Via NCAA.com

The 2025 NCAA women’s water polo championship will be held May 9-11 at IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The championship qualifiers were announced in a selection show on  April 28 on NCAA.com.

Stanford, UCLA, Southern California and Hawaii are the top four seeds this year. Every match leading up to the national championship will be live streamed here on NCAA.com.

2025 NC women’s water polo championship bracket

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2025 NC women’s water polo championship schedule

*All times listed in Eastern Time

• Selection show | April 28
• Opening round game | May 7

  • Wagner vs. McKendree, 6 p.m.

• First round | May 9

  • No. 1 Stanford vs. TBD, Noon
  • No. 4 Hawaii vs. California, 2 p.m.
  • No. 2 UCLA vs. LMU (CA), 4 p.m.
  • No. 4 Southern California vs. Harvard, 6 p.m.

• Semifinals | May 10
  
• National championship | May 11
  

NCAA women’s water polo championship history 

UCLA won the 2024 NC women’s water polo tournament by knocking off California 7-4. 

Kenya’s national youth athletics teams reigned supreme, dominating the East African Regional (EAAR) Championships in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where they floored four other nations to bag a staggering 12 gold medals.

A single Kenyan athlete also clinched three gold awards, underlining the country’s growing dominance at the youth level.

The combined national men’s and women’s Under-18 and Under-20 teams, who jetted back on Sunday morning, April 27, emerged overall winners after edging out competition from four countries during the two-day EAAR Championships held at Zanzibar’s Amani Stadium from Friday, April 25 to Saturday, April 26.

During the event, which featured hosts Tanzania, Eritrea, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya, the national youth teams scooped 12 gold, four silver and five bronze medals, topping the regional athletics table with a total of 21 medals to be crowned overall champions.

Speaking to People Sports, Kenya’s national U-18 and U-20 team leader of delegation cum Team Manager Joseph Ilovi attributed the country’s outstanding performance to the strong youth athletics foundation established by Athletics Kenya (AK).

“The Kenya government, through AK, has funded the establishment of 56 youth training camps across various counties such as South Rift, North Rift, Central Rift, the Kaptama camp in Mt. Elgon, three camps in Kisii, and others in far-flung areas like Garissa and Isiolo, where significant talent nurturing and development is taking place,” Ilovi explained.

He added: “During school holidays in April, August, and December, these youth athletes are kept busy training at the government-funded AK camps. When schools reopen, they continue with training as part of their co-curricular activities. That is why our youth athletes performed better overall at the EAAR Championships in Zanzibar.”

Ilovi further noted that the athletes who earned honours for Kenya were selected during the recent Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) national games held at Shanzu Teachers Training College (STTC) in Mombasa.

“After selection by AK at the end of the national KSSSA games, the athletes were put through rigorous preparation for two weeks before departing for Zanzibar for the EAAR Championships,” Ilovi said.

During the championships, Kenya’s Under-20 athlete David Kapaiko registered an outstanding performance, winning three gold medals in the men’s Under-18 category races—1,500m, 5,000m, and as a member of the 4x400m relay team alongside Daniel Wasike, Antony Lemoshira, and Nashon Kiech, who clocked 3:23.19.

BALTIMORE, MD – Following a historic performance at the prestigious Penn Relays, the Johns Hopkins 4×800-meter relay team has earned national and conference recognition, being named M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week and Centennial Conference Track Athletes of the Week.
 
This marks just the fourth time in program history that a Johns Hopkins female athlete has received the national honor during the outdoor season, joining two-time honoree Victoria Kadiri ’24 and Frances Loeb ’15. It is also the first conference weekly award for a Hopkins relay squad and the fourth conference recognition for the Blue Jays this season.
 
The dynamic quartet of Emma Kothari, Harrinee Senthilkumar, Mackenzie Setton and Annie Huang made history by clocking 8:48.94, the fastest 4×800-meter relay time in NCAA Division III history. Their performance shattered the previous DIII national record of 8:53.04, set by The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in 2009. The time also stands as the fastest ever recorded in program history and secured a fourth-place finish at the meet.
 
Hopkins returns to the track Friday, May 2, at the Centennial Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA.
 

Daytona Beach, Fla. – The Augusta University men’s track and field team finished third overall at the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship, hosted by Embry-Riddle on April 28–29 at the ERAU Track Complex.

Team Standings

1. Embry-Riddle

2. Flagler

3. Augusta

4. Clayton State

5. USC Beaufort

6. Columbus State

7. Lander

All-Conference Selections

(Top 3 finishers in each event)

Sprints & Relays

Jalen Belton led Augusta in the sprints, earning third in the 100m (10.64). He and Devin Barolette both scored in the 200m with matching times of 21.91, placing fifth and sixth. Barolette also placed sixth in the 100m (10.77). In the 400m, Roberto Barrera scored with a fifth-place finish in 49.70.

The 4x100m relay team of Trent Thomas, Devin Barolette, Michael Meriweather, and Jalen Belton ran 43.34 to place fifth. The 4x400m relay team of Roberto Barrera, Devin Barolette, Amir Dayal, and Charlie Roberts finished second overall with a time of 3:15.52.

Middle & Long Distance

Amir Dayal scored in the 800m with a fifth-place finish (1:52.90). In the 1500m, Seth Eye placed third in 3:54.41 and Patrick Motes finished eighth (4:00.06).

Avery Jaynes claimed first place in both the 5000m (14:48.39) and 10,000m (35:18.97). In the 5000m, Brandon Martin (15:16.08) and Andrew Helfers (15:16.40) placed sixth and seventh, respectively. In the 10,000m, Matthew Moore (35:23.01) placed fourth and Martin added an eighth-place finish (35:38.20).

Andrew Todd won the 3000m steeplechase in 9:17.25, with teammate Andrew Helfers taking second (9:25.89). Carter Dehnke (10:11.82) and Shahzeb Rashid (10:17.43) also scored in the event.

Field Events

In the high jump, Jalen Belton and Mitchell Jean Baptiste each cleared 1.85m to place fifth and sixth, respectively. Josh Bowen earned three scoring finishes in field events: sixth in the shot put (13.37m), sixth in the discus (40.93m), and fifth in the javelin (52.97m). Ryan Li also scored in the javelin with an eighth-place throw of 51.92m. Michael Chatman added a seventh-place finish in the hammer throw (40.77m).

Multi Events

Caine Varnell scored in the decathlon, finishing third overall with 5,593 points.

AWARDS

All-Sportsmanship Team

Roberto Barrera, Augusta

Men’s Outstanding Track Athletes presented by College Ave

Avery Jaynes, Augusta

Gallery: (4-29-2025) PBC Championships – M T&F

Women’s track and field secured a decisive first-place victory at the NESCAC Championship at Wesleyan last Saturday. Finishing with a total of 156 points, the Ephs defeated the Amherst Mammoths by a six-point margin. This year’s win was the team’s 27th NESCAC championship. The team hadn’t placed first since 2019.

Numerous Ephs set personal bests, broke school and NESCAC records, and earned NESCAC champion titles in individual and team events. Claire Jensen ’27, Cate Donaldson ’27, Annika Paluska ’28, and Bella King-Harvey ’27 broke the 4x400m relay NESCAC record with a time of 3:48.13. The previous record had been set by Jensen, Donaldson, King-Harvey, and Camryn Taylor ’24 at the 2024 NESCAC Outdoor Championship at Tufts University last April. 

Paluska broke a school record in the 800m with a time of 2:10.30, placing second and earning a new personal best. “It’s a super cool feeling to see the work we put in show up in those ways, but honestly the most exciting part is just being surrounded by teammates and sharing those special moments as a group,” Paluska said.

Rachel Arthur ’25 placed first in the 200m dash with a time of 24.95. Lily Yampolsky ’28 finished the 1500m run with a time of 4:33.96, placing second. Julia Brennan ’27 ran a swift 36:55.33 in the 10,000m run, and placed second in the event. Charlene Peng ’26 placed third in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:47.49.

Ella Kirkwood ’28 and Clara Gahm ’28 earned personal bests in the 3000m steeplechase as well, with times of 11:20.20, and 11:25.41, respectively. Ellie Fitzgerald ’26 placed second in the pole vault, jumping 3.75 meters.

In the field events, Maria Fareti ’28 and Chloe Schneeberg ’25 threw personal bests in the hammer throw event, at 49.02 meters and 46.09 meters, respectively. Fareti claimed a NESCAC title with a 12.41-meter throw in the shot put. Amelie Jamanka ’26 also secured a title in the high jump, where she set a new personal best of 1.68 meters.

The Ephs snagged these victories despite facing challenging practice conditions leading up to the competition due to the demolition of the Towne Field House. “We have to train at Bennington [College],” captain Jae Yu ’25 said. “The facility was not built for track training, and it’s half an hour away, which is a long commute, so it was difficult to get the kind of training that most other teams have.”

Maggie Nichols ’28 believes that camaraderie contributed to the Ephs’ success despite difficult weather at the meet. “Going into the day, we knew it wasn’t going to be the best weather or the best conditions — but that we all still brought our best efforts and showed up for one another was more motivation than anything else,” she wrote in an email to the Record.

Championship meets are unique due to space limitations for competitors. Coaches are given free rein to assign three competitors per event from the pool of athletes that have qualified for the meet, with a couple exceptions. “It becomes sort of a game of strategy, because you’re trying to win points, but you have to be careful where you put certain people,” Yu told the Record.

This means competitors sometimes have to take one for the team and compete in events they might not prefer. “It is unfortunate, because it means some people aren’t running their best or their favorite event, simply because there are too many people on the team,” Yu said.

Fareti played a crucial role in securing the team’s narrow six-point victory over Amherst. “Maria pulled through with a huge 22 point score out of 156. She had the highest solo score in the hammer throw,” Yu said. “She also scored in the discus throw. Her two points in the discus throw were essentially what cemented our victory because, up until that point in the meet, Amherst could have caught up to us.”

For Fareti, the team’s strong performance was the culmination of months of preparation. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work leading up to this — a lot of hours that most people don’t see — so it felt amazing to have that pay off in a way that helped the team,” Fareti said. “Still, I truly believe it was a full team effort, we’re all constantly trying to be the best version of ourselves possible.” 

In a show of the team’s strong relationship, students take part in a fun tradition every meet called ‘the whoosh’, according to Yu. “For any relay runner’s last stretch of that relay, we try to line up on either side of the track and make a tunnel with our arms, and then, ‘move them along,’” she said. “The whole team is pushing them forward. That was what the end of the meet was, and that’s how we always end on a really high note, because we’re all together as a team.”

The Ephs will compete at home in the Farley Inter-Regional Extravaganza (FIRE) on Friday, May 9 for Senior Day. After that, nationals this June will be the last stop this year for team members who qualify.