Local teams compete in track and field action – Pottsville Republican Herald
Pottsville at North Schuylkill ASHLAND — North Schuylkill hosted Pottsville on the track Tuesday. Pottsville’s girls defeated North Schuylkill, 84-55, and North Schuylkill’s boys defeated Pottsville, 76-72. Girls 100-meter dash — 1. Atera Young (NS) 13.62, 2. Myla Fegley (P) 13.62, 3. Mia McDonald (NS) 14.03 Girls 200-meter dash — 1. Molly Frantz (NS) 27.90, […]
Boys 100-meter dash — 1. Nathan Frankenfield (PGA) 11.50, 2. Teagan Schneck-Haines (PGA) 12.03, 3. Luis Sanchez (Tam) 12.06
Boys 200-meter dash — 1. Tanner Kolb (PGA) 24.41, 2. Jacob Hehn (Tam) 25.46, 3. Jonathan Knepper (Tam) 26.13
Boys 400-meter dash — 1. Luis Sanchez (Tam) 55.72, 2. Jacob Hehn (Tam) 57.05, 3. Peyton Schwartz (Tam) 57.72
Boys 800-meter run — 1. Levi Kunkle (Tam) 2:06.54, 2. Alex Dubbs (PGA) 2:16.46, 3. Adam Schock (Tam) 2:26.26
Boys 1600- meter run — 1. Aidan Elston (Tam) 4:52.55, 2. Anthony Marchetti (Tam) 4:53.35, 3. Brody Boyce (Tam) 5:00.02
Boys 3200-meter run — 1. Anthony Marchetti (Tam) 10:52.92, 2. Parker Steencken (Tam) 12:19.02, 3. John Herber (PGA) 13:37.66
Boys 110-meter hurdles — 1. Gio Rivera-Poke (Tam) 17.44, 2. Luis Tejada (Tam) 19.98, 3. Kolton Krause (Tam) 21.03
Boys 300-meter hurdles — 1. Conan DeBruyn (PGA) 43.73, 2. Luis Tejada (Tam) 44.58, 3. Kolton Krause (Tam) 49.64
Boys 4×100 meter relay — 1. Pine Grove (Tanner Kolb, Tegan Schneck-Haines, Dane Hannevig, Nathan Frankenfield) 44.89, 2. Tamaqua (Scott, Case, Brody Schlier, Victor Schlosser, Luis Tejada) 47.03, 3. Tamaqua 50.77
Boys 4×400 meter relay — 1. Tamaqua Area (Peyton Schwartz, Luis Sanchez, Aidan Elston, Jacob Hehn) 3:48.13, 2. Tamaqua (Brody Schlier, Brody Boyce, Jonathan Knepper, Adam Schock) 4:00.43
Boys 4×800 meter relay — 1. Tamaqua (Aidan Elston, Parker Steencken, Levi Kunkel, Brody Boyce) 9:29.77
Boys high jump — 1. Scott Case (Tam) 5-08.00, 2. Terrence McDowell (Tam) 5-06.00, 3. Nicholas Barron (Tam) 5-06.00
Boys long jump — 1. Dane Hannevig (PGA) 18-11.50, 2. Nicholas Barron (Tam) 17-07.25, 3. Terrence McDowell (Tam) 17-03.50
Boys triple jump 1. Scott Case (Tam) 37-04.25, 2. Victor Schlosser (Tam) 35-11.75, 3. Terrence McDowell (Tam) 34-10.50
Boys shot put — 1. Thomas Rivera (Tam) 34-07.50, 2. William Behun (Tam) 33-08.50, 3. Isaiah Davis (Tam) 31-07.75
Boys discus throw — 1. Jacob Hehn (Tam) 133-01, 2. William Behun (Tam) 93-07, 3. Thomas Rivera (Tam) 91-08
Boys javelin throw — 1. Larson Hudak (Tam) 114-01, 2. Keagan Coleman (Tam) 112-01, 3. Alex Dubbs (PGA) 110-05
Panther Valley vs Shenandoah Valley
LANSFORD — Panther Valley and Shenandoah Valley split in track and field action. Panther Valley boys defeated Shenandoah Valley, 78-62. Shenandoah Valley girls defeated Panther Valley, 84-40.
Boys 400-meter dash — 1. Edison Mitchell (PV) 1:05.3, 2. Chase McArdle (PV) 1:10.3, 3. Carlos Meza (SV) 1:12.3
Boys 800-meter run — 1. Abraham Cabrera (PV) 2:38.0, 2. Ibraaheem Porter-Pippen (SV) 2:40.0, 3. Nassir Nobles (PV) 2:58.0
Boys 1600-meter run — 1. Robert Guzman (SV) 5:27.0, 2. Abraham Cabrera (PV) 5:44.0, 3. Ibraaheem Porter-Pippen (SV) 6:20.0
Boys 3200-meter run — 1. Robert Guzman (SV) 11:14.0, 2. Abraham Cabrera (PV) 13:16.0, 3. Ibraaheem Porter-Pippen
Boys 110-meter hurdles — 1. Frank Shubeck (PV) 18.3, 2. Ayden Zamudio (SV) 20.3
Boys 300-meter hurdles — 1. Nuredin Gjoca (PV) 50.3, 2. Ayden Zamudio (SV) 53.3, 3. Gabe Rodriguez (PV) 54.3
Boys 4×100 meter relay — 1. Panther Valley (Edison Mitchell, Troy Nunez, Mrgim Neziri, Frank Shubeck) 50.2, 2. Shenandoah Valley (Todd Seiger, Ayden Zamudio, Jozel Solano, Jayden Mulkusky) 51.8, 3. Panther Valley 58.4
Boys 4×400 meter relay – 1. Panther Valley (Gabe Rodriguez, Brody Vermillion, Chase McArdle, Jason Ahn) 5:15.0
Boys 4×800 meter relay — 1. Shenandoah Valley (Ayden Zamudio, Carlos Meza, Bryan Garcia, Robert Guzman) 10:26.0, 2. Panther Valley (Anthony Self, Neredin Gjoca, Abraham Cabrera, Nassir Nobles) 10:26.0
Boys high jump — 1. Michael Elschisak (SV) 5-10.00, 2. Mrgim Neziri (PV) 5-02.00, 3. Justhing Jimenez (SV) 4-10.00
Boys long jump — 1. Michael Elschisak (SV) 17-06.00, 2. Bekim Mehmeti (PV) 15-10.50, 3. Chase McArdle (PV) 15-01.50
Boys triple jump — 1. Michael Elschisak (SV) 38-09.00, 2. Frank Shubeck (PV) 34-09.00, 3. Chase McArdle (PV) 32-04.00
Boys shot put — 1. Gino Williams (PV) 40-03.00, 2. Bryan Chagolla (SV) 38-06.00, 3. Marcus Rodriguez (PV) 33-08.00
Boys discus throw — 1. Gino Williams (PV) 122-04, 2. Bryan Chagolla (SV) 110-05, 3. John Boctor (SV) 109-01
Boys javelin throw— 1. Gino Williams (PV) 128-10, 2. Jason Ahn (PV) 113-07, 3. Christ Rodriguez-Castro (SV) 104-06
Tait Places Fourth, Earns First Team All-American Honor at NCAA Outdoor Championships
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Graduate student Sarah Tait of the West Virginia University track and field team earned her second career First Team All-American honor at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon. Tait soared to a new personal best time of 9:27.80 in the […]
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Graduate student Sarah Tait of the West Virginia University track and field team earned her second career First Team All-American honor at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon.
Tait soared to a new personal best time of 9:27.80 in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, solidifying her spot at No. 2 all-time in program history. Additionally, she ran 10 seconds faster in the event final than she did in the semifinals on Thursday inside of Hayward Field.
The Edinburg, Scotland, native becomes just the second Mountaineer of all time to earn the First Team All-America accolade in the women’s steeplechase. With the fourth-place finish, she joins her teammate, graduate student Ceili McCabe.
The time was good enough to best the Scottish national record, which has been held by Ellish McColgan since 2013. Tait smashed McColgan’s previous record, 9:35.82, by eight seconds.
With Tait’s finish, the Mountaineers complete the 2024-25 track and field season.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUXCTF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
VIDEO: Vero Beach’s Jada Mosley captures girls weightlifting state title The Vero Beach High School senior became the eighth lifter in program history to win a state title. School is out for summer. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to move on from the year that was. As our Spring All-Area teams continue to be […]
VIDEO: Vero Beach’s Jada Mosley captures girls weightlifting state title
The Vero Beach High School senior became the eighth lifter in program history to win a state title.
School is out for summer. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to move on from the year that was.
As our Spring All-Area teams continue to be revealed this week, the 2024-25 athletic calendar remains the subject of TCPalm’s Summer Celebration series, a weekly poll to vote on who are the area’s best programs, athletes, traditions and more from last year and beyond.
Last week, we wanted to see who was the area’s best boys athlete from the 2024-25 high school calendar. Vero Beach junior pitcher Sebastian Dimitroff won the poll with 47.47% of the vote.
This week, we ask the same question, this time with the girls. The poll is set to close at 12 p.m. Friday.
TCPalm Spring All-Area: Here are the best softball players on the Treasure Coast
TCPalm Spring All-Area: Here are the best flag football players on the Treasure Coast
TCPalm Spring All-Area: Here are the best in girls track and field on the Treasure Coast
Without further ado, it’s time to punch in the votes and continue enjoying the summer.
Hailey Brereton, St. Lucie West Centennial soccer and softball
Year: Senior
Brereton was the backup goalkeeper for an Eagles soccer team that finished with a 10-7 record. However, she’s a nominee because of her work on the softball field. The Murray State signee paced all local pitchers with 227 strikeouts and an .144 opponents batting average. while boisting a record of an 11-4 record and a 1.74 ERA.
What helped Brereton win TCPalm’s Softball Player of the Year was her strong pitching campaign combined with her work at the plate. After hitting just two home runs through her first three seasons, the senior went deep four times. She added six doubles, two triples, 24 RBIs, batted .429 and compiled a 1.392 OPS.
Emerson Brinn, South Fork cross country and track and field
Year: Junior
Brinn started her junior season by being named TCPalm’s Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year after she claimed eighth in the Class 3A state championship meet with a personal-best time of 18:43.8. She ended her year with an All-Area First Team selection in track and field thanks to winning a district title and third-place state finish in the 1,600-meter run.
Ivy Cooper, Fort Pierce Central volleyball
Year: Senior
Cooper was not only viewed as the area’s best prospect but her talent has caught the attention of plenty across the state and country. The senior captain was named an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, which recognizes her as one of the top 250 players in the United States. The Virginia Tech signee put up 355 digs, 75 assists, 39 kills and 39 service aces during the 2024-25 season.
Kha’Lyah Delva, Fort Pierce Central wrestling
Year: Senior
The Cobras senior capped her career with back-to-back state runner up finishes. Delva started the season at 155 pounds before making the switch to 145 at the start of the calendar year. The change didn’t slow her down as she claimed district and regional titles en route to a 40-2 record.
Valerie Gomez, Jensen Beach tennis
Year: Senior
When you suffer your first singles defeat at the final match of the season, you’ve had an exemplary campaign. Gomez was comfortably the area’s best player as her performance propelled the Falcons to the Class 3A state championship match. There, she lost to Nease No. 1 Kylie Kochis in straight sets to wrap up her singles season at 14-1.
Gomez had similar success at doubles competition alongside sophomore Domenica Ayleen Monserrate. The duo went 11-1 together, winning their first 10 matches after taking a loss against St. Thomas Aquinas’ top pairing in the state semifinals. She was a state qualifier in both singles and doubles competition after winning District 14-3A titles. Gomez will play collegiate in Pensacola at the University of West Florida.
Ella Gravlee, Vero Beach volleyball
Year: Sophomore
With Cooper off to Virginia Tech, this rising junior will likely talent over the mantle as the area’s best volleyball prospect. Blasting shots from the middle of the floor or any area at the net, the 6-foot-3 Gravlee and her powerful, precise swings made her the area’s most intimidating presence. She used her power and shot variety to lead all local players with 336 kills. Gravlee had six matches of 20 or more kills, including a 23-kill effort during the team’s regional semifinal win over Olympia.
Jada Mosley, Vero Beach weightlifting
Year: Senior
Mosley was yet another dominant lifter to come out of Vero, becoming the eighth champion in program history after claiming the Olympic title at the 199-pound weight class in the Class 3A state meet. The senior won the crown with total lifts of 385 pounds. She later backed that up with a runner-up state finish in traditional competition. Prior to state, Mosley swept through districts and regionals.
Taylor-Nicole Overton, Vero Beach track and field
Year: Sophomore
Overton concluded her first season in Vero by doing something the program hasn’t seen in 23 years. The sophomore became the program’s first track state champion, winning the 400-meter dash in a personal-record time of 53.19 seconds at the Class 4A state meet. She outpaced Fletcher’s Zyaire Thomas by 0.05 seconds.
Overton wasn’t done as she placed second in the 200 (23.99), 10th in the 100 (12.22) and helped Vero’s 1,600-meter relay team to a fourth-place finish. She swept the four events at districts and regionals.
Adrienne Rivera, Fort Pierce Central flag football
Year: Senior
For the third consecutive season, this Cobras quarterback is TCPalm’s Flag Football Offensive Player of the Year. It’s hard to argue that anyone else was more deserving as Rivera set career highs in completion percentage (68%) and quarterback rating (122.8) while tying her career best of 60 touchdown passes and throwing for a career-low 16 interceptions.
She led the area with 4,524 passing yards while adding 595 yards and 15 more scores through the running game. Following a legendary prep career, Rivera has signed to play collegiately at Keiser.
Ellie Smith, Vero Beach volleyball
Year: Senior
Starting all four years of her varsity career, Smith saved her finest campaign for her last en route to being named TCPalm’s Volleyball Player of the Year.
The captain and leader of the Treasure Coast’s best team, the 5-foot-7 setter topped the area with 708 assists and averaged 9.8 assists per set. She also added 135 digs, 24 aces and 15 blocks. Smith will play collegiately at Northern Illinois.
Savannah Tatum, South Fork flag football and soccer
Year: Senior
Tatum was a star for both on a Bulldogs soccer team that captured a district title and a Bulldogs flag football team that enjoyed an eight-game improvement.
On the pitch, she recorded an assist in 14 games to lead the area with 25 assists while pouring in 13 goals. Tatum was even better on the football field as the senior threw for 2,152 yards, 33 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while rushing for 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Giovanna Waksman, Pine soccer
Year: Sophomore
It wasn’t simply that she ran circles around opponents or that she smashed the Knights’ all-time record books while facing constant double and triple teams, Waksman’s production was elite even by national standards. According to MaxPreps, the sophomore led the country with a whopping 87 goals and 188 points. She appeared in every match, averaging 4.6 goals and 9.9 points per game to lead the program to its first state title game appearance.
Her success directly impacted whether or not Pine went home victorious or in defeat as the Knights were 16-0-1 in matches where Waksman scored and 0-2 in matches she didn’t. Beyond uncanny dribbling skills and tremendous ability to send missiles off either foot, the Brazilian star is a particularly intelligent player willing to deliver beautiful balls to a teammate making a run. The sophomore had a team-best 14 assists.
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Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.
Women’s Track & Field Concludes Outdoor Season with All-Americans
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2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results (Day 4)
EUGENE, Ore. (June 14, 2025) – Howard University women’s track & field program concluded its outdoor campaign at the NCAA Championships in Euguene, Ore., hosted by the University of Oregon, with outstanding […]
EUGENE, Ore. (June 14, 2025) – Howard University women’s track & field program concluded its outdoor campaign at the NCAA Championships in Euguene, Ore., hosted by the University of Oregon, with outstanding Bison earning All-American status.
Graduates Kailei Collins (Houston) and Marcia Sey (London, United Kingdom), senior Tiffani-Rae Pittman (Bowie, Md.) and sophomore Aiyana Gray-Williams (Winston-Salem, N.C.) began Day Four with a sixth-place finish in the 4×100 relay, clocking in at 43.23. The four Bison earned All-American First Team honors, becoming the first All-American 4×100 relay squad in program history.
USC won the 4×100 relay race with a 42.22 mark.
Individually, Sey had her best performance in a Bison uniform, winning bronze in the 100-meter hurdles with a 12.93 time. Her third-place finish is the highest in program history. Additionally, the British native received All-American First Team honors.
Oregon’s Aaliyah McCormick won the short hurdles, producing a 12.81 mark.
Howard Director of Track & Field David Oliver and the Bison wrapped up another success season, winning a pair of MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) crowns during the indoor and outdoor campaigns.
HU looks to defend both crowns for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.
Santa Barbara beach volleyball court honors Van Winden, twin | Sports
This is an updated version of a story published by Noozhawk.com at bit.ly/45kMboh and is being re-run with the website’s permission. East Beach may be a playground, but twin sisters Kelly and Lisa Strand had to work their way there a half-century ago. They’d follow their older siblings by riding their bikes for six miles, […]
This is an updated version of a story published by Noozhawk.com at bit.ly/45kMboh and is being re-run with the website’s permission.
East Beach may be a playground, but twin sisters Kelly and Lisa Strand had to work their way there a half-century ago.
They’d follow their older siblings by riding their bikes for six miles, packing nothing but a sack lunch and the hunger to play some beach volleyball.
“We wouldn’t even bring a towel, just an apple and a peanut butter sandwich,” recalled Kelly, who was a junior-high teen at the time. “We’d stay all day.”
Older brother Warren and sister Kathy were often already there.
They’d be holding court with such local volleyball gentry as Karch Kiraly, a future Olympic gold medalist in both the indoor and beach games.
It took countless hours of playing and pestering before the little sisters were included with all the “Queen Kathies of the Beach”: Kathy Gregory, Kathy Hanley and sister Kathy Strand.
“There was definitely a pecking order,” Lisa told Noozhawk. “We worked hard to get to play on the big girl court. We’d beg people to let us play. Thank God we were twins because we always had each other to play with.”
Lisa and Kelly were paired again May 31, when the Friends of East Beach Association dedicated “Strand Court” in their honor.
The organization has dedicated itself to improving the 16 permanent courts at East Beach. It renovated the first one in the name of the late Henry Bergmann in 2010. Other courts have been named in honor of Kiraly, siblings John and Kathy Hanley, Gregory, Paul Hodgert and Jon Lee.
“It’s a pretty proud moment for us,” said Kelly, known now by her married name of Kelly Van Winden. “It’s really cool because the name of the court will be the Strand Court. I just love that my family gets to be honored.”
Don of an era
Kelly and Lisa caught the volleyball bug while watching their siblings star for coach Rick Olmstead’s indoor teams at Santa Barbara High School.
Brother Warren played with Kiraly and Hanley on the Dons’ CIF Southern Section championship boys team of 1978.
“We’d go and watch all those games as the tag-along little sisters,” Kelly said. “It was so much fun. Warren and our sister, Kathy, were really good friends with Karch. They were always together, all three of those guys.”
Their father, Leon Strand, even hired Kiraly to help dig the foundation for their house.
“Our dad was the one who was always driving us to the beach or taking us to the park for tennis lessons,” Kelly said. “He taught us how to swim. He wanted us to be active and all of that.”
Their father, who died last October, also took them sailing, skiing, and even backpacking in the mountain ranges of the High Sierra.
“He got us involved with a youth church group,” Lisa said. “He was trying to raise us up right and keep us out of trouble, so he kept us busy. We all had to get jobs pretty young … He had us pay for all our shoes and skis.”
He also facilitated their passion for volleyball.
“We’d stay up late in the front yard rallying, so our dad set up a night light,” Lisa said. “With only one volleyball, we had to wait till Warren and Kathy were done to go out and rally.”
Kelly and Lisa, like their older siblings, played for Olmstead at Santa Barbara High. They were both named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division 4A First Team during their senior season in the autumn of 1980.
“I don’t remember how far we went into the CIF playoffs every year, but I do remember all the fun we had and what great shape we were in,” Lisa said. “Our biggest rival was San Marcos. We’d go to Frimple’s for breakfast and do car rallies down State Street prior to those games.”
Girls volleyball at that time was in only its ninth year of sanction by the California Interscholastic Federation.
“I didn’t even recognize how lucky I was at the time, I was just riding the wave,” Kelly said. “It was like these doors opened and I just walked through them. I’m not saying that it didn’t come with hard work — the drive to play the game came from inside — but I had no idea about all of that.”
The twins also had no clue that volleyball could be the path to a college scholarship. Olmstead took them aside after their senior season to show them an envelope full of recruiting letters that had been addressed to them.
“He told us, ‘I want you to look through this … You can go to college to play volleyball,’” Kelly said. “We were like, ‘What are you talking about? Are you crazy?’ We had no idea. We were just playing the game.”
The next level
Kelly first went to UC Santa Barbara, serving as a team captain her sophomore season, before transferring to Cal Poly.
She earned first-team all-league honors in 1984 and led the Mustangs to a 32-8 record and the championship of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, which was later renamed the Big West Conference.
Lisa, a versatile middle blocker, enjoyed even greater success at the University of Hawai‘i, earning All-America honors in both 1982 and 1983 while leading the Rainbow Wahine to back-to-back NCAA championships.
But both twins were just getting started with their lives in volleyball.
Kelly was the head coach at Bishop Diego High School in Santa Barbara in 1987 and directed and helped start the Napa Valley Volleyball Club in 1988. After serving as an assistant coach at Sonoma State University in 1989 and 1990, she was SSU’s head coach from 1991 to 2000 and was a three-time Northern California Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1993, 1995 and 1997.
She was Napa Valley College’s head coach from 2001 to 2015, earning Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and was the head coach at Napa High School from 2016 to 2019.
Kelly also has a background as a professional volleyball player, having played indoor volleyball from 1987 to 1989 as an outside hitter for the San Jose Golddiggers, a team in Major League Volleyball that home matches at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.
She played three seasons in the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association as a beach volleyball player from 1989 to 1992 and competed in a Bud Light 4-Person Beach League from 1989 to 1996.
Lisa also competed in Major League Volleyball and on the Bud Light circuit. She also played on the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour.
She partnered with Janice Opalinski in 1990 to win the AVP’s Salem Fresh Tokyo Tournament — the richest tour event of that year.
They also got busy starting families.
Kelly married her college sweetheart, Cal Poly basketball player Jim Van Winden. Their daughters, Adlee and Torrey, both earned AVCA All-America honors at their parents’ alma mater after starring at Vintage High School.
“Much as we exposed our kids to other things, they chose the sport,” Kelly said. “We sort of led them all away from it, but at the same time they all chased it … They all fell in love with it.”
Torrey now plays on the AVP Tour with cousin Katie Spieler, Kathy’s daughter.
Her sister, now known by the married name of Adlee Kass, also still plays volleyball and is expecting her first child this summer.
“She plans on playing six months pregnant in the Santa Barbara Open,” Kelly said.
Lisa and former University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball star Pono Ma’a are the parents of four former collegiate volleyball stars: Misty (Miami), Micah (UCLA), Mehana (UCSB) and Maluhia (Kent State).
Micah Ma’a made the Men’s National Team as a setter and helped the United States win a bronze medal at last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
“I went to Paris with Warren, Kathy and Kelly,” said Lisa, who’s served as a color analyst the last two decades for University Hawai‘i volleyball telecasts. “We spent 12 days there and it was the most incredible trip I’ve ever been on.”
She claims that watching her children play volleyball doesn’t make her nervous even when an Olympic medal is at stake.
“I am just happy that they loved the sport,” Lisa said.
Beach party
East Beach has always been their happy place.
Kelly and Jim even held their wedding reception at a venue that overlooked the area.
“East Beach was just such a comfortable place to be,” Kelly said. “It was like my backyard growing up. We’d go down there without a towel … Lie in the sand … Then we’d dive into the ocean, come back out, and lie in the sand once more to get warm.”
Lisa recalled that time as “those lazy, crazy days when all you’d do is play and then swim in the ocean. It was like our yard … Our front yard and our back yard. We lived to go down there and play.”
She also remembered how satisfying it was when they were accepted by the older players.
“If you lost, you had to wait like forever to get another chance,” she explained, “so it helped with our motivation, and trained us to always win.”
Kelly, who still coaches aspiring players on the sand court that Jim built in their backyard, said “all those women at East Beach have no idea of how influential they were, and in so many ways. They were so wonderful and kind, 99% of the time, to everybody in my family. That was pretty huge.”
And it’s something she and her sister have devoted themselves to paying back, over and over again.
Shelby Frank stars for Texas Tech track & field at NCAA championships
Two-time NCAA runner-up Shelby Frank on outlook with Texas Tech Shelby Frank was the NCAA indoor championships runner-up in the weight throw in 2023 and 2024. She transferred from Minnesota to Texas Tech for 2025. At the NCAA track and field championships, where points are hard to come by, putting up 10s and 8s — […]
Two-time NCAA runner-up Shelby Frank on outlook with Texas Tech
Shelby Frank was the NCAA indoor championships runner-up in the weight throw in 2023 and 2024. She transferred from Minnesota to Texas Tech for 2025.
At the NCAA track and field championships, where points are hard to come by, putting up 10s and 8s — that is, 10 points for first place, eight for second — is key to gaining separation for a really high finish.
The Texas Tech women’s track and field team had only one 8 and no 10s on their latest trip to Eugene, Oregon, and finished 12th — solid, but probably not as well as the Red Raiders had hoped, given their No. 8 national ranking going into the meet.
The four-day competition at Hayward Field concluded Saturday, June 14, with Texas Tech ending up with 22 points.
Shelby Frank delivered 14 with a second-place finish in the hammer throw on Thursday, June 12, and a third-place finish in the discus Saturday. That made the senior transfer from Minnesota an eight-time first-team All-American, status accorded the top eight finishers in each final event at an NCAA championships. Frank threw 233 feet, 1 inch in the hammer and 207-11 in the discus, both personal records.
“What a fabulous weekend Shelby had,” Tech coach Wes Kittley said. “Two school records. Two personal bests.”
More: How Texas Tech has fared at NCAA track and field championships
More: Behold, two more Big 12 titles for Texas Tech track and field teams
Fresno State senior Sierra Jackson threw a meet-record 215-11, and Frank and the throwers right behind her in fourth, fifth and sixth all threw personal bests.
“It’s the most unbelievable discus I’ve ever seen,” Kittley said. “In NCAA history, that was the best competition. It may sound like bad to get third place, but I was so proud of her, nearly throwing 208 feet, just what a great competitor she’s been for us.”
The Red Raiders’ other points came from a pair of fifth-place finishes, by sophomore Temitope Adeshina in the high jump (6-1 1/2) and by senior Victoria Gorlova in the triple jump (wind-legal 44-4 3/4).
Fifth is the lowest Adeshina’s finished in four career appearances at NCAA meets. As a freshman last year, she was fourth at the NCAA indoor, third at the outdoor, and this year she won the title at the NCAA indoor.
Had each Tech athlete competing in Eugene finished exactly as she was ranked going in, the Red Raiders would have scored 27 points, which would have been good for eighth.
Tech’s other entrants Saturday were Tamiah Washington, who got 10th in the triple jump with a mark of 42-10 1/4 into a slight negative wind, and Zoe Burleson, who placed 13th in the discus with a throw of 183-2.
“I felt bad for Temitope and for Victoria and Tamiah,” Kittley said. “They just didn’t have their best day. They weren’t bad. They just weren’t great, and you had to be great today. If we’d have gotten just two to three to four more points out of each one of them, we would have been sixth or so in the country.”
Tech had five entries who competed Thursday and failed to advance to Saturday, led by Fanny Arendt, who was 11th in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 3.13 seconds). In the 100-meter hurdles, Destiny Smith was 14th in 13.18 and Tonie-Ann Forbes was 18th in 13.37, both wind-legal times.
In the 1,600-meter relay, Arendt, Mekenze Kelley, Mercy Umoibang and Vanessa Balde were 20th in 3:35.47.
The Tech women’s top team finishes at the NCAA outdoor were fifth place in 2008, seventh place in both 2022 and 2024 and 10th in 2007. The program’s highest point totals at the outdoor were 36 in 2022 and 32 in 2008.
Arendt, Smith, Washington and Burleson achieved second-team All-America status.
“We got several All-Americans today and scored 22 points,” Kittley said. “That’s not bad. It’s terrible when you feel like 12th is not good, but it’s really good.”
EUGENE, Ore. – Vanderbilt track and field student-athlete Allyria McBride placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles and earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Saturday evening at Hayward Field. “Coming to this championship and having Allyria become a first-team All-American in her third year in the program and second time at this meet […]
EUGENE, Ore. – Vanderbilt track and field student-athlete Allyria McBride placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles and earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Saturday evening at Hayward Field.
“Coming to this championship and having Allyria become a first-team All-American in her third year in the program and second time at this meet means a lot,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “It’s showing the growth of the program.”
After finishing second in her semifinal heat Thursday, McBride returned to the track to clock 56.20 seconds in Saturday’s final. With her eighth-place finish, she scored a point for Vanderbilt, which is tied for 63rd in the team standings.
It is McBride’s first time earning first-team honors but her second career All-America nod. In 2023, she became the program’s first true freshman All-American since 1997 (Amanda Helberg) when she was a second-team selection in the 400 hurdles.
Under Thomas’ direction, the Commodores have boasted eight first-team All-Americans and scored at four consecutive NCAA Indoor or Outdoor Championships, which is the longest streak in school history.
“It shows consistency,” Thomas said. “In our sport, everyone thinks about who’s the fastest, who can jump the highest or throw the farthest, but our sport is really about consistency. It’s showing, not just consistency in one person, but consistency in the program. It’s showing what we’re building.”
The track and field team’s season continues in Eugene when Lily Kriegel and Devyn Parham represent the Dores at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships Thursday and Friday.
