Sports
Montana State Track and Field Competes at Bengal Invitational in Pocatello
Story Links BOZEMAN, Mont. — As the calendar turns to May, Montana State track and field will turn the corner towards the home straightaway of their season this weekend at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho. Fresh off a record-breaking April, the Bobcats head to the Gem State on Friday for a […]

BOZEMAN, Mont. — As the calendar turns to May, Montana State track and field will turn the corner towards the home straightaway of their season this weekend at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho.
Fresh off a record-breaking April, the Bobcats head to the Gem State on Friday for a two-day meet hosted at Davis Field.
The penultimate meet of the regular season pits the Cats against host Idaho State and Montana, among other schools, in what will be the final tune-up for many competing athletes before the 2025 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento begin May 14-17.
“It has been a really good meet for us over the last three years that we’ve gone there,” head coach Lyle Weese said. “There are trials and finals in the sprint events, which is a good preview for the conference meet. There tend to be a good number of teams that are good in the jumps, vaults, and throwing events, so it’s a bit of a conference preview for us in many ways between the level of competition and the trials and finals in the sprints. It’s kind of a run-through for the sprints, hurdles, jumps, vault, and throwing events.”
Action begins with the women’s hammer on Friday at 1 p.m., with track events getting underway at 3 p.m. in the women’s 100 meter hurdle prelims.
A full meet schedule can be viewed here.
Only the main distance squad will hang back in Bozeman to train, with all other event groups a full-go on Friday in Pocatello under sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s.
In their last three weekends of competition, Montana State has set nine new school records, including seven on the women’s side (shot put, discus, 200 meters, 3,000 meter steeplechase, 5,000 meters, 4×100 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay) and two on the men’s side (4×100 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay).
“It’s been impressive that the success has been across all of the event groups,” Weese said. “It seems like all of the event groups for both men and women are putting up some great marks and great performances. For me, the most exciting thing is that we’re going to be heading into conference championships and then into NCAA regionals and beyond with individuals that are competitive across the entire array of events.”
Last week, the Cats’ distance squad turned in a handful program all-time top ten marks at the Payton Jordan Invitational, hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, California, while the rest of the team competed at the Montana Open in Missoula.
Kyla Christopher-Moody was named Big Sky Women’s Track Athlete of the Week for the second time this season after placing third in the 5,000 meters in Palo Alto, while Sydney Brewster was named Big Sky Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for the second straight week after winning both the shot put and discus in Missoula.
Following the weekend’s results, the Montana State women held steady at No. 3 in the USTFCCCA Week Five Mountain Region Rankings released on Monday, while the men stayed put at No. 7.
The Bobcat men still own the top-ranked 3,000 meter steeplechase group in the country according to the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings while ranking No. 17 in the 1,500 meters, No. 19 in the hammer throw, No. 21 in the 5,000 meters, and No. 38 in the shot put.
The Bobcat women rank No. 25 in the pole vault, No. 26 in the hammer, No. 36 in the 5,000 meters, and No. 40 in the 200 meters.
Following the Bengal Invitational this weekend in Pocatello, the Bobcats wrap up the regular season with the Tom Gage Invite the following Friday, May 9, in Bozeman at the Bobcat Track & Field Complex. Admission is free for the lone outdoor home meet of the season.
#GoCatsGo
Sports
Baseball Faces Oregon State In Second MCWS Contest Sunday
OMAHA — Coastal Carolina Baseball continues it’s MCWS run on Sunday with a winner’s bracket game against Oregon State at 7 p.m. ET inside Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. The No. 13 national seed Chanticleers (54-11) and Beavers (48-14-1) have only met once — in a game that resulted in a 4-4 tie […]

The game will be televised by ESPN2, air on the Chanticleer Sports Network and will be available on the Chanticleer Mobile App. Entering the game, the Chants have the most wins in the country (54) and the nation’s longest active winning streak (24 games). Coastal beat Arizona in its opening game while OSU knocked off Louisville.
Date | Time (ET) | Location | Game Notes | Live Stats | Watch | Program |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sunday, June 15 | 7 p.m. ET | Charles Schwab Field Omaha | Live Stats | ESPN2 | View |
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
• Overall: 54-11
• Conference: 26-4
• HC: Kevin Schnall
• REC (YR): 54-11 (1st)
Oregon State Beavers
• Overall: 48-14-1
• Conference: n/a
• HC: Chip Hale
• REC (YR): 224-101-1 (6th)
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS
- Coastal Carolina is back in the MCWS after nine years.
- Coastal Carolina ranks among the national leaders in both pitching and hitting with a team ERA of 3.23 and a slash line of .292 /.410 /.451 and has outscored opponents 482-227.
- HC Kevin Schnall was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year and Perfect Game Coach of the Year.
Jacob Morrison is 11-0, a First-Team All-American, the NCBWA District 4 Player of the Year and was a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award. - C Caden Bodine (.330, .464 OBP) — finalist for the Buster Posey Award and a PG Second-Team All-American, 1B Colby Thorndyke (.306, 40 RBI) and LF Sebastian Alexander (.318, 10 HR, 27 SB) lead a lineup that has slugged 66 home runs and tallied 440 RBIs.
- Starters Morrison, Riley Eikhoff and Cameron Flukey have combined to go 25-3 with 261 strikeouts and two complete games.
- Coastal’s bullpen has plenty of arms — no pitcher that has thrown at least 20 innings has an ERA higher than 3.51, led by Ryan Lynch (8 SV, 0.59 ERA, 34 Ks) and Domenick Carbone (6 SV, 2.54 ERA, 49 Ks).
HOW THE MEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES WORKS …
- The MCWS runs from June 13-22/23 in Omaha … eight teams play a double-elimination first round in two four-team brackets … the winners of the two brackets will play a best-of-three MCWS Finals, with the first game set for Saturday, June 21 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Sports
Recruiting Has Begun for the High School Class of 2027
It’s Opening Day for recruiting for the high school class of 2027! (I don’t want to make you feel old but we’re talking about the college class of 2031.) June 15, 2025, otherwise known as the first day of allowable athletic recruiting for rising high school juniors by NCAA Division I and Division II coaches, […]

It’s Opening Day for recruiting for the high school class of 2027! (I don’t want to make you feel old but we’re talking about the college class of 2031.)
June 15, 2025, otherwise known as the first day of allowable athletic recruiting for rising high school juniors by NCAA Division I and Division II coaches, is finally here. Today, student-athletes in the class of 2027 can both initiate and receive communications –including email, text messages, social media messages, phone calls, and video calls– with college coaches. They can also make verbal commitments for the 2027-28 school year. (NCAA Division III coaches are not constrained by this rule; they can make contact and recruit year-round.)
Contact between coaches and prospective student-athletes, whether off-campus or on-campus (on-campus visits include both official and unofficial visits) may not begin until August 1st.
In the past, the NCAA has published separate recruiting calendars of allowable events for Division I baseball, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, football, men’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse, softball, women’s volleyball, beach volleyball, and cross country/track and field. Recruiting timelines for all other Division I sports, including swimming and diving, are spelled out in a separate recruiting calendar.
As of today, the NCAA has only published the recruiting 2025-26 calendars for women’s and men’s basketball.
Each of the calendars lists the allowable and non-allowable contact periods for their respective sports. Over the last several years, the NCAA has sought to make the lives of prospective student-athletes and college coaches less stressful by curbing early recruiting (gone are the days when coaches were getting verbal commitments from 8th-graders) and giving coaches a break from year-round recruiting.
Contact Periods Defined
- Recruiting Period: Authorized athletics department staff may make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.
- Quiet Period: A quiet period is that period of time when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution’s campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during the quiet period.
- Dead Period: A dead period is that period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution’s campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution’s campus.
- Recruiting Shutdown: A recruiting shutdown is a period of time when no form of recruiting (e.g., contacts, evaluations, official or unofficial visits, correspondence or making or receiving telephone calls) is permissible.
Following the House vs NCAA settlement, the swimming and diving recruiting landscape will change in significant ways. To begin with, those schools that have opted into the agreement will have roster limits for 2025-26 and beyond. In most cases, this will mean fewer recruiting spots for the 2027-28 school year. On the other hand, the NCAA’s scholarship limits (14.1 per women’s team and 9.9 per men’s team) are no longer in effect and these schools will now be allowed –but not required– to offer full scholarships to every member of the team.
Class of 2027
The phones were likely ringing off the hook this morning for some of the biggest names in the high school class of 2027. Those include Luke Mijatovic, who has been named to Team USA for the upcoming World Aquatics Championships, and prospective members of the World Junior Championships squad: Audrey Derivaux, Brayden Capen, Collin Holgerson, Daisy Collins, Luke Vatev, Rylee Erisman, Shareef Elaydi, Thomas McMillan. In addition, the youngest members of the 2024-25 National Junior team will be on many coaches’ lists: Anthony Dornoff, Colin Jacobs, and Mia Su.
Other top recruits from the cohort include Davis Jackson, Ellis Crisci, Griffin Oehler, Hayden Vicknair, Joey Campagnola, Juan Vallmitjana, and Trent Allen; as well as Abby Chan, Adalynn Biegler, Alyssa Ton, Bianca Nwaizu, Blakely Hammel, Carly Afanasewicz, Chloe Teger, Emily Wolf, Nikki Nixon, Sadie Buckley, Sarah Paisley Owen, and Vivienne Zangaro.
Top 2027 boys, alphabetically:
Athlete | Hometown |
Anthony Dornoff | Cerritos, CA |
Brayden Capen | Lisle, IL |
Colin Jacobs | Bradenton, FL |
Collin Holgerson | Chattanooga, TN |
Davis Jackson | Raleigh, NC |
Ellis Crisci | Lawrence, KS |
Griffin Oehler | Rockville, MD |
Hayden Vicknair | Signal Mountain, TN |
Joey Campagnola | Seminole, FL |
Juan Vallmitjana | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
Luka Mijatovic | Pleasanton, CA |
Luke Vatev | Clarendon Hills, IL |
Shareef Elaydi | Santa Clara, CA |
Thomas McMillan | Saint Charles, IL |
Trent Allen | Carmel, IN |
Top 2027 girls, alphabetically:
Athlete | Hometown |
Abby Chan | Madison, AL |
Adalynn Biegler | Big Lake, MN |
Alyssa Ton | Fountain Valley, CA |
Audrey Derivaux | Haddonfield, NJ |
Bianca Nwaizu | Irvine, CA |
Blakely Hammel | Jacksonville, FL |
Carly Afanasewicz | Pearl River, NY |
Chloe Teger | Villa Park, CA |
Daisy Collins | Chapel Hill, NC |
Emily Wolf | Fishers, IN |
Mia Su | Sunnyvale, CA |
Nikki Nixon | Raleigh, NC |
Rylee Erisman | Windermere, FL |
Sadie Buckley | Fairfax, VA |
Sarah Paisley Owen | Atlanta, GA |
Vivienne Zangaro | Long Beach, NY |
In past years, there was a recruiting dead period during “signing week,” which began on the second Wednesday in November. But with the dissolution of the National Letter of Intent program following the House settlement, it is unclear if there will still be a dead period in November. We can assume the following shutdown periods will remain in place:
Swimming and Diving Recruiting Shutdown Periods
- One week in August
- The final 14 days of December
- The first week of January
- The third and fourth weeks in February during the most popular period for conference championships
(NOTE: If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected]. Do not leave it in the comments.
Sports
News – Water Polo Australia
Tickets are now on sale for the Tri Nations Test Match Series, with the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers set to take on the USA and Italy in Perth. Ahead of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will host both nations for a training camp, before playing the two test matches at […]

Tickets are now on sale for the Tri Nations Test Match Series, with the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers set to take on the USA and Italy in Perth.
Ahead of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will host both nations for a training camp, before playing the two test matches at Perth HPC on July 5 (v USA) and July 6 (v Italy).
Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers Head Coach Bec Rippon said she’s looking forward to the series, and said it will be a great opportunity to play against two powerhouse nations ahead of the World Championships.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity to trial some new things that we’ve been working on, and to try things without being under the same pressure of being at a World Championships,” Rippon said.
“We are really happy to have both of those teams in Australia – we always have great battles with the US and such a strong history with them so it will be great to see how we’re matching up.
“And we will play the Italians at the World Championships, so it will be a really good chance to check in and measure up against each other before Singapore,” she said.
Tickets are on sale now, for $15 per person. CLICK HERE to secure your seat.
Can’t be in Perth? Both matches will be livestreamed on the Water Polo Australia Youtube channel from 7:30pm AWST – click here
Sports
Angel City FC players wear 'Immigrant City Football Club' shirts amid ongoing ICE raids
Angel City FC responded to immigration raids and the resulting protests in Los Angeles during Saturday night’s home match against North Carolina. The NWSL club printed 10,000 T-shirts, which read “Immigrant City Football Club” on the front, and “Los Angeles is for everyone / Los Ángeles es para todos” on the back. Advertisement The shirts […]

Angel City FC responded to immigration raids and the resulting protests in Los Angeles during Saturday night’s home match against North Carolina. The NWSL club printed 10,000 T-shirts, which read “Immigrant City Football Club” on the front, and “Los Angeles is for everyone / Los Ángeles es para todos” on the back.
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The shirts were distributed to supporters and fans entering BMO Stadium. Some ACFC players wore the shirts during player arrivals, and new head coach Alexander Straus also sported the shirt along with the rest of the club’s technical staff and players on the bench.
“We made a point to wear our shirts for walkout, and we really wanted to stand with the community, and of course, everyone is affected emotionally, and like I said before, it’s another weight to hold,” Angel City defender Sarah Gorden said after the 2-1 loss. “But I wish we could have given a little bit of love and joy to everyone tonight with a different result.”
Angel City distributed cards with a new statement following their initial statement released on June 7. The cards read in part, “The fabric of this city is made of immigrants. Football does not exist without immigrants. This club does not exist without immigrants.” Recording artist and founding investor Becky G read that message from the field before player walkouts.

T-shirts that read “Immigrant City Football Club” were worn by players before Saturday’s match and handed out to fans. (Photo courtesy of Angel City Football Club)
Angel City worked with supporters groups in the lead up to Saturday’s match on the messaging and larger action.
Earlier this week, the NWSL Players Association released a statement in conjunction with the WNBA Players Association regarding the ongoing immigration raids.
“We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go,” the statement read. “Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate.”
The league itself has not issued a statement addressing the immigration raids or in support of immigrants. Some individual clubs, including Angel City and Chicago Stars FC, have released brief statements pointing to relevant resources.
Statement from Chicago Stars FC.
Resources:
• IMMR: tinyurl.com/7cczmwv4
• The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights— Chicago Stars FC (@chicagostars.com) June 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Angel City’s coordinated action on Saturday night is an elevated response following the events of the past week. Last weekend at BMO Stadium, Los Angeles FC supporters remained silent through the MLS club’s 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City. They also took up six rows of seats in the supporters’ end of the stadium for a large banner reading: “Abolish ICE.”
That banner, and others, technically violated both the MLS Code of Conduct and stadium policies, but it appears no action was taken. Angel City, as a tenant of BMO Stadium, may not have the same ability to prevent stadium staff from removing banners or other signage that may violate stadium policies or NWSL’s Code of Conduct.
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BMO Stadium rules reference MLS’s guidelines, rather than the NWSL’s. The list of prohibited items per stadium policies include “flags, banners or signs which in any way reference current conflicts or countries involved therein (under MLS Guidelines)” as well as “flags, banners, signs, clothing or other accessories or adornments that reference any political party, candidate (current or former), or measure in any Federal, State, or Local election.”
Angel City’s regular-season match is happening on the same night as a Concacaf Gold Cup match between Mexico and the Dominican Republic at SoFi Stadium, as well as the opening match of FIFA’s men’s Club World Cup in Miami. Earlier this week, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol removed a social media post referencing its presence at the Club World Cup games after FIFA expressed concern.
BMO Stadium is located outside of the area of Los Angeles under a nighttime curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
(Top photo: courtesy of Angel City Football Club)
Sports
Father's Day at the ballpark special for Cedar Rapids Kernels manager
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. CEDAR RAPIDS – It’s about a half-hour after the game, and Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brian Meyer heads out of the home clubhouse at Veterans Memorial Stadium to The Annex, the building adjacent to the stadium that houses the club’s video […]

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS – It’s about a half-hour after the game, and Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Brian Meyer heads out of the home clubhouse at Veterans Memorial Stadium to The Annex, the building adjacent to the stadium that houses the club’s video room, weight room and family room.
There are multiple hitting cages in there as well, and that’s the purpose of Meyer’s postgame visit. He’s going to throw some batting practice to his six-year-old son Walker.
It is their ritual.
“We don’t ever force anything on him, wanting him to practice or anything,” Meyer said. “He’s always dragging me out there. In Fort Myers, when it’s 1,000 degrees out, and we had our Monday off days, he’s asking if we can go to the ballpark close to our house. This is when he’s two years old. He’s asking if we can go to the field and mess around for a couple of hours.”
Sunday was Father’s Day, of course, and that his boy was with him on this day meant the world to Meyer. Because it doesn’t always work that way in professional baseball.
Especially in the minor leagues, families get separated. Guys spend a month and a half in spring training in Florida or Arizona, then head to whatever city they have been assigned.
Wives and children many times remain home, the children in school and the wife working. Meyer’s wife, Ashley, and Walker just recently came to town for the rest of the summer.
The Meyers are living with a local billet family.
“It’s very much a blessing,” said Brian Meyer, whose team lost to Peoria, 4-3. “I was reading an article in The Athletic yesterday about how families navigate kids, between spring training, being away for the season. Like school work and all that. It was about how families kind of try and navigate that.”
It was easy for Meyer the past four years because his family lives year around in the Fort Myers, Fla., area, and he was manager of the low-Class A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. This season provided more of a challenge personally.
Ashley Meyer can work remotely, which is good. Walker’s first-grade year is over, so everyone is back together.
Oh, and has it been mentioned exactly how much Walker Meyer loves baseball?
He comes to Kernels games in full uniform, sunglasses generally perched on top of his cap just like the players. He scurries to the field after wins and gets in the postgame high-five line with everyone.
Brian has all kinds of baseball-related photos of him attached to the walls in the manager’s office, including one where he is sitting on the bench with the rest of the team during a spring training game in Florida.
“He doesn’t know it right now how good he has it. He doesn’t,” Brian Meyer said. “But hopefully one day he’ll come to appreciate it. Just the way that he gets treated by players and front office, whether it’s here or whether it was the Mussels. He’s been extended family.”
Meyer said he told his son Friday that outfielder Maddux Houghton was joining the Kernels from Triple-A Saint Paul. Houghton played in Fort Myers, and Walker loves him.
“You should have seen his eyes light up. Maddux is his favorite guy,” Meyer said with a laugh. “He was like ‘Oh, let’s go!’ He was so excited.”
Make no mistake, this is a baseball family through and through. Meyer’s father in law was a longtime clubhouse manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
For the Meyers, ball really is life, including young Walker.
“I don’t know if I can put a value or words to it,” Brian Meyer said, when asked what it means to have his son around the ballpark with him. “I mean, he absorbs everything. Whether it’s the game itself, the equipment, the players, the look, he absorbs everything. It’s something we never really forced on him, but he’s just always been around it from the day he was born. I was a coach, my father in law worked in baseball. He just loves it.”
The Kernels won five of seven games in the series against Peoria but fell a game behind Quad Cities for first place in the Midwest League’s Western Division with three first-half games remaining. Quad Cities beat Beloit five of six games in their series, the last five in a row, actually.
Cedar Rapids finishes the first half with three games at Beloit. It’s part of a six-game series, with the final three games beginning second-half play.
Quad Cities hosts Lansing.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
Sports
Rari Nantes Florentia is the Italian champion of Paralympic water polo
Florence, 15 June 2025 – Rari Nantes Florentia returns to the top step of the podium and becomes Italian Champion in the fifth Italian Paralympic Water Polo Championship, closing an extraordinary season with a prestigious double victory. In the setting of the Water Sport GLS in Naples, the lilies dominated the semi-final by beating Lazio […]

Florence, 15 June 2025 – Rari Nantes Florentia returns to the top step of the podium and becomes Italian Champion in the fifth Italian Paralympic Water Polo Championship, closing an extraordinary season with a prestigious double victory. In the setting of the Water Sport GLS in Naples, the lilies dominated the semi-final by beating Lazio 11 to 5, and then imposed themselves authoritatively in the final against the home team of Water Sport GLS Napoli with a clear 11 to 4.
A success that is worth the second category championship for the Florentine team, after the one won in 2023, and which allows the florentia to reach the Neapolitans at two titles, fueling a sporting rivalry that continues to write exciting pages in this discipline. The seventh national title in the overall palmarès further consolidates the lily primacy in history of the Italian Paralympic Swimming Federation and testifies to the company’s constant commitment to promoting an inclusive and high-level technical sport.
«This tricolor is the result of teamwork involving athletes, technical staff, managers and families – the company comments – A goal that fills us with pride and confirms Florence as one of the capitals of Italian Paralympic sport». Rari Nantes Florentia thanks all the supporters, partners and institutions that continue to believe and invest in a project that puts sport, inclusion and passion at its centre.
TEAM RARE NANTES FLORENTIA: Pellegrino Giulia, Di Gangi Niccolò (cap), Vannucci Alessio, Cericola Francesco, Fattori Federico, Mazzinghi Federico, Capalbo Andrea, Ciulli Simone (vicecap), Nocera Cesare, Signorini Alessio, Aquino Federica. Coach Laura Perego, vice Allegra Lapi
FINAL FOUR COMPETITION PROGRAM: Rari Nantes Florentia – SS Lazio Nuoto 11 Rari Nantes Florentia vs Water Sport GLs Napoli 11-4
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