9:42pm – Men’s Javelin

In a field full of Olympians, Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra took first and second place, as they so often have this season.

This time, Chopra got the better of Weber, throwing 88.16 to Weber’s 87.88. Weber still maintains the World Lead of 91.06m, with Chopra right behind in 90.23m. The next closest athlete is the United States’s Curtis Thompson, whose throw of 87.76m is almost three meters back from the two clear javelin favorites this year.

And while the top two had a less-than-ideal meet in terms of distance, the third place finisher, Luis Mauricio Da Silva threw an extremely strong 86.62m—a new Area Record and personal best for the Brazilian.

9:43 – Men’s 110 Hurdles Final

The semifinals set my expectations high for the finals of the men’s 110m hurdles, and they did not disappoint.

Grant Holloway, again, ran a season’s best in 13.11—finishing in fifth place. Holloway looked the fastest over the first 70m, but like in the heats, faded over the final two hurdles. The American hurdler is unbeatable over 60m, but stringing the final stretches of the race together continues to be a struggle over this season. 13.11 is still solid, and Holloway has time before USAs to put it all together. 13.16 and 13.11 as a rustbuster is pretty damn good.

Jason Joseph and Rachid Muratake, third and fourth, also ran quickly in the final—finishing in 13.07 and 13.08, respectively. Joseph’s 13.07 equals his Swiss national record set in 2023, and Muratake’s 13.08 equals his season’s best, run in the heats.

Trey Cunningham and Dylan Beard, first and second, both ran personal bests in the final—Cunningham tying his with a 13.00 clocking and Beard dropping .06 to run 13.02. Cunningham and Beard are both establishing themselves as two of the best American hurdlers, if not two of the world’s best. It’s only a matter of time before they both break the 13 second barrier.

Cunningham, Beard, Holloway and fellow Americans Cordell Tinch, Freddie Crittenden, Jamal Britt, and Jakobe Tharp are all running quick. Even if I was a betting man, I would not bet on who makes the United States team for the 110m hurdles.

9:51 – Women’s 400m

Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser matching up against each other is, and will always be, must-see racing. They went toe-to-toe for the entire homestretch clear of the field but unable to fully separate from each other, and they crossed the line within four-hundredths of a second.

Eid Naser still holds the world lead, set back at Grand Slam Track’s first meet in Kingston, but Paulino continued her winning ways with a 48.81 to Eid Naser’s 48.85. The rest of the field fell behind but still ran well, with Martina Weil running a Chilean national record of 49.83, and Amber Anning running a season’s best 49.96. Isabella Whittaker has run race after race after race in her first Diamond League season, and while this wasn’t her best time, she still posted a 50.18 with a quick closing 100m.

9:59 – Men’s 1500m

I don’t know what I expected from this race.

I knew they were getting paced to 3:28.

I knew people ran fast on the track all evening.

I knew the runners in the field were in good form.

I knew Azeddine Habz going for the French record in front of a sell-out crowd was perfect motivation.

I knew it was going to be fast.

But when the pacer stepped off with 500m to go, and the racers stayed in front of the green wavelights, that’s when I knew it was going to be special.

Every athlete in the field improved their personal bests, except for Abel Kipsang, who was 0.35 seconds off.

The average personal best improvement was 2.2 seconds, and the average season’s best improvement was 3.29 seconds.

The average race time was 3:30.23—in a fourteen person field.

The fastest runner, Azeddine Habz, ran 3:27.49—the French National Record, World Lead, and sixth fastest 1500m of all time.

The second fastest runner, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech, ran the World U20 Record, in 3:27.72. The 18 year old dropped 4.54 seconds off his PB, set earlier this year—he was a 1:46.93 800m runner before this season.

The third fastest runner, George Mills, ran 3:28.36 to become the second fastest British runner ever over 1500m—hurdling Mo Farah, Jake Wightman, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe and many more in the all-time standings. The 11th fastest British runner is now the 14th fastest EVER.

I AM NOT DONE.

Three national records—Habz, Stefan Nillesen (the 22 year old) ran 3:29.23 for a Dutch National Record, and Tshepo Tshite ran a South African record of 3:31.35.

The slowest runner, Louis Gilavert, ran 3:32.25.

This race took 3:35 runners and made them 3:31 runners. I can’t attribute it to a single, specific reason—the race had it all.

Perfect pacing—yes. Runners motivated by the crowd—yes. The new shoes and nutrition improvements—yes. The track itself had everyone from hurdlers to distance runners commenting on how fast it felt, so—yes. The weather cooled down to 79 degrees, with little wind and all shade—yes.

Are Habz, Koech, Mills and company contenders now? I don’t know. Koech is a relative unknown, Habz is a contender to make finals but usually not for medals, and Mills has shown incredible gains over the 5000m and 1500m this year. I would not be surprised if they do contend for medals this summer and beyond.

Or is it that middle distance, not just the 800m, is having renaissance upon renaissance? 2024 was historically fast. 2025 looks even faster.

Two other side notes:

• The math on the race times are here in this spreadsheet, for those who love data like I do.
• With Breaking4 right around the corner, Nike has to be pretty happy about choosing the same stadium for their record attempt. I’m ready to see Faith Kipyegon run her fastest, and at Stade Charléty. Who knows what can happen?

10:08 – Women’s 200m

Anavia Battle is undefeated over Diamond League racing this season.

She’s also currently undefeated over the 200m distance—and is putting together a consistently solid resume that makes her a factor coming into championship season.

In this meet, Battle ran a season’s best of 22.27. The second and third place finishers, Amy Hunt and McKenzie Long, both ran season’s bests 22.45 and 22.49. Nobody else ran a season’s or personal best, but the top three got it done—and sometimes, that’s all it takes.

10:20 – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Welcome to the 12.2s, Grace Stark! The short hurdles continued to be fast, with Stark winning the overall race in 12.21, and the world record holder Tobi Amusan running second in 12.24.

Ackera Nugent also ran well, with a season’s best of 12.30.

I remember watching the Women’s 100m Hurdles in 2022, and being incredibly shocked by the 12.12 that Tobi Amusan threw down to break the World Record. Now that we’re three years out, and people are clawing their way back to that mark, I think it’s safe to say the 100m hurdle record is in danger this year. Masai Russell and Jasmine Jones went 12.17 and 12.19 in Miramar, and now Stark and Amusan are within striking distance—with only 0.7 m/s in wind.

The assumption is that contenders are trying to build in time to peak for the national and world championships. With that being the case, it’s hard not to look at these times a month out from championship racing and think the WR is not as far as it once felt like it was.

10:27 – Men’s 5000m

The men’s 5000m was paced to a world record in Paris. It didn’t go down, but Yomif Kejelcha sure as hell put up a fight.

It wasn’t until three laps to go that the lights started to pull away from the Ethiopian, who doggedly committed to the pace from the gun—sitting at the front with all intentions of crossing the finish line alone.

Nico Young and Graham Blanks rolled with Kejelcha through the 3000m mark, and both Americans did an incredible job of competing. Yes, Birhanu Balew, who represents Bahrain, kicked to an Area record of 12:48.67, beating Blanks to the line. And yes, Young faded to seventh, behind new French National Record holder Jimmy Gressier (12:51.59), Samuel Tefera (12:53.44 PB) and Souffiane Bakkali (this isn’t a 3000m steeple! 12:55.49 PB).

I left this race inspired by watching Kejelcha, Young, and Blanks commit to the insane task of running a world record in a 5000m on this random night in Paris. The tanks were more than empty after the race, but they went for it. They found their limits (somewhere around 3-4k), and it makes them all the more ready for whatever comes next.

10:50 – Women’s 1500m Final

Final race of the evening, and it’s the women’s 1500m final.

Once again, everyone ran either a season’s best or personal best (aside from 13,14, and 16th place)—it wasn’t the miracle that the men’s race was, but it was still extremely fast.

Nelly Chipchirchir took home the win in 3:57.02, with Sarah Healy right behind her in a personal best 3:57.15. 11 runners in total ran sub four minutes, which shows incredible depth in not only this race, but women’s running as a whole.

In 2022, only 16 women went under the four minute threshold for the 1500. Last year, 41 women ran under four minutes, and so far this year, 20 runners have. The stakes are getting higher and the times are getting faster, and Paris magic struck in both 1500m races.

Batten down the hatches for the Prefontaine Classic. It’s about to be a good one.

___________________

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By: Michael Love


Sunday, June 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Dino Nadarevic was to throw the shot put and discus one more time in a high school event last Thursday and Friday at New Balance Nationals before transitioning to a new journey at Duquesne.

It was the culmination of a high school career that began in obscurity but with promise two years ago and blossomed into one of the most decorated in Gateway history.

He celebrated last month with two WPIAL and two PIAA championships.

Nadarevic turned away all the challengers at Shippensburg on May 23-24, winning the shot put with a top distance of 58 feet, 8.5 inches before claiming the discus with a best attempt of 180-2.

“I knew it was my last state meet, and I wanted to make the best of it, and I did,” Nadarevic said after returning from Shippensburg with the first-place hardware.

Nadarevic first set the school record in the discus with a 172-3 in an early season tri-meet with Connellsville and Hempfield and added to it before WPIALs.

At Slippery Rock, he won the discus by 20 feet, finishing with a top throw of 187-0.

He fell just short of his goal of also setting a school record in the shot, but his best throw at WPIALs was the competition’s best as he unleashed a winning toss of 59-1.

The future Gateway Sports Hall of Fame inductee is the final athlete to represent the Gators in a 2024-25 academic year filled with many special Gateway moments.

Gateway boys tennis golden this spring

Not often does one WPIAL tennis team sweep the singles, doubles and team titles in the same season.

But Gateway achieved that in Class 3A.

Senior Adam Memije claimed his first WPIAL singles crown after finishing runner-up last year. Senior Zidaan Hassan and junior Logan Memije defended their WPIAL doubles titles, and the Gators won their second team title in three years with a 3-2 triumph over WPIAL rival North Allegheny.

Hassan won his first doubles title with Adam Memije in 2023.

Gateway represented in all three PIAA tournaments in Hershey with Zidaan and Logan Memije capturing state doubles bronze for the second time.

Boys volleyball earns outright section title

With its win over Fox Chapel on May 8, the Gators wrapped up the Section 4-3A boys volleyball title with an 8-2 record.

While many in the program felt the team would receive a home playoff game for the WPIAL first round, the selection committee instead tabbed it as the No. 9 seed and sent it to Mt. Lebanon.

Coach Phil Randolph said he was pleased to see his team’s fight against the Blue Devils, but it was not able to pick up the win. Mt. Lebo prevailed 3-1 with set scores of 25-19, 16-25, 25-14 and 26-14.

Gateway finished its season at 10-3, and 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter Darious Farrar was selected to the All-WPIAL Class 3A second team. Seniors Owen Echegaray (libero) and Tom Nikou (setter) and junior Daniel Bozicevic (outside hitter) also received Section 4 first-team laurels.

Senior-laden boys bowling team excels

When the Gators punched their tickets to the boys bowling state championships in March by qualifying for the finals of the regional team tournament, they also knew they clinched a return trip to nationals in Indiana.

It was one final event in one of the most successful runs in the history of the Gators bowling program.

Seniors Allon Wallace Jr., Josh Zlokas, Landon Lohr, Joey Jurcak and Chris Roseberry, along with junior Chase Owens, finished 32nd at nationals in a talented field of 55 boys teams.

Wallace Jr. then took 40th out of nearly 400 who were in contention for the singles crown.

Girls flag football
returns to playoffs

Five straight wins to cap the regular season propelled Gateway to the Pittsburgh Girls Flag Football League playoffs for the second year. The streak included a 7-0 victory over rival Plum to determine the final playoff berth from the East Division.

Gateway ended the regular season 8-3 and hoped for good things in the playoffs, but Woodland Hills ended those hopes with a 12-0 win in the first round.

Gateway’s three seniors, Kaitlyn Karpuszka, KC Glaze and Shavonne Williams, will play on collegiate flag teams.

Raymer makes swim finals at Bucknell

Hunter Raymer capped a successful high school swim career by representing the Gators in the finals of the Class 3A 200-yard individual medley and the 500 freestyle at the PIAA swim championships in March at Bucknell.

Raymer swam in the consolation final of the 200 IM on Day 1 and placed 14th overall with a time of 1 minute, 53.30 seconds.

He then came back on Day 2 and qualified for the consolation final of the 500 free. He placed 10th in his final high school race with a time of 4:34.19.

Raymer, the WPIAL champion in the 500 free as a freshman, will swim in college at Denison.

Football misses
playoffs on
committee decision

While the Gators didn’t finish with an automatic WPIAL Class 5A football playoff berth from the Big East Conference — those bids went to Woodland Hills, Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional — they were in the mix for one of the three 5A wild card spots to be determined by the WPIAL playoff pairings committee.

Gateway tied Latrobe and Kiski Area for fourth in the conference at 2-4. In the end, the committee selected Latrobe for the playoffs, along with Moon and South Fayette from the Allegheny Six Conference.

It was a tough pill to swallow by coach Don Holl and his coaches and players who suffered one-point losses to Woodland Hills and Latrobe in their final two conference games.

Gateway, which finished 3-7 overall, also fell to Franklin Regional by just two points, 36-34.

Boys basketball clipped in WPIAL
first round

Gateway’s Moon shot was unsuccessful as the homestanding Tigers, the No. 5 seed, topped the Gators, 49-42, in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first round at Moon High School.

Gateway came into the playoffs with a high degree of momentum after closing the regular season with three straight wins and victories in eight of 10.

Gators coach Alvis Rogers said that he was surprised to see where his team landed as the No. 12 seed with how it played down the stretch in the regular season and its tie for second in Section 1 with Latrobe at 10-4 behind undefeated Uniontown (14-0).

Gateway hockey
returns to varsity level

The Gators found a winning formula in their first season playing PIHL varsity hockey after several years growing the program at the JV level.

Gateway started out 0-6 as it settled into its season before winning four straight to get back in the Division II mix.

The Gators, led by 10 seniors, ended the regular season on a six-game win streak and clinched a playoff spot. Senior CJ Evans led the team with 43 points on 22 goals and 21 assists.

Their playoff experience didn’t last as long as they had hoped as powerful Morgantown stopped Gateway, 11-0, in the first round.

Boys soccer continues playoff streak

For the fifth straight season, the Gateway boys soccer team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, this time after finishing tied for second in Section 1-4A with Central Catholic behind WPIAL power Plum.

The Gators entered the playoffs hoping to make some noise as the No. 9 seed, but No. 8 Canon-McMillan had other ideas on its home turf and jumped out to a 4-0 lead at halftime en route to a surprising 6-0 victory.

Gateway, led a senior group that included the likes of James and Nick LoCoco and Owen Echegaray, finished 8-8 overall and scored 47 goals in its 16 games.

Munyon represents at WPIAL cross country

Freshman Piper Munyon capped her first season with Gateway cross country with a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 7.5 seconds at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at White Oak Park.

The time placed her 43rd in a deep 3A field. She improved her time nearly 15 seconds from her first race at White Oak at the Tri-State championships a week earlier.

Girls volleyball
a playoff qualifier

Gateway won eight Section 5-3A girls volleyball matches and finished third behind Indiana (12-0) and Greensburg Salem (10-2) in the section standings.

That finish lifted the Gators to the WPIAL tournament where they earned a tough draw against No. 1 Beaver in the first round.

Despite its best efforts, the Bobcats, the eventual WPIAL runner-up, scored a 3-0 win which concluded Gateway’s season at 9-6 overall.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway

It’s preparation time for the San Luis Obispo Volleyball Club (SLOVBC), as the 15 and under girls volleyball team gears up for a national championship competition.

The team of 14 and 15-year-old players spent Sunday morning practicing at Cal Poly’s Mott Gym, perfecting their techniques for the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas.

KSBY stopped by the team’s practice to see how players are feeling ahead of the competition.

“It’s very competitive. We see a lot of great talent from people our age, above, even younger, and it’s just really awesome to see how we’re competing with that,” Sally Weisenberg, a player and student at Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, said. “We’re from such a small town with a very little population, [and] we’re up there competing with them.”

SLOVBC coach Dede Bodnar tells KSBY that the team finished in third place at the national championships last year, adding that players are going for the gold this time around.

The matches are set to kick off in Dallas on Wednesday.

OMAHA, Neb. — Coming out of last season, LSU coach Jay Johnson couldn’t have foreseen the national championship this group of tenacious Tigers is taking back to Baton Rouge.

“It was probably a year ago today,” he said, “we had 12 players in our program that actually played on the field for us in 2024. Twelve.”

Then, quoting his mentor and LSU baseball patriarch Skip Bertman, Johnson said: “We ended up with some really good fortune.”

LSU knocked previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina ace Jacob Morrison out of the game with a four-run fourth inning and the Tigers won their second national title in three years Sunday with a 5-3 victory in the College World Series finals.

The Tigers (53-15) completed a two-game sweep of the Chanticleers (56-13), who entered the finals on a 26-game win streak and on Sunday saw coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling ejected in the bottom of the first inning.

LSU gave the Southeastern Conference its sixth straight national title in baseball and 11th in 16 years. It was LSU’s eighth, all since 1991 and second most all-time behind Southern California’s 12.

Johnson became the first Division I coach to win two titles in his first four years at a school. No other coach had accomplished that feat in fewer than eight seasons.

“It’s not to be taken for granted, being here two years ago,” Johnson said. “That was special. Greatest night of my life. This is equal and maybe even tops in some ways.”

The 2023 team was led by Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, the top two picks in the MLB amateur draft that year, and slugger Tommy White. It was built to win a championship.

The good fortune Johnson referred to was mixing those 12 returning players from last season with a talented freshman class that mostly showed up intact after the draft and was rated No. 1 in college baseball, along with 10 transfers — including three ranked in the top 10 in the portal rankings. The team coalesced quickly.

“We went through probably the hardest schedule in college baseball and we had one hiccup — one. A little speed bump at Auburn,” Johnson said, referring to being swept in a three-game series in April. “But other than that, they dominated the season and they dominated the schedule.”

Coastal Carolina won the national title in 2016 and was trying to become the first team since 1962 (Michigan) and the fifth all-time to win the championship in its first two CWS appearances.

“To get us just back to Omaha after what we did in 2016, and then to come to Omaha and play the way we did and get us back to the World Series finals is really incredible,” Schnall said. “These two games won’t define what this team was.”

With five-time champion coach Bertman watching from the stands, LSU tied it at 1 in the third on Ethan Frey’s RBI double and went up 5-1 in the fourth on two-run singles by Chris Stanfield and Derek Curiel.

Coastal Carolina pulled within 5-3 in the seventh against LSU starter Anthony Eyanson when No. 9 batter Wells Sykes hit his fourth homer of the season.

That brought on Chase Shores for his fourth appearance of the CWS. The 6-foot-8 right-hander touched 100 mph with his fastball while retiring the first five batters he faced before Dean Mihos, who homered in the second, singled through the right side leading off the ninth.

With Tigers fans on their feet and chanting “L-S-U, L-S-U,” Shores struck out Ty Dooley and got Sykes to ground into a game-ending double play. The Tigers’ dugout emptied and the celebratory dogpile behind the mound ensued, and the players then walked around the warning track in a line high-fiving fans leaning over the wall.

The 87-year-old Bertman came onto the field in a wheelchair and walked with assistance to have pictures taken with coaches and players.

The Chanticleers had won 15 straight when Morrison (12-1) started. Morrison’s 3 2/3 innings marked his shortest start of the season and the five runs against him were the most he has allowed.

LSU entered having won 13 games in a row in which one of its top two pitchers — Kade Anderson and Eyanson — started.

Anderson, one of those 12 holdovers, was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the CWS after allowing one run and six hits and striking out 17 in 16 innings over two starts in Omaha.

Anderson threw a three-hit shutout in LSU’s 1-0 win in Game 1 of the finals, and Eyanson (12-2) was mostly sharp over his 6 1/3 innings. The three runs against him came on seven hits and a walk. He struck out nine.

“I remember hugging my parents right now with the natty hat and shirt on,” said Eyanson, a UC San Diego transfer. “Even on my (recruiting) visit, looking at all the history on the wall, this is what I dreamed literally — throwing pitches, starting the final game of the national championship.”

Schnall, in his first year as head coach after taking over for the retired Gary Gilmore, had not been ejected this season before Sunday.

Walker Mitchell was at bat with two outs and Sebastian Alexander had just stolen second base when Schnall went to the top steps of the dugout, gestured at plate umpire Angel Campos with three fingers and began shouting at him.

The NCAA said Schnall was arguing balls and strikes, was given a warning and thrown out when he did not leave immediately. Schilling was tossed for comments he made as the confrontation with umpires continued near the plate.

“And that’s why I feel a little gutted right now,” Schnall said, “because the talk is going to be about the ejection, not this team. And it’s not right. The front-row seat should be the 2025 Coastal Carolina baseball team, not what happened in the first inning.”

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

North Central incoming freshman Maycee Walker (left) and Pettisville incoming freshman Miriam Richer pose for a photo after the duo helped the Team Pineapple Volleyball Club 14U team, based out of Angola, Indiana, finish second in the 14U Premier Division at the AAU Girls National Volleyball Championships from June 17-20 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The club went 8-4 on the week.

PENTA MODENA

10

POLICE CERTALDO

5

(1-1 3-1 2-2 1-1 – 3-0)

PENTA MODENA: Bertesi, Montante 1, Sorbini, Cojacetto, Rametta 1, Martelli 1, Prampolini, Andrè 2, Gavioli, Gandolfi, Rivhetti 2, Lorenzoni, Cavazzoni, Torri, coach: Selmi.

POL. CERTALDO: Desideri, Martini 1, Nesi 3, Toncelli, Lupi, Baldinelli D., Frosecchi 2, Ulivi, Matteucci 1, Lotta, Cocca, Spacone.

REFEREE: Bacelle M.

NOTE: Baldinelli D. and Righetti definitively ejected for temporary triple, Lorenzoni for brutality.

Penta chooses the most difficult path to bring Modena back to the water polo that counts, through the crazy lottery of penalties that, however, thanks to the potatoes of an unsurpassable Fabio Cavazzoni, turns into a wonderful parade with three penalties converted by the Modena team, compared to three penalties saved by the Tuscans, who still deserve the honor of arms for having tried until the end. Penta builds its advantage in the second half, tightening the defense, and resisting the assaults of the Tuscans who see their dreams shattered with two minutes to go, when Lorenzoni is sent off for brutality, and Modena is forced to play with one man less until the end, when the ‘rumba’ of penalties begins, where Cavazzoni takes the stage, crowning the team’s beautiful dream.

mc