The 2025 NCAA Division II national outdoor track and field championships will be taking place in Pueblo, Colorado, later this week with many of the top athletes at that level duking it out for medals and All American honors.

Even though they won’t be joining fellow standout underclassman Joshua Caleb to represent the University of Alaska Anchorage, sophomore hurdler Liv Heite and freshman jumper Mya Campbell are proud of the incredibly strong 2025 outdoor seasons they each produced.

“These young women are here every day, putting in the work and now the expectation and the tone is going to be set when the new underclassmen come in,” UAA associate head coach Ray Shadowens said. “It’s really fun when you have good athletes, and it’s even more fun when they’re young.”

Heite earned All-Region and All-GNAC honors in her second year with the program. Her most notable accomplishments include breaking the program record and posting the fourth-fastest time in GNAC history in the women’s 100 hurdles with a mark of 13.81 in the conference championship prelims.

She also ran the third-fastest time in program history in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:01.22 in the conference championship finals. During the indoor season, she ran a school-record time of 8.64 in the 60 hurdles.

“I’m really satisfied and happy with everything I accomplished, especially the school records I broke and a lot of (personal records) I ran,” Heite said. “It was a really great season with the team in general. I really enjoyed the whole team this year. We had good team culture.”

Breaking a school record was one of her goals heading into the season and she was able to accomplish that feat in two events with the 60- and 100-meter hurdles.

“She has just skyrocketed in her talent,” Shadowens said. “We definitely got lucky getting her.”

Another goal was qualifying for nationals and even though she made the provisional mark, Heite just missed out of the top 22 mark to qualify for this year’s event, coming in at 31st in the 100-meter hurdles.

“I still have two more years here and I’m going to work towards that for the next two years and hopefully it will work out one of those times,” she said. “I’m confident that I can make it next year or the year after.”

Campbell followed a strong indoor season in which she earned All-GNAC honors with a third-place finish in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 18-6.

“I feel like my freshman season went well, better than I had expected,” Campbell said. “My favorite highlight was indoor GNAC because I hadn’t expected to place. I was just hoping to reach my goal of jumping at least 18 feet, but I ended up finishing with an 18′6.”

At the Pee Wee Halsell Invitational in late April, she posted the second-best mark in school history in the long jump with an 18-10.75. The following day at the Ralph Vernacchia Open, she bested herself with a first-place mark of 18-11.25. While she didn’t best herself a third time at the GNAC championships, Campbell still earned All-GNAC honors by coming in second with a mark of 18-7.75.

“The success gives me a lot of confidence,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to even jump what I had at the end of high school, let alone get further. But now I think I can improve my distances and times more.”

Campbell exceeded her coaches expectations for her first year and has them really excited about how she can develop over the remainder of her career.

Shadowens praised her for always being “very even keel” and receptive to instruction as well as selfless when needed as she also anchored their 4×400 relay team.

“Her emotions usually just stay in a straight line and her biggest thing is that she came in with a really open mind,” he said.

Disparate journeys to becoming Seawolves

Identifying top-notch talent in Alaska can be difficult when recruiting due to the limited resources available to some potential recruits.

“You never know what kind of competition it is or what the weather is going to be like,” Shadowens said.

Campbell proved to be an exception given that she grew up in the Mat-Su, where she attended Redington High School and participated in multiple sports in addition to track and field.

She believes her immediate success with the program is a testament to the talent Alaska has.

“It shows that we don’t have to be from some big town or place that has access to a track year-round to perform on the same level as everybody else,” Campbell said. “There is a lot of incredible athletes here and we all have an opportunity to make a big impact on the sports we do.”

Keeping the best local talent close to home is a priority for the Seawolves staff and having someone like Campbell is a prime example of what they aspire to be without venturing out of the state to continue their athletic career.

“We have a great recruiting class coming in, including some young Alaskan athletes and a couple more international,” Shadowens said.

While the UAA coaching staff didn’t have to look far to find Campbell last year, landing Heite took a much broader scope as she was born and raised in Olpe, Germany.

“We’ve had a connection with Germany before and it’s kind of identifying the talent,” Shadowens said. “As well as Liv is doing right now, she was a girl who actually didn’t run the 100 hurdles a lot and was kind of primarily focused on the 400-meter hurdles.”

The coaches noticed Heite had run some fast 100-meter hurdle times in the past and began to talk with her about exploring it further and trusting in their development plan.

“It’s always a big adjustment regardless if it’s just someone coming from an Alaska high school or coming across the world,” Shadowens said. “We always tell our athletes that we’re preparing you for the full four- or five-year game plan so it can beat up a freshman a little bit.”

After graduating from high school, Heite wasn’t sure what she wanted to do until she came across the opportunity to participate in a track and field abroad program.

“Doing track in Germany is a little more complicated with college because we don’t have college sports,” Heite said. “I was like, well, I’ll just go to the U.S. and try it there.”

Her original plan was only to spend one year overseas but she fell in love with Alaska so much that she decided to extend her stay to pursue a collegiate career.

“I came here and immediately really liked the team a lot,” Heite said. “Back home, my team is smaller and it’s just different than here where I connected to my teammates really fast and obviously I get along with the coaches very well. I trust them 100% and I just know that this is the best place for me to keep growing as far as I can and as far as I want.”

Both of the Seawolves’ rising stars have their sights set on improving their top marks from this year and getting even better moving forward which will help the program as a whole continue to improve with them as young role models.

“I’m so glad I was given the chance to be a part of this program,” Campbell said. “Everyone pushes each other to get better everyday, with the support we give each other and the talent we have I just know the program is only going to continue to go up.”

UCLA men’s volleyball’s 2025 season is officially over after getting swept by Long Beach State in the NCAA tournament final at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, on May 12. Assistant Sports editor Connor Dullinger gives his five main takeaways from the Bruins’ 2024-2025 season and predictions for what the future holds.

Goodbye Robinson

When former outside hitter Ethan Champlin graduated last season, many speculated on how the Bruins could replace the three-time AVCA First Team All-American.

And while many saw redshirt junior Cooper Robinson as the likely successor to Champlin, few thought the outside hitter would end up achieving such feats in 2025.

Simply put: He blew expectations out of the water.

The 2025 MPSF Player of the Year and AVCA First Team All-American ranked 11th in the country in hitting percentage and 25th in kills per set with a .387 clip and 3.56 tally, respectively.

Robinson tallied a .300-plus hitting percentage and double-digit kills in seven of his final 10 matches. He also finished the 2025 campaign leading the team with 365 kills, 120 digs and 41 service aces.

Robinson, however, has officially played his last game in the blue and gold – he will likely be playing professionally overseas next year.

The Bruins will now need to replace Robinson, and just like Champlain, it will be no easy feat.

The core four

Five Bruins are set to graduate in June.

Three were mainstays in the starting lineup – redshirt junior trio middle blocker Sean McQuiggan, libero Matthew Aziz and Robinson.

However, the Bruins should retain four key starters heading into the 2026 season – three are 2025 AVCA All-American selections, and two were integral to UCLA’s back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024.

Junior setter Andrew Rowan may be the team’s most important key for next season. The three-time AVCA First Team All-American has been instrumental in pacing the Bruins’ offense since he stepped foot into Westwood.

UCLA should also return junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne – a two-time AVCA All-American – who not only led the team with a .521 hitting percentage, but also ranks 13th in the nation with 1.06 blocks per set.

Joining Thorne and Rowan is the outside hitter tandem of junior Zach Rama and freshman Sean Kelly. Rama found success in the back half of the season playing at the opposite spot but will most likely slide into the number one outside hitter position, alongside Kelly, after Robinson’s departure.

In the latter half of the season, Rama went 10 straight matches with double-digit kills while being named to the NCAA All-tournament team after sporting 31 kills across three NCAA tournament matches.

Kelly himself earned All-MPSF honorable mention distinctions and boasted double-digit kills in eight of his last 11 affairs.

Where is the libero?

The libero position hasn’t been addressed since former Bruin Troy Gooch graduated two years ago.

UCLA attempted a makeshift dual-libero strategy by using former Bruin outside hitter Alex Knight and Aziz in 2024 and Aziz and sophomore outside hitter Luca Curci in 2025.

And while 2024 ended with a national championship, 2025 proved the Bruins need a solidified defensive stalwart to patrol the backline.

UCLA ranked outside the nation’s top 50 in digs per set, and Curci alone sported 36 of UCLA’s 147 total reception errors.

And with Aziz graduating, the only liberos on the roster are Curci, junior Coleman McDonough and freshman Matthew Chun.

Chun has yet to play a set, while McDonough has played in just 13 sets.

While Curci remains on the roster, there is still a question whether coach John Hawks will utilize Curci as the sole backline defender, continue the libero-tandem strategy with another Bruin or recruit a traditional libero through the transfer portal.

Regardless of what Hawks decides, there will likely be new faces at libero. And if there aren’t, then reception may very well continue to be a problem for the Bruins next season.

Open spots aplenty

Despite the return of four starters, three starting positions are up for grabs come 2026.

The first – and arguably most important – is the third pin hitting spot behind Rama and Kelly. While I expect redshirt sophomore opposite David Decker to fill in, I wouldn’t count out incoming recruit pin hitter Grayson Bradford.

The 6-foot-11 Manhattan Beach, California, local is a top recruit in the nation and plays for one of the best high school volleyball teams in the country at Mira Costa.

With a dominant frame that should help fortify the Bruins’ block, his powerful hitting will also help their attack.

UCLA will also need a backup middle blocker to play second fiddle to Thorne. Here, I could see either of incoming juniors Thiago Zamprogno or Micah Wong Diallo taking the mantle formerly manned by McQuiggan.

While Diallo played in just 12 sets this season, he contributed at least three kills in four of his five appearances. On the other hand, Zamprogno played in 16 sets and eclipsed a season-high six kills in seven attempts against UC Irvine on Jan. 23.

The Bruins could bring in a middle blocker through the transfer portal, and I expect Hawks to recruit a libero to take over their defensive duties.

Fresh faces

While I expect Bradford to potentially slot in as one of the starting pin hitters, the Bruins also bring a plethora of other recruits.

UCLA-signed pin hitter Filippos Chrysostomou, who played for club team Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus. Touting professional volleyball experience and regarded as one of the most promising players in Europe, Chrysostomou could see playing time in his first year in Westwood.

Libero Brogan Glenn will also join the Bruins next season, and with the absence of proven defensive stalwarts on the roster, Glenn could be a shoo-in for the libero spot come 2026.

Joining Bradford and Chrysostomou on the outside is Marek Turner, who played for both the USA U21 and U19 national teams in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Setter Rafa Urbina will join an already loaded position group that includes Rowan and freshman setter Trent Taliaferro. Urbina won best setter at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championships.

With immense roster turnover during the past two seasons – and two to three starting spots lying out in the open – fresh faces could see a role on the court come 2026.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic’s Inside the Owls’ Burrow with conclude its ninth season with the final show of 2024-25 this week. The program originates on FanDuel Sports Network Florida (formerly Bally Sports Florida) and can also be viewed on fausports.com and YouTube. Episode 30 first airs on Thursday, May 22, at 5:30 p.m. It will re-air on Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, May 23 at 11:30 a.m.

During the spring, Inside the Owls’ Burrow is scheduled for every other week.

This week’s show, produced and hosted by FAU’s Frank Forte, will feature the story of softball’s Kiley Shelton, whose two siblings also play Division I softball and baseball, which is no surprise after their parents played those sports at Charlotte. Forte will also take a look at the best moments and plays from the 2025 baseball season.

Plus, a sitdown with Head Men’s Basketball Coach John Jakus on the off season roster restructuring while also taking a look ahead to football in 2025 with Defensive Coordinator Brett Dewhurst mic’d up at one of the spring practices. Finally, beach volleyball Assistant Coach Kristi Tekavec is featured in “Life’s a Beach” which is hosted by senior Sydney Schrodere.

Inside the Owls’ Burrow is also available on fausports.com and YouTube. 

 
THE SHOW