GENEVA, Ohio – Junior Isabel Wyatt concluded her standout season for the St. Olaf College women’s track and field team with a 19th-place finish in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon at the SPIRE Institute.

In her first appearance at the outdoor national meet, Wyatt finished seventh in heat one and 19th overall with a time of 2:16.53. The junior entered the meet as the No. 16 seed in the event with her school-record time of 2:09.44 from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Wyatt’s seventh-place finish in the first of the three heats left her with no chance to advance to Saturday’s final, as the top-two finishers in each heat plus the next three fastest times moved on. The junior was St. Olaf’s first outdoor national qualifier in the event since Andrea Gelle ’07 in 2007.

The showing brought an end to a decorated junior season for Wyatt, who was a Second Team All-American in the indoor 800-meter run after placing ninth in the country earlier this year. She was also the MIAC outdoor champion in the 800-meter run both indoors and outdoors and was named the MIAC Women’s Indoor Co-Track Athlete of the Year after adding a conference title in the 1,000-meter run. Between the indoor and outdoor seasons this year, Wyatt broke four school records and one MIAC record.

At the conclusion of the 800-meter run, St. Olaf sat in a tie for 34th in the team standings with two points from senior Alison Bode’s seventh-place performance in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday.

 

 

What sports are being discontinued and how was that determined?
– Baseball and softball are being discontinued. The decision to eliminate both sports was necessitated by university-wide budget cuts totaling $6 million, consideration of necessary future investments for both sports including the facilities, and a complex evolving NCAA landscape.

What other cost saving measures were considered before deciding to discontinue baseball and softball?

– Staff member positions were eliminated as part of the university’s budget cuts. Further cuts across the board to all sports and several units in athletics, instead of eliminating baseball and softball, were fully considered and analyzed. However, it was determined after a painstaking review that this course of action was the best path to ensure PFW’s overall success at the NCAA Division I level. 

 

Why is this being done now?

– There is no good time to make a decision of this nature. However, implementing these steps now will allow student-athletes as much time as possible to consider their academic and athletic options. The softball transfer portal is open now, and baseball’s window will open on June 2. Additionally, the window will stay open longer for Purdue Fort Wayne baseball and softball student-athletes looking to transfer due to the programs being discontinued.

 

Will scholarships be honored for impacted student-athletes?

– Yes, current baseball and softball student-athletes and committed incoming student-athletes will have their scholarships honored through the completion of their degree.

 

Will Purdue Fort Wayne assist student-athletes who desire to transfer?

– Yes. Student-athletes should contact the Athletics Compliance Office if they would like to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

 

How many individuals are directly affected by this decision?

– 56 student-athletes (36 baseball, 20 softball) and 3 full-time coaches

Could private donations or fundraising reinstate baseball or softball?

– No, they could not, due to the annual costs associated with fully addressing the financial challenges to properly support our student-athletes.  

 

How will Purdue Fort Wayne engage donors to honor their wishes regarding gifts to the baseball and softball programs?

– The Office of Development and Alumni Engagement will assist all donors regarding affected gifts.

What are the financial savings for the university from discontinuing baseball and softball?

– It is estimated the university will save upwards of $1 million annually following the elimination both sports.

 

Will discontinuing these sports impact Purdue Fort Wayne’s Horizon League or NCAA Division I affiliation?

– No, Purdue Fort Wayne still has the required 14 sponsored sports for NCAA Division I affiliation.

 

Is the university considering the discontinuation of other programs?

– No, Purdue Fort Wayne is committed to facilitating the growth and success of an NCAA Division I athletic department, which requires 14 sports. 

Will Purdue Fort Wayne’s Title IX compliance be impacted by the elimination of baseball and softball?

– Purdue Fort Wayne’s Title IX compliance will not be impacted.

 

 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Purdue Fort Wayne joined a line of schools dropping sports because of budget cuts and the looming era of revenue sharing with athletes, announcing Friday it would discontinue its baseball and softball programs immediately.

The university announced $6 million in budget cuts Thursday, and discontinuing the two sports will save about $1 million.

The Mastadons are members of the Horizon League and Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and will sponsor 14 Division I sports.

“This is one of the saddest days in my 25 years as a Mastodon,” athletic director Kelley Hartley Hutton said. “We know this news will upset our student-athletes, alumni and fans. It was not made lightly, and we are committed to supporting those affected through this transition.”

Harley Hutton said budget challenges across the university, in combination with changes in the NCAA model, led to a re-evaluation of the athletic program.

Stephen F. Austin announced Thursday it would drop bowling, men’s and women’s golf and beach volleyball. Eastern Illinois announced on May 12 it would discontinue men’s and women’s tennis.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

GENEVA, Ohio— The Wartburg men’s outdoor track and field team is tied for 20^th place after day two of the National Championships with 5 points.

Friday’s events:

110m hurdle prelims                Deyton Love   8^th          14.40

3000m steeplechase finals  Lance Sobaski             6^th          8:56.47

Notes:

• Love qualifies for Saturday’s finals
• This will be his fourth career All-American honor in this event
• This will be the program’s sixth total All-American honor in the 110 hurdles
• This was the 11^th All-American honor in the steeplechase for the program
• This was the fifth-straight year Wartburg has earned All-America honors in the steeplechase
• This was Sobaski’s second All-American honor in the steeplechase as he previously placed third in 2023

Up Next
The Knights will be back in action tomorrow for the final day of the NCAA Championships.

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – In a last-minute development, the lone senior from the Montevallo Bulldogs volleyball team is heading to college to help build a foundation for the state’s newest collegiate volleyball program.

Montevallo setter Jaida Heath signed to play volleyball at Reid State Technical College after receiving a scholarship from the program.

Heath officially signed her letter of intent at a special ceremony with her family in attendance along with former Montevallo volleyball coach Tena Niven, who coached Heath with the Bulldogs.

“Jaida is an excellent leader and I love her tenacity,” Niven said. “She is the type of player you want because she is not willing to give up. She is going to keep going until she is successful.”

Heath started every game for Montevallo at setter in the 2024 season and provided a crucial role for the offense as the Bulldogs played in the Class 5A South Super Regionals for the first time in school history, ultimately losing to Providence Christian to finish the year..

More importantly though, Heath provided crucial senior leadership as the only member of the Class of 2025 on the volleyball team. That leadership will be needed at the collegiate level as she takes on a new challenge at Reid State.

Reid State will play its first season of volleyball in 2025, and the Lions reached out looking for hard-working athletes who knew the game. Heath fit the bill and earned a last-minute scholarship to head down south to Evergreen and play collegiate volleyball at the junior college level.

Corki’s Embroidery took on a lot of custom jobs the other half-dozen or so other shops in the Newport Beach area wouldn’t, which meant that over the years the business had many clients approach them with special orders carrying deep sentimental value.

Employees recall one woman who came in carrying the wedding tuxedo of her husband, who had died at a young age.

“She wanted this inscription that we made inside the coat so he would be buried with her thoughts, that they would meet again. Stuff like that comes through the door, and you just sort of, ‘Oof!’” seamstress Linda Pierce exclaimed. “Yes, of course we’ll do it!”

Other memorable jobs were blankets customized with the names of children cared for by an orphanage and the sewing of American flags onto to the gear of beach volleyball pros April Ross and Jen Kessy ahead of their silver medal finish in the 2012 Olympics.

Their work has helped people commemorate weddings, graduations, as well as countless other special moments and people over the course of their decades in business.

Owner Barbara “Corki” Rawlings told the Daily Pilot she has reveled in her role in the Newport Beach community. After celebrating her 90th birthday in 2024 and running her shop for 59 years, she’s decided to close it at the end of June and settle into retirement.

But that doesn’t mean she’s done sewing. She’ll move her favorite vintage Singer 401A Slant-O-Matic from the store workshop to her desk at home alongside three other similar machines, she said.

Rawlings has sold the building tucked away on Old Newport Boulevard she had been doing business out of. The commercial sized machine they used for high-volume orders will pass into the ownership of another local seamstress.

“I thought maybe somebody would buy the property and allow me to stay for a couple years while they’re getting permits for tearing it down,” Rawlings said. “And when I turned 90, I guess I just thought, ‘Why?’ And for me it was the right decision. No regrets.”

Long running thread

Sewing is something threaded into the core of the business owner’s upbringing. Some of Rawlings’ earliest memories involved making garments “at my mother’s knee.”

“I worked the pedals on her sewing machine,” she said. “She made all our kids’ clothes. I made all my kids’ clothes, drapes, everything.”

Her mother was a teacher who eventually settled in Santa Ana. Through sewing and living in Orange County, Rawlings became involved in the boating community.

She used to help the original owner of Nikki’s Flags with orders for many of the yacht clubs in the Newport Beach area, and eventually bought that business in 1966. Rawlings sold the flag shop in 1994, but continued the embroidery store under her own name.

“The nautical part of it, I won’t say came naturally; I had to learn it” Rawlings said. “But it was easy. I loved the water. I loved the boating. And then it kind of turned into coaching.”

She moved to a home at the Newport Sea Base in 1974, and became a scout leader for the Sea Scouts. She was also a volunteer for the Coast Guard, and has been a referee for NCAA rowing events for 26 years. She’ll be in New Jersey as a guest referee for the Division I Women’s championship in June.

Two of her sons, Billy Rawlings and Bob Rawlings, help run the Newport Aquatic Center and the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, respectively. Another, Brian Rawlings, helped design Icebreaker Argus, a 68.5 meter long vessel built to explore polar waters.

“Not very much of a businesswoman”

Yacht clubs have remained some of Rawlings’ most loyal customers. Other longtime clients include local fire and police departments, as well as rowing teams and other aquatics programs at practically every high school in Coastal Orange County. So it’s not unusual for Rawlings, Pierce and a third seamstress who has also been working with them for decades, Joyce Brownell, to find garments they personally stitched while they’re out and about in the community.

“With the Junior lifeguard backpacks — I live on the Peninsula, so I can see [junior lifeguards] riding by on their bicycles, and I can go, ‘Hey! I did that one!’” Pierce said.

Pierce, Rawlings and Brownell take pride in their work, and have personally sacrificed to ensure everything that leaves their shop meets their standards. They’ve eaten the cost to replace garments inadvertently damaged by equipment malfunctions. And even when a swimming or rowing team shows up with a couple hundred blankets and polo shirts that need to be finished in a week or so, it’s hard for them to say no and disappoint their clients.

“I spent many a night here, locked the doors and kept sewing,” Rawlings said. “And I still love sewing. It’s my own fault when that happens because I’ve said yes to something that was overwhelming or too much, and had to get it done.”

“But look at this! And look at these!” she continued while proudly holding up backpacks customized for the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards and a folder of elaborately stitched designs in blue, gray, gold and practically every possible color of thread.

Rawlings said their personal investment into each piece they make, and the relationships she built with the people she serves have been the key to her shop’s longevity. She considers most of them her friends.

“I am obviously, and still, not very much of a businesswoman,” the founder of a store that has lasted almost six decades said.

“Friends brought in business, and it just expanded from there.”

Humble beginnings founded on meaningful connections led Rawlings to a finale in a career she can bow out of proudly. In some ways, her decades in business mirrored the process of crafting a fine garment.

“A lot of the finished project depends on how you start; how you hoop, the backing you use, the overlay you use, whatever the material you’re embroidering on requires,” she said. “… No puckering. you don’t want pucker.”