The Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta, the largest college rowing event in the country, is back for its 86th installment, and will be held at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken on Friday and Saturday for the third straight year.

In 2023, the Dad Vail moved venues for the first time since 1953. The regatta had a longstanding tradition of being held along the Schuylkill. Dad Vail president Kirsten Morasco and the committee decided after last year’s regatta that they would keep it on the Cooper River because of the construction on the Schuylkill and the dredging project, which also will even the racing lanes.

“There is still significant construction going on,” Morasco said. “The retaining wall that sits, starting at the grandstands and leading toward that first parking lot on Kelly Drive, the wall is torn up, and there’s construction equipment. … When we hold the Dad Vail, it’s so large, we need all the space we can get. We need the grandstands to be operational. We need to use that grassy space for our teams, so having the regatta on the Schuylkill, while this construction continues, is very challenging. That kind of impacted our decision.”

» READ MORE: Why did Dad Vail choose the Cooper River again for 2024? The regatta’s top organizer explains.

Planning the Dad Vail is a yearlong process, and the committee makes the decision on where it will be held for the next year in June or July. Morasco could not confirm whether the event will return to the Schuylkill in the near future.

“We’re going to make this decision year to year,” she said. “Is it possible? Sure, it’s possible for us to be back on the Schuylkill, whether it’ll be next year or the coming years.”

The transition to Cooper has been seamless, Morasco said, adding that Camden County officials and the mayor have been supportive of the event and welcomed them hospitably.

“The river itself is beautiful. The course itself is great,” she said. “The advantage of the Cooper River course is [that] it’s straight, whereas on the Schuylkill, we have a bend in the course. It’s also easy to get around the area, it’s got great parking, so, really, from the standpoint of the venue, it really is a great place for us.”

Ahead of Friday’s first race day, here’s what to know about the event, the schools participating, and how to watch:

The free event begins at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and ends at about 5 p.m. each day.

Friday’s events begin with time trials. The top 12 times, depending on the number of entries, move on to the semifinals, which will begin in the afternoon. Saturday, the final race day, will include the top six times from the semifinal races.

This year, there are 34 rowing events scheduled. The women’s and men’s varsity eight races are the headliners and the last scheduled event on both days.

Take a look at the full schedule here.

Approximately 60 schools from the United States and Canada will take part in the event. There are about 300 entries, and more than 1,000 athletes will be competing.

Some of the local schools participating include Drexel, whose men’s varsity eight won its third straight championship last year, La Salle, Temple, St. Joseph’s, Delaware, Villanova, Jefferson, Bryn Mawr College, and Haverford College.

The event with the most entries is the men’s varsity double sculls and the women’s freshman/novice four with coxswain. Both have 17 boats slated to race.

There will be free parking for spectators. The recommended parking lot is on the corner of Cuthbert Boulevard and North Park Drive. The lot near the Camden County boathouse will be designated for officials, but parking also can be found on the street along Park Drive. Check out the map above for starting and finish line locations, in addition to food and beverage vendors and restrooms.

The event will be streamed on the Dad Vail website, and fans can stay up-to-date on Regatta Central to find race results, schools participating, and more.

The Summit High School girls soccer team concluded the spring season with a loss to Golden High School in Breckenridge on Saturday, May 3.

Originally scheduled to take place earlier in the season, Summit hosted the Golden Demons on a sunny, warm spring day in Breckenridge. The Tigers attempted to conclude the season with a win, but they were not able to net a goal against the Demons. Golden defeated Summit, 4-0.

Summit ends the spring season with a record of 6-7-1 overall and 3-3 in league play. The record matches the same amount of wins the team saw in head coach Makenzie Meade’s first season as head coach last spring. The program has not surpassed six wins on a season in at least the past 16 years.

Junior Jaime Yim Nadler led the team in goals throughout the season with a total of five with senior Olivia Lyman netting three of her own. Senior Ella Kirschner and junior Penelope Weitake led the stat sheet in assists with two each.

In terms of goaltending, junior Rowan Connelly recorded a total of 101 saves and had five shut-outs.

Summit finished the season ranked third overall in the 4A Western Slope league. Eagle Valley won the league title with a record of 4-1-1 and Battle Mountain took second. Both Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain were one of the 32 teams to make the 2025 Class 4A soccer state playoffs.

Summit will graduate eight players from its varsity roster including Lyman, Kirschner, Delilah Staberg, Sammi Olson, Sadie Slahetka, Ariana Vasquez, Shaylah Nelson and Avery Eytel. The Tigers are expected to have 18 players return next year including a group of eight juniors.

Coming into the series with just one day of rest, the Golden State Warriors entered Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves far less rested than they were, as the Wolves had over a week of rest before their first second-round contest. However, Golden State seemed to have used that to their advantage, even being on the road.

In a night where the Timberwolves connected on just five of their 29 shots from three, Golden State was able to take the 99-88 win over Minnesota despite Steph Curry leaving the game early due to a hamstring injury. In his place, the Warriors looked to their other top shooter, as he led the charge in the second half and made NBA history in the process.

Buddy Hield led the game in scoring with 24 points, connecting on five threes and adding eight rebounds as the Warriors kept off a Timberwolves comeback after Curry’s early exit. Following up a stellar Game 7 performance, Hield caught fire once again and made NBA history combining the two efforts.

Hield became the third player in NBA history to have back-to-back playoff games with 20 or more points, five or more made threes, and zero turnovers. After a hot start to the regular season, Hield cooled off, but now looks just like he did to begin the year.

As Warriors fans await an update on Curry’s injury, Hield assured them they still have a top perimeter scoring threat if he has an extended absence. Game 2 stays in Minnesota on Thursday, with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. EST.

Draymond Green Makes NBA History in Warriors-Timberwolves Game 1

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Key Player Suffers Injury Scare in Warriors-Timberwolves Game 1

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No history of Indiana is complete without mention of the basketball team at Crispus Attucks High School, once the only high school for Black students in segregated Indianapolis.

For instance, how many schools do you know that belong to the National Register of Historic Places? Or connected to a museum? Attucks is.

Thus the 2025 Attucks Tigers upheld a tradition like no other — 70 years after Attucks became the first all-Black school in the nation to win a state title. That Oscar Robertson was a few thumbstrokes away brings it full circle in the Circle City.

“They built their own legacy,” said coach Chris Hawkins, who has exchanged texts with the Attucks great since last summer. “We felt like this team could really do something special.”

Crispus Attucks High School head coach Chris Hawkins (right) watches play on the court March 22, 2025, during the first half of an IHSAA Class 3A semi-state semi-final basketball game against Princeton High School at Southport High School. Credit: Doug McSchooler for IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the end, in the Class 3A boys state championship game March 29, the Tigers lost. They don’t have a first-place trophy. They don’t need hardware to accent hardship.

Other schools tried to recruit their players. They shared one gym with the girls program, freshmen and junior varsity. The boys often were at school from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., assembled at study tables after classes, so the girls could practice first. They lost their best player to injury at midseason, then trailed by 11 points to start the fourth quarter of their first postseason game.

So no apologies. Maybe one regret: Attucks’ 22-7 record was not 29-0.

“I feel if I hadn’t got hurt this year, we could have been undefeated, the group we had,” said Dezmon Briscoe, a 6-foot-9 center and one of the four finalists for Indiana’s Mr. Basketball.

Crispus Attucks ‘deeply personal to so many people’

Playing basketball at Attucks is, well, not like playing elsewhere in this state. Indeed, to be a student there is not like it is elsewhere.

Principal Lauren Franklin said teachers try to instill what the school has meant to Indiana and Indianapolis. It was built near Indiana Avenue, the business and cultural center of the city’s Black community, and opened in 1927. The red brick building occupies just two square blocks, requiring some sports teams to leave campus for practice and games.

Because of declining enrollment, Attucks was converted to a junior high in 1986 and a middle school in 1993. It reverted to a high school in 2006.

Franklin said the school is “deeply personal to so many people.” Her own parents met at Attucks, and all four grandparents attended there.

“You’re hard-pressed still, in 2025, to find Black folks in the city who don’t have some connection to Crispus Attucks,” she said. “Whether it’s ‘my grandmother went here, my great-grandmother went here, my uncle went here, my grandfather played with this person or played with that person.’”

Credit: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Credit: Grace Smith/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hawkins and Franklin credited alumni with coming out to support the Tigers, especially in the championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where South Bend Saint Joseph ended Attucks’ 12-game winning streak, 56-52.

“They’re incredibly invested in how our students perform and how the games go. And then academically as well,” Franklin said.

Attucks’ graduation rate is 97%, she said, compared with a statewide average of 90%. The school population is 58% Black, 35% Hispanic and 4% multiracial.

An unusual characteristic of this year’s basketball team is that it featured nine seniors. All nine will attend college on scholarship, according to Hawkins. They will be in Divisions I or II or III, NAIA or junior college.

“We try for excellence across the board. Not just in basketball,” Franklin said.

Crispus had ‘never-say-die attitude’

For Briscoe, this season was like an heirloom to be protected. His brother, Derrick, was on the Attucks team that beat Twin Lakes 73-71 for the 3A state championship in 2017.

That was Attucks’ first state championship since 1959. Except for Tech in 4A boys basketball in 2014, it was the first for Indianapolis Public Schools in any sport since Broad Ripple in boys basketball in 1980.

Hawkins’ second season as Attucks coach was in 2017. He remembers young Briscoe as a “fat, chunky, 2-liter Pepsi drinker.”

As the youngster grew, so did the attention. Briscoe said he had “a lot” of coaches try to lure him to other schools. He said his stepfather wanted him to go to North Central. But as early as fourth grade, Briscoe told people he would enroll at Attucks.

“I just knew it was going to be the best fit for me. You can see the legacy I had here,” he said.

Crispus Attucks Tigers forward Dezmon Briscoe (11) gets the fans excited March 29, 2025, during the IHSAA Class 3A boys basketball state championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Credit: Grace Smith/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Briscoe became such a local celebrity that when he stepped off the bus to play tennis for Attucks last fall, those on the other team recognized him and asked for autographs.

He was city player of the year as a sophomore and junior. As a senior, he averaged 15.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.1 blocked shots in 19 games. He committed to Iowa before a coaching change, then switched to Kent State.

An ankle injury kept him out of four of Attucks’ losses, three to elite opponents: La Lumiere, a perennial prep school power; Fishers, the 4A state champion in 2024 and runner-up in 2025; Jeffersonville, the 4A state champion that ended Fishers’ 43-game winning streak.

Briscoe didn’t sulk or become detached. Hawkins said Briscoe sat by him on the bench and stayed engaged. Moreover, the Tigers continued to play with a chip on their shoulders, the coach said.

While they did not win a sectional in five seasons while in 4A, the pairing in 3A against Cathedral was daunting. Not only had Cathedral beaten Attucks 71-63 for the city championship, Cathedral was No. 2 behind Fishers in statewide computer rankings, irrespective of class.

Crispus Attucks’ Dezmon Briscoe (11) blocks Cathedral’s Brady Koehler (11) from shooting the ball during the City tournament championship game Jan. 27, 2025, at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis. Credit: Christine Tannous/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cathedral led 48-37 after three quarters in a sectional opener before a comeback sparked by Briscoe resulted in a 59-54 victory. He finished with 20 points.

“Our players had a never-say-die attitude, just stayed together,” Hawkins said.

Chris Hurt named city player of the year

After getting past Cathedral, the pathway to state became easier.

Attucks beat Shortridge 71-55 in the sectional, Northview 57-46 in the regional, No. 6 Princeton 61-55 and No. 3 New Palestine 67-49 in the semistate.

“With this group, it was real competitive,” Hawkins said. “There were no days off. The competitive juices, I think, helped this team grow in certain situations.”

Point guard Chris Hurt grew as much as anyone. He became city player of the year.

Crispus Attucks Tigers guard Chris Hurt (1) is introduced March 29, 2025, at the start of the IHSAA Class 3A boys basketball state championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Credit: Grace Smith/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He was so quiet as a freshman, the coach implored him to talk more, on and off the court. The Tigers couldn’t get Hurt to attempt 3-pointers, either, and he shot 39% from the arc this season.

“Being able to open up, talk, really helped me,” he said.

Six seniors averaged five or more points per game: Briscoe, Hurt (14.1), Kayden English (9.8), Imon Cousins (8.1), Che Brownlow (7.9), Ronsione Thomas (5.7).

Hawkins said he pushed the 6-foot-4 Thomas, in particular, because of unrealized potential. Not only did Thomas “step up big in a lot of games,” the coach said, but this year finally recognized his role and trusted himself.

“I think I came a long way, for sure,” Thomas said.

Saying goodbye is hard

The downside to all this?

Not that the team didn’t win a state title, but that it can never be a team again. Not like this.

The players won’t congregate in a corner on the school’s second floor, doing what they do: joking, dancing, shadow boxing. When players are that close, Hawkins said, those coalesce into the best teams.

Crispus Attucks players celebrate March 22, 2025, as they advance to the 3A state finals game, after defeating New Palestine 67-49. Credit: Clark Wade/IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Losing a final game didn’t change any of that.

“Being there, on the big stage with them, being able to fight that last game together, it felt good,” Hurt said. “I didn’t really feel down. I did, but I also felt excited for us because we were able to compete all season, have fun with each other for our last year.”

Hawkins said he will miss the players’ togetherness. Said he will miss seeing them daily.

Briscoe said he will miss practices. Said he will miss everything. “We’re always winners around here.”

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David Woods is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach him at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on X: @DavidWoods007.

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