ST. LOUIS – Indiana State was announced as the 2025 MVC Women’s Track and Field Program of the Year Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.
 
The Sycamores continued their dominance of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 2024-25 campaign, sweeping the MVC Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the second straight season. Indiana State also posted its highest finish at the MVC Women’s Cross Country Championships since 1997, finishing as runner-up.
 
The Sycamores had multiple major performances to propel them to the top of the charts in the MVC. Emma Gresham became the first Indiana State athlete to capture the MVC Women’s Cross Country Individual Championship since 2003 with a school record 6K performance of 20:09.7, while Rachel Mehringer shattered conference records in both the indoor 60m hurdles (8.19) and outdoor 100m hurdles (13.04). Gresham was also an All-Region honoree, Indiana State’s first since 2017, at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
 
Indiana State women’s cross country/track and field athletes set 51 program top-10 marks over the course of the 2024-25 campaign (13 cross country, 17 indoor track and field, 21 outdoor track and field), while six school records were broken across the 2024-25 cross country/track and field calendar. Gresham (cross country – 4K, 5K, 6K), Mehringer (indoor – 60m hurdles, outdoor – 100m hurdles) and Lillian Gibbs (javelin) all broke program records during the season, while 24 all-conference accolades were earned by Sycamore women’s cross country/track and field athletes during the season (two cross country, 11 indoor track and field, 11 outdoor track and field).
 
In addition to Gresham’s cross country conference title, Indiana State had eight conference champions across its MVC Indoor-Outdoor Championship sweep. Mehringer (60m hurdles, 100m hurdles) and Jahnel Bowman (triple jump) took home titles at both the indoor and outdoor championships, Janiya Bowman (long jump) and Niesha Anderson (weight throw) won indoor titles, while Brooklyn Pfaff (pole vault) and Emma Yoder (discus) won outdoor titles.
 
Indiana State was also second in the 2025 MVC Men’s Track and Field Program of the Year rankings, after winning its fourth straight MVC Outdoor Championship and finishing second at the MVC Indoor Championships.
 
Follow the Sycamores

For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
 

– #MarchOn –

Youngstown State’s volleyball team will open the 2025 season hosting a tournament at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center as part of a 29-match regular-season slate, Head Coach Riley Jarrett announced on Tuesday.

The Penguins will host the YSU Invitational, presented by Mercy Health, to open Jarrett’s second campaign on Aug. 29-30. The four-team event will bring Canisius, Duquesne and Mercyhurst to campus, and it will be the first of three non-conference tournaments over the first three weekends of the season. YSU will play in events at Saint Francis (Pa.) and the College of Charleston in September, and the Penguins will host Akron and Kent State on consecutive nights on Sept. 18-19 to close the non-conference portion of their schedule.

YSU’s 24th Horizon League season will start with a pair of contests at Green Bay on Sept. 26-27, and the conference home opener will be Sept. 30 against Robert Morris. YSU will remain home to host Northern Kentucky the first weekend of October before playing back-to-back road series at Wright State and IU Indy the following two weeks.

Youngstown State will welcome Milwaukee on Oct. 24-25, and its final three road matches of the regular season will be the following week. The Penguins will complete their home-and-home with RMU on Oct. 28, and they’ll play at Oakland on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

YSU will be home for the final two weekends of the regular season, and its schedule will shift to Thursday and Friday for those two series. The Penguins will take on Cleveland State on Nov. 6-7, and they’ll host Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 13-14 in the final week.

Schedule Notes

• Home Tournament: YSU is hosting a tournament on the opening weekend for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
• Horizon League Opener: Sept. 26 at Green Bay
• Horizon League Home Opener: Sept. 30 vs. Robert Morris
• First-Time Opponents: Lafayette, Stetson

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – For the third time in five years, Southeast Missouri is the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner’s Cup Champion.
 
The OVC Commissioner’s Cup is a symbol of overall athletic excellence in Conference-sponsored championships and is awarded annually to one member institution.
 
SEMO, which also took the honor in 2020-21 and 2022-23, hoists the trophy for the third time behind an outstanding 2024-25 season that included seven OVC titles.
 
The Redhawks scored a total of 107 points and edged Little Rock (104.5) by 2.5 points in this year’s standings. Lindenwood (93), Eastern Illinois (92.5), Tennessee Tech (90), SIU Edwardsville (79.5), Southern Indiana (78), Tennessee State (64), UT Martin (64), Morehead State (58.5) and Western Illinois (56.5) rounded out the scoring.
 

SEMO garnered first-place finishes in football, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s tennis. 
 
It marked the third time since joining the OVC where SEMO won seven or more conference championships. The Redhawks also won seven titles in 1996-97 and claimed a school record eight OVC crowns in 2022-23. Since the 2019-20 campaign, SEMO has won a league-best 37 OVC championships with every one of its sports getting at least one in that stretch.
 
“Our vision for SEMO Athletics is to be the premier athletics department in the OVC and that vision has truly become a reality,” said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Brady Barke. “The level of sustained success so many of our programs have shown over the past few years is remarkable. Congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters who have all contributed to our high level of success.”
 

The OVC Commissioner’s Cup was previously known as the All-Sports Trophy. In 2008-09, the league began awarding only one trophy. The points system was updated in 2022-23 and schools now count 13 total sports in the final standings. Among those 13, schools are required to count the point totals of three main sports (men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball) as well as the highest finishing men’s and women’s track & field sport (either cross country, indoor track & field or outdoor track & field). Schools that sponsor football are required to count it as one of its 13 sports.
 
Points are distributed based on the number of schools that sponsor the sport (e.g. if 11 schools sponsor a sport, the champion will earn 11 points, 10 points for second place, nine for third place, etc.). Tournament champions (men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and beach volleyball) receive one additional point).

SEMO, which became a member of the OVC in 1991-92, won a total of 81 regular-season championships and 28 tournament titles during its 33 years with the league. 

It was an historic trip to Medellin, Colombia for several Lower Mainland-area players on Canada’s two U17 national teams, which involved teens who live in Surrey, Delta, Langley, Abbotsford and Maple Ridge.

The men’s youth team won gold and women squad scored silver at the PanAm Aquatics Championships, May 13-25.

Water Polo Canada says it’s their best-ever overall finish at this competition, for this age group, and the first championship title there for the men’s youth team. Previous best performances were third-place finishes at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 editions.

B.C.-based water polo players on Canada’s golden men’s U17 team are Joshua Coxford (Langley), Jackson Culbreath (Surrey), Elliott Griffoen (Surrey), Elliott King (Surrey), Nash Porter (Langley) and Adam Rashed (Delta). 

The silver medal-winning women’s team includes Airi Cowie (Maple Ridge) and Alexandra Stoddard (Abbotsford).

The men’s youth team began their round-robin tournament with a 32-4 win against Venezuela, followed by a loss against Brazil (11-6). They then won their five following games. In quarterfinals, Canada won 23-4 against Argentina and then, in semifinals, they beat the U.S. squad, 17-11.

In the final, Canada got their revenge on Brazil with a 11-10 victory. Canada was led by Coxford (Langley) and Ivan Khramtsov (Mississauga, Ontario), who both scored three goals each, as well as Langley’s Porter, named Most Valuable Player for the final game. Khramtsov was named MVP for the men’s tournament.

“This group has come a long way since last year’s U16 Worlds, where we got our first real taste of international water polo,” Khramtsov said. “This time, we came with experience, hunger, and a belief in each other. Our week of preparation before the tournament set the foundation, and every player stepped up when it counted.”

On the women’s side, Canada started the tournament with three wins. In the final, they lost to the U.S. team, 18-7.

Eleven water polo teams competed in the men’s tournament, seven on the women’s division, at the 2025 PanAm Aquatics Championships, the first edition of a multisport event that also included diving, swimming, high diving and synchronized swimming.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Six Columbia Track & Field student-athletes are set to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field NCAA Championship Eastern Prelims which begin on Wednesday morning at the University of North Florida.

The competition spans four days and will conclude on Saturday, May 31. All six Lions will be looking to finish in the top-12 of their respective events and punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship finals next month.

The first Lions to compete will be Obiora Okeke and Parker Kim in the first round of the hammer throw on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Okeke will also compete in the first round of the Shot Put on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

In the evening session on Wednesday, Matt Gatune will take part in the first round of the 1500m at 6:30 p.m. He will look to advance to the quarterfinals of the event which will take place on Friday evening. 

Madison Williams will be the first woman to compete, taking part in the first round of the long jump at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. 

In the evening session on Thursday, Rory Clare will get things started in the first round of the 1500m at 6:30 p.m. Lucy Henkel will then compete in the first round of the 800m at 7:50 p.m. Both will look to advance to the quarterfinals of each event which will take place on Saturday evening. 

Okeke will compete in his third event of the weekend, the first round of the discus, on Friday at 1 p.m.

The full schedule for every event can be found HERE. Follow along with live results HERE. Tickets are available HERE. Stream information for all four days can be found HERE. 

For qualified athletes who finish in the top-12 of their respective events at the eastern prelims, the finals of the NCAA Championships will begin on Wednesday, June 11 in Eugene, Ore.

 

COLUMBIA QUALIFYING MARKS

Women

800m: Lucy Henkel (31st – 2:04.45)

1500m: Rory Clare (27th – 4:15.33)

Long Jump: Madison Williams (29th – 6.2m)

 

Men

1500m: Matt Gatune (27th – 3:40.34)

Hammer: Obiora Okeke (40th – 62.64m)

Hammer: Parker Kim (43rd – 62.49m)

Shot Put: Obiora Okeke (5th – 20.17m)

Discus: Obiora Okeke (37th – 54.34m)

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

 

The final run to South Brunswick is underway.

On Tuesday, the NJSIAA officially released the brackets and seeds for the 2025 boys volleyball state tournament.

Below, you’ll find links to each bracket.

SECTIONAL TOURNAMENTS

North Jersey

South Jersey

The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now!

Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter)

Greg Patuto can be reached at gpatuto@njadvancemedia.com.