded the Olympia Track and Field Club to fill that void.

“I’m a lover of track,” said Smith. “I went on a track scholarship myself. I traveled all over the world with track and field. When I first moved back to Southwest Florida, I felt like track had pretty much died out here.”

Smith’s vision has grown into a club with nearly 70 athletes training year-round, producing more than 50 college athletes with the help of dedicated coaches and parents.

“She’s a very great coach and she’s taught me a lot since I’ve been here,” said Mikayla Burton, a club member.

“She means a lot to me,” said Ava Fredrickson, a club member. “She’s a really fun coach and I just love her.”

Practices are held at Dunbar High School, where athletes have become a force to be reckoned with at the Junior Olympics.

“It just makes me feel really happy that I get to run and jump,” said Fredrickson.

Several athletes have run their races this year and more are preparing for the Junior Olympics at the end of this month.

“I’m training every day, almost every day, and practice has been hard, but I’m getting through it,” said Burton.

For many young athletes, the goals extend beyond this summer.

“I want to go to the Olympics, be a gold medalist and make my dad proud,” said Kyana Cranston, another club member.

“My goals are to run in middle school and high school and maybe one day become an elite runner,” said Fredrickson.

Thanks to Smith’s vision, these athletes are getting a jump start on winning medals.

“I’m so proud. Words can’t even express how I feel about how great they have done. I have a very good coaching staff. I have a very good parent support team. All the kids that are here right now, it’s always fruits of their labor because they come out here every day it’s hot and raining, it doesn’t matter,” said Smith.

The Olympia Track and Field Club continues to change lives and set the stage for young athletes to achieve their dreams.



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Yucaipa’s volleyball star James Lopez earns All-CIF | Sports

The key to success for most high school volleyball teams is the setter. All the offense goes through the setter to set up outside and middle hitters for attacks that often result in points. For the past two years, James (J.R.) Lopez provided that floor leadership. For his efforts, Lopez was named to the 2025 […]

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The key to success for most high school volleyball teams is the setter. All the offense goes through the setter to set up outside and middle hitters for attacks that often result in points.

For the past two years, James (J.R.) Lopez provided that floor leadership. For his efforts, Lopez was named to the 2025 All-CIF Southern Section Division 6 first team.

Lopez was a key factor in the Thunderbirds 20-12 season in 2025 that enabled them to finish third in the Citrus Belt League at 9-4 to earn a spot in the CIF playoffs. The team won two playoff matches before losing to El Toro, 3-1 in the third round of section play.

He was also valuable during a CBL championship season in 2024, setting the ball for teammates as they finished with a 31-4 record and unbeaten in the CBL at 12-0. Unfortunately, the T-Birds lost their first-round match, 3-2, to Crean Lutheran.

Lopez finished the 2025 season with 635 assists (9.6 assists per set) in 66 sets played. He contributed 29 service aces and 140 digs (2.1 digs per set). In 2024, Lopez produced 611 assists in 89 sets (6.11 assists per set) with 59 service aces and 141 digs. His two-year assist total was 1,246 to go with 88 service aces in that span.



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Pepperdine Athletics’ Building Waves Program Continues to Empower and Prepare Student-Athletes for Life

Story Links MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine Athletics is proud to highlight another successful year of its Building Waves program, the department’s professional development initiative designed to prepare student-athletes for life after their time in Malibu. Launched in 2020, Building Waves helps student-athletes clarify their career interests, establish connections with alumni and industry […]

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MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine Athletics is proud to highlight another successful year of its Building Waves program, the department’s professional development initiative designed to prepare student-athletes for life after their time in Malibu.

Launched in 2020, Building Waves helps student-athletes clarify their career interests, establish connections with alumni and industry professionals, and build confidence in their transferable skills. The program includes resume and career skills workshops, one-on-one mentoring, life beyond sport discussions, and networking events with Pepperdine alumni where many of whom were student-athletes themselves.

In 2024–25, the program engaged over 80 student-athletes across 12 programs and all four class years in a variety of workshops, events, and mentorship opportunities focused on career preparation and personal growth.

 

This year, 32 alumni mentors stepped up to guide, encourage, and inspire our student-athletes. Since 2021, almost 90 alumni have shared their time and expertise with student athletes. Our signature program is the one-on-one mentoring program which matches current student athletes with alumni who match their career interests.

 

The academic year saw the highest-ever recorded department-wide GPA with multiple programs setting new program-record GPA-highs.

“This has been an inspiring year for Building Waves with participation across sports at an all-program high,” noted Academic Support Coordinator/Career Development Erin Carroll. “Helping our student athletes prepare for the transition out of college athletics and appreciate their unique value in the professional world, I’m seeing them step into this new confidence. For this, I have to thank our Wave alumni who are the linchpin of this program. We know the caliber of our alumni is tremendous, and they are making an enormous impact on the next generation of Waves.”

2024–25 Program Impact

  • 78 participants representing 12 men’s and women’s sports
  • Engagement across all class years:

    • Freshmen: 17
    • Sophomores: 16
    • Juniors: 22
    • Seniors: 23

  • Participating teams:

    • Baseball (20), Men’s Water Polo (14), Cross Country/Track (14), Women’s Swimming/Diving (7), Women’s Basketball (5), Women’s Soccer (5), Women’s Basketball (5), Beach Volleyball (4), Women’s Tennis (2), Men’s Tennis (2) and Men’s Golf (1)

“Building Waves gave me a deeper understanding of how the business world truly works. I learned what stands out in interviews, gained technical knowledge specific to commercial real estate, and received valuable answers to both basic and advanced questions. I also made some meaningful connections that could lead to future job or internship opportunities. Overall, I feel much more confident in my skills—I’m now interning in the field and adapting quickly thanks to what I learned through this program.”
— Karina Gonzalez, Women’s Soccer Senior

“Jen Karson was the perfect mentor for me! She came in at a perfect time as I was trying to land an internship. With her interview help and demo reel advice, I landed an internship that I am very excited about.”

— Jenna Parsio, Track Junior

“I have had an excellent experience with this program, not only has Emily been extremely helpful, but she has given me excellent resources and other connections that have helped so much. This has been one of the best resources from Pepperdine Athletics.”

— Emma Martinez, Cross Country and Track Sophomore

“This is an amazing program. I only wish it was available when I was a graduate. Thankfully, I’ve been able to mentor a number of people along the way in my professional life but it just seems much more special giving back to someone from Pepperdine who is an athlete. Very excited about Karina’s future when she leaves Pepperdine.”

— Pat Meaney, Mentor, Men’s Water Polo 1980

 

Since its inception, Building Waves has helped foster strong bonds between current Waves and alumni dating back as far as the Class of 1979. These connections have provided insight into industries such as law, business, education, healthcare, and more while delivering tailored support from those who understand the unique journey of a student-athlete.

The program, which began virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, now offers in-person and hybrid programming with increasing reach and frequency. Once focused primarily on seniors, Building Waves now serves all student-athletes, with expanded sessions created in partnership with Pepperdine’s sport psychology staff. This includes special emphasis on life beyond sports, equipping student-athletes with tools to manage the emotional and professional transitions that come after their final season.

 



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Noles Set Program Record on All-ACC Academic Team

TALLAHASSEE– The Florida State Outdoor track and field teams placed a program record of 29 student- athletes on the All-ACC Outdoor Track and Field Academic team, the league office announced on Friday.   To be eligible student-athletes must have a 3.00 cumulative GPA or greater and must have participated in either the ACC Championship and […]

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TALLAHASSEE– The Florida State Outdoor track and field teams placed a program record of 29 student- athletes on the All-ACC Outdoor Track and Field Academic team, the league office announced on Friday.
 
To be eligible student-athletes must have a 3.00 cumulative GPA or greater and must have participated in either the ACC Championship and or the NCAA Championship.
 
The women were represented by 16, the fifth highest total in the league. Suus Altorf led the way with her third selection, while Bieke Schipperen and Kayla Pinkard earned their second. The men secured 13 honorees, led by Zach Cloud who captured his third career nod.
 
2025 Women’s All-ACC Academic Team
Zianna Curtis– Communication Disorders
Nicole Dinan-Entrepreneurship
Takiyah Ferguson– Media/Communication Studies
Alyia Green– Public Health
Ava Povich– Exercise Physiology
Kaelyaah Liburd– Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Joella Lloyd– Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
**Bieke Schipperen-Media Communications 
***Suus Altorf– Exercise Physiology 
Brooke Mullins– Sport Management
Emily Brown– Athletic Coaching-Masters
Leah Taylor– Exercise Physiology
**Kayla Pinkard-Criminology
Lucy May Sleeman– Economics
Oludoyin Soremi– Computational Biology
Oluwadara Soremi– Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
 
2025 Men’s All-ACC Academic Team
**Zach Leachman-Athletic Coaching Graduate Certificate
***Zachary Cloud- Sport Science
Austin Kleinman-Sport Management- Masters
**Joseph Farley- Interdisciplinary Social Studies
**Lucas Bouquot-Finance and Real Estate
Tyler Azcano– Finance
Curtis Bain-Media/Communication Studies
Cooper Crowell-Exercise Physiology
**Andre Korbmacher-Entrepreneurship
**Neo Mosebi– Political Science
Durian Moss– Psychology
Amare Williams– Media/Communication Studies
Tyson Williams-Sociology
 
*Denotes number of All-ACC Academic Team honors 

For more information on Florida State track and field, follow Twitter (X) @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.    

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Zeller to Return as VHS Volleyball Coach | Sports

This fall, the Tanager volleyball program will welcome back a familiar face to many in the community. Jodi Zeller will return to the sidelines as head coach for the upcoming volleyball season following a three-year hiatus. In her time coaching the Tanagers she led the team to a third place finish at the state tournament […]

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This fall, the Tanager volleyball program will welcome back a familiar face to many in the community. Jodi Zeller will return to the sidelines as head coach for the upcoming volleyball season following a three-year hiatus.

In her time coaching the Tanagers she led the team to a third place finish at the state tournament following a state title the previous year.



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Willis Named ACC Scholar-Athlete of Year – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford’s Roisin Willis was named Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Conference. The honor adds to the growing list of achievements for the rising senior from Stevens Point, Wisconsin. On June 14, Willis won the 800 meters at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in […]

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STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford’s Roisin Willis was named Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The honor adds to the growing list of achievements for the rising senior from Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

On June 14, Willis won the 800 meters at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in a meet record time of 1:58.13 – the third-fastest in collegiate history. The time also was an ACC record and a personal best.

The victory gave Willis, the 2022 world under-20 800 and 4×400 relay champion, her third NCAA title and first outdoors. Her previous NCAA titles came at the 2023 indoor championships – in the 800 and distance medley relay.

Willis, a history major, is a nine-time All-American with six first-team All-America honors. After her NCAA victory last month, she was named West Region Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and was a semifinalist for The Bowerman, collegiate track and field’s Heisman Trophy.

Willis is the fifth from Stanford to be named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the Cardinal’s first academic year in the conference. The other Stanford winners are Julietta Camahort (women’s rowing), Maxime Raynaud (men’s basketball), Elia Rubin (women’s volleyball), and Jack Ryan (men’s swimming and diving).

The ACC Outdoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete awards — the men’s honor went to Miami’s NCAA champion javelin thrower Devoux Deysel – were accompanied by ACC’s All-Academic teams. Twenty-one men and 17 women from Stanford were honored.

The requirements were a 3.25 grade-point average in each of the two most recent quarters and cumulative, and participation in the ACC Championships or the preliminary or championship rounds of NCAA competition.

Here are the lists of Stanford’s honorees:

Men
Gabriel Ajaegbu, So., undeclared
Joseph Bailey, So., undeclared
Zane Bergen, Jr., Management Science and Engineering
Caleb Boutelle, Sr., Human Biology
Thomas Boyden, Grad., M.A.: Public Policy; B.S. Computer Science
Garrett Brown, Grad., M.S. and B.S.: Aeronautics and Astronautics
Olufemi Cole, Sr., International Relations
James Dargan, Fr., undeclared
Dylan Davis, So., undeclared
Robert DiDonato, Sr., Computer Science
Xavier Drumgoole, Fr., undeclared
John Kroeger, Sr., Mechanical Engineering
Sam Liokumovich, Sr., Computer Science
Mason McKhann, Jr., Economics
Ryce Reynolds, Fr., undeclared
Zachary Ryan, So., undeclared
Milo Skapinsky, So., Computer Science
Cole Sprout, Grad., M.S.: Computer Science; B.S.: Symbolic Systems
Nolan Topper, Sr., Mechanical Engineering
Leo Young, So., Management Science and Engineering
Lex Young, So., undeclared

Women
Audrey DaDamio, Grad., M.S. and B.S.: Biology
Zofia Dudek, Grad., M.S.: Biomedical Data Science; B.S.: Bioengineering
Sevilla Duran, Grad., M.S.: Community Health and Prevention Studies; B.S. (at Columbia): Neuroscience and Behavior
Amelia Everett, So., Human Biology
Kaiah Fisher, Sr., Biology
Julia Flynn, Jr., Biology
Imogen Gardiner, Grad., M.S.: Biomedical Data Science; B.S.: Symbolic Systems
Ariana Guerrero, So., Management Science and Engineering
Lianne Kistler, Sr., Human Biology
Alaysia Oakes, Jr., Economics
Camille Peisner, Sr., Communication
Cate Peters, So., Communication
Madison Romain, Jr., Civil Engineering
Sky Schuller, So., undeclared
Hillary Studdert, So., Economics
Roisin Willis, Jr., History
Teagan Zwaanstra, Sr., Mechanical Engineering



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