EVANSVILLE — Ashley Kaczmarski remembers when everything clicked into place this season.

Her North High School volleyball team was on the road at Heritage Hills. The Huskies lost the second set to the eventual sectional champions. Kaczmarski sensed her group was off that evening — none moreso than star setter Kenlee Barnard.

The coach pulled her senior captain aside during the break with a message: the team needed her. What transpired that night, and by extension the rest of the season, summed up what many in the program already knew. Barnard was going to lead the way.

Let’s start the indoor season off with a bang, shall we?

Meet, facility, program, and Ivy League records were broken at the Penn Opener on Friday and Saturday at the Ott Center for Track and Field. The men’s team notched wins in the heptathlon, long jump, pole vault, 60-meter hurdles, 1,000m run, 3,000m run, and the 4x400m relay. Members of the women’s team added wins in the pole vault, triple jump, 300m dash and 4x400m relay. The first indoor meet of the season offered an exciting look at what the indoor track and field season may hold for the Quakers.

“It’s always exciting to start the season after the whole fall of training for track and field, so it’s been fun to watch the team compete,” coach Steve Dolan said. “And one of the things that‘s special, I think, is to also watch the freshmen for the first time wearing the Penn uniform. We had a lot of great freshman performances today, along with upperclassmen, so that was a lot of fun.”

One year after the grand opening of the Ott Center, 14 schools came to compete in this year’s Penn Opener. The student-athletes from Delaware, Georgetown, Hampton, Rider, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Penn, Princeton, Morgan State, Villanova, The College of NJ, Monmouth, Yale, and Penn State were joined by some unattached and national team athletes. 

Here are some standout performances from the Quakers.

While there were many stars at the meet, one student-athlete shone brighter than them all: freshman shot put thrower Jessica Oji. 

In her first ever collegiate competition, her 16.6m throw on her first attempt put her in the lead, which she never let up. She continued through her attempts, eventually throwing 17.15 meters on her best attempt out of the first five. On her final attempt, Oji stepped up to the plate and threw an incredible 17.72 meters — not just a program best, but notably half a meter more than the Ivy League record. To put this into perspective, only two out of 13 shot putters in the men’s competition threw further than that mark. On top of it all, the performance propels Oji to No.1 in the NCAA. 

“My first couple throws, they were okay. Coming into finals … I was feeling a little bit tired, I was trying to get one on my last throw, [I] was really shooting for a big number,” Oji said. “Extremely happy with this performance.”

According to throwing coach Isaiah Simmons, Oji came to Penn with big goals in mind.

“She’s put in a lot of work, and this is just the beginning. So we’re pretty excited how she’s starting,” Simmons said. “I know she told me she wants to throw 20 meters, break the national record, and compete at the international stage. So as long as I feel like we are pushing her towards those goals, then they’re my goals as well.”

Another impressive freshman was distance runner Joseph “Tiago” Socarras, who broke the program record in his first 1,000m run with a time of 2:20.39. 

The upperclassmen also rewrote the record books. Two more program records were set by junior jumper Adannia Agbo, who jumped 13.05 meters in the triple jump, as well as senior multis specialist Jake Rose, who won the men’s heptathlon with 5647 points. Rose starts this season as the defending Ivy League champion in the heptathlon. Agbo’s mark puts her second in the NCAA so far this season. 

Other notable freshman performers were jumper Leo Francis and sprinter Rianna Floyd. While the former took the win with 6.92 meters in the men’s long jump, Floyd ran a time of 38.75 in the 300m dash, placing her first out of 49 athletes. As the anchor for Penn’s A team in the 4×400 meter relay, she also played a significant role in its win by a margin of more than four seconds. 

The meet also brought some nationally competing non-collegiate athletes to the Ott Center. Ajeé Wilson, two-time Olympian and 2022 world indoor track and field champion in the 800 meters, won the women’s 600m race comfortably. The women’s 1,000m race went to 2024 Olympian, reigning indoor track and field national champion in the 800m race, and 2020 Nursing graduate Nia Akins. 

Following a holiday break, the Quakers will return to the Ott Center on Jan. 10, 2026 for the Penn Select.

Grace Martin, a volleyball player at Saint Thomas Aquinas, has been named this week’s KMBC-Hy-Vee Athlete of the Week for her exceptional performance and achievements in the sport.

Martin is a first-team All-American and a three-time state champion. She was recently awarded the Evelyn Gates Award, which is given to the best player in the area.

She is taking her volleyball talents to Arizona State next year.

Congratulations to our athlete of the week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Both triple jump program records were shattered as Bellarmine University track and field opened the indoor season Saturday at the Commonwealth College Opener at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center.

Junior Amelia Svidal broke her own women’s indoor program record in the triple jump after recording an 11.79m jump, which topped her 11.66 from the 2025 Rod McCravy Memorial. She placed fourth in the event and was also fourth in the long jump (5.34m).

Freshman Tola Taiwo made an auspicious collegiate debut by setting a new men’s indoor program record in the triple jump with a leap of 13.90m, which broke Bryan Cummings’ long-held mark of 13.78 from the 2017 Indianapolis Season Opener, along with Cummings’ freshman program record of 13.43 from the 2017 UIndy Collegiate Challenge. He placed fifth in the event.

Senior Jansen Story took top honors in the women’s 1000m (3:11.50), while senior Zander Hooten placed first in the men’s 60m hurdles (8.13) and junior Carter Olmsted snagged third (8.34).

Bellarmine’s men captured three of the top five placements in the 300m, as sophomore Grant King was second (34.31), senior Zac Hutslar was third (34.45) and junior Josiah Moore was fifth (34.56). King was a hair off Jackson Gordon’s program record (34.30) from last season’s Commonwealth College Opener.

Bellarmine is off until the Jan. 9-10 Rod McCravy Memorial at Norton SLC.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

 

The No. 2-seeded UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball team won its first ever NCAA Division III National Championship with a sweep over the University of La Verne (California), completing a perfect run in the tournament by not relinquishing a single set throughout the Titans’ six matches played. 

Samantha Perlberg led the team in the win with 16 kills and 13 digs with one ace. Grace Juergens led in the ace department with two on the night. Lauren Grier recorded the team high in blocks with four and Izzy Coon’s 17 assists were the team high.

In the first set, UWO opened it up right away with a 9-1 run to turn a 2-2 tie into an 11-3 lead. The Leopards responded immediately to lower the 11-3 Titans lead to 12-9. That was the closest that La Verne got as UWO opened its lead back to 20-12 behind four kills from Perlberg in an 8-3 run. From there the Titans were able to win comfortably in a 25-17 set one win. Riley Borrowman closed out the set with a kill to get the final point.

The second set was where the punches were traded between both teams. For the entire set, neither La Verne or Oshkosh had a lead that was larger than three points. The lead also switched six times throughout the whole set. UWO was able to take advantage and pull away late in the second set. Down 20-19, UWO finished the set on a 6-2 run behind two kills each from Juergens and Grier to win the second set 25-22 and get a 2-0 lead in the match. 

Unlike the Sept 12. matchup when the Titans failed to close out the Leopards while holding a 2-0 lead, this time around, UWO was able to put a stamp on La Verne. The Leopards built a 16-12 lead in set three but from there it was all UWO. A 6-0 run by the Titans reclaimed UWO the lead at 18-16 and Oshkosh never relinquished it for the rest of the game. Oshkosh was able to extend the lead at 24-19, and despite two kills from La Verne’s Mya Ray to keep the game alive for just a couple more points, Juergens was able to put the stamp on a long sequence of big saves by both teams with a kill to win the set 25-21, the match 3-0 and handed the Titans their first national championship. 

UWO completed a 34-3 regular season with a 7-0 conference record and won every championship available. The Titans won the WIAC Regular Season championship, WIAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. The Titans also won the national title by being the third team in D-III history to put up a perfect record by not losing a single set in the NCAA tournament.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Senior distance standout Avery Jaynes broke the Peach Belt Conference indoor 5,000-meter record to lead the Augusta University men’s track and field team in its inaugural indoor season opener on Saturday, as the Jaguars competed at two events featuring a strong mix of Division I and Division II programs: the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston and the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-Off at JDL Fast Track.

Boston Results 

Winston-Salem Results

Jaynes Breaks PBC Indoor 5K Record At BU

Facing a nationally competitive field loaded with Division I athletes, Jaynes ran 13:58.81 in the 5,000 meters to set a new Peach Belt Conference indoor record and Augusta indoor school record. His performance met the NCAA Division II standard and adds to a résumé that includes All-America honors, Augusta outdoor records in the 5,000 and 10,000, PBC outdoor records in both events, PBC Outstanding Track Athlete of the Year, and an appearance at the 2025 NCAA National Championship.

At the same meet, Oscar Curry and Seth Eye opened their seasons with strong efforts against elite fields. Curry ran 3:55.55 in the 1500 meters en route and 4:14.26 in the mile, while Eye posted 4:08.79 en route and 4:27.59 in the mile.

Jaguars Open Indoor Slate At JDL Fast Track

The majority of Augusta’s men’s squad competed at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-Off, which also featured opponents from both divisions.

Freshman Devin Barolette led Augusta in the sprints, clocking 22.16 in the 200 meters, followed by freshman Gabriel Carson in 22.46. Carson returned to run 49.73 in the seeded 400 meters, while freshman Dorian Chance paced the group with a 49.07.

Sophomore Charlie Roberts and junior Roberto Barrera added two more sub-50 marks in the 400, running 49.22 and 49.61.

In the 800 meters, freshman Kaden Lombardo led Augusta in 2:04.16, followed by freshmen Barrett Stepp (2:04.43) and Evans McDaniel (2:12.60).

Junior Noah Shepherd ran 4:20.46 in the mile to lead the Jaguars, with freshmen Francisco Palacios (4:28.50) and Connor Mumford (4:35.54) completing the group.

Distance Group Stacks Strong 5K Efforts

Augusta’s distance depth carried into the Winston-Salem meet, where junior Andrew Helfers placed sixth in the 5,000 meters in 15:00.18. Sophomore Eli Corn ran 15:23.91, and freshman Caleb Darsey opened his indoor season in 15:54.66.

Jean Baptiste Leads Field Events

Junior Mitchell Jean Baptiste highlighted Augusta’s field event performances with a 1.94-meter (6-4.25) clearance in the high jump.

The team returns to Winston-Salem the following week for the ‘Twas the Meet Before Christmas on Friday, Dec. 12.

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