Sports

Huntington Beach tunes up for final as Loyola plays through tragedy

It all went as it was supposed to go, another sweep to gird the resolve ahead of a top-tier boys’ volleyball final — a No. 1-versus-No. 2 showdown, thanks to what was occurring up the coast — with a shot at a CIF Southern Section championship for the first time in a decade. Everyone wished […]

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4 weeks ago

May 14, 2025

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Everyone wished it could have been otherwise.

Huntington Beach, ranked second in the state and third in the nation, marched into Friday night’s Division 1 title game at Cerritos College against top-ranked Mira Costa by making easy work of defending champion Los Angeles Loyola.

The 25-15, 25-21, 25-21 home triumph last Friday evening didn’t mean a whole lot — the Oilers had clinched Pool B’s berth with Tuesday’s sweep of Redondo Union, and Loyola was going to miss the regional tournament regardless — except for their aspirations and, more vitally, the Cubs’ desperation.

Loyola (27-7) arrived a broken team, reeling from the May 4 death of its team manager. Braun Levi, a University of Virginia-bound senior and Loyola tennis star, died early that morning after an allegedly impaired driver struck him as he walked across Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. Volleyball isn’t the priority right now.

“They’ve checked out. They’re not here,” Loyola head coach Michael Boehle said before the game. “These guys have been hit with a lot. They got hit with my diagnosis of cancer early on [this season]. They got nailed with fires [in January]. And then they got nailed with the teammate’s death. And they just aren’t there.

“They’re just not mentally there, you know? They’re drained.”

The Cubs hadn’t practiced all week, and Boehle considered forfeiting their final two pool games, but “they wanted to play, and I love the fact that they gave it a shot.”

Loyola, seeded third and aiming for a third successive CIF State Southern California Regional title, had opened Pool B play by, Boehle said, “overlook[ing]” Redondo, which was “flawless” and was “not going to get beat that night.” Levi, whose family had relocated to Manhattan Beach after their home was destroyed in the Palisades fire, was killed three nights later. The close-knit Loyola community — the all-boys institution is the most prominent Catholic high school in Los Angeles — was devastated.

“There really isn’t any words,” said Boehle, who completed his 29th campaign as head coach. “I tried to navigate this as best I can. I just didn’t have any answers for it. … It’s important that these guys stay together, as a group, as a brotherhood. That’s what we’ve been telling them all week: ‘This is your family. These are your brothers.’”

So they went out together Tuesday night against sixth-seeded Newport Harbor and were listless in a four-set defeat.

“People are like, ‘Hey, you’re not in the finals this year,’” said Boehle, who has won seven section titles in 12 title-game appearances since 2003. “And I’m like, ‘It’s OK.’ Like, ‘We’ve got bigger things to worry about than being in the finals.’”

Friday night’s finale was a chance for the Cubs to honor Levi. A moment of silence started the encounter, and Boehle made certain everybody got court time “so they can all say we did it for Braun.”

“The outcome doesn’t matter,” he said.

The game was to be played Saturday, but Loyola held a “celebration of life” for Levi that evening, and Huntington Beach head coach Craig Pazanti “told Mike whenever he wanted to play, whatever he wanted to do, we were going to be OK with it.”

“I think that’s the great thing about the volleyball community,” Pazanti said. “We can come together when we have stuff like this. As much as we want to beat each other and are at each other’s throats sometimes, you never want to see anybody have to go through this situation. I’ve been through it, as a coach a long time ago, when I first started coaching, and I know how devastating it can be to the team and the community.”

The outcome was expected. Huntington Beach (34-3) has one of its best teams since winning section and regional championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015, had beaten Loyola twice, 3-0 the second time, and came in “respecting our opponents by playing our hearts out,” senior libero Aiden Atencio called it.

“We want to play one way,” he said. “We wanted to come out and win, 3-0. Even though this game didn’t matter and we were clinched, we wanted to come out of a victory going into the finals.”

The Oilers were dominant, using their serve-and-pass game and strong performances at the net from sophomore outside hitter Logan Hutnick (14 kills, two blocks) and senior middle blocker Nick Ganier Jr. (10 kills) to lead start to finish in the first set, take a sizable lead in the second, and pull away midway through the third.

Pazanti went deeper down his bench than usual, seeing it as “a great opportunity for a lot of guys to get on the floor who might not get on the floor.” Starting outside hitter Colin Choi and opposite Ben Arguello, both juniors, had most of the night off.

The Oilers are short on stars — only setter Kai Gan, headed to Harvard, is set to play Division I in college — but big on the collective. Choi and Arguello pounce on the chances outside, with Ganier and senior Justin Bulsom but manning the middle, and Gan (“one of the best setters in CIF,” Pazanti says) — and Atencio, a four-year starter, keeping things moving. Hutnick, one of the best hitters in the 2027 class, and sophomore Easton Ebmeyer, just back from an ankle injury that’s sidelined him all season, provide attacking depth.

It’s looked like their best shot at the program’s sixth CIF title since the 2013-15 reign, except for the presence of Mira Costa (31-2). The Mustangs, who lost to Loyola in last year’s final, are a monster team.

“We’re going to go get our slingshot, and we’re going to give it our best effort,” Pazanti said. “They’re a big, physical team. We’re not going to change. We’re going to play our game. We’re going to go out there and just do the best we can do. What we’ve been doing has been pretty successful.”

The teams met back in February, at the Redondo Classic, with Huntington Beach, without Choi, dropping a 25-23, 25-23 decision. The Mustangs’ only losses were in the Best of the West tournament final to Loyola (after the Cubs topped Huntington Beach in the semifinals) in early March and against national No. 2 Marist — two days after sweeping the Chicago school on their home court — at the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara in early April. Marist beat Huntington Beach the same day.

“[Mira Costa has] been pretty dominant the whole year …,” Gan said. “They’re huge guys. They work really hard, and they’re just all-around, really big competitors. Coming into it, you have to know you have nothing to lose. Us beating them would be truly a big accomplishment.”

Mira Costa has won the last six meetings, two of them in Division 1 playoff games — 3-0 in a 2019 quarterfinal and 3-2 in 2023 pool play. The Oilers won semifinal showdowns en route to their 2013 and 2015 section titles.

Pazanti, who also won a 2021 Division II regional title, sees similarities between Mira Costa and his title teams that supplied the bulk of a 2012-16 winning streak that reached 121 games.

“[Our 2013-15 teams were] a different breed,” he said. “You had the guy who started in the last two Olympics [T.J. DeFalco]. You have two guys who barely didn’t make that cut in the Olympics. You got guys playing professionally overseas. We had 12 Division I players on that team.

“You look at the [Mira] Costa roster, and that’s kind of what they have. I don’t know if they have any Olympians, but they’ve got 11, 12 guys that are going to go play Division I volleyball.”

Atencio says it “all comes down to what we do on our side.”

“I think the serve and pass game is going to be crucial, but also the blocking,” he said. “They’re a very big, physical team, and I think that we have the blocks to handle that, the defense to scramble, and so we just need to have that grit and show out and execute.”

Loyola keeps working through the pain.

“[I feel for] the family,” Boehle said. “As a parent, I can’t imagine what they’re going through. I’ve got four kids. Someone said it best at school: As a parent, I want to be buried before I have to bury my own child. My heart goes out to them.”

Boehle has one last task. Levi’s father, Dan, emailed the coach after the Palisades fire, sent him a photo of Braun wearing his volleyball championship ring, except it was melted.

“I ordered him a new ring, to present to him this year at the end of our banquet,” he said. “And I’m not going to be able to do that. I still get goosebumps. It breaks my heart. You just never know.

“That’s the one thing that I’m really crushed by, that I’m not going to be able to hand him that. But ‘you earned this.’ I’ve got to give it to his mom and dad.”

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NCAA Outdoor Championships Next for Bobcat Track and Field

Story Links BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State track and field heads to the heart of TrackTown, USA, this week, competing at the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Action from Historic Hayward Field begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday. The entire meet will be […]

Published

23 minutes ago

June 11, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State track and field heads to the heart of TrackTown, USA, this week, competing at the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Action from Historic Hayward Field begins Wednesday and continues through Saturday. The entire meet will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2, with online streaming available through ESPN+.

Concluding one of the greatest seasons in program history, Montana State will have a record seven student-athletes across four entries donning the Blue and Gold in Eugene.

The Cats’ four entries are tied for the third-most in program history behind only the five in 2023 and 2022. The Cats also qualified four to the national meet in 2015.

The two entries on the women’s side mark just the fourth time in program history that MSU has qualified multiple athletes on the women’s side (2015, 2012, 2006).

Rob McManus (3,000 meter steeplechase), Harvey Cramb (1,500 meters), Hailey Coey (long jump), and the women’s 4×400 meter relay team of Olivia Lewis, Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi, Caroline Hawkes, and alternate Jadyn VanDyken will all compete at the American cathedral of track and field after rising to the top at the NCAA West First Rounds two weeks ago in College Station, Texas.

McManus, a senior from Cashmere, Washington, makes his third straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. The current face of ‘Steeple U’ is making his fourth career appearance at the NCAA Championships after placing 15th in the mile at NCAA indoor nationals in March.

Over the past five years, the Cats have sent ten total qualifiers to the national meet in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, with Duncan Hamilton going three times, Levi Taylor three times, McManus three times, and Owen Smith once.

McManus, a three-time All-American, finished 16th in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 2023 and 13th in 2024—one spot out of making the final after being passed in the final moments of last year’s semifinal by teammate Levi Taylor.

This season, McManus enters the competition holding the sixth-fastest time in the field (8:26.83), qualifying for the national meet on the back of a dominating performance at the NCAA West Regional, where he recorded the third-fastest time (8:30.65).

The two-time defending Big Sky champion in the steeplechase is just the fourth Bobcat in history to compete at three straight NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, joining Levi Taylor (2022-24), Duncan Hamilton (2021-23), and Nick Lam (2007-09). The distance runner is also one of just five Bobcats ever to earn at least three All-American honors (Taylor, Hamilton, Lyle Weese, Shannon Butler), and with a fourth All-American nod this week, would rise to second all-time behind his former running mate in Hamilton, a six-time All-American in track and field.

“Rob has been comfortable in all of his races but especially in the steeple races this year,” Weese said. “It’s just an event that he has a high level of comfort and a lot of confidence in. I think a key for him is just taking that into the race and not over-thinking it, but just punching his way through to the final while not worrying too much about saving energy or anything else, just finding a way to get to the final.”

McManus runs in the first of two heats of the national semifinals for the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Wednesday night, toeing the line at 4:38 p.m. PT/5:38 p.m. MT on ESPN. The top five finishers from each of the two 12-man heats advance to Friday night’s final, with the next two-fastest times rounding out the field.

Cramb, a sophomore from Brisbane, Australia, makes his first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1,500 meters. It’s the second career appearance at a national meet for Cramb, who placed 11th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach in March.

The reigning Big Sky Champion cruised through both of his races at the NCAA West Regional in Texas two weeks ago, winning his first round heat before taking an auto-qualifier in the national quarterfinal. The Australian owns the 23rd-fastest time in the country this year (3:37.31).

“Harvey is a great championship racer,” Weese said. “The way that he likes to race with a fast close fits in really well at these meets, so the 1,500 is a really good event for him and something that he’s really comfortable in. I anticipate that he will go out and compete really and has a really good chance to fight his way through to the final on Friday.”

Cramb runs in the second of two heats in the 1,500 meters on Wednesday night, with the start time scheduled for 4:21 p.m. PT/5:21 p.m. MT on ESPN and ESPN+. The top five finishers from each of the two 12-man heats advance to Friday night’s final, with the next two-fastest times rounding out the field.

Coey, a junior from Billings, makes her first appearance at the NCAA Championships in the long jump, becoming the first Bobcat on either the men’s or women’s side to ever qualify in the event.

The school record-holder won a Big Sky title and set the conference record indoors before carrying that momentum outside this spring, where she set the school record in the sand with the second-best jump in conference history (21-03.50). Seeded ninth in the West entering the Regional meet, the Montana native came up clutch with a 21-foot leap to place eighth and secure one of 12 tickets to Eugene this week.

“Hailey compared to pretty much every long jumper is one of the most consistent jumpers in the entire country,” Weese said. “In a meet like this where you just get three attempts to make it through to the final, I think she’s in a really good situation and has a reasonable chance of making it to the final because of her consistency throughout the year. She has been over in the high-20’s and low 21-feet in almost all of her competitions throughout the year, so obviously it would be great if she hit a really great mark, but at the same time you don’t always have to do that—you just have to do what you’ve done before in order to advance to the next part of the competition.”

Ahead of the conference meet in Sacramento in early May, Coey told Parker Cotton of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle “In the past, I used to compare myself to the rest of the conference. Now, I compare myself to the rest of the country.”

The junior has now backed that up with her performances in the postseason, and will get another chance to do so on Thursday in the long jump at the NCAA Championships, scheduled for 5:40 p.m. PT/6:40 p.m. MT on ESPN+.

Rounding out Montana State’s contingent of national qualifiers is the women’s 4×400 meter relay team, making history as the first-ever Bobcat relay to make it to the national meet on either the men’s or women’s side.

The quartet of Olivia Lewis, Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi, and Caroline Hawkes punched their ticket to Eugene with a heroic effort at the NCAA West Regionals, grabbing the final spot out of the final heat on the final day in College Station with the second-fastest race in school history (3:34.31).

Montana State is one of only two teams outside of the Power Four conferences to race in the 4×400 meter relay (Harvard).

“Having a relay here is very exciting,” Weese said. “Like we’ve talked about before, it just takes a one-off for an individual to make it through, but it takes at least four and oftentimes five or six to get a relay through to the NCAA Championships. Just overall, we’re really excited about that—it’s a great sign of where that long sprints program is at. The 4×400 at the NCAA Championships is crazy—when you look at the teams, they would be some of the top teams for a lot of the nations throughout the world that would be put together for the world championships or Olympic Games teams. They fit in with that really well because of what they’ve done this season. I think this is an environment where they could even take a couple seconds off their school record.”

The Cats will run out of lane two on Thursday night in the first of three heats at 8:36 p.m. MT on ESPN. The top two finishers from each eat plus the next three fastest times advance to Saturday night’s final.

“It’s another step forward for us getting this many individuals to the NCAA Championships and getting a relay here while continuing the recent history of getting a lot of men’s distance through,” Weese said. “Obviously it’s so exciting having Hailey here in the long jump. Both the long jump and 4×400 are very, very challenging events to get people through to the NCAA finals, so we’re just really excited about that and can’t wait to see what they do this week. We do have a lot of newcomers where this is their first NCAA meet. Rob McManus is the only one who has competed at these outdoor championships before, so I’m sure there’s a lot of excitement throughout the group. However, there are also a lot of individuals who have a lot of championship experience, whether it’s those pressure situations at regionals or conference championships.”

MEET SCHEDULE

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Hailey Coey, long jump (6:40 p.m. MT)

4×400 meter relay (8:36 p.m. MT)

#GoCatsGo

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University of Akron Athletics

NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS: MEET INFORMATION | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | LIVE STATS | WEDNESDAY LIVE VIDEO | WEDNESDAY LIVE VIDEO (POLE VAULT) | FRIDAY LIVE VIDEO AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron track and field redshirt senior pole vaulter Hunter Garretson (Newcomerstown, Ohio) and freshman Bismack Kipchirchir (Eldama Ravine, Kenya) are set […]

Published

38 minutes ago

June 11, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS: MEET INFORMATION | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | LIVE STATS | WEDNESDAY LIVE VIDEO | WEDNESDAY LIVE VIDEO (POLE VAULT) | FRIDAY LIVE VIDEO

AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron track and field redshirt senior pole vaulter Hunter Garretson (Newcomerstown, Ohio) and freshman Bismack Kipchirchir (Eldama Ravine, Kenya) are set to vie for national titles when the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted at the University of Oregon at Historic Heyward Field gets underway on Wednesday (June 11) in Eugene, Ore.

Coverage of the meet as well as live field event coverage will be provided on ESPN+ each day of competition.

UP NEXT: Garretson and Kipchirchir will represent the Zips at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week.

Garretson will compete for the Zips in the men’s pole vault at 7:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday (June 11) before Kipchirchir runs in the semifinal round of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at 7:38 p.m. ET. The finals of the steeplechase are slated for 8:24 p.m. ET on Friday (June 13).

Garretson, who owns the No. 11 mark (18-1.75/5.53m) in the NCAA this season, will be making his third NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance in the men’s pole vault after earning First-Team All-America accolades on the strength of a runner-up effort at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he eclipsed 18-8.25 (5.70m).

Earlier this season, he garnered First-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Garretson captured his ninth overall Mid-American Conference title with a mark of 18-0.50 (5.50m) at MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 15 in Athens, Ohio, before posting a qualifying mark of 17-5.75 (5.33m) at the NCAA East Preliminary Round on May 28 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Kipchirchir will be making his NCAA Championship debut after registering a qualifying time of 8:42.88 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA East Preliminary Round on May 30 in Jacksonville, Fla. Kipchirchir also collected the MAC title in the event on May 16 in Athens, Ohio, in a time of 8:45.34.

Kipchirchir enters competition with the No. 8 time in the NCAA this season in the steeplechase crossing the line in a school-record time of 8:27.51 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

AKRON MEN’S QUALIFIERS (Qualifying Rank-Qualifying Mark):

Pole Vault: Hunter Garretson (No. 11-18-1-75/5.53m)

3,000M Steeplechase: Bismack Kipchirchir (No. 8-8:27.51)

For the complete list of entries, please log on to NCAA.com

NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET SCHEDULE: The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet begins at 3 p.m. ET at Heyward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon on Wednesday (June 11), with the start of the men’s decathlon. Field events start with the men’s hammer at 4:30 p.m. ET before running events kick off with the men’s 4×100 relay semifinals at 7:05 p.m. ET and conclude with the running of the men’s 4×400 relay at 10:36 p.m. ET.

The second day opens with the men’s 110-meter hurdles as part of the decathlon at 12:45 p.m. ET. Field events start with the women’s hammer at 4:30 p.m. ET, before running events begin with the semifinal round of the women’s 4×100 relay at 7:05 p.m. ET. The semifinals of the women’s 4×400 relay closes out the day’s action at 10:36 p.m. ET.

Third-day competition commences on Friday with the women’s 100-meter hurdles as part of the heptathlon at 2:45 p.m. ET. The men’s high jumps kick off field events at 7:30 p.m. ET, before the running events take the track with the final of the men’s 4×100 relay at 8:02 p.m. ET. The men’s 4×400 relay final will conclude the men’s portion of the championship at 10:36 p.m. ET.

The final day of the championship kicks off with the women’s long jump for the heptathlon at 5 p.m. ET. The women’s high jump starts field events at 8:30 p.m. ET, before the final of the women’s 4×100 relay is slated to begin at 9:02 p.m. ET. The women’s 4×400 relay final will conclude the women’s portion of the championship at 11:21 p.m. ET.

For a complete schedule of events, log on to NCAA.com. Live results (click here) will be available throughout the meet as well as live video (click here).

The tentative schedule of events for the Zips at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships are as follows;

Wednesday, June 11

7:35 p.m. ET – Hunter Garretson (Men’s Pole Vault)

7:38 p.m. ET – Bismack Kipchirchir (Men’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase Semifinals)

Friday, June 13

8:24 p.m. ET – Bismack Kipchirchir (Men’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase Finals)

NCAA CHAMPIONS: Akron’s entries will be looking to add to the tradition of the Zips’ track and field program, which already includes nine individual national champions. Christi Smith made history in 2000 when she became the first national champion in school history, capturing gold in the heptathlon. Stevi Large was the next to accomplish the feat, winning the women’s hammer throw in 2009. Annika Roloff captured the women’s pole vault in 2014. Shawn Barber became the school’s first male champion claiming the indoor pole vault title in 2014 before again earning the crown at the 2015 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Clayton Murphy became Akron’s first-ever NCAA champion in a running event winning the indoor 800 meters and outdoor 1,500 meters in 2016. In 2017, Matt Ludwig claimed the national title in the men’s pole vault.

TOP TIMES IN THE MAC: The Zips have registered 13 overall top performances in the Mid-American Conference during the outdoor campaign.

Outdoor

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The University of Akron track and field teams have garnered recognition for their efforts during the 2025 outdoor season as the Zips are rated among the Top 30 in the Event Squad rankings for six events released on May 20, 2025, as part of the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Rating Index.

Akron is rated ninth nationally in the men’s pole vault, 13th in the men’s shot put, 17th in the men’s hammer and women’s hammer, 21st in the men’s discus and 22nd in the women’s discus.

ZIPS RANK AMONG NATION’S BEST IN 2025 TFRRS RANKINGS: Akron have four individual student-athletes ranked in the Top 50 nationally by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) for the 2025 outdoor campaign as Bismack Kipchirchir is rated eighth in the nation in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:27.51).

Additionally, Hunter Garretson is 11th in the nation in the men’s pole vault (18-1.75/5.53m), redshirt junior Owen Wendl (Medina, Ohio) is 13th in the men’s discus (200-11/61.23m) and sophomore Mason Birch (Strongsville, Ohio) is 48th in the men’s high jump (7-0.25/2.14m).

OWEN WENDL NAMED MAC MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER: Owen Wendl was honored by the Mid-American Conference as its 2025 Outdoor Track and Field Men’s Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Year, the league unveiled on May 22.

Wendl captured a pair of MAC titles winning the men’s discus and shot put with a pair of career-best marks. Wendl capped his championship efforts claiming the title in the men’s discus, the fourth MAC title of his Zips’ career, with a career-best mark of 200-10 (61.23m), just off the meet record of 201-9 and conference record of 205-9. His performance stands as the No. 13 mark in the United States in the discus in 2025.

Wendl opened the weekend capturing the men’s shot put for his third career league title with a career-best throw of 60-2.50 (18.35m). His effort stands as the No. 71 mark in the NCAA this season and the No. 2 effort in outdoor program history.

ZIPS CAPTURE MAC MEN’S OUTDOOR TEAM TITLE: The University of Akron men’s track and field team made it back-to-back-to-back Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field titles capturing the program’s 11th overall outdoor crown at the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Ohio at Goldsberry Track on May 17.

AKRON EARNS TRIO OF MAC CHAMPIONSHIP HONORS: Akron Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kendra Reimer-Gonzales was named as the MAC Men’s Coach of the Year.

Bismack Kipchirchir was tabbed as the Most Valuable Performer of the Meet and league’s Men’s Track Freshman of the Year.

Freshman Rukia Omulisia (Nairobi, Kenya) was selected as the MAC’s Women’s Track Freshman of the Year

USTFCCCA HONORS GARRETSON AS GREAT LAKES REGIONAL FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

Hunter Garretson was honored by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the Great Lakes Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, the USTFCCCA announced on March 20.

Garretson becomes the fourth Zip to collect All-Regional honors since 2007 joining Olympians Clayton Murphy (2016-Track) and Shawn Barber (2015-Field) and Cadeau Kelley (2008-Field). He previously captured the honor during the 2023 outdoor campaign.

GARRETSON EARNS FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES:

Hunter Garretson captured First-Team All-America accolades on the strength of a third-place performance at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 14 in Virginia Beach, Va.

A five-time All-America honoree, Garretson captured First-Team laurels for the third time in his decorated career eclipsing 18-6.75 (5.66m).

After passing at the opening height of 17-7 (5.36m), Garretson cleared the next two bars of 17-11 (5.46m) and 18-3 (5.56m) on his initial runs at the heights.

He needed two attempts to clear 18-4.75 (5.61m) before besting the bar at 18-6.75 (5.66m) on his final attempt.

After missing his initial attempt at 18-8.34 (5.71m), Garretson passed his next two jumps. He was unable to clear the bar at 18-10.75 (5.76m) on each of his attempts and finished with a third-place effort.

GARRETSON NAMED ELITE 90 WINNER: Hunter Garretson was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2025 NCAA Division Men’s Track and Field Indoor Championship.

Garretson, who is majoring in mathematics, boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA, was presented with the award during a presentation on March 14.

Winning the honor for the third consecutive season, Garretson became the first three-time recipient of the award in Division I track and field and ninth overall three-time honoree across all sports in Division I.

The honor was the fourth time a Zip has garnered the distinguished honor joining Tyler Sanda, who won the award as a member of the Akron men’s soccer team in 2015.

AKRON GARNERS TRIO OF MAC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SPECIALTY AWARDS:

Hunter Garretson and Bismack Kipchirchir were honored by the Mid-American Conference as its 2025 Indoor Track and Field Men’s Most Outstanding Track and Field Performers of the Year, the league unveiled on March 7.

Additionally, Akron assistant coach Randy Overby was tabbed by his peers as the Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Garretson earned his fifth consecutive MAC indoor pole title and eighth overall league championship besting the field at the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 1 with a mark of 17-9 (5.41m). His five indoor conference pole vault titles and eight overall combined (indoor/outdoor) pole vault championships are the most in league history.

Kipchirchir turned in a stellar effort at the MAC Championships garnering Most Valuable Performer and Freshman of the Year accolades with runner-up finishes in the men’s mile, 3,000 and 5,000 meters.

He opened his championship run crossing the line second in the men’s 5,000 meters in a career-best time of 14:29.74, the fifth-fastest time in indoor program history. In final-day competition, Kipchirchir placed second in the men’s mile in a time of 4:12.45 before capturing Second-Team All-MAC honors in the men’s 3,000 meters in a time of 8:11.78.

The Akron’s men’s team under Overby’s tutelage dominated the sprints and hurdles at the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 28-March 1) scoring 54 points en route to securing its ninth overall indoor league title and first since 2020.

The team produced three All-MAC performances, with redshirt senior Jimmy Harkelroad (Huron, Ohio) earning First-Team honors in the 400M and 4×400 relay alongside sophomore Braylyn Farrington (Alabaster, Ala.), AJ Jordan and sophomore Andrew Styles (Freeport, Bahamas), while also receiving Second-Team recognition in the 200M.

The 4x400M relay squad, consisting of Farrington, Harkelroad, Jordan, and Styles, claimed victory, as did Harkelroad in the 400M. Additionally, Jordan secured third-place finishes in the 60M and 200M, while junior Tysean Baronette (Middletown, Del.) (4th – 200M), Rennie Gittens, Jr. (4th – 60M), Farrington (4th – 400M), and Styles (5th – 400M) delivered strong performances. Under expert coaching, the team has recorded the MAC’s top times this season in the 400M and 4×400 relay, along with the second-best marks in the 60M and 200M.

AKRON CROSS COUNTRY EARNS USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC ACCOLADES: The Akron cross country team under the leadership of Zips’ director of track and field/cross country Kendra Reimer-Gonzales and cross country head coach Evans Kiptoo garnered recognition for the squad’s efforts in the classroom as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) tabbed Akron a Division I All-Academic team for the 2024 campaign.

The Akron men’s squad was honored for recording a 3.335 GPA, while the women’s team garnered recognition for its work in the classroom for the 11th straight year with a 3.356 cumulative GPA.

Overall, 209 women’s teams and 183 men’s teams earned All-Academic team honors.

CRACKING THE ALL-TIME TOP FIVE PERFORMANCES: The Zips added 28 overall top five performances and five school records in program history to the record book during the 2025 outdoor campaign.

CRACKING THE ALL-TIME TOP FIVE PERFORMANCES: The Zips added 28 overall top five performances and five school records in program history to the record book during the 2025 indoor campaign.

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UNM track: Four storylines to follow at the NCAA Championships

Jun. 10—Around this time last year, Darren Gauson’s schedule was simple: only Habtom Samuel was competing for New Mexico at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, so UNM’s head track and field coach had plenty of time to kill between races. “We were just going for lunches and coffees,” he said last week, “just […]

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54 minutes ago

June 11, 2025

Your Sports Nation

“We were just going for lunches and coffees,” he said last week, “just waiting for him to compete.”

That’s not quite the case this year.

Eleven Lobos will compete across eight events at the NCAA Championships, running Wednesday through Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Led by second-year head coach Gauson, this year’s group of qualifiers is the second-largest in program history; UNM’s all-time best was 28 in 2011.

Four storylines to follow around the program this week:

Samuel or Kipkurui?

If he was UNM’s only competitor last year, Habtom Samuel more than made his mark. The Keren, Eritrea native recovered from a late fall to win the men’s 10,000-meter final in 28 minutes and 7.82 seconds.

Samuel may be considered the frontrunner in Wednesday’s 10k final, but this year, he’ll have some stiff competition courtesy of a teammate.

UNM’s Ishmael Kipkurui beat him by a hundredth of a second in the 10k semifinals at the NCAA West First Round on May 28, the latest chapter in a back-and-forth rivalry that’s pushed both to new heights.

While both are qualified in the 5k and 10k, the question remains: will Samuel go back-to-back in Wednesday’s 10k final?

Or will Kipkurui play spoiler and come up with an individual title of his own?

“(It’s) probably 50/50 between him and Ishmael, to be totally honest,” Gauson said.

Freshman phenom

Similar to Samuel last season, Pamela Kosgei made waves in her first year with the program. Now qualified for the women’s 5k and 10k, the freshman from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya is a frontrunner in both races and could claim UNM’s first women’s individual title since 2019.

“She’ll be really, really hard to beat … I would think she’s the favorite. She’s got all the tools, the speed, the endurance to win the title Thursday (in the 10k),” Gauson said. “And if she wins that, then it’s kind of low pressure going into the 5k finals (on Saturday) — she’ll have a really good chance to win both.”

UNM’s Marion Jepnetich — also a freshman — is also qualified to run in the 5k final.

An appearance years in the making

After four years at Bradley — Gauson’s old school — Sophia McDonnell transferred to UNM ahead of last season, reuniting with her old coach. Now in her sixth year, she’s qualified for her first NCAA Championships and will run in the 3,000 steeplechase semifinals Thursday.

“That one really is a special one for me,” Gauson said. “We spent four years at Bradley together and now two here. Really couldn’t be happier to see Soph make it to nationals.”

Record breakers

A few Lobos who broke program records this season will get another shot to lower those times this weekend: — Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer, Rebecca Grieve, Hanna Kiess and Sofia Pineda represent UNM’s first ever 4×400 entry in the outdoor championships after the group set a new program record at the NCAA West First Round, running a 3:31.72. The previous program record was 3:38.85.

The 4×400 semifinals are scheduled for Thursday. — Judy Rono also set a new 1,500 program record at the NCAA West First Round, running a 4:09.72 to better the previous Lobo best of 4:10.32. She will race in the 1,500 semifinals Thursday. — Matthew Kosgei’s season-best 8:22.13 in the 3,000 steeplechase broke a 48-year-old record (8:33.34). He will have a chance to better that time during Wednesday’s semifinals.

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Event-by-event preview: Florida track and field sends 18 entries to outdoor nationals

The long and winding road of the 2025 Florida Gators’ track and field season is finally reaching its end, once again within the familiar confines of the iconic Hayward Field. Head coach Mike Holloway’s team is bringing three times as many entries to this week’s NCAA Outdoor Championships as it had for the meet’s indoor […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 11, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The long and winding road of the 2025 Florida Gators’ track and field season is finally reaching its end, once again within the familiar confines of the iconic Hayward Field.

Head coach Mike Holloway’s team is bringing three times as many entries to this week’s NCAA Outdoor Championships as it had for the meet’s indoor counterpart in March. It’s a sign of a team that has continued to fight through injuries and disappointment to remain a contender on the national stage at the most important meet of the year.

The men’s squad, the defending three-time team champions, is bringing eight entries to Eugene, Oregon. It will be tough for the Gators to overtake powerhouse squads such as USC, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Georgia. However, if they do, they’ll become the first school to win four straight titles since the 1992-99 Arkansas men’s teams that won eight straight titles. That being said, Florida managed to win last year with only 41 points, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility if things break its way.

The 10-entry strong women’s team enters the meet on a streak of three consecutive top-two finishes and will be looking to replicate their 2022 title at the same venue. Junior Hilda Olemomoi was forced to scratch the 10,000 meter final, an event she was runner-up in last season, after picking up an injury at East Regionals.

Here’s how all 18 of Florida’s entries stack up against the rest of the NCAA:

Jenoah McKiver, men’s 400 meters

After a frustrating showing at SEC Outdoors where he failed to make the final, McKiver had an impressive rebound performance at East Regionals. The redshirt senior ran back-to-back season’s bests of 45.34 and 45.29 seconds to earn his first berth to an outdoor national championship meet in an individual event.

McKiver is undeniably one of the nation’s top quarter-milers when he’s at his best. His combination of speed and strength was on full display indoors, where his 45.19-second run on Feb. 1 held up as the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA, despite that being his only performance. Now months removed from the back injury that cut his indoor season short, McKiver will be a difference maker for the Gators in their efforts of earning a team title.

Demaris Waters, men’s 110-meter hurdles

Outdoors nationals is a stage that Waters is familiar with, as the junior finished 11th at outdoor nationals last year while at San Jose State. He staked an early claim this season as one of the nation’s best hurdlers with a 13.21-second race at Florida Relays, the NCAA lead at the time.

In the two months since, only five men have bettered Waters’ time under legal conditions. However, Waters hasn’t quite replicated the same form, as he finished fourth in the SEC final and was only the eighth-fastest qualifier out of the East Region.

To make it to the top of the podium, he’d have to take down his SEC rivals, Texas junior Kendrick Smallwood and Auburn sophomore Ja’Kobe Tharp. Smallwood is the NCAA leader and SEC champion, while Tharp was the national runner-up outdoors last year before claiming gold indoors in March.