Sports

Oregon has heavyweights in loaded NCAA 1,500

What’s on the track at Hayward Field in 2025? Hayward Field will play host to a wide variety of track and field events in 2025. 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 […]

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2 weeks ago

June 7, 2025

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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.

And those are just the Ducks.

The gates will open Wednesday at Hayward Field for the June 11-14 meet, which is formatted to have the men compete on Wednesday and Friday, and the women on Thursday and Saturday.

There are 24 women entered in Thursday’s 1,500 semifinal heats, and Oregon is one of two teams to have three entrants – Silan Ayyildiz (the record-holder), Klaudia Kazimierska (the Olympian) and Mia Barnett (the up-and-comer).

Making it to Saturday’s 12-woman final won’t be an easy task.

Also entered are three from Washington, including 2024 Irish Olympian and Big Ten champion Sophie O’Sullivan, 2024 NCAA outdoor runner-up Kimberly May of Providence and her teammate Shannon Flockhart, who leads the NCAA this season with a time of 4 minutes, 4.97 seconds.

Also entered is Northern Arizona’s Maggi Congdon, who ran 4:02.79 at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, and Virginia’s Margot Appleton, who was third at the NCAA outdoor meet in 2023 and has 4:05.68 PR.

“The depth is better than it’s ever been,” Oregon assistant coach Shalane Flanagan said. “It’s a meeting of the titans.”

A record-setting season for Oregon’s Silan Ayyilidz

Ayyildiz, a senior from Turkey, has been on a record-breaking tear since January. She’s produced the fastest times in collegiate history in the indoor and outdoor mile, and was also on the Ducks’ collegiate record-setting distance medley relay team.

She ran the indoor mile in 4:23.46 in mid-February in Boston, and a week later anchored the 10:42.05 DMR finish. At the Drake Relays in April, she ran 4:25.5 to get the outdoor mile record as well.

Ayyildiz’s outdoor mile time converts to a 4:05.83 for the 1,500.

“She has obviously had a stellar year,” Flanagan said. “Her strength is just naturally very good.”

Ayyildiz won the Big Ten title last fall in cross-country and finished 13th at the national championship meet. She also won conference titles in the 5,000 both indoors and outdoors. She was second to O’Sullivan in the outdoor 1,500.

Now comes her final collegiate challenge.

“I’m excited and feel like I’m pretty ready,” Ayyildiz said. “It’s really good to have a high-quality group to train with. I’m so grateful that I have the fortune to train with them.”

Oregon Olympian Klaudia Kazimierska hitting her form

After dealing with an injury during the indoor season, Kazimierska has been ramping up the last couple months. She ran a PR 2:02.03 in the 800 at the Drake Relays on April 23, won a conference title at that distance in May and then a week later ran 4:03.26 at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles. It was the third-fastest in-season time in collegiate history.

But Kazimierska’s PR actually came late last summer in the weeks after finishing 10th at the Paris Summer Games when she clocked a 3:59.95 at a meet in her home country of Poland.

That makes her the fastest in the field this week, just ahead of O’Sullivan who ran 4:00.23 in the Olympic semifinals.

“When you go into those big meets you need to remember the race is the same as it is every other time of the year,” Kazimierska said. “You have to be relaxed and have fun with it. … You don’t want to create any pressure where you feel like you have to do something special there. You just need to be yourself.”

Oregon’s Mia Barnett moving out of the shadows

Not to get lost in the accomplishments of her teammate is Barnett, who also ran faster than the former collegiate outdoor mile record when she finished second to Ayyildiz in the same race in 4:26.4, which converts to 4:06.66 for the 1,500.

Barnett, whose 1,500 PR is 4:08.44, was third in the 1,500 outdoors and second in the mile indoors at the conference championship meets. She too was a member of the Ducks’ record-setting DMR.

This will be her seventh national championship meet indoors and outdoors, though she’s attempting to make her first outdoor final.

“I feel like I’ve definitely learned a lot,” Barnett said. “I’ve had a hard time making the finals because everyone is so good. But this season specifically, I have definitely been more comfortable as a racer and being more relaxed when I run and I feel like I am in more control of what I can do when I race now.”

Her teammates have taken notice of her tactical ability.

“Mia’s been very consistent recently and seeing how she’s improving with every race, and her confidence,” Kazimierska said. “She always knows how to move in those races; she’s very decisive.”

All three will need to be mentally sharp this week, Flanagan said, as there is very little separation among entries in terms of physical talent.

“There’s a lot of really great athletes and tight range of ability,” Flanagan said. “Honestly, it feels like it rests on my shoulders. Their ability to execute and having a good race plan is probably the most important piece. I don’t know if they can out-run people too much because it’s such a great field. It’s going to be about positioning and who has the right mindset that day.”

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Men’s meet: June 11, 13
Women’s meet: June 12, 14
Where: Hayward Field

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG

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UNC’s Tommy Kitchell Named Southeast Region Men’s Field Athlete Of The Year – Tar Heel Times

Posted Jun 22, 2025 Tommy Kitchell was named Southeast Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year on Friday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Kitchell is the second Tar Heel in as many seasons to earn a Southeast Region postseason award. Kitchell (20.74m) closed out […]

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3 minutes ago

June 22, 2025

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Posted Jun 22, 2025

Tommy Kitchell was named Southeast Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year on Friday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Kitchell is the second Tar Heel in as many seasons to earn a Southeast Region postseason award. Kitchell (20.74m) closed out his college career as the shot put silver medalist in the National Championships.
(GoHeels.com)

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Registration Open for Fall Girls Volleyball in White House

Girls in 3rd through 8th grade are invited to join the White House Parks and Recreation Fall Volleyball League! Whether you’re new to the sport or looking to build on your skills, this beginner-friendly league is perfect for players who love the game. The season runs from July through September, and registration is open now […]

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Austin Peay State University Bolsters Sports Performance Department with Key Additions – Clarksville Online

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Performance Medgar Harrison added Assistant Sports Performance Coaches Austin Van Buskirk and Michael Fiorito and graduate assistants Alan Anderson and Austin Okruta to his staff ahead of the 2025-26 academic year. “In the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, change is both […]

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26 minutes ago

June 22, 2025

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Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Performance Medgar Harrison added Assistant Sports Performance Coaches Austin Van Buskirk and Michael Fiorito and graduate assistants Alan Anderson and Austin Okruta to his staff ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.

“In the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, change is both constant and necessary,” said Harrison. “Over the past 30 days, we’ve seen the departure of six valued staff members, each of whom contributed significantly to the development of our student-athletes and the success of our programs. We thank them for their dedication and wish them continued success in their next chapters. At the same time, I’m excited to announce the addition of four dynamic new professionals to our sports performance team. Each brings unique experiences, fresh energy, and a shared commitment to helping our student-athletes thrive both on and off the field. Their arrival marks a new chapter for our department—one filled with innovation, collaboration, and an unwavering focus on performance, health, and development.”

“We are moving forward with great momentum, and I am confident that this team will not only meet the demands of our growing programs but will also help shape the future of sports performance department at APSU.”

Van Buskirk remains on Harrison’s staff after serving as a volunteer assistant last season while working with the Governors. baseball and track programs.

In addition to his duties for APSU in 2024-25, Van Buskirk also served as a strength and conditioning coach for the 101st Airborne Division on Fort Campbell since July 2023, where he was attached to 1st Brigade, working alongside the 2-32 field artillery regiment and the 2-327 infantry battalions. He helped develop and coach platoon-sized element strength and conditioning programs and supported physical training leaders in managing a battalion of 600-plus soldiers, collaborated with health professional staffs, created and ran Air Assault Prep Academy within the battalion, and more.

Prior to arriving at Fort Campbell, Van Buskirk was a strength and conditioning intern at Ohio State, August 2022-January 2023, working with the 12 Buckeyes programs, where he led team warms ups, recovery sessions, and worked with injured student-athletes’ rehabilitation.

Van Buskirk began his career as an Air Force ROTC in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he completed a semester’s worth of coaching and programming for 80 cadets.

Van Burskirk earned his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green in 2021 and graduated with his master’s from Concordia of Chicago in 2023.

Fiorito comes to Clarksville after serving as a Strength and Conditioning Assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since April 2024, working alongside the Buccaneers’ head of strength and conditioning, Anthony Piroli, in Tampa Bay’s performance rehab department.

In addition, Fiorito also assisted with practice and pregame dynamic warm-up groups, utilized key performance indicators to prescribe and implement programming at the positional and individual levels, and more.

Prior to his time in Tampa, Florida, Fiorito was an Assistant Strength Coach and Recreational Center Coordinator at the New Mexico Military Institute, Jan.-April 2024, where he was responsible for the direct development and implementation of year-long performance training programs for the Broncos’ baseball, basketball, and cross country teams. He also assisted the head strength coach in the programming and execution of training programs for the football and volleyball programs.

Fiorito’s first postgraduate experience came as an NFL Bill Walsh Fellowship Strength Intern for the Buccaneers, July-Sept. 2023, where he met daily with the Director of Sports Performance Rehab, led groups through gameday and pre-game warmups and activations, and more.

He served as a graduate assistant for Toledo’s football team, August 2021-June 2023, leading in-season lifts for developmental groups, trained incoming freshman and pro day athletes, and created and led high needs program for athletes to achieve better exercise technique and general mobility. He began his career as an intern for Cincinnati’s football team.

Fiorito earned his bachelor’s degree from Illinois State in 2021 and his master’s from Toledo in 2023.

Okruta joins Harrison’s staff after previously serving as a strength and conditioning intern for Pittsburg’s football team since Jan.

While with the Panthers’ he helped to set up and break down daily lifts, direct injured student-athletes through their return-to-play progression, demonstrating lifts and drills, and assisted in Pro Day training.

Okruta began his strength and conditioning career at the NST Sports Performace in Twinsburg, Ohio as an intern where he assisted in training, ran drills, and more.

Okruta graduated from Kent State in August 2024 and currently is working towards his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification.

Anderson remains on Harrison’s staff after previously serving as a strength and conditioning coaching intern since July 2024, where he primarily worked with the Governors’ baseball, softball, and track and field programs.

Anderson served in the 101st Airborne Division, 2021-25. During his time in the Army, Anderson served as a Brigade Innovations Officer, DSSB Battalion Adjutant, TC Executive Officer, and a Maintenance Platoon Leader/Battalion Maintenance Officer.

Prior to his time on Fort Campbell, Anderson was a member of the Auburn Army ROTC, July 2019-21.

Anderson earned his bachelor’s degree in physical activity and health in May 2021

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LAPEER VOLLEYBALL CAMP – The County Press

LAPEER — The Lapeer varsity volleyball team and its coaches hosted their second youth camp of the summer Thursday at Rolland-Warner Middle School. Leading the camp was Lawrence Technological University coach Gustavo Heidrich, along with former LTU player and assistant graduate coach Kristi Doherty and others from Volleyball Academy and Shoebox Sports, both located in […]

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What was your favorite move of the Seattle Seahawks offseason?

We’re in the quiet part of the NFL offseason. Unfortunately, for the third time over the past four seasons, the Seattle Seahawks’ offseason started immediately after their regular season finale. This has been one hell of an eventful past few months for the Seahawks. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was fired, Klint Kubiak and several offensive […]

Published

36 minutes ago

June 22, 2025

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We’re in the quiet part of the NFL offseason. Unfortunately, for the third time over the past four seasons, the Seattle Seahawks’ offseason started immediately after their regular season finale.

This has been one hell of an eventful past few months for the Seahawks. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was fired, Klint Kubiak and several offensive assistants were brought on board, Geno Smith and DK Metcalf were traded, Tyler Lockett was released, Ernest Jones and Jarran Reed were re-signed, Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, and DeMarcus Lawrence signed in free agency… and that’s before we even got to the NFL Draft! Just look at this draft class, which included Grey Zabel at No. 18 overall and Jalen Milroe in the third round!

For this weekend’s discussion, we’re zeroing in on your favorite move of the Seahawks offseason. I know I’ve been stringent on limiting you to one answer over the last couple of open threads but that’s not happening here. It’s impractical to limit you to one offseason move when so many answers could be interconnected (e.g. trading Geno led to signing Darnold). I’m very happy with not just the Ernest Jones IV re-sign, but the comparative bargain of a deal it turned out to be. I didn’t want to head into the draft with starting linebacker as a glaring need in a weak LB class. This was a great piece of business from John Schneider. I also love that they didn’t overthink it and addressed offensive line early in the draft by taking Grey Zabel. My preference was for Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson but Zabel was held in higher regard to begin with, so mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned.

Have at it! Scroll down to the comments and tell us what you’ve liked about Seattle’s offseason! The entire window from Grubb’s departure until right now is fair game.

Head to the comments section to leave your answer and join the conversation! You can sign up for a commenting account here and we have full-time moderators to enforce the Community Guidelines.

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2025 TIMES-TRIBUNE BOYS VOLLEYBALL ALL-REGION TEAM – Scranton Times-Tribune

PLAYER OF THE YEAR SHAWN THEODORE Abington Heights Outside hitter, Senior Led Abington Heights to the Lackawanna League championship, the District 2 Class 3A championship and the program’s first win in the PIAA playoffs. … He had 242 kills, 28 aces, 10 blocks, 132 digs, 14 assists this season. … He had 13 games with […]

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49 minutes ago

June 22, 2025

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PLAYER OF THE YEAR

SHAWN THEODORE

Abington Heights

Outside hitter, Senior

Led Abington Heights to the Lackawanna League championship, the District 2 Class 3A championship and the program’s first win in the PIAA playoffs. … He had 242 kills, 28 aces, 10 blocks, 132 digs, 14 assists this season. … He had 13 games with more than 10 kills and had a season-high 26 in the PIAA playoff win over Bethlehem Freedom. … He had 77 kills in four postseason matches. … He finished with 360 kills, 33 aces, 30 blocks, 165 digs, 19 assists in his career.

LUKE PEEREBOOM

Delaware Valley

Middle hitter, Senior

Helped Delaware Valley reach the District 2 Class 3A championship match. … He had 168 kills, 26 blocks, 99 service points with 23 aces, and four assists. … He had 25 kills and 12 service points in the District 2 Class 3A postseason. … He finished his career with 205 kills, 42 blocks, 225 service points, 31 aces and five assists.

SHANE BROWER

Abington Heights

Middle hitter, Senior

Helped Abington Heights to the Lackawanna League championship, the District 2 Class 3A championship and the program’s first win in the PIAA playoffs. … He had 179 kills, 44 aces, 50 blocks, 45 digs, and 17 assists this season. … Had a season-high 20 kills against West Scranton and had 15 kills in PIAA playoff win over Bethlehem Freedom. … He finished with 221, 44 aces, 74 blocks, 62 digs, 22 assists.

VINNY SILON

Western Wayne

Outside hitter, Senior

Led Western Wayne to the District 2 Class 2A semifinals. … He had 314 kills, 121 service points, 35 aces, 17 blocks, and 147 digs this season. … He had a season-high 29 kills against West Scranton and 30 kills in the postseason. … He finished his career with 605 kills, 305 service points, 97 aces, 39 blocks, and 249 digs.

RYAN HORUTZ

Abington Heights

Setter, Sophomore

Helped Abington Heights to the Lackawanna League championship, the District 2 Class 3A championship and the program’s first win in the PIAA playoffs. … He had 596 assists, 31 aces, 31 blocks, and 110 digs. … Had a season-high 54 assists in the PIAA playoff win over Freedom. … Finished career with 863 assists, 84 kills, 57 aces, 44 blocks, and 187 digs.

GINO GUALANDI

Delaware Valley

Outside hitter, Senior

Helped Delaware Valley reach the District 2 Class 3A championship match. … He had 165 kills, four blocks, seven assists, 71 service points and 32 aces. … He had 25 kills and five aces in the District 2 Class 3A postseason. … He finished career with 303 kills, 26 blocks, 22 assists, 162 service points and 58 aces.

LUKE STEVENS

Valley View

Outside hitter, Junior

Led Valley View to 10 wins and the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinals in the second year for the program. … He had 145 kills to lead the team and added 46 blocks and 44 aces. … He had 10 kills and four blocks against District 2 Class 2A runner-up Crestwood. … Had 10 kills and three blocks against District 2 Class 3A champion Abington Heights.

THEO BLACK

Western Wayne

Setter, Senior

Led Western Wayne to the District 2 Class 2A semifinals. … He had 584 assists, 128 service points, 14 aces, 12 kills, and 87 digs this season. … He had a season-high 49 assists against West Scranton and had 70 assists in the postseason. … He finished his career with 1,087 assists, 320 service points, 40 aces, 19 kills, and 117 digs.

JOHN PYATT

Western Wayne

Middle hitter, Senior

Led Western Wayne to the District 2 Class 2A semifinals. … He had 224 kills digs, 162 service points, 40 aces, 51 blocks, and 84 digs this season. … He had a season-high 17 kills in wins over West Scranton and Nanticoke Area. … He had 33 kills, 20 service points, five aces, five blocks and 19 digs in two postseason matches.

JAMIE SPANGLER

Abington Heights

Guided the Comets to an undefeated season in the Lackawanna League, the program’s second District 2 Class 3A championship and its first PIAA victory in history. … Has a career record of 183-30 in 13 seasons. … Fourth Coach of the Year award.

Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 12:00 AM EDT

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