ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men’s track & field team qualified several runners for Saturday’s finals on the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Friday at Macalester Stadium. The Scots scored four points today but set the groundwork for more on Saturday.

On the track, senior Arlo Heitler (Hastings, N.Y./Hastings) ran the fastest time in the prelims of the 400 meters, clocking a 47.86 while easing to the finish line over the final 15 meters. First year Karson Sammons (Portland, Ore./Westview) nabbed the final spot in the 400 finals with a time of 49.47. The Scots also have two runners into the finals of the 800 meters, with first year John Ihrke (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) winning his heat with a time of 1:54.95, and senior Kalid Ali (St. Paul, Minn./Como Park) taking third in the same heat in 1:55.65.

In the 1500 meters, senior Tor Olsson (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) took eighth with a time of 3:55.40 for Macalester’s first point. Macalester’s 4×800-meter relay team of Ali, sophomore Daniel Wiltse (Missoula, Mont./Hellgate), first year Jack Riley (Wrenshall, Minn./Wrenshall) and junior Jay Lebakken (Minneapolis, Minn./Edina) finished fifth in 7:53.02, which ranks fourth all-time at Macalester.

The MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships conclude on Saturday, May 10 at Macalester Stadium. The field events get underway at 12:00 p.m., with the track events starting at 1:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Saturday session is $12 for adults and $3 for students per session. All ticket sales will be handled online by HomeTown Ticketing.

MIAC Outdoor Championships Website | Live Video | Live Results | Tickets | Meet Schedule |

The boys volleyball team crushed the Aragon Dons in four sets: 25-21, 28-The boys volleyball team crushed the Aragon Dons in four sets: 25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-20, on Wednesday evening. 

Before the match, seniors walked down an aisle of teammates and were honored with flowers and took photos with family.

The Bears started strong in the first set with consistent serving from junior libero Jaden Clark, jumping to an early 5-2 lead. A kill by senior middle blocker Luis Licea pushed the score to 9-5, but a string of missed serves and unforced errors allowed Aragon to close the gap to 12-11. 

A monster block by senior setter Peter Chriss gave the Bears breathing room at 19-16, but the Dons tied it up again at 20-20. Fortunately, a block from senior opposite hitter Owen Tokic and a run of topspin serves by Chriss helped the Bears pull ahead, and a smart tip to the middle from Tokic caught the Dons defense off guard, ending the set 25-21.

In the second set, senior outside hitter Dominic Auer opened with a series of steady serves to give the Bears a 3-1 edge. Junior outside hitter Ben Warner* subdued the Dons with a block, and freshman libero Nick Sandoval made multiple diving covers to keep rallies alive. A kill off an overpass by Chriss pushed the Bears ahead 6-3, and a string of tough serves from Warner stretched their lead to 10-4. After a kill to the line by Tokic, Aragon was forced to call a timeout.

The Bears came out of the timeout strong with a back-row kill by senior opposite hitter Jonny Kerr. This was continued with blocks from junior middle blocker Millo Skhiri and aggressive serves, giving them a 18-14 lead. 

After another Aragon timeout at 21-15, the Bears found trouble on the serve receive line, making several errors that evened the score at 23-23. Nonetheless, the Bears stayed quick on defense, and in a tense back-and-forth play, Chriss won a joust at the net and the Bears finally closed the set 28-26.

“We were a little laid back when the other team had a lot of energy,” Skhiri said. 

The Dons gained momentum in the third set. Even though the Bears took a 5-2 lead with well-placed shots and serves, Aragon was able to respond with powerful swings to get ahead 8-7. Multiple kills from Kerr were met with well-placed tips from the Dons, and the teams continued to match each other’s points.A kill to the line by senior outside hitter Aiden Gabriel gave the Bears some rhythm, but service errors proved costly as Aragon secured the set 25-20.

The Bears stumbled early in the fourth set, getting called for multiple doubles as Aragon pulled ahead 7-2. A cross-court kill by Warner helped stop Aragon’s momentum, and the team tightened up their serve receive to close the gap to 13-12. Strong defense kept the Bears, and a hard swing around the block by Kerr gave M-A a 20-19 lead. In one of the match’s longest rallies, a joust at the net by Skhiri pushed the Bears to match point, and Skhiri sealed the win with a final kill to take the set 25-20.

“At the start we struggled because our energy was low, but by the end we were better than how we started,” said Licea.

*Ben Warner is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.

Langley’s Pavle Mladenovic will be swimming for Canada at the Pan American Games in Medellin, Colombia, from May 17-26.

Mladenovic, a Grade 11 student from Walnut Grove, who plays for the Langley-based Fraser Valley Water Polo club, has again earned a spot on the U17 Men’s Water Polo National Team of Canada, to compete against some of the finest young athletes in the Americas.

“I feel deeply honoured to have been selected to represent Canada,” Mladenovic told the Langley Advance Times.

“This event is an important step for our team as we work towards qualifying for the World Championship next year.”

With the understanding and support of his teachers, he’s been able to undertake an accelerated learning program to complete his  Grade 11 curriculum before he leaves.

“The journey to this point has been one of hard work and learning,” Mladenovic said.

“It has taken many hours of training, competition, and personal growth—physically, mentally, and tactically. I am grateful for the guidance of my coaches and, above all, for the unwavering support of my family. My parents have always been there for me, offering encouragement, making sacrifices, and supporting me in every possible way to help me pursue my dreams.”

A 2024 Langley Advance Times profile described how he began water polo when he was just three years old, in order to learn how to swim.

Hi father, Aleksandar, figured the sport would give his son a purpose to keep learning.

“He started out of a Langley pool,” Aleksandar explained. “There was a local community club. And he didn’t even know how to swim.”

As it turned out Pavle was very good at the sport.

By the time he was eight, he was swimming against bigger 15-year-old boys.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College women’s track & field team turned in several solid performances on the first day of the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at Macalester Stadium Friday afternoon. The Scots scored 19 points and sit in sixth place heading into the final day on Saturday.

On the track, first year Ariella Rogahn-Press (Albuquerque, N.M./Bosque School) qualified for Saturday’s finals in both the 400 meters and the 200 meters. She won her heat and posted the fourth-fastest time in the prelims of 57.00 in the 400, then ran a time of 24.57 in the 200 to rank second heading into the finals. The Scots’ 4×800-meter relay team of junior Hadley Wilkins (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School), sophomore Ivy Coldren (Frederick, Md./Urbana), sophomore Timna Nevo (Portland, Ore./Sunset) and first year Kate Fox (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) placed fourth with a time of 9:35.70, which ranks eighth all-time at Macalester.

In the field events, sophomore Harmony-Keli Tomety (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook East) placed second with a personal-best leap of 5.48 meters (17-11.75). The performance ranks third all-time at Mac and 74th in Division III. Sophomore Tessa Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Northside College Prep) posted an outdoor PR with a toss of 12.78 (41-11.25) to take third in the shot put. Both Tomety and Myatt earned All-MIAC honors in their events.

The MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships conclude on Saturday, May 10 at Macalester Stadium. The field events get underway at 12:00 p.m., with the track events starting at 1:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Saturday session is $12 for adults and $3 for students per session. All ticket sales will be handled online by HomeTown Ticketing.

MIAC Outdoor Championships Website | Live Video | Live Results | Tickets | Meet Schedule |

Through two rounds, the slipper seems to fit for the American Canyon and Benicia High volleyball teams.

Although American Canyon is the No. 14 seed in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs and Benicia is the No. 12 seed, both squads are having Cinderella-like postseason runs with each making the semifinals after wins on Thursday night.

American Canyon defeated San Leandro in five games, winning 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 20-18.

Leading the way for the Wolves was Hector Valencia, who had 20 kills and 10 digs. Patrick Gamboa had 14 kills, while Jacob Badua had seven of his own. Joshua Hmum set up his teammates all night with 46 assists.

The Wolves will play International High of San Francisco on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Benicia swept Terra Linda on Thursday, winning 25-22, 26-24, 25-16.

Benicia moves on to play Quarry Lane in a rare 9 vs. 12-seed matchup in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs. Quarry Lane defeated top-seeded North Hills Christian on Thursday night at Valley Christian High.

Benicia’s match with Quarry Lane is scheduled for Tuesday night.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton College men’s track & field team had two all-conference honorable mention runs on the first full day of competition at the MIAC Outdoor Championships. Gabe Nichols was sixth in the 1500-meter run and later ran the anchor leg of the fourth-place 4×800-meter relay.
 
Carleton is seventh of 11 teams in the standings after a day when temperatures on sat in the low to mid 80s.
 
The Knights’ initial team points on Friday came from Nichols, who clocked a 1500-meter time of 3:55.04. Ravi Achar established a new PR of 4:07.23 while finishing 19th overall.
 
The 400-meter dash prelims saw both Daniel Scheider and Asher Nathan set personal bests while earning spots in Saturday’s finals. Scheider was seventh at 49.13, one spot ahead of Nathan (49.41). James Alexander also competed in the event, placing 27th at 51.87.
 
Max Jones was 18th in the long jump after measuring 6.12 meters on his first attempt.
 
Indy Lyness qualified for the finals of the 800-meter run by placing eighth during the prelims. His diving finish resulted in a season-best time of 1:55.82. Josh Meier was 11th at 1:57.37, Ronen Silberman took 18th with a new PR of 2:01.68, and Ben Mazor was 25th at 2:08.31
 
Lucas Heldman and Tommy Applebaum finished 21st and 24th, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. The former finished at 1:01.95, while the latter did so at 1:03.90 to register a new PR.
 
Nathan was back on the track for the prelims of the 200-meter dash. He clocked a time personal-best time of 22.12, good for 12th place.
 
Carleton’s entry in the 4×800-meter relay earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention as Sam Reiter, Pranav Kadkikar, Josh Meier, and Gabe Nichols combined on a time of 7:51.68.
 
Due to the heat, the 10,000-meter run was pushed back and raced under the lights at Macalester Stadium. Roy Llewellyn contributed to the team score as he finished seventh at 32:16.36. Ryan Bernstein took 13th at 33:06.26, followed soon after by Travis Brown (14th at 33:20.74) and Andrew Jamison (16th at 33:27.17).
 
Last week, Soren Kaster and Reese Anderson added to Carleton’s team point total when they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the decathlon.
 
Up Next for the Knights
The conference championships conclude on Saturday, May 10. Field events start at 12:00 p.m. with racing on the track beginning an hour later.
 
All-MIAC honorable mention performances for Carleton (4th-6th place…through Day 1)
Decathlon
4. Soren Kaster — 6,121 points
5. Reese Anderson — 5,993 points (PR)
 
1500-meter run
6. Gabe Nichols — 3:55.04
 
4×800-meter relay
4. Carleton (Sam Reiter, Pranav Kadkikar, Josh Meier, Gabe Nichols) ­— 7:51.68.