Football 5/30/2025 10:00:00 AM Jack Neumann Story Links CALGARY – One of the elite punters graduating from high school has committed to the University of Calgary. Ira Hozack has signed a U SPORTS Letter of Intent and will attend the University of Calgary in 2025 and study Kinesiology with hopes of becoming a chiropractor. “We believe […]
CALGARY – One of the elite punters graduating from high school has committed to the University of Calgary.
Ira Hozack has signed a U SPORTS Letter of Intent and will attend the University of Calgary in 2025 and study Kinesiology with hopes of becoming a chiropractor.
“We believe Ira is the best kicking prospect in the nation and has next level ability,” stated Dinos head coach Ryan Sheahan.
Hozack was a member of the bronze medal Alberta U17 team, handling the team’s kicking and punting duties at the 2024 Canada Cup tournament in Regina, Sask. He was teammates with several Team Alberta players that have enrolled at the University of Calgary.
In addition to his football ability, Hozack was an exceptional athlete at Medicine Hat High, where he was coached by Quinn Skelton. He was a starter on their basketball team, competed for their track team in the sprint events and was an elite soccer player who was recruited to play the sport. He also played receiver and defensive back for the Hawks. He attended the same high school that produced former Dinos Cory and Nathan Coehoorn, as well as recent Dinos Hall of Fame inductee Dan Federkeil.
“I like the coaches at Calgary and Calgary is close to home,” stated the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Hozack, who made official visits and had offers to attend the Universities of Alberta, Regina, and Guelph, and was also contacted by the University of Manitoba.
Previous University of Calgary all-Canadian kicker Chris MacLean was also an influence on Hozack committing to the University of Calgary.
“He (MacLean) showed me some things,” Hozack stated, who has attended kicking camps in Las Vegas, as well as training with MacLean and attending the Hank Ilseic kicking camp.
Hozack is the son of the Robert and Melissa Hozack and has a sister that plays college soccer at Medicine Hat College.
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MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Ten members of the Wesleyan women’s crew team earned Scholar-Athlete honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA), as announced on Tuesday afternoon. Wesleyan’s 10 honorees rank fourth-most in the nation among Division III programs. In total, over 1000 student-athletes earned Scholar-Athlete honors across all NCAA Divisions. […]
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Ten members of the Wesleyan women’s crew team earned Scholar-Athlete honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA), as announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Wesleyan’s 10 honorees rank fourth-most in the nation among Division III programs. In total, over 1000 student-athletes earned Scholar-Athlete honors across all NCAA Divisions. To qualify for selection, student-athletes must have at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA through the fall 2024 semester and be in their sophomore year. Student-athletes must have rowed a minimum of 75% of the current spring races or competed in the conference championship race (National Invitational Rowing Championship).
Among the list of Cardinals who earned Scholar-Athlete honors includes three-time honoree Ava Olson ’25 (College of Social Studies, History double major) while several earned the distinction for the second time in their careers including Aleah Hurwitz ’25 (Art Studio, Sociology), Cadence Cole ’26 (Anthropology, Archaeology), and Nora Printy ’26 (Biology, German Studies, Mathematics). Making the list for the first time in their careers is Annabelle Miller ’25 (Earth and Environmental Sciences), Clara Preisig ’25 (Neuroscience and Behavior, Psychology), Alexandra Stanislaw ’25 (Italian Studies, Science in Society), Hailey Hutchison ’27 (Undecided), Julia Lissack ’27 (Mathematics, Economics), and Ruby Roberts ’27 (Undecided).
Brad Marchand returns to hockey heaven with Panthers, sets gold standard for trade-deadline pickups
SUNRISE, Fla. — From the trade deadline bargain bin to a Stanley Cup champion in a little over three months, Brad Marchand is the new gold standard for how an in-season pickup can reinvigorate an NHL team. The Florida Panthers surrendered a future first-round pick to the Boston Bruins and paid Marchand just $109,375 in […]
SUNRISE, Fla. — From the trade deadline bargain bin to a Stanley Cup champion in a little over three months, Brad Marchand is the new gold standard for how an in-season pickup can reinvigorate an NHL team.
The Florida Panthers surrendered a future first-round pick to the Boston Bruins and paid Marchand just $109,375 in salary before turning him loose for an unforgettable spring on the edge of the Everglades.
Marchand scored 10 goals from the third line during Florida’s second straight championship run, helping transform the Panthers into the deepest team in hockey. That included two game-winners during a six-game Cup Final win over the Edmonton Oilers that ended up being much more lopsided than the battle between the teams last June.
The biggest difference?
The presence of a 37-year-old who brought the tenacity of a champion to the lineup and the joy of a kid to the dressing room. Marchand and the Panthers proved to be a match made in hockey heaven — above even the expectations of the player himself.
“You never know how things are going to play out,” Marchand said. “I just wanted to come in and buy in and be part of the group and play whatever role I was put in and do it to the best I possibly can. When you walk into this room and you see what guys are putting themselves through every day to prepare and to sacrifice and how dialed in they are, you just kind of follow suit.
“They’ve built an incredible culture in this room. It’s very easy to follow. And when you do that, you just leave it all on the ice. We have a good team, so good things happen in here and we have a lot of fun.”
Marchand unleashed 14 years of pent-up emotion when he lifted the Stanley Cup above his head again at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night. He’d won the trophy with the Bruins in 2011 at the end of his first full NHL season, but was on the losing end of championship series in 2013 and 2019.
Brad Marchand first lifted the Stanley Cup in 2011. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
He vowed to treat this opportunity like it might be his last.
That capped a remarkable run for the veteran winger in Florida after being one of the final players moved before the March 7 trade deadline. Marchand didn’t make his Panthers debut until March 28 because of injury, but looked immediately at home after finding a spot on the third line beside Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
That trio chewed through opponents all spring, with Florida outscoring its opponents 21-7 during Marchand’s five-on-five minutes. Multiple Panthers labeled them the team’s most effective line while dispatching the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Oilers on the way to another championship.
Needless to say, the first trade of Marchand’s NHL career worked out better than anyone could have imagined. He admitted to feeling anxious about the move after 16 seasons in Boston and wasn’t initially sure how he’d even fit in with the Panthers.
“When you look at the lineup, I was honestly like, ‘I think I’m playing fourth line again. Back to my roots,’” Marchand said. “I didn’t have many expectations. I knew playing against the Panthers this year that they were the team that I felt in the East was the team that was going to make a run. So I was just excited to be part of it. I didn’t have expectations of where I was going to play or what I was going to do.”
A pending unrestricted free agent on July 1, Marchand is expected to command more than $8 million per season on the open market, according to league sources.
He will go down as one of the better trade deadline pickups in NHL history. The Panthers acquired him for a first-round pick in either 2027 or 2028, with Boston retaining half of his remaining salary to make the numbers work.
In adding Marchand, the Panthers knew they were getting a high-engine worker. But they didn’t realize what a big impact he would have on their team culture, thanks in large part to his good-natured demeanor.
“Getting to know him a little bit more as a human, he’s more special than I could have imagined on that front,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “As a teammate and as a character human. From that standpoint, it’s like frosting on the cake.”
He was asked if he will be able to keep Marchand.
“I bought a Dairy Queen,” Zito joked after the game during the team’s on-ice celebration.
While Sam Bennett (15) scored more goals for the Panthers this spring and received the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Marchand arguably had the bigger moments. He won Game 2 against the Oilers with a breakaway goal in double overtime and scored twice with impressive individual efforts in Game 5 to give the Panthers the chance to hoist the Cup on home ice.
Marchand also had an overtime winner against the Maple Leafs in Round 2, which prevented them from falling into an 0-3 hole in that series.
Following a season in which he struggled with health challenges and the weight of the uncertainty in Boston, Marchand saved his best hockey for when it mattered most. No one enjoyed the Cup run more than the oldest member of the Panthers.
“I honestly feel like a young guy again,” he said.
Oklahoma has left wrestling to die in new era of college sports
The Oklahoma Sooners have made their priorities clear, and wrestling is not one of them. With the House v. NCAA settlement officially being approved and allowing revenue sharing in college sports, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione recently announced six sports that will get a share of the $20.5 million this year — football, men’s and […]
The Oklahoma Sooners have made their priorities clear, and wrestling is not one of them.
With the House v. NCAA settlement officially being approved and allowing revenue sharing in college sports, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione recently announced six sports that will get a share of the $20.5 million this year — football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and women’s gymnastics. Wrestling, one of the most popular sports in the state of Oklahoma, did not make the cut.
Wrestling gets left behind as OU picks its six revenue-share winners
All six sports are deserving of the money. Let that be clear. Football and men’s basketball are the monsters that have to be fed at every school. Baseball is also one of the most popular sports in America. Women’s basketball, softball and women’s gymnastics are consistent national contenders that have earned the support at OU.
But in a new era of college athletics where only the strong will survive, OU is experiencing the strain of having so many different mouths to feed. And some sports might not survive, including wrestling.
Wrestling has been on life support at OU for some time, but that’s what happens when things aren’t nourished. The sport itself is not to blame, though. Wrestling has brought OU seven national championships, tied for the third-most with football and women’s gymnastics. It’s a sport that could succeed using mostly local talent, which can’t be said for the other sports the Sooners are trying to win at.
Just down the road in Stillwater, Oklahoma State has proven what happens when a wrestling program is supported in this state. Even after a major coaching change last year, OSU still broke wrestling attendance records, even at times drawing bigger crowds than men’s basketball, and remained nationally relevant. Even at the Division-II level, Central Oklahoma is thriving in Edmond. It’s obviously possible and likely.
But none of OU’s athletic decisions have considered wrestling as it sits at the bottom of the Sooners’ sports barrel. OU moved from the Big 12 to the SEC, a conference without wrestling. That move graduated nearly every sport to better conference competition, while wrestling remained in the Big 12 as an affiliate member. And apparently none of that extra money from a richer conference is being funneled to the wrestling program to give it any sort of benefit.
The sport shares a nearly 100-year-old venue with volleyball and men’s gymnastics. Then there was the recent decision to leave wrestling out of revenue sharing, but at least with five additional scholarships as a consolation.
Wrestling is a tradition in Oklahoma, but OU is all in on the new trends of college sports that doom tradition, whether it be in-state conference rivalries, which the Sooners still have in wrestling, or winning by recruiting local talent, which the Sooners could achieve on the mat.
The Sooners haven’t pulled the plug yet on wrestling, but they are letting the sport endure an agonizing death at OU while all it needs is the right antidote to thrive.
Five Babson Women Earn College Sports Communicators Academic All-District At-Large Honors
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BABSON PARK, Mass.—Five student-athletes from three different programs were honored for their hard work in competition and the classroom when the College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its women’s Academic All-District At-Large teams on Tuesday afternoon. Field hockey senior Berit Sharrow (Denver, Colo.) was recognized for the third consecutive season, while […]
BABSON PARK, Mass.—Five student-athletes from three different programs were honored for their hard work in competition and the classroom when the College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its women’s Academic All-District At-Large teams on Tuesday afternoon.
Field hockey senior Berit Sharrow (Denver, Colo.) was recognized for the third consecutive season, while women’s lacrosse seniors Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) and Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) and women’s alpine ski senior Amelie Alkier (Collingwood, Ontario) and sophomore Sonnie Travis (Park City, Utah) were all named to the CSC Academic All-District team for the first time in their respective careers.
The at-large program recognizes the top student-athletes from the sports of beach volleyball, bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, men’s volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
A three-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America first-team selection, Sharrow capped her career with six goals and seven assists for 19 points in 23 starts last fall. She won her third straight New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Defensive Player of the Year award as the Beavers tied for first in Division III with 13 shutouts and ranked third with a 0.57 goals against average.
One of the most decorated players in program history, Sharrow earned four all-conference and all-region honors, and was selected as the NFCA Region I Player of the Year in 2022 and 2024. She helped the Beavers post 44 shutouts in 93 career starts while producing 19 goals and 21 assists for 59 points.
Alkier put together the best season of her career with three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes over 14 races to help the women’s alpine ski team match the top result in school history by placing third at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships. She placed fifth in the MacConnell Division standings and earned All-America honors in the slalom by coming in eighth and the combined standings by placing ninth in addition to coming in 18th in the giant slalom at nationals.
A two-time All-MacConnell Division selection, Alkier concluded her career with four All-America awards.
Blake concluded her career by earning All-NEWMAC second-team honors for the first time in her career after scoring a career-high 52 goals to go along with 24 assists for a career-best 76 points in 19 games this past spring. She contributed at least one point in every contest and scored three or more goals in 10 games as the Beavers captured their second consecutive regular season league title before advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row.
Blake played 71 career games at Babson and ranks eighth in program history with 59 assists and is 16th in both goals (119) and points (178).
The all-time Division III leader in draw controls, Connolly put together the best season of her career with 59 goals and four assists for 63 points to go along with a single-season record 243 draw controls on the way to earning Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-America first-team accolades. She ranked second nationally in both total draw controls and draw controls per game (12.79), and her 243 are the second highest total in Division III history behind only Julia Ryan for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who finished with 346 this season.
A two-time All-American, three-time all-region and 2025 NEWMAC Player of the Year, Connolly ranks first all-time in Division III and second in NCAA history with 766 draw controls, while scoring 117 goals and contributing 11 assists for 128 points in 78 career games with the Beavers. She was the NCAA statistical champion for draw controls per game in both 2023 and 2024, and is the only player in Division III history to win 200 or more draws in three consecutive seasons.
Travis completed 10 of her 12 races and recorded one podium finish and eight top-10 results to help the Babson women’s alpine ski team come in second in the MacConnell Division and tie for second at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships before placing third at nationals. She finished eighth in the conference standings and put together one of her best weekends of the season by placing fourth in the giant slalom and fifth in the slalom in the regionals at Sugarloaf Mountain back in February. Travis also finished 22nd in the GS and 31st in the combined standings during the national championships at Mount Bachelor.
The 2024 MacConnell Division Rookie of the Year, Travis has earned all-league honors in back-to-back seasons and took home USCSA All-America honors in the slalom as a first-year in 2024.
Since 1952, CSC (formerly CoSIDA) has honored more than 20,000 outstanding student-athletes across the NCAA. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve and maintain a GPA of 3.50 on a 4.0 scale.
Penn State research professor charged with stalking | Penn State, State College News
A Penn State Professor was charged with stalking and loitering after a local resident reported multiple late night incidents involving a man repeatedly appearing outside his home and peering through windows, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Patton Township Police Department. Anoop Narayanan, a research professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn […]
A Penn State Professor was charged with stalking and loitering after a local resident reported multiple late night incidents involving a man repeatedly appearing outside his home and peering through windows, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Patton Township Police Department.
Anoop Narayanan, a research professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, faces two criminal charges, one felony count of stalking and one misdemeanor count of loitering and prowling at nighttime.
The charges stem from a pattern of behavior that allegedly caused significant emotional distress to the caller and his family, including his young child.
According to the police complaint, Narayanan repeatedly returned to the caller’s residence during nighttime hours and looked through the windows while the family was inside.
The caller, disturbed by the ongoing presence, reported similar activity outside his home on April 25, and June 8. Although there were several other instances, he did not report them.
The caller also installed a security camera in an effort to document the behavior.
Footage reportedly captured Narayanan outside the home, prompting further police involvement.
In one instance, Narayanan is accused of loitering outside the residence and being caught on camera after the caller repositioned their security system to record the activity.
Once arrested, Narayanan asked the officers to apologize to the caller, admitting he had come to their residence three to four times before.
Police noted that the family feared for their safety and were “emotionally distressed” by the repeated incidents.
Whether Narayanan had any known relationship with the caller and his family is unknown.
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A State College man was arrested Monday in connection with a string of alleged hate-motivate…
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