BLOOMINGTON, IND. – Southeast Missouri track & field team ended the 2025 regular season at the Billy Hayes Invite and the Sycamore Open, posting 13 top five finishes, with seven being first place finishes.

Billy Hayes Results

Madelyn Gray crosses the line at a season best time of 4:31.22 to take the gold in the 1500m.

Cole Reinders timed in at 3:52.52 in the men’s 1500m to finish in sixth.

Clara Billing vaulted over a height of 12′ 11.50″ to claim first in the pole vault.

In the men’s long jump, Luke Hatfield Jackson cleared 24′ 5.75″ of sand for first.

Brianna Dixon cleared hurdles for 100m in 13.87 to stand alone atop the podium.

In the men’s triple jump Kenyon Johnson and Luke Busateri jumped three times for a final distances of 49′ 5.75″ (1st) and 48′ 0.5″ (2nd).

Sycamore Open Results

In the women’s javelin Kennedy Zgaynor ended with the bronze after a mark of 140′ 08″ and Ava Dumke finished in sixth (126′ 11″).

Josiah Kilgore takes the trophy in the javelin after throwing for a season best mark of 200′ 3″.

With a distance of 191′ 2″ Clay Alewelt was wearing the silver in the men’s hammer throw.

Makenzie Williams took the crown and a new personal record (164′ 06″) while Andreese Ortiz achieved a mark of 152′ 0″ for fourth.

In the men’s shot put Paden Lewis and Jehchys Brown placed third and fourth with marks of 59′ 2.25″ and 54′ 5.25″.

Ortiz posts a distance of 41′ 10″ in the women’s shot put for seventh.

Looking Ahead

The Redhawks will host the 2025 Outdoor Ohio Valley Conference track & field championships at the Abe Stuber Track Complex.

INDIANAPOLIS – It wasn’t Spieker Aquatics Center, nor was it the west coast the Bruins have grown accustomed to competing in across their season – but the Eight Clap echoed loud and clear as the team geared up for their first round of NCAA play.

No. 2 seed UCLA women’s water polo (20-5, 5-1 MPSF) took down Loyola Marymount University (20-11, 7-0 West Coast Conference) 11-8 in Friday’s NCAA quarterfinal at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

A characteristic of the rest of their games this season, the Bruins struggled to find their footing offensively across the first half of Friday’s match. With four minutes left in the first period, they had yet to register a goal – with multiple off-target shots and an attack that lacked the team’s normal rhythm.

“When you arrive at this part of the year, people have a tendency to treat it differently,” said coach Adam Wright. 

That deficit changed when redshirt sophomore utility Sienna Green finally broke through, flipping one in with the back of her hand to put UCLA on the board.

The second period proved different, as time trickled down on the shot clock and attackers struggled to find their target, with the Lions’ goal margin increasing to 4-2. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Steele held down the team’s defense across their scoring drought, with three saves compared to LMU’s Alyssa Barnuevo’s four. But the Bruins’ All-American wasn’t ready to call it quits yet.

​​Once again, the Bruins’ saving grace came from none other than junior center Bia Mantellato, who scored the team’s third goal to narrow the gap. Just minutes later, it was Mantellato again, notching the fourth goal with two minutes left in the second period.

“We just kept pushing and we kept emphasizing that we had to play our system and our defense,” Mantellato said. “We kept telling each other that we had each other’s backs and that was what gave us the win.”

With under a minute remaining, junior utility Anna Pearson delivered the equalizer, tying it 5-5 and injecting a sliver of hope into the Bruins’ sideline. 

The quarterfinal had quickly become a game of inches rather than miles. In one swift move after the score leveled at 6-6, Wright subbed in nearly four fresh players – looking for any sort of edge. 

But each time the Bruins seemed to seize momentum, attacker Ruth Arino Ruiz, who collected five of the Lions’ total eight goals, would strike again. UCLA refused to fold, answering back with a goal of its own each time.

For the first time during the match, a goal from junior attacker Emma Lineback, who scored almost half of the Bruins’ total points, pushed the team into their first lead of the entire match

“I think Adam says it a lot,” Lineback said. “Your approach on the goal is the only thing that matters. I try to step into it with confidence and if it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t, I tried my best and I’m gonna keep attacking.”

UCLA tacked on two more goals to extend its lead to 9-7, with just under a minute left in the third period.

A fourth-period resurgence was exactly what the Bruins needed to finally execute – and they delivered. With three consecutive goals, they held firm and protected their lead. Five focused minutes were all it took to extend the team’s NCAA journey and keep their opportunity at back-to-back championships alive.

“Like I told them at the half, ‘You can find a way and it can be painful or you can just focus on the things we are in control of,’” Wright said.

And although no more goals found the back of the net, the Bruins held their ground defensively for the remainder of the match, preserving their lead to advance to the Saturday semifinal at 11 a.m.

“We got to reset tonight and we know tomorrow we have to be a lot better,” Wright said.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Harvard women’s water polo fell to No. 4 USC by a score of 18-7 on Friday evening at the IU Natatorium in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

In the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, Harvard battled with the Trojans in a nationally ranked rematch but was unable to come out on top, closing out the most successful season in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC opened the scoring to take a 1-0 lead before Ruby Hodge netted Harvard’s first-ever NCAA Tournament goal from distance. The junior took it herself and beat the Trojans’ goalkeeper short side to tie the game early in the first quarter. USC would respond with three straight goals to lead 4-1.

Hodge added her second goal late in the quarter, picking the corner to cut the lead to two, but USC answered once again in the final seconds to make it 5-2 after eight minutes.

The Trojans extended their lead with five goals in the second quarter. Emma Gilbert scored the lone Crimson goal, a highlight-reel no-look shot after spinning around a defender, making it 10-3 at the half.

Hodge completed her hat trick in the third quarter, and Maya O’Dea added two goals to help Harvard close the gap to 13-6 heading into the final frame.

USC outscored Harvard 5-1 in the fourth quarter, with Erin Kim scoring the Crimson’s final goal of the game.

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

 
 

Harrisonburg, Va. – Coastal Carolina track & field continued the Sun Belt Championship with the a full day of events at Sentara Park on Friday. 

Terrique Webb highlighted the day by claiming a silver medal in the men’s long jump with a score of 7.81 meters, the second-best mark in school history

Amanda Kinloch ran the quickest time in the women’s 100 meter hurdles prelims with a time of 13.28 to secure a top starting position in Saturday’s final. 

Amilia Wise-Sweat and Trey Kraimer each placed second in the women’s and men’s 800 meter prelims. 

Through the first two days, the Chants place seventh in the scoring on both the men and women’s side. 

FULL RESULTS

The Sun Belt Championship concludes tomorrow with the first event starting at noon

For complete coverage of CCU men’s and women’s track and field, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalTFXC (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @coastaltxfc (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com 

BRIGHTON, Mass. – The top-seeded and No. 8 Florida State softball team (46-8) prevailed in a 3-2 win over No. 20 Duke (38-16) in the ACC Tournament Semifinals to advance to its 27th ACC Championship Game. FSU has now advanced to 27 of the total 34 ACC Championship Games in ACC history. 

After two scoreless innings, Duke hit a two-out single and an error by FSU allowed the Blue Devils to get on the board first. 

FSU responded immediately as Krystina Hartley doubled down the right field line to immediately put a runner in scoring position for the Noles. Isa Torres laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line to put runners on the corners for the Noles. Jahni Kerr put a ball in play to the second baseman to allow Hartley to score. Kerr reached safely thanks to a poor throw. Katie Dack brought home Torres on a groundout to give the Noles the lead. 

After Julia Apsel got the start and went 2.2 innings and allowed just three hits, Jazzy Francik came in and shut down the Blue Devils in four innings of work.

Michaela Edenfield helped Francik out with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to provide some insurance for FSU. Duke threatened and had the tying run on third with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Danley came in and got the final out to earn her fourth save of the year. Francik earned the win to improve to 10-2 this season. 

FSU will play the winner of Virginia Tech and Clemson tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. 

For updates and exclusive content, follow the Seminoles on X (FSU_Softball), Instagram (fsusoftball) and Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Softball).

INDIANAPOLIS — The UCLA and USC women’s water polo teams will square off in the heart of the Midwest on Saturday for a chance to advance to another national title match.

No. 2 seed UCLA shook off a three-goal deficit and defeated Loyola Marymount, 11-8, on Friday afternoon at the IU Natatorium, while No. 3 seed USC took control early and crushed Harvard, 18-7.

Defending national champion UCLA (20-5) and USC (28-4) will square off at 11 a.m. PT, with the match available to stream live on NCAA.com.

Redshirt junior Emma Lineback paced the UCLA offense with a career-high-tying five goals, while junior Bia Mantellato added three goals and junior Anna Pearson had two. Sophomore goalie Lauren Steele had nine saves and three steals.

LMU (20-12) held a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period then scored the first two goals of the second for a 5-2 lead with 4:43 remaining in the first half. Mantellato then scored back-to-back goals to pull the Bruins within one, and Pearson scored a power-play goal with 46 seconds left for a 5-5 tie at halftime.

LMU scored first in the third period, but Lineback responded with three unanswered goals to give the Bruins their first lead. The Lions cut the Bruins’ lead to 9-8 with a penalty conversion with 10 seconds left in the third, but UCLA shut them out in the final period. Mantellato and Lineback scored the only two goals of the fourth to secure the win.

Nine players scored for USC against first-time NCAA qualifier Harvard (26-7). Ava Stryker and Emily Ausmus each scored three, while Tilly Kearns, Sinia Plotz, Ava Knepper, Alma Yaacobi and Maggie Johnson all had two goals apiece. Rachel Gazzaniga and Meghan McAninch also scored and goalie Anna Reed had six saves.

The Trojans used a three-goal surge and later beat the buzzer on a full-length score from Kearns to take a 5-2 lead after one period. The Trojans extended their lead to 10-3 by halftime, but Harvard was more competitive in the third period and trailed 13-6 entering the fourth.

Yaacobi scored back-to-back goals for USC to begin the fourth, then Johnson added a pair of savvy fake-and-fire goals for a 17-6 lead with two minutes left as the Trojans left no doubt and cruised to the victory.

Top-seeded Stanford crushed Wagner, 28-6, and will face fourth-seeded Hawaii, which edged Cal, 8-7, in Saturday’s other semifinal (9 a.m. PT).

The title match is Sunday at 9 a.m. PT and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.