JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Smilla Kolbe cruised in her heat to notch an automatic qualifying spot into the quarterfinals of the women’s 800m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Region First Round on Thursday afternoon at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium.

Kolbe ran her way to a first-place finish in her heat and fifth overall among the top 48 runners in the East region. She clocked in at 2:02.29 to be one of 24 athletes to advance to Saturday’s round of 800m races.

“Smilla [Kolbe] looked very smooth today,” said head coach Jeff Pigg. “She controlled the race and continues her mission to compete at the finals.”

The senior is one top-12 time away from clinching back-to-back appearances in the women’s 800m at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She also one step closer to potentially earning First Team All-American honors in both indoor and outdoor for the 800m race in the same season.

Ella Chandler followed Kolbe in the next heat of the 800m race, where she notched 2:07.67 to be sixth in her heat. It was the first time in program history for the women’s squad that two Ospreys qualified for the national regional round in the same event.

“Ella [Chandler] famines a lot of experience throughout the last few weeks of the season,” Pigg continued. “Today was another big step in her development. She now knows she can run at this level.”

Kolbe will move on to the quarterfinal round of the women’s 800m, which will take place on Saturday, May 31, at 7:05 p.m., hosted at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium. The top 12 times will advance to Eugene, Ore., with the top three from each heat automatically qualifying plus the next three heats.

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Two Greater Cincinnati boys volleyball teams are competing for state championships starting Friday afternoon at Wittenberg University.

St. Xavier (Division I) and McNicholas (Division II) are trying to win back-to-back state titles for the first time, respectively.

St. X (23-2) plays Cleveland St. Ignatius in a Division I state semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday. The winner plays either Thomas Worthington or New Albany in the state final at noon Saturday at Pam Evans Smith Arena.

St. X has won 18 consecutive matches against Ohio opponents. The Bombers, which have 14 trips to the state Final Four in program history, defeated St. Ignatius in the 2024 state final. The Bombers are seeking their fifth state title in program history.

“Every season is different,” said St. X coach Bill Ferris, who is in his 24^th season. “We have expectations that are high. We have goals that are similar. But, the way we get there every single year is different. This one has been a fun year with the guys. Some ups, some downs. And to be playing this weekend is really fun.”

The Bombers are led by several players including junior outside hitter Joe Taggart (Ohio State verbal commit), who was named the Division I state player of the year.

Senior captains Cam Evans (setter), a second-team all-state selection, and Matteo Romeo (outside hitter) have been instrumental in leading the Bombers.

“It’s been an incredible journey especially for me as a senior leading this team with my fellow captain Matteo Romeo,” Evans said. “We couldn’t be more happier with the success that we’ve had. We just got to get two more (matches).”

McNicholas (25-1) plays Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in a Division II state semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday at Wittenberg.

McNicholas High School

The Rockets’ only loss occurred against visiting St. Xavier April 2.

McNicholas is trying to win its second straight state title and their second championship in program history.

This is the third consecutive season that McNicholas is in the state Final Four.

McNicholas coach Connor Games, a 2015 graduate and the program’s junior varsity coach last season, said the Rockets are a humble group with a strong work ethic. This is a team with nine seniors.

St. Vincent-St. Mary is also making its third consecutive state Final Four appearance. McNicholas won the regular-season matchup on April 12.

McNicholas is led by several players including Gavin Gerhard (351 kills and 74 service aces), Ayden Williams (58 blocks), Kevin Kaser (259 digs), Ethan Gundrum (62 service aces and 466 aces).

The Division II state final is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.

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“It’s crazy,” Weer said of the field. “I think four of us are from my district…it’s crazy to have so many fast people, especially in the 1A competition. I never imagined that we’d all run this fast.”

Thursday was Weer’s first time running at Hayward Field — she’d watched state championship races there before, but got to take the track for the first time in her win. She tried not to watch herself on the looming video board, she said — she focused on the kick that “comes when she needs it to”. 

She needed it in the final…and it came. She won by less than three seconds.

“Everything is so big,” Weer said of the stadium. “It’s amazing how this is one of the biggest tracks in the country, and so cool to be able to run on that. Not a lot of high school students get to do that.”

Weer’s teammate, boys’ 3000m winner Jett Leavitt, didn’t need a kick. He won his race by more than 51 seconds, in 8:30.37 — a new personal-best and OR #16 time. In second place, too, was his training partner, Jonah Lyman.

“I think it’s really cool,” Leavitt said. “It happened last year, too, but seeing him finish at the end not too far behind me is so cool. We train every day together. Seeing my friend and my teammate finish with me is really cool.”

3A girls’ 3000m winner Jaya Simmons’ win was her second-consecutive state title in the race; a 9:54.73 time secured the win in what could be the Valley Catholic High School senior’s final race in that uniform.

“There was definitely a lot of pain on the final lap,” Simmons said. “I really went out hard, but just knowing as a senior that this is my last 3000m here meant that I had to push through that last lap.”

Friday at Hayward Field welcomes the 4A, 5A and 6A competitors to the stadium. Competition begins with the 4A girls’ 3000m at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time.

Audrey MacLean of the Middlebury women’s track and field team tallied a pair of United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American honors. The awards are based on the athlete’s performance at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
HONOREE HIGHLIGHTS

• MacLean (First Team)

  • MacLean earns a pair of All-American outdoor laurels, giving her six accolades over her first two years. She is a two-time All-American on the cross country stage, garnered first-team laurels in the 5,000 meters during the indoor season, and is a three-time recipient outdoors.
  • This marked MacLean’s fourth appearance at a national meet, competing at the NCAA Championships in cross country each of the last two years, while placing sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase a year ago.
  • During the steeplechase preliminaries, the Panther crossed the line first with a clocking of 10:33.39. 
  • In the final on Friday, MacLean paced the pack throughout and held off a late charge by Hamilton’s Keira Rogan to earn runner-up honors with a time of 10:23.59.
  • On Saturday in the 5,000, MacLean settled into the middle of the pack in the opening laps of the race, climbing 10 spots by the midway point.
  • The sophomore maintained 10th place until the final 400, where she passed a pair of competitors to finish in eighth place with a time of 16:42.81. 
  • This season, MacLean rewrote the record books for Middlebury with top clockings in the steeplechase (10:21.15) and the 5,000 (16:26.94).

Middlebury has 64 Outdoor All-American women’s honorees. Those who finish in the top-eight spots individually or in a relay earn first-team distinction, while individuals claiming ninth through 16th and relays earning ninth through 12th tally second-team laurels. The full list of honorees can be found here.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – University of Missouri track and field’s Valentina Barrios punched her ticket to the national final in women’s javelin while Alicia Burnett advanced to the quarterfinals in the 100m after running a school-record 11.13 on day two of the opening round of the NCAA Championships at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Thursday. 

Barrios, a junior, followed up her Southeastern Conference Championship performance with a fifth-place result of 56.71m (186-0). She joins Callan Saldutto in Eugene, Oregon, the site of the final rounds of the NCAA Championships, as the two will compete for the school’s first national championship in javelin on either the women’s or men’s side.

After setting the school record in the 100m on April 18, Burnett topped it by a tenth of a second to finish in ninth and earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the event. She competes next on Saturday at 6:35 p.m.

Day two again started with the hammer throw, where Reagan Kimrey led the Tigers in 30th place with 57.17m (187-6) to conclude her freshman season. Petra Gombas closely followed with a throw of 55.03m (180-6), claiming 38th.

Senior Kaesha George capped off her campaign in 18th in women’s javelin after throwing 47.58m (156-1). Led by Barrios, the squad was rounded out by Val Galligan in 29th place (45.77m/150-2) and Morgan Cannon in 45th (36.29m/119-0).

In the track events, Burnett took 34th in the 200m in 23.63, while freshman Monica Wanjiku capped off her stellar freshman season with an 18th-place result in the 10,000m, finishing in 34:49.42.

UP NEXT

The Tigers continue postseason action at round one of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday, May 30, beginning with the men’s discus at 1 p.m., where Skylar Coffey and Tarique George will represent Missouri.

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