Sports

MSU track sends first relay team to NCAA Nationals

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State University track and field will make program history in Eugene, Oregon, as the Bobcats are sending its first-ever relay team to compete in the women’s 4x400m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. “We honestly didn’t know that we were the first team to make it,” MSU junior Peyton […]

Published

2 weeks ago

June 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

“We honestly didn’t know that we were the first team to make it,” MSU junior Peyton Garrison said. “Some of the pictures that were shown, we were jumping in excitement and we’re just so excited.”

But the manner in which the MSU relay team reached the championships required a little help from the rule book.

The team of Corvallis native and freshman Olivia Lewis, Garrison, junior Giula Gandolfi, and junior Caroline Hawkes finished with a time of 3:34.31, second-fastest in school history, to take 13th place at the NCAA West First Round in College Station, TX. The top 12 teams, top three from each heat and the next three fastest times, advanced to nationals, meaning the Bobcats were the first team out of the field.

However, those lows quickly turned to highs as a Northern Arizona team that made the top 12 from an earlier heat was disqualified. NAU protested the disqualification, and after waiting hours under the night sky and with the stadium empty, Montana State officially booked a ticket to Eugene.

“We were for sure sad, because we were the last team out, and then a couple of us girls looked up on the TV, and the TV had said that we had made it,” Garrison said.

“The relays are difficult, because it’s not just one person, you have to have four people, and they have to be at an incredibly high level,” MSU head track and field coach Lyle Weese said. “To get a relay into the NCAA Championships, it really signifies the level that the long sprints women’s program is at.”

For Garrison and Gandolfi, it wasn’t their first race in the NCAA West First Round. Both competed in individual events two days earlier with Garrison placing 42nd in the 200m and Gandolfi taking 27th in the 400m hurdles.

“We were a little nervous before the 4×4, of course you have to be, but I think it definitely helped having another race,” Garrison said. “We can get the energy out, the nervousness out, and I think that helped a lot.”

“I think it’s always a balance of competing, recovering from that, and going on to the next event in the meet,” Weese said. “I’m a big believer that if you have competed in an event at a meet, a lot of times it’s easier from the mental side and pressure side to compete in that second event.”

But it was Hawkes as the anchor leg that helped propel the Bobcats into nationals. After receiving the baton from Gandolfi, Hawkes moved the team from seventh to fourth in the heat, including beating out Oklahoma State by nine hundredths of a second for the final spot in nationals.

“It was amazing. Caroline always pulls through, Caroline is always the hardest worker out here, and that’s also another big reason why we are out here,” Garrison said.

“That was probably the best relay leg or the best 400m that Caroline has ever run,” Weese said. “The first 200m she was moving like crazy and making up a lot of ground, and she caught up to some of those individuals that she ended up passing them.”

MSU will look to take advantage of its opportunity on the highest stage as the Bobcat relay team shares a final race of the season together and represents a growing women’s program.

“We have a really close 4×4 team, and so all of us are best friends, we work together every single day. We show up to the track, we work together, we go out to eat together and we spend so much time,” Garrison said. “Being so close and being friendly, and we love each other so much, and that makes us work hard for each other. I think that’s why we made it.”

“It’s really built upon itself,” Weese said on the success of the MSU women. “It’s been that situation where they’ve raised each other’s ability level, but to see so many school records from every event group is really an exciting thing for our program, and also that so many of them will be back for future years.”

The Montana State relay team will compete in the semifinals of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene on Thursday at 7:36 p.m. PST. If they advance to the finals, the Bobcats will compete on Saturday, June 14 at 8:21 p.m. PST.

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South Jersey track star wins third national title, breaks Olympian’s state record

PHILADELPHIA— Natalie Dumas has pulled off another jaw-dropping triple crown. The Eastern junior won her third national championship at New Balance Nationals on Sunday, stopping the clock at 2:00.11 to rewrite the New Jersey state record set by Neptune legend Ajee Wilson in 2012. Dumas’ time is also a meet record and the fifth fastest […]

Published

28 minutes ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

PHILADELPHIA— Natalie Dumas has pulled off another jaw-dropping triple crown.

The Eastern junior won her third national championship at New Balance Nationals on Sunday, stopping the clock at 2:00.11 to rewrite the New Jersey state record set by Neptune legend Ajee Wilson in 2012. Dumas’ time is also a meet record and the fifth fastest time in U.S. history.

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Time to clean up women's basektball

Laura Hollis Creators Syndicate Women’s basketball should dispel the tired platitude that the world would be a much kinder place if women ran it. I just watched yet another video of WNBA player Caitlin Clark on the receiving end of inappropriately violent behavior during a game. This time, Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, was playing […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Laura Hollis

Creators Syndicate

Women’s basketball should dispel the tired platitude that the world would be a much kinder place if women ran it.

I just watched yet another video of WNBA player Caitlin Clark on the receiving end of inappropriately violent behavior during a game. This time, Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, was playing the Connecticut Sun.

The Fever were up 10 points, and Clark was in possession of the ball when she was poked in the eye by the Sun’s Jacy Sheldon. As Clark was recoiling away from the jab, Sheldon deliberately bumped her, and then Sheldon’s teammate Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to the ground — all while Clark was still holding her painful eye. (Mabrey was apparently later given a Flagrant-2 foul, as was Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham, who retaliated by deliberately fouling Sheldon with only 46 seconds left in the game. “Flagrant” fouls have financial penalties attached, although the WNBA does not disclose how much players are fined.)

To her credit, Clark refused to back down. She came back from the multiple fouls and hit a series of free throws that helped the Fever clinch the win.

Still, these were hardly isolated occurrences. Other clips posted on X appear to show Sheldon gouging Clark’s arm with her fingernails. And video footage from other games shows Clark being called a “b—h” by former Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter, getting slapped in the face (also by Mabrey) and elbowed in the throat by Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner when Clark wasn’t even in possession of the ball.

Personal attacks against Clark have become such a regular feature of WNBA games when the Fever play that observers on X are now referring to Clark as the league’s “punching bag.” It sure looks that way.

At this point, women’s basketball is starting to resemble mud wrestling without the mud. What’s next? Pulling hair?

Yes, I get it, basketball is a contact sport. And yes, these players are fiercely competitive. That can be said of men in certain sports as well. Hockey, for example, is notorious for the slams into the wall and fights that break out. But hockey players are wearing helmets, pads and other gear.

Bad behavior is bad behavior, in any sport. But this bad behavior reflects negatively on women’s sports, and at a time when women are fighting for the integrity of those sports. The women who have opportunities to play professionally should be role models for younger women and girls in college and high school who may have their sights set on playing professional ball, instead of setting poor examples by acting like spoiled brats on the court and in the press.

Some commentators opine that other WNBA players are jealous of the attention Clark has received since she went pro and joined the Fever. If that’s true, grow up. The athletes who feel that way should be glad that players like Clark are generating even more interest in their sport.

The gratuitous nastiness directed at Clark also encourages people to draw unfavorable comparisons between men’s and women’s sports.

Sure, we’ve all seen unnecessary roughness in football (again, a sport where the players are at least partially protected by their gear) and intentional fouls in men’s basketball.

But did you ever see another player poke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan or LeBron James in the eye because they were talented players and got too much attention?

Much of the fault for this nonsense must be laid at the feet of the league and the officials, who are too slow to call out violence that is more than just “aggressive defense,” eject players who display poor sportsmanship and — if need be — sanction teams that let it happen (or, dare I say, encourage it). In fact, both the coaches for the Sun and the Fever criticized the referees who should have stepped in sooner to quell the hot tempers.

Fever coach Stephanie White said, “I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen. You could tell it was going to happen. So, they got to get control of it. They got to be better.”

Rashid Meziane, who coaches the Sun, said, “The ref has to do their job, to clean up the game and make sure the best team won the game and not just who is more physical.”

It truly is in the league’s longer-term best interests to get this under control. As many headlines as the temper tantrums generate, it’s like a sugar high; some people are just tuning in to see who’s going to throw the next punch.

Catfights may keep the public’s attention for a while, but they’ll eventually grow bored unless the games are about talent, exciting (and fair) competition and great play.

Ultimately, professional sports (for women and men) should be about personal development, teamwork, and victories that are the product of hard work, a positive attitude and great sportsmanship.

Female professional athletes have the potential to leave legacies that are more than just internet clicks and inflammatory headlines. They should take those opportunities as seriously as they do their season wins.

Sports

Dumas Wins 800 In NJ Record, Completes Stunning Triple At NB

There has never been anyone quite like Natalie Dumas, not in New Jersey and perhaps not in the country on the scholastic level!!! Dumas, the indefatigable junior at Eastern, showcased her breathtaking talent once again on Sunday by sending the high school track and field world into an absolute frenzy by completing probably the greatest triple […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

There has never been anyone quite like Natalie Dumas, not in New Jersey and perhaps not in the country on the scholastic level!!!

Dumas, the indefatigable junior at Eastern, showcased her breathtaking talent once again on Sunday by sending the high school track and field world into an absolute frenzy by completing probably the greatest triple by a U.S. high school girl with yet another head-spinning victory at the New Balance National Championships at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Dumas, who already won the 400 hurdles on Friday (a meet record 55.99 ) and the flat 400 on Saturday (a meet and NJ record 51.14), pulled off another stunning performance in the 800 when she used a quick burst right before the finish line to win in heart-pounding fashion, stopping the clock at 2:00.11, which smashed the meet and NJ records and is No. 5 in U.S. history!!!!

That’s right – Dumas went 3 for 3 with 3 meet records and 2 NJ records over the past 3 days! This is a trifecta for the ages!!!!!

Oh, and she also earned All-American honors with a fast anchor split in the SMR!! So she is a quadruple All-American!

This is the National Championships!!!!! No one is supposed to be able to do that!!!!

We will be throwing a lot of numbers and stats at you about Dumas, which almost don’t seem real. But first a look at how the 800 played out.

Dumas was locked in a great battle with national leader Emmry Ross of Michigan, who led after a 58.85 opening 400, but Dumas stayed on her heels with a 59.08 quarter.

Dumas didn’t want to sit and kick, so she took the lead with about 300 to go and opened a 5-meter lead on Ross. But Ross refused to go away, fighting back and drawing just about even with Dumas with around 50 meters left and looked like she might take the lead. But Dumas, with Ross on to her right shoulder, did what she always does, finding something deep down in her tank to make one final surge to get just a stride ahead of Ross to secure the victory. Ross was second in 2:00.25, No. 6 in U.S. history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

No let’s get into all the numbers and stats for Dumas.

With her times of 55.99 in the 400 hurdles, No. 6 in U.S. history, 51.14 in the 400, also No. 6 in U.S. history and her 2:00.11 in the 800, Dumas is the first girl in U.S. high school history to run sub-52, sub-56 and sub-2:01!!!

In the span of less than 24 hours, Dumas broke state records held by two of the greatest athletes in U.S. history, NJ legends Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Ajee’ Wilson.

When Dumas burned her 51.14 to win the 400, she broke the NJ record of 51.87 that she shared with McLaughlin-Levrone, who ran that time as a junior at Union Catholic at the 2016 Meet of Champions. McLaughlin-Levrone is a 4-time Olympic gold medalist and the current World Record holder in the 400 hurdles.

With her 2:00.11 in the 800 on Sunday, Dumas broke the NJ record of 2:00.91 set by the great Ajee’ Wilson of Neptune when she won 2-lapper at the the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships. Wilson is a 2-time Olympian, is the current American Indoor Record holder in the 800, and she won the 800 at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.

The 2:00.11 by Dumas is also No. 8 on the all-time U.S. Under-20 list and makes her the 8th fastets NJ woman ever on any level!!! Trenton’s Athing Mu, the current American outdoor record holder in the 800 and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist in the 800, is No. 1 on the U.S. U20 list and Wilson is No. 2 at 1:58.21.

Dumas is now the second fastest junior in U.S. history in the 800. The only junior to go faster is Mary Cain of New York, who went 1:59.51 at the 2013 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Oregon.

The 2:00.11 by Dumas would have placed her sixth at the NCAA Division 1 Championships!

Oh, I almost forgot, about 2 hours after she won the 400 on Saturday Dumas split 2:03.90 to rally Eastern from sixth to second in a NJ No. 4 and U.S. No. 12 all-time 3:53.15!

WHERE DOES THIS RANK?

There has already been plenty chatter about where this jaw-dropping performance by Dumas ranks all-time in U.S. high school history.

Well, I think it’s fair to say that McLaughlin-Levrone making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in the 400 hurdles as a 16-year-old at Union Catholic is the greatest single-race performance we’ve ever seen by a girl in U.S. high school history.

I also think it’s equally fair to call this hat trick by Dumas, with the SMR anchor to go with it, the greatest all-round performance we’ve ever seen by a U.S. high school girl. There just isn’t anyone who can match the kind of range that Dumas has. She’s also run 4:55.66 for 1,600, 24.02 for 200, and she ran 20:26 for 5K at Holmdel Park last fall!!!

And she has one more year left!!!!

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MiLB FastCast

Published

2 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Sports

Paris Diamond League Recap: Habz Drops 3:27 For 1500m Win, U.S. Women Shine In 3000m Steeple

9:42pm – Men’s Javelin In a field full of Olympians, Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra took first and second place, as they so often have this season. This time, Chopra got the better of Weber, throwing 88.16 to Weber’s 87.88. Weber still maintains the World Lead of 91.06m, with Chopra right behind in 90.23m. The […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

9:42pm – Men’s Javelin

In a field full of Olympians, Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra took first and second place, as they so often have this season.

This time, Chopra got the better of Weber, throwing 88.16 to Weber’s 87.88. Weber still maintains the World Lead of 91.06m, with Chopra right behind in 90.23m. The next closest athlete is the United States’s Curtis Thompson, whose throw of 87.76m is almost three meters back from the two clear javelin favorites this year.

And while the top two had a less-than-ideal meet in terms of distance, the third place finisher, Luis Mauricio Da Silva threw an extremely strong 86.62m—a new Area Record and personal best for the Brazilian.

9:43 – Men’s 110 Hurdles Final

The semifinals set my expectations high for the finals of the men’s 110m hurdles, and they did not disappoint.

Grant Holloway, again, ran a season’s best in 13.11—finishing in fifth place. Holloway looked the fastest over the first 70m, but like in the heats, faded over the final two hurdles. The American hurdler is unbeatable over 60m, but stringing the final stretches of the race together continues to be a struggle over this season. 13.11 is still solid, and Holloway has time before USAs to put it all together. 13.16 and 13.11 as a rustbuster is pretty damn good.

Jason Joseph and Rachid Muratake, third and fourth, also ran quickly in the final—finishing in 13.07 and 13.08, respectively. Joseph’s 13.07 equals his Swiss national record set in 2023, and Muratake’s 13.08 equals his season’s best, run in the heats.

Trey Cunningham and Dylan Beard, first and second, both ran personal bests in the final—Cunningham tying his with a 13.00 clocking and Beard dropping .06 to run 13.02. Cunningham and Beard are both establishing themselves as two of the best American hurdlers, if not two of the world’s best. It’s only a matter of time before they both break the 13 second barrier.

Cunningham, Beard, Holloway and fellow Americans Cordell Tinch, Freddie Crittenden, Jamal Britt, and Jakobe Tharp are all running quick. Even if I was a betting man, I would not bet on who makes the United States team for the 110m hurdles.

9:51 – Women’s 400m

Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser matching up against each other is, and will always be, must-see racing. They went toe-to-toe for the entire homestretch clear of the field but unable to fully separate from each other, and they crossed the line within four-hundredths of a second.

Eid Naser still holds the world lead, set back at Grand Slam Track’s first meet in Kingston, but Paulino continued her winning ways with a 48.81 to Eid Naser’s 48.85. The rest of the field fell behind but still ran well, with Martina Weil running a Chilean national record of 49.83, and Amber Anning running a season’s best 49.96. Isabella Whittaker has run race after race after race in her first Diamond League season, and while this wasn’t her best time, she still posted a 50.18 with a quick closing 100m.

9:59 – Men’s 1500m

I don’t know what I expected from this race.

I knew they were getting paced to 3:28.

I knew people ran fast on the track all evening.

I knew the runners in the field were in good form.

I knew Azeddine Habz going for the French record in front of a sell-out crowd was perfect motivation.

I knew it was going to be fast.

But when the pacer stepped off with 500m to go, and the racers stayed in front of the green wavelights, that’s when I knew it was going to be special.

Every athlete in the field improved their personal bests, except for Abel Kipsang, who was 0.35 seconds off.

The average personal best improvement was 2.2 seconds, and the average season’s best improvement was 3.29 seconds.

The average race time was 3:30.23—in a fourteen person field.

The fastest runner, Azeddine Habz, ran 3:27.49—the French National Record, World Lead, and sixth fastest 1500m of all time.

The second fastest runner, Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech, ran the World U20 Record, in 3:27.72. The 18 year old dropped 4.54 seconds off his PB, set earlier this year—he was a 1:46.93 800m runner before this season.

The third fastest runner, George Mills, ran 3:28.36 to become the second fastest British runner ever over 1500m—hurdling Mo Farah, Jake Wightman, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe and many more in the all-time standings. The 11th fastest British runner is now the 14th fastest EVER.

I AM NOT DONE.

Three national records—Habz, Stefan Nillesen (the 22 year old) ran 3:29.23 for a Dutch National Record, and Tshepo Tshite ran a South African record of 3:31.35.

The slowest runner, Louis Gilavert, ran 3:32.25.

This race took 3:35 runners and made them 3:31 runners. I can’t attribute it to a single, specific reason—the race had it all.

Perfect pacing—yes. Runners motivated by the crowd—yes. The new shoes and nutrition improvements—yes. The track itself had everyone from hurdlers to distance runners commenting on how fast it felt, so—yes. The weather cooled down to 79 degrees, with little wind and all shade—yes.

Are Habz, Koech, Mills and company contenders now? I don’t know. Koech is a relative unknown, Habz is a contender to make finals but usually not for medals, and Mills has shown incredible gains over the 5000m and 1500m this year. I would not be surprised if they do contend for medals this summer and beyond.

Or is it that middle distance, not just the 800m, is having renaissance upon renaissance? 2024 was historically fast. 2025 looks even faster.

Two other side notes:

The math on the race times are here in this spreadsheet, for those who love data like I do.
With Breaking4 right around the corner, Nike has to be pretty happy about choosing the same stadium for their record attempt. I’m ready to see Faith Kipyegon run her fastest, and at Stade Charléty. Who knows what can happen?

10:08 – Women’s 200m

Anavia Battle is undefeated over Diamond League racing this season.

She’s also currently undefeated over the 200m distance—and is putting together a consistently solid resume that makes her a factor coming into championship season.

In this meet, Battle ran a season’s best of 22.27. The second and third place finishers, Amy Hunt and McKenzie Long, both ran season’s bests 22.45 and 22.49. Nobody else ran a season’s or personal best, but the top three got it done—and sometimes, that’s all it takes.

10:20 – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Welcome to the 12.2s, Grace Stark! The short hurdles continued to be fast, with Stark winning the overall race in 12.21, and the world record holder Tobi Amusan running second in 12.24.

Ackera Nugent also ran well, with a season’s best of 12.30.

I remember watching the Women’s 100m Hurdles in 2022, and being incredibly shocked by the 12.12 that Tobi Amusan threw down to break the World Record. Now that we’re three years out, and people are clawing their way back to that mark, I think it’s safe to say the 100m hurdle record is in danger this year. Masai Russell and Jasmine Jones went 12.17 and 12.19 in Miramar, and now Stark and Amusan are within striking distance—with only 0.7 m/s in wind.

The assumption is that contenders are trying to build in time to peak for the national and world championships. With that being the case, it’s hard not to look at these times a month out from championship racing and think the WR is not as far as it once felt like it was.

10:27 – Men’s 5000m

The men’s 5000m was paced to a world record in Paris. It didn’t go down, but Yomif Kejelcha sure as hell put up a fight.

It wasn’t until three laps to go that the lights started to pull away from the Ethiopian, who doggedly committed to the pace from the gun—sitting at the front with all intentions of crossing the finish line alone.

Nico Young and Graham Blanks rolled with Kejelcha through the 3000m mark, and both Americans did an incredible job of competing. Yes, Birhanu Balew, who represents Bahrain, kicked to an Area record of 12:48.67, beating Blanks to the line. And yes, Young faded to seventh, behind new French National Record holder Jimmy Gressier (12:51.59), Samuel Tefera (12:53.44 PB) and Souffiane Bakkali (this isn’t a 3000m steeple! 12:55.49 PB).

I left this race inspired by watching Kejelcha, Young, and Blanks commit to the insane task of running a world record in a 5000m on this random night in Paris. The tanks were more than empty after the race, but they went for it. They found their limits (somewhere around 3-4k), and it makes them all the more ready for whatever comes next.

10:50 – Women’s 1500m Final

Final race of the evening, and it’s the women’s 1500m final.

Once again, everyone ran either a season’s best or personal best (aside from 13,14, and 16th place)—it wasn’t the miracle that the men’s race was, but it was still extremely fast.

Nelly Chipchirchir took home the win in 3:57.02, with Sarah Healy right behind her in a personal best 3:57.15. 11 runners in total ran sub four minutes, which shows incredible depth in not only this race, but women’s running as a whole.

In 2022, only 16 women went under the four minute threshold for the 1500. Last year, 41 women ran under four minutes, and so far this year, 20 runners have. The stakes are getting higher and the times are getting faster, and Paris magic struck in both 1500m races.

Batten down the hatches for the Prefontaine Classic. It’s about to be a good one.

___________________

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Dino Nadarevic’s WPIAL, PIAA sweep headlines year in Gateway sports

By: Michael Love Sunday, June 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic wins the discus during the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships May 24, 2025 at Shippensburg University. Dino Nadarevic was to throw the shot put and discus one more time in a high school event last Thursday and Friday at New […]

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3 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By: Michael Love

Sunday, June 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

8611874_web1_ptr-PIAA21-052525 — Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic wins the discus during the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships May 24, 2025 at Shippensburg University.

Dino Nadarevic was to throw the shot put and discus one more time in a high school event last Thursday and Friday at New Balance Nationals before transitioning to a new journey at Duquesne.

It was the culmination of a high school career that began in obscurity but with promise two years ago and blossomed into one of the most decorated in Gateway history.

He celebrated last month with two WPIAL and two PIAA championships.

Nadarevic turned away all the challengers at Shippensburg on May 23-24, winning the shot put with a top distance of 58 feet, 8.5 inches before claiming the discus with a best attempt of 180-2.

“I knew it was my last state meet, and I wanted to make the best of it, and I did,” Nadarevic said after returning from Shippensburg with the first-place hardware.

Nadarevic first set the school record in the discus with a 172-3 in an early season tri-meet with Connellsville and Hempfield and added to it before WPIALs.

At Slippery Rock, he won the discus by 20 feet, finishing with a top throw of 187-0.

He fell just short of his goal of also setting a school record in the shot, but his best throw at WPIALs was the competition’s best as he unleashed a winning toss of 59-1.

The future Gateway Sports Hall of Fame inductee is the final athlete to represent the Gators in a 2024-25 academic year filled with many special Gateway moments.

Gateway boys tennis golden this spring

Not often does one WPIAL tennis team sweep the singles, doubles and team titles in the same season.

But Gateway achieved that in Class 3A.

Senior Adam Memije claimed his first WPIAL singles crown after finishing runner-up last year. Senior Zidaan Hassan and junior Logan Memije defended their WPIAL doubles titles, and the Gators won their second team title in three years with a 3-2 triumph over WPIAL rival North Allegheny.

Hassan won his first doubles title with Adam Memije in 2023.

Gateway represented in all three PIAA tournaments in Hershey with Zidaan and Logan Memije capturing state doubles bronze for the second time.

Boys volleyball earns outright section title

With its win over Fox Chapel on May 8, the Gators wrapped up the Section 4-3A boys volleyball title with an 8-2 record.

While many in the program felt the team would receive a home playoff game for the WPIAL first round, the selection committee instead tabbed it as the No. 9 seed and sent it to Mt. Lebanon.

Coach Phil Randolph said he was pleased to see his team’s fight against the Blue Devils, but it was not able to pick up the win. Mt. Lebo prevailed 3-1 with set scores of 25-19, 16-25, 25-14 and 26-14.

Gateway finished its season at 10-3, and 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter Darious Farrar was selected to the All-WPIAL Class 3A second team. Seniors Owen Echegaray (libero) and Tom Nikou (setter) and junior Daniel Bozicevic (outside hitter) also received Section 4 first-team laurels.

Senior-laden boys bowling team excels

When the Gators punched their tickets to the boys bowling state championships in March by qualifying for the finals of the regional team tournament, they also knew they clinched a return trip to nationals in Indiana.

It was one final event in one of the most successful runs in the history of the Gators bowling program.

Seniors Allon Wallace Jr., Josh Zlokas, Landon Lohr, Joey Jurcak and Chris Roseberry, along with junior Chase Owens, finished 32nd at nationals in a talented field of 55 boys teams.

Wallace Jr. then took 40th out of nearly 400 who were in contention for the singles crown.

Girls flag football
returns to playoffs

Five straight wins to cap the regular season propelled Gateway to the Pittsburgh Girls Flag Football League playoffs for the second year. The streak included a 7-0 victory over rival Plum to determine the final playoff berth from the East Division.

Gateway ended the regular season 8-3 and hoped for good things in the playoffs, but Woodland Hills ended those hopes with a 12-0 win in the first round.

Gateway’s three seniors, Kaitlyn Karpuszka, KC Glaze and Shavonne Williams, will play on collegiate flag teams.

Raymer makes swim finals at Bucknell

Hunter Raymer capped a successful high school swim career by representing the Gators in the finals of the Class 3A 200-yard individual medley and the 500 freestyle at the PIAA swim championships in March at Bucknell.

Raymer swam in the consolation final of the 200 IM on Day 1 and placed 14th overall with a time of 1 minute, 53.30 seconds.

He then came back on Day 2 and qualified for the consolation final of the 500 free. He placed 10th in his final high school race with a time of 4:34.19.

Raymer, the WPIAL champion in the 500 free as a freshman, will swim in college at Denison.

Football misses
playoffs on
committee decision

While the Gators didn’t finish with an automatic WPIAL Class 5A football playoff berth from the Big East Conference — those bids went to Woodland Hills, Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional — they were in the mix for one of the three 5A wild card spots to be determined by the WPIAL playoff pairings committee.

Gateway tied Latrobe and Kiski Area for fourth in the conference at 2-4. In the end, the committee selected Latrobe for the playoffs, along with Moon and South Fayette from the Allegheny Six Conference.

It was a tough pill to swallow by coach Don Holl and his coaches and players who suffered one-point losses to Woodland Hills and Latrobe in their final two conference games.

Gateway, which finished 3-7 overall, also fell to Franklin Regional by just two points, 36-34.

Boys basketball clipped in WPIAL
first round

Gateway’s Moon shot was unsuccessful as the homestanding Tigers, the No. 5 seed, topped the Gators, 49-42, in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first round at Moon High School.

Gateway came into the playoffs with a high degree of momentum after closing the regular season with three straight wins and victories in eight of 10.

Gators coach Alvis Rogers said that he was surprised to see where his team landed as the No. 12 seed with how it played down the stretch in the regular season and its tie for second in Section 1 with Latrobe at 10-4 behind undefeated Uniontown (14-0).

Gateway hockey
returns to varsity level

The Gators found a winning formula in their first season playing PIHL varsity hockey after several years growing the program at the JV level.

Gateway started out 0-6 as it settled into its season before winning four straight to get back in the Division II mix.

The Gators, led by 10 seniors, ended the regular season on a six-game win streak and clinched a playoff spot. Senior CJ Evans led the team with 43 points on 22 goals and 21 assists.

Their playoff experience didn’t last as long as they had hoped as powerful Morgantown stopped Gateway, 11-0, in the first round.

Boys soccer continues playoff streak

For the fifth straight season, the Gateway boys soccer team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, this time after finishing tied for second in Section 1-4A with Central Catholic behind WPIAL power Plum.

The Gators entered the playoffs hoping to make some noise as the No. 9 seed, but No. 8 Canon-McMillan had other ideas on its home turf and jumped out to a 4-0 lead at halftime en route to a surprising 6-0 victory.

Gateway, led a senior group that included the likes of James and Nick LoCoco and Owen Echegaray, finished 8-8 overall and scored 47 goals in its 16 games.

Munyon represents at WPIAL cross country

Freshman Piper Munyon capped her first season with Gateway cross country with a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 7.5 seconds at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at White Oak Park.

The time placed her 43rd in a deep 3A field. She improved her time nearly 15 seconds from her first race at White Oak at the Tri-State championships a week earlier.

Girls volleyball
a playoff qualifier

Gateway won eight Section 5-3A girls volleyball matches and finished third behind Indiana (12-0) and Greensburg Salem (10-2) in the section standings.

That finish lifted the Gators to the WPIAL tournament where they earned a tough draw against No. 1 Beaver in the first round.

Despite its best efforts, the Bobcats, the eventual WPIAL runner-up, scored a 3-0 win which concluded Gateway’s season at 9-6 overall.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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