Utah State will be sending 16 men and five women to the prelims. The Aggies’ 21 qualifying athletes for the preliminary round are the program’s most since a school-record 22 student-athletes were invited in 2018.

 

Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in the East or West regions in their respective event earned berths to the NCAA First Rounds.

 

Athletes with the top-12 times/marks and the 12 best relay teams at both the East and West First Rounds will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held June 11-14, in Eugene, Oregon.

 

Three men’s pole vaulters, who collectively swept the podium at last week’s 2025 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships, qualified for the prelims. Junior Logan Hammer, a two-time All-American and five-time conference champion, leads the trio with a school-record clearance of 5.70 meters (18-8.25), set at the Beach Invitational, that also ranks second in the nation. Junior Javin Richards, the MW bronze medalist, advanced with a height of 5.30 meters (17-4.5), which he cleared at the Bobcat Invitational. Junior Marshall Rasmussen, who won silver at the conference championships, qualified with his personal-best mark of 5.19 meters (17-0.25) from the UNLV Rebel Elite.

 

Two men and one woman were invited to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Shelby Jensen finished in 9:48.44 at the MW Championships to claim the silver medal, break the Utah State record and move into 10th in the country in the event. Junior Logan Garnica and sophomore Garrett Woodhouse will represent the men’s team at the prelims, with the pair having set personal bests of 8:33.91 and 8:46.89, respectively, at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Garnica also set the USU record in his qualifying run.

 

Another trio of Aggies qualified for the 10,000-meter races, each setting their season-best times at the Stanford Invitational. Graduate Camren Todd broke the Utah State record with his qualifying run of 28:10.91. On the women’s side, senior Emma Thornley and sophomore Brianne Smith punched their tickets to the prelims with personal-best times of 3:32.13 and 34:08.72, respectively.

 

Sophomore Landon Bott, the champion of the men’s 800 meters at the MW Championships, qualified for the NCAA West First Rounds with a time of 1:47.11, set at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

 

In the men’s discus, senior Nate Franz and sophomore Joseph Turner both advanced to the NCAA prelims. Franz’s silver-medal throw of 57.13 meters (187-5) and Turner’s bronze-medal mark of 56.37 meters (184-11) at the MW Championships also qualified them for the prelims.

 

Thornley and junior Sarah Ellis will also compete in the 5,000 meters. Ellis qualified for the prelims with a time of 16:04.58 at the Stanford Invitational, a performance that broke the Utah State record in the event. Thornley’s qualifying run came three weeks later at the same Stanford track in the Payton Jordan Invitational, where her time of 16:01.44 broke her teammate’s school record.

 

Sophomore Walker Deede also earned his qualification through his performance at the conference championships, where his personal-best throw of 68.72 meters (225-5) earned him a silver medal.

 

Freshman Taite Priestley, winner of two MW bronze medals during his debut campaign, cleared a height of 2.12 meters (6-11.5) at the Weber State Spring Classic to earn his prelim berth in the long jump.

 

Junior Krysthina Vlahovic earned her first career berth to the prelims with her qualifying time of 13.46, set at the UNLV Rebel Elite.

 

The Utah State men’s 4×100-meter relay team earned a bid to the prelims for the first time since the 2016 squad, featuring All-Americans Parker Bluth, Brady Martin and Nic Bowens, accomplished the feat. The Aggies’ season-best time of 39.65 was posted by freshmen Diego Aguirre-Stewart, Daniel Chase, Mathew Hall and Ayodele Ojo at the UNLV Rebel Elite. Graduate Brennan Benson will also travel to College Station as an alternate for the relay team.

 

The NCAA West First Rounds will be available for streaming through ESPN+.

 

Fans can follow the Utah State track and field programs on X at USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on X at USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

-USU-

ESPN Events announced the addition of a new owned-and-operated women’s volleyball tournament – the inaugural ‘Showdown at the Net’, set for Sept. 9-10.

The ‘Showdown at the net’ features 16 squads from both the ACC and SEC as they face off in cross-conference challenge via matchups across the nation. Action to be featured on ESPN2, SEC Network, ACC Network, SEC Network+ and ACCNX, with times for each match to be announced at a later time.

As part of the challenge series, the Shriners Children’s ‘Showdown at the Net’ will highlight a four-team showcase at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Sept. 10. Pitt, Kentucky, Louisville and Texas will face off in those two ACC/SEC clashes, with the Pitt Panthers slated to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. ET, and the Louisville Cardinals and Texas Longhorns to follow at 9 p.m. Both matches will air on ESPN.

“We are thrilled to showcase these two conferences in the ‘Showdown at the Net’,” said Stephanie Grant, Director of ESPN Events. “The sport of volleyball is continuing to skyrocket and we are excited for the opportunity to stage this event not only in Fort Worth, but in SEC/ACC matchups across the country.”

Action begins Tuesday, Sept. 9 with four linear matchups at campus sites: Stanford at Missouri (ESPN), Texas A&M at SMU (ESPN2), Georgia Tech at Tennessee (SECN) and Florida at North Carolina (ACCN). Tuesday also highlights four matches on digital – Georgia at Clemson (ACCNX), Virginia at Auburn (SECN+), LSU at Notre Dame (ACCNX) and Boston College at Arkansas (SECN+).

Wednesday continues the momentum with FSU at Oklahoma (SECN), South Carolina at NC State (ACCN), Ole Miss at Miami (ACCNX), Vanderbilt at Cal (ACCNX), Wake Forest at Alabama (SECN+) and Duke at Mississippi State (SECN+).

“We are excited to have the Southeastern Conference participate in the first edition of ‘Showdown at the Net’,” said Misty Brown, SEC Assistant Commissioner. “We look forward to seeing some high-caliber volleyball as the storied programs from the SEC prepare to build upon their recent successes during the 2025 season.”

“The ACC is proud to collaborate with ESPN and the SEC on a volleyball challenge that will showcase both conferences, including two neutral-site games as part of the inaugural ‘Showdown at the Net’,” added Jared Romance, ACC Assistant Director of Championships. “We look forward to competing in this premier event and watching our student-athletes and programs be nationally showcased as part of this exciting initiative.”

Tickets for the Fort Worth event are set to go on-sale early this summer, but fans are encouraged to sign up for pre-sale alerts via www.showdownatthenet.com.

Shriners Children’s Hospital serves as the title sponsor of the event at Dickies Arena, adding to their portfolio of ESPN Events, including the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. Shriners signed on as a two-year sponsor for the neutral site event.

“The Shriners Children’s Showdown at the Net is another way for our healthcare system to showcase the life-changing efforts that we perform for children across the nation and worldwide,” said Bob Roller, Shriners Children’s Vice President for Sports.  “We are extremely pleased to join these universities to highlight an NCAA women’s sport that is growing at an incredible pace.”

Earlier this year, ESPN Events also announced the “Broadway Block Party”, a volleyball event on Aug. 31 hosted by the Nashville Sports Council featuring three matchups between Big 10 and SEC schools.

ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In the 2024-25 academic year, the 34-event schedule includes four early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.

About Shriners Children’s:
Shriners Children’s is a leader in providing care for orthopedic conditions, burn injuries, spinal cord injuries and other spine disorders, rehabilitation, sports injuries and craniofacial conditions. We also offer specialized services, including orthotics and prosthetics and motion analysis. We strive to provide the care and support our patients need to reach their goals and discover their full potential. In addition, our healthcare system conducts research to improve our patients’ quality of life and offers outstanding educational programs for medical professionals. All care and services are provided regardless of the families’ ability to pay or insurance status.

Shriners Children’s is a nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. For more information, including the full range of care disciplines, please visit shrinerschildrens.org.

NEW ORLEANS, La.—Four members of the Babson College track & field program were recognized for their success in competition with United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-East Region accolades on Wednesday afternoon. 

Graduate student Anthony Rodriguez (Prairie View, Ill.) earned his third straight honor in the men’s 10,000 meters and received his second consecutive award in the 5000 meters, sophomore Chris McDonough (North Andover, Mass.) garnered all-region laurels in the 100-meter dash for the second year in row, and first-year Aithan Bezanson (Danvers, Mass.) is the Beavers’ first all-region selection in the decathlon. Fellow rookie Amrit Rehal (Alpharetta, Ga.) also became the first Babson female to collect USTFCCCA All-East Region recognition since 2022 with her success in the high jump. 

Since 2015-16, the USTFCCCA has been awarding all-region honors to the top five individuals in each event in addition to the members of the top three relay teams. 

Rodriguez, who claimed his third straight NEWMAC title in the 10,000 meters last month, recorded a season-best time of 29:43.74 at the Raleigh Relays on March 27 that was tops among east region competitors this spring. He also competed in the 5000 meters three times this spring and his best time of the year (14:27.16) achieved at Bucknell’s Bison Outdoor Classic on April 13 ranked third in the region. 

A two-time NCAA National Championships qualifier, Rodriguez is now a three-time USTFCCCA All-East Region honoree in the 10,000 meters (2023, 2024, 2025) and two-time recipient in the 5000 meters (2024, 2025). He also owns five conference titles, was selected as the NEWMAC Track Athlete of the Year in 2023 and 2024, and is the program-record holder in both the 5000 meters (14:18.05) and 10,000 meters (29:43.61). 

McDonough collected USTFCCCA All-East Region accolades for the second year in a row after ranking second with his time of 10.56 in the 100-meter dash at MIT’s Sean Collier Invitational on April 19. The mark was the second fastest in program history behind his school record of 10.54 set last March at the Raleigh Relays. 

Bezanson ranked first among east region athletes in the decathlon with his school-record score of 6355 achieved at the UMass Multi Meet on April 8-9. He recorded his top marks of the season in the long jump, shot put, 400 meters, pole vault and 1500 meters at UMass, and also set a school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.94 at MIT on April 19.

Rehal put together a terrific rookie season that included breaking a 23-year-old record in the high jump while ranking second in the region in the event. She broke the record by clearing 5-feet, 5-inches in her collegiate debut at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational on March 22 and then bettered the mark by clearing 5-feet, 5.25-inches in the Farley Inter Regional at Williams on May 10. 

Rehal, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the NCAA National Championships, joins Angelina Raffone ’19 (2019) and Katherine Jacobs ’22 (2021, 2022) as the only Babson females to earn USTFCCCA All-East Region honors.  

SAN DIEGO — Middle blocker BayLea Sparks has been added to the San Diego volleyball roster as a redshirt junior transfer from High Point University, head coach Jennifer Petrie announced on Thursday morning. 

“We are thrilled to have BayLea join our USD family this season,” Petrie said. “Her experience and training at a high-level program is going to elevate our gym in new ways, and her competitive spirit will be instrumental in creating a new identity for our team this fall. Please join me in welcoming BayLea to San Diego!”

A native of Grand Junction, Colorado, Sparks joins the Torero program after two tremendous seasons competing for the Panthers as she was a Big South First Team All-Conference selection during the 2024 season. Sparks started and played in 28 games for High Point in 2024 as she ranked second on her team in blocks (105), fourth in points (235.5), fifth in kills (178) and led the way in hitting percentage (.393). 

Helping to lead the Panthers to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth in 2024, Sparks set a career-high with 13 kills in a home victory over Winthrop and broke the program record in single match blocks with 13 on the road against USC Upstate. Beginning her collegiate career on a high note as well, Sparks was a two-time Big South Freshman of the Week selection and ranked second in the Big South in block average with a 1.07 per game in 2023. Her strong play as a freshman helped her earn a spot on the Big South’s All-Conference Second Team as well as All-Freshman Team honors. 

The 6-foot-2 middle blocker attended Fruita Monument High School and competed for United Volleyball Club of the Rockies as a prep athlete. Sparks began playing competitive volleyball at 14 years old and also played soccer before committing full-time to volleyball in high school. She comes from an athletic background as her mother Kelly played collegiate basketball at Trinidad State.

Excelling academically in high school, Sparks accumulated a 4.0 GPA and was named both a Superintendent Scholar and to the 5A All-State Academic Team. Sparks will study finance at USD. 

San Diego Volleyball will begin their 2025 season in August.

By Anthony Richards

When Andor Gyulai and Vanessa Summers-Gyulai first moved to the Ponte Vedra area about three years ago they felt like it was a great community to develop beach volleyball players and even Olympians.

So, they got right to work trying to make that happen and three years later, multiple beach volleyball courts are about to be opened on June 1 as part of the Nocatee community.

“When we arrived here, we knew there were some resources needed and one of them was beach volleyball, because it’s so far for the kids to go to Jax Beach from here,” Gyulai said. “So, I approached the county and made the proposition to them that there are some really great things with beach volleyball in the country, because it’s now in every single high school in the area and it’s the fastest growing sport in NCAA history.”

Gyulai’s expectations for the area are high and he has lofty goals that know with these designated beach volleyball courts located at 707 Little River Road in Ponte Vedra, all those goals are now within reach.

“We came here to raise some beach volleyball Olympians and what’s so exciting is that know we have this avenue to do it,” Gyulai said. “We think this is an incredible location where we can tap into the Nocatee community and really build something special here.”

It will start with some camps this summer for high school and elite middle school players with parents able to learn more about the opportunities at www.stjohnsbeachvolleyball.com.

According to Summers-Gyulai, some of the best beach volleyball players in the world are shorter, which shows that you don’t need to be extremely tall to be successful at the top level in beach volleyball as opposed to maybe the indoor side of things.

“It’s been well established that you don’t have to have crazy height in order to really have a huge trajectory if you choose the sport, which is exciting,” Summers-Gyulai said. “I tell the moms we work with that what’s happening for volleyball for girls has never happened before and the level of popularity is so extreme, and it only continues to grow. Here at St. Johns Beach Volleyball, we’re super passionate about the sport but one of our trademarks is that it’s bigger than volleyball because we’re teaching them life skills to thrive no matter what they choose to do.”

Gyulai has more than 32 years and 50,000-plus hours developing elite volleyball players and has created more than 2,500 instructional videos with some of the sport’s greatest players and coaches, and he cannot wait to continue to pass that on to the local community more than he already does as the head coach of the Ponte Vedra High boys volleyball varsity team where his son Thor plays.

“Just think about how special it’s going to be come those Florida summer evenings with the lights on here (at the beach courts), there’s just something special about that,” Gyulai said.