U.C. San Diego’s Landon Akerstrom has been selected for the 2025 USA Water Polo Junior National Team. He will compete in the World Aquatics Men’s Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, starting June 14. Akerstrom stands out as a sophomore attacker, having led the Tritons in key stats and earning conference honors. Team USA will face Croatia, Hungary, and Montenegro in group play, hoping to secure a championship by June 21.

By the Numbers

• Akerstrom scored 76 points, including 59 goals, during the 2024 season.
• He had a 17-game scoring streak and contributed to 22 of 27 games played.

State of Play

• The USA team is drawn into Group A, competing against Croatia, Hungary, and Montenegro.
• The championship will have its final game on June 21, 2025.

What’s Next

Akerstrom is set to travel to Croatia and demonstrate his skills on an international stage, aiming to help Team USA advance through group stages for a shot at the championship.

Bottom Line

Akerstrom’s inclusion in the junior national team highlights his exceptional talent and sets the stage for further recognition as he competes internationally, reinforcing the Tritons’ reputation in collegiate water polo.

• The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet at Hayward Field will feature a competitive women’s 1,500-meter race.
• Oregon has three entrants in the 1,500 meters: Silan Ayyildiz, Klaudia Kazimierska and Mia Barnett.

The loaded women’s 1,500-meter field for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet will include a two-time collegiate record-holder, an Olympic finalist and a fast-rising senior whose personal records have been dramatically dropping.

Derek Abbott- Head Swimming Coach, Lakeridge High School 

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The Forest Grove pool will open after months of maintenance Monday, June 9. (Submitted by Forest Grove Parks & Recreation)

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New lobby flooring, retiling the pool and other updates were made as part of extended maintance at the Forest Grove City Aquatic Center during the spring. (Submitted by Forest Grove Parks & Recreation)

After more than three months out of commission, Forest Grove’s pool is ready for swimmers to dive in — just in time for the summer heat.

The city’s aquatic center reopens Monday, June 9, with a public swim session from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m., complete with free popsicles to help guests cool off poolside.

Closed since March for what officials called essential repairs, the pool received a tune-up with new gutters and retiling. Updates also spruced up the facility with replaced lobby flooring, a fresh coat of paint and a new book nook for lounging between laps.

Typically, the pool closes for maintenance after the summer season. But due to this year’s extended spring closure, city staff say there won’t be a separate maintenance period later this year.

Now back open, the aquatic center offers programming to keep residents of all ages active: swim lessons, water polo, lifeguard certification, a junior lifeguard course, and even a “Home Alone” safety class for kids. Pool and spray park rentals are also available for parties and group gatherings.

While the pool is shifting into its summer schedule, afternoon public swims from 2 to 4 p.m. won’t begin until Monday, June 16.

For full schedules, registration and rental info, visit forestgrove-or.gov/243/Parks-Recreation.

Photo courtesy of Katherine Mendenhall.

When 5-foot-7 Katherine Mendenhall walks onto the track, it’s strictly business — it’s a mental game. The academic stress and personal problems take a step back for the time she’s jumping over the crossbar.

This mentality is one that helped the 23-year-old high jumper qualify for, and participate in, the NCAA East Regional Track and Field meet in Jacksonville, Florida at the end of May.

Mendenhall is not alone in her accomplishments. The BGSU track and field team’s historic season included winning the conference championship for both indoor and outdoor seasons.

“I mean it just feels unreal. It feels so special, and it feels really special to be a part of something so historic and something that’s never happened before,” Mendenhall said. “That’s really the word I can think—it’s just so unreal [and] there’s so many words to describe how it feels but that’s how I would sum it up.”

Mendenhall and five other track and field athletes represented BGSU at the University of North Florida regional event, including Kylee Cubbison, Trista Fintel, Morgan Patterson, Sabrina Imes and Bianca Staples.

Mendenhall, a graduate student set to graduate in August with a Master of Business Administration degree, currently works for the City of Dublin. Despite her high-achieving accomplishments, she said you have to leave it all behind when competing.

“Just making sure your s— is aligned, like making sure that you know while being an athlete, you’re not stressing about school at the time — you got all the things that you needed done before you compete. You kind of need to leave your s— at the door, and I think personally that’s kind of my thing. When I get out there, it’s like a switch is flipped,” Mendenhall said.

Having her priorities straight proved to work for Mendenhall. She said she remembers the moment clearly when she found out she was the very first BGSU high jumper in history to qualify for regionals.

“That was such an exciting day, and I remember jumping that mark and I sat down for like 15 minutes just with my face in my hands because I was so struck that I jumped that,” said Mendenhall. “I was so struck that I knew I was gonna go to Florida.”

She called the high jump an art, and one requiring intricate technique.

As an undergrad student, Mendenhall maintained a 4.0 GPA. She’s also received the Academic All-MAC Award and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Award.

She said being both a student and an athlete is something she’s proud of.

“Being a student-athlete, and that’s hard because a sport is a job itself, and school is — they’re both full-time jobs. So, I think being able to do those … What I’m proud of is being able to have the balance of being a student and being an athlete and being able to do both of those sufficiently,” she said.

Although her collegiate career has come to an end, Mendenhall said the realization hasn’t even set in yet.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet because I think this is normal — we have our winter and spring season, and then we go straight in the summer, and we don’t do track. So, I think right now, I’m not even thinking about it, but I think once the fall hits and, you know, I see everyone back at the track doing our off-season workouts, I think that’s when it will hit. And that’s when I’ll probably have like an identity crisis,” Mendenhall said with a laugh.

Houston athletic director Eddie Nunez during the introductory press conference, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Houston, Texas.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement Friday night, allowing universities to pay current players directly starting July 1. Schools can share up to $20.5 million of their revenues with players during the upcoming academic year.

The quick turnaround poses challenges for athletic directors nationwide, but Houston’s Eddie Nuñez remains fully committed. 

“We’ve kinda spoken about this throughout the year, so yes, we will be fully supporting our student athletes at the full amount of the $20.5 million,” he told reporters in May. “We’re all in. We’re gonna do this the right way.”

Nuñez and his staff have been working to increase Houston’s revenue since he took over as athletic director in August 2024, a critical task given that the Cougars operate with the lowest budget among Power Four schools. Now, with the implementation of direct revenue sharing, things just got a bit more complicated.

 “We looked at the percentages from before I got here, from our time in the American, about what sports generated what percentage of the revenue. Then we added what we’ve gathered from our first year in the Big 12. We combined that with our own internal budget and data: which sports bring in revenue through ticket sales, media rights and other sources,” Nuñez told The Cougar in January.  

Now the question remains: Will that mean every single student-athlete or every team?

“There are some sports, honestly, that don’t bring in any revenue. But even with that in mind, we’re committed and both the Chancellor and I have said this to try to do something for every team,” he said. “I want to distribute what we can as broadly as possible, while understanding that sports like football and men’s basketball will likely be higher, because of their role in media and TV revenue, and that’s okay. We need football to be extremely successful, because when football is strong, it helps elevate every other program.”

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