First Look: The Chattanooga Mocs placed four on the Southern Conference postseason awards list for 2024-25. Camden Braidech, Garrett Engle and Braedon Wear all claimed All-SoCon honors with Ethan Whitaker earning a spot on the All-Freshman squad.

Coaches Corner: “Well deserved honor for each of these four guys, especially in a conference where golf has been very deep over the last few years. All four picked up an individual win this year. Having four honorees for the 3rd straight year just shows how much these guys value the standard of excellence that is expected in our program. I’m proud of each of them. They’ve earned this recognition for their efforts.” – Coach Blaine Woodruff

 

2024-25 All-Southern Conference Team

Camden Braidech, So., Chattanooga

Garrett Engle, Sr., Chattanooga

Braedon Wear, Sr., Chattanooga

Kristian Bressum, Sr., ETSU

Yannick Malik, Jr., ETSU

Clark Akers, Jr., Furman

Harris Barth, Jr., Furman

Will Morlan, Sr., Furman

Colin Dutton, Sr., UNCG

Jack Marcotte, Gr., UNCG

2024-25 All-Freshman Team

Ethan Whitaker, Chattanooga

Gavin Tiernan, ETSU

Ludvig Josefsson, Furman

Jake Lewis, UNCG

Chase Cline, Western Carolina

 

Player of the Year: Kristian Bressum, Sr., ETSU

Freshman of the Year: Jake Lewis, UNCG

Coach of the Year: Matt Davidson, Furman 

What to Know

• Chattanooga and Furman led the league with three All-SoCon members.
• The Mocs and Paladins also matched for total honorees with four apiece.
• Third straight year with four total mentions and 6th time in program history.
• Second All-SoCon mention for Engle. Also made the team in 2023.
• Second SoCon honor for Wear. He was All-Freshman in 2022.
• This is the first mention for Braidech who transferred from Liberty to the program this season. He’s the first Mocs sophomore since Engle in 2023 to claim a spot.
• Whitaker follows Ward Harris who was a Mocs All-Freshman pick a year ago. First time with back-to-back selections since Wes Gosselin and Ewan Scott in 2014 and Andrew Weathers in 2015.
• Whitaker is the 12th Chattanooga All-Freshman selection.
• The trio makes it 67 All-SoCon honors all time.
• Engle is the 20th Moc to earn All-SoCon recognition in multiple years.
• Wear is the seventh to net both All-Freshman and All-SoCon during their UTC careers.

 
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ST. LOUIS – Indiana State sprinter Casey Hood Jr. and pole vaulter Will Staggs were recognized by the Missouri Valley Conference Tuesday afternoon for their record-setting performances at the Clark Wood Invitational, as the duo combined to sweep the MVC Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this season.
 
Hood Jr. was tabbed the MVC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week, while Staggs was named the MVC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week.
 
Hood Jr. broke the school record in the 100m, which was previously held by Sycamore All-American JaVaughn Moore, by running a wind-legal time of 10.08 (w: +1.1) at the Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville. Hood Jr. placed first by more than two-tenths of a second, as Indiana State took three of the top four spots in the event with a trio of Sycamores running top-five times in program history (Hood Jr. 10.08, Terrance O’Bannon 10.30, Daunte Majors 10.39). Hood Jr. also clocked a wind-legal 200m time of 20.94 (w: +1.8), his third time under 21 seconds in the event this season, to earn a top-three finish in the event.
 
Hood Jr. owns the top time in the MVC in both the 100m and 200m, with his 100m time also ranking second in the Great Lakes Region, 12th in NCAA East Qualifying and 18th nationally. He owns the top wind-legal times in the Great Lakes Region, with his 10.08 ranking sixth in the nation among wind-legal 100m times. Hood Jr. also ranks eighth in the Great Lakes Region, 57th in NCAA East Qualifying and 97th nationally in the 200m.
 
Staggs broke his own outdoor school record in the pole vault at the Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, clearing 5.51m (18-1) to tie for the top mark at the meet. Staggs cleared marks of 5.21m (17-1, first attempt) and 5.36m (17-7, second attempt) before clearing the record-breaking mark of 5.51m (18-1) on his third attempt. He was one of two athletes to clear 5.51m at the meet, which featured five of the top 30 pole vaulters in the nation this season, only finishing second on misses.
 
Staggs owns the top mark in the MVC, Great Lakes Region and NCAA East Qualifying in the pole vault, while his mark ranks sixth nationally. He is the only athlete in the MVC to rank in the top 10 in the nation in any event, while his pole vault clearance of 5.51m was the best by a MVC athlete since 2007.
 
The weekly honor is the sixth of Hood Jr.’s career, having previously been named MVC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week once during the 2025 outdoor season and four times during the 2025 indoor season. Staggs’ weekly honor is the 11th of his career, having previously earned the honor eight times during indoor track and field seasons and twice during outdoor track and field seasons.
 
Indiana State heads east for its next meet, the Jesse Owens Classic, Friday and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Follow the Sycamores

For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
 

– #MarchOn –

After facing a formidable lineup of opponents during the current 2024-25 season, Glendale Community College’s Women’s Beach Volleyball team is staying locked in with just four games left. Despite a challenging schedule, the team continues to focus on growth, teamwork, and finishing the season on a high note. Players and the coach alike are using this final stretch to sharpen their play and build momentum heading into the offseason.

While wins have been hard to come by, the team has stayed focused on improving with each match by competing against strong programs and teams like Ventura, Santa Monica, and Santa Barbara. Early signs of progression showed in the 3-1 defeat against Saddleback College and the 4-1 defeat against Bakersfield College, showcasing the team’s potential to push opponents and stay in the fight while reflecting growth and chemistry development. With the last four matches happening this month near mid-April, the Vaqueras are aiming to finish strong and carry motivation into the end of the season. The players have kept a positive mindset, using every match as a chance to grow, support each other, and build something that will last beyond just this season. 

“Strengths are that they are good teammates, there is a huge learning curve, and I feel like they have really stepped up to the challenge. Weaknesses are they have never played beach volleyball before. They need to also develop sand legs which are different from indoor legs. I address these things through practice, weight training, lots of communication, and watching films,” said Yvette Ybarra, Women’s Beach Volleyball Head Coach. “My first goal is to teach the team beach volleyball, the second goal is to teach specific skills; when you play beach, it is just you and your partner, finally, I want them to learn how to have fun and problem solve in the moment.” 

“Playing beach volleyball is a fun way to improve skills. It’s a different sport from indoor volleyball, but it helps with reading opponents and quickness. Although we didn’t win many games, I enjoyed the experience with my teammates,” said Vanya Arakelian, former GCC’s Women’s Beach Volleyball player. “I believe this program has potential and that beach volleyball is a step in the right direction. However, traveling to practices was challenging. To grow the program, I think GCC should invest in on-campus sand courts. This would benefit the team in both the summer preseason and regular season.” Likewise, Abigail Yeoh, a current freshman player, stated, “Our experience this season has been crazy but so much fun. Beach volleyball is something new for most of us so it’s been a joy learning to play. As we approach the last part of our season I think that we will focus on our strategy, teamwork, and execution in our games.” 

Coach Ybarra also highlighted the team’s commitment off the court. Since GCC doesn’t currently have sand courts on campus, the team travels to a single court at Village Christian High School three days a week to practice. “The team meets at noon and I drive them to Village, we practice for two hours and get back in the van to head back to campus,” she said. “I’m sharing this because it shows their commitment to the sport of beach volleyball – maybe this will help me get the word out that we need sand courts.” That kind of dedication is what the team hopes will carry into upcoming seasons, with more growth, more grit, and hopefully, a home court to call their own, even if it takes time to build one. When it comes to giving beach volleyball a true home at GCC, better late than never.

As the season winds down, the team has stayed focused on growth, teamwork, and building a strong foundation. A few players prepare to move on. Both returning and new athletes are expected to step up, bringing fresh energy and experience into the following year. With continued dedication, strong coaching, and the hope for a true home court, GCC’s beach volleyball program is just getting started. 

Marco Rivera can be reached at [email protected].

The year is 1982 and the old Lasell pool stands are packed. It seems like the entirety of campus has decided to show up for the club water polo game against Amherst. Why? Certainly not to watch high-level water polo. According to Will Andrew ’86, one of the day’s starters, almost none of the team members had ever played the sport before joining the team.

The reason was simple: alcohol. “[The team] put a keg up in the stands of the little old pool that they had at the time and everybody told everybody,” Andrew said. “So there were probably 50 people, but it looked like the place was rocking.”

According to Andrew, the team went on to win with 17 goals, nine of which he scored.

A four-inch by four-inch box in the following week’s Record commemorates both Andrew’s performance and the widespread hangovers the next morning. The box featured a picture of Andrew surrounded by the Budweiser crest and the message “Will, this bud’s for you.”  

The “Budweiser ‘King of Beers’ Athlete of the Week” was an institution at the Record during the 1980s, highlighting the exceptional play of one student athlete each week. For every issue, a new athlete would be selected by the sports editors and a short blurb would highlight their success.

“It was actually a fairly easy process,” recalled John Clayton ’85, a former sports editor and later the editor-in-chief of the Record. “If someone scores three touchdowns or 30 points in a basketball game or a couple of hat tricks, that person is sort of the MVP.”

While the overt marketing of alcohol to 18 to 22-year-olds may seem unusual today, it was a product of its time, Clayton explained. “Alcohol was a much bigger factor in campus life than I think it is now,” he said.

In Clayton’s opinion, the social importance of alcohol was driven by a number of factors. “Marijuana was illegal, so in terms of party aides, alcohol was really it,” he said. Also, because the drinking age at the time was 20, juniors and seniors were of age. “Because it was a sort of half-and-half thing, there was a lot more tolerance of, for example, advertising alcohol in the paper,” Clayton said.

Alcohol companies knew about beer’s hold on the College. “With beer being such a big factor in student life, the beer companies wanted to harness that,” Clayton said.

Two companies made a hoppy splash on the pages of the Record: Miller and Budweiser. “I mean, it was sort of a duopoly with these two huge companies,” Clayton said. 

The two firms competed fiercely. Budweiser and Miller fought tooth and nail to promote their product to the student body. To accomplish this goal, they waged a war of soft power from the inside out. 

“They hired these campus reps … who tended to be big partiers on campus who would always be drinking Budweiser, and so it was sort of cool to be drinking Budweiser,” Clayton said.

If Budweiser had campus representatives, you can bet that Miller had them too. John Schafer ’87, Clayton’s colleague at the Record, had a Junior Advisor who was one of these representatives. “My JA [Paul Meeks ’85], was the Miller rep on campus,” Schafer said. “He had an illuminated Miller [sign] they put on this window that you’d see [from] a long way away.”

These representatives were staples of the community. “[Meeks was a] big time athlete: charming, he played football and lacrosse,” Schafer said. “He was funny and he was charismatic and that’s why Miller tapped him to be [their] rep.”

Despite having Meeks in its corner, Miller was up against tough competition. As Clayton recalled, Budweiser was generally considered to be the cooler beer. 

A key way that the Budweiser reps sustained this reputation was the “Budweiser Athlete of the Week” title. Schafer recalls that the Budweiser reps pitched the concept to the Record and were responsible for making it work. “They passed a little bit of money [to the Record] to run it,” he explained. 

“In Budweiser’s mind, the ‘Athlete of the Week’ ad was part of that victory [over Miller], because it was an incredibly popular feature in the paper,” Clayton said.

This designation meant something to the athletes, too. “You’d be sitting with the other folks on the team and say, ‘Well I’m the ‘Athlete of the Week’ … I get to sit at the head of the table,’” Andrew remembered.

Andrew is not the only athlete who recalled the pride associated with winning the title. “The [‘Athlete of the Week’] distinction came the same time that I was featured in the April 1988 edition of Sports Illustrated for being the first Black All-American in squash,” Wendell Chestnut ’88 said. “It was sort of like that 15 minutes of fame scenario.”

Faced with such a strong form of advertisement, Miller tried to strike back on the same page of the paper. “Miller was really jealous of [Budweiser’s dominance],” Clayton said. “And, during my time, Miller actually started a competing ad campaign … the Miller High Life scoreboard.” 

The scoreboard was similar to the scores the Record currently features at the top of the sports page, except it almost exclusively highlighted wins for the College. This warm and fuzzy feeling that Miller was trying to evoke was meant to distract from Budweiser’s sponsorship of the “Athlete of the Week” column.

Despite the aggressive move, the Miller reps’ efforts were not enough to oust the “King of Beers” from its on-campus throne. “Because it was a scoreboard, [and because] it wasn’t focused on individuals, it didn’t seem to me that it was really drawing the same appeal that the ‘Athlete of the Week’ did,” Clayton said.

As the 1980s came to a close and the real Cold War fizzled out, the College’s cold beer war also went the way of the dinosaur. “In the late 1980s, when the drinking age went up to 21, those policies [of tolerance towards drinking] really changed,” Clayton said.

While alcohol is by no means gone from the College, its institutionalization in columns such as the Miller Scoreboard and the “Budweiser Athlete of the Week,” has been lost to time. By the 1990s, the title had been officially changed to simply “Athlete of the Week.” 

As the influence of Miller and Budweiser has faded, the true meaning of the “Athlete of the Week” still shines through. “You knew Budweiser was a beer and Miller was a beer, but it was more the fact that it was the athlete of the week … You were more focused on the person and the sport,” Chestnut said.

As National Bike Month approaches this May, Pro BMX athlete Nigel Sylvester’s foundation will be leading a series of impactful initiatives to raise awareness for the biking community and give back to youth across from Harlem to Hollis.

This year’s efforts include a CycleBar fundraising class in Manhattan, a Bike Day in May Giveaway at the YMCA in Jamaica, Queens, a Jordan Brand Giveaway at P.S. 132 in Queens, an art auction and a raffle for his newly released Brick by Brick sneakers.

The Nigel Sylvester Foundation, established in 2021, supports initiatives such as after-school programs, bike donations, and community fundraising rides that aim to transform the lives of underserved youth. In 2024, Nigel partnered with Hyperice to unveil a new Recovery Room at his alma mater, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, equipped with donated athletic recovery tools to support student-athletes. Through his ongoing work, Nigel remains committed to creating meaningful opportunities for the next generation—on and off the bike.

National Bike Month comes on the heels of the launch of Nigel Sylvester’s Brick by Brick collection last month—one of Jordan Brand’s most anticipated drops in recent years. Inspired by his personal journey and the signature red bricks of New York City, the collection reinforces Nigel’s influence as a creative force and a key voice for Gen Z. As part of the campaign, he gifted pairs to stars like LeBron James, Jalen Brunson, and Kai Cenat, while the rollout included standout moments like a brick-wheel truck stunt through NYC, a fashion show at The Standard, and the “Ann & Sons” pop-up in Jamaica, Queens, a tribute to his mother and hometown.

Recognized as one of the most prominent athletes in the world, Nigel continues to be a leading voice in BMX, advocating for the sport as a powerful form of endurance, fitness, and expression among young people. His mission is to inspire bike enthusiasts in the New York area and beyond.

National Bike Month Initiatives

• Saturday May 3 – Second annual Cyclebar Spin Class Fundraiser (Flatiron, NYC)
• Monday, May 5 – Brick by Brick Raffle (Online)
• May 16th – Bike a Day in May Giveaway (YMCA, Jamaica Queens)
• Week of May 20th- Jordan Brand Giveaway (P.S. 132 in Queens)
• Last week of May- Pedal Forward Art Bike Auction (TBA)

Nigel Sylvester

Nigel Sylvester is an American professional BMX athlete, creative, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and philanthropist from Queens, New York. Nigel’s career has extended beyond traditional BMX biking through his progressive riding style, innovative content creation and one-of-a-kind artistic expression. While a sought-after professional athlete and the first BMX athlete to sign to Michael Jordan’s coveted Jordan Brand roster, Nigel has designed and released several sneakers with the Nike and Air Jordan brand, including two colorways of the Jordan AJ4RM leading creative direction that spoke for itself by selling out instantly in 2024. As a creative visionary, Nigel made his directorial debut for the visual campaign, “Grandma’s Driveway” and was appointed as the Creative Advisor for New Era Cap in Spring of 2024, serving as the creative director for New Era’s “Forever New York” campaign for the Fall/ Winter 2024 Collection. Sylvester’s creative vision has also been tapped over the years to partner with global brands including Nike, EA Sports, Mercedes, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, PlayStation, Moncler, Specialized Bikes, Rimowa, New Era, Hyperice and Smart Water where he created the first ever Rimowa BMX Travel case and designed the first ever Fendi BMX bike. Nigel was featured in ESPN’s ‘Body Issue’, honored by Forbes Magazine’s prestigious ‘30 Under 30’ list in 2017, and was the recipient of Condé Nast Traveler’s ‘Trailblazer of the Year’ award in 2018. Since then Nigel can be found on the covers of Wonderland, PREME, Numéro, and CircleZeroEight.

As an entrepreneur, Nigel founded the GO brand, which hosts an annual bike ride called GO Ride. In 2024, the transatlantic bike ride started in London and culminated in New York City, spanning over 3000 miles across the Atlantic, all within 24 hours. In 2021 Nigel founded the Nigel Sylvester Foundation to support initiatives such as building after-school programs, bike donations, and fundraising community bike rides dedicated to transforming the lives of underserved youth. As an alumnus of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, Nigel partnered with Hyperice in 2024 to unveil the athletic Recovery Room which included donated equipment for student-athletes. Today, Nigel is one of the most recognized athletes around the world. He is known for his relentless drive, creative vision, and disruptive approach as he pushes the boundaries of sport and art.

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BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Augustana’s men’s distance relay has accrued another accolade in recognition for their stunning event win at the Drake Relays last weekend that also broke a program record.
 
The group was collectively named the NSIC Men’s Track Athletes of the Week for their performance, league officials announced Tuesday.
 
Payton Brown (DMR, Fr., Stockholm, S.D. / Milbank Area HS) – Augustana
Ryan Hartman (DMR, Sr., Wausau, Wis. / Wausau West HS) – Augustana

Jude Jarding (DMR, Fr., Hartford, S.D. West Central HS) – Augustana
Tyson Ricker  (DMR, So., Becker, Minn. / Becker HS) – Augustana
– Won the men’s distance medley relay at the Drake Relays
– Clocked a 9:49.64 to take first place
– Broke the Augustana school record for the event
– Named USTFCCCA DII National Athletes of the Week for their performance
 
–GoAugie.com–