Coal Ridge High School senior Brilee Jensen will officially become a Colorado Mesa University Maverick after graduation, committing to the track and field team during a signing ceremony in the school gym on April 23.

Surrounded by friends, family and coaches, Jensen reflected on her journey from a first-time track athlete as a freshman to a state champion thrower with college-level aspirations.

“I am really going to miss all my teammates,” Jensen said. “I loved getting to know them throughout the years and moving from one sport to another with them since middle school. Although I will miss all the girls and their silly nicknames, I am excited for a new start — getting to know new people, facing new challenges and hopefully expanding my throwing events at the college level.”

A tri-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and track, Jensen said Colorado Mesa University appealed to her not only for its successful athletics program but also for its nursing program, welcoming campus atmosphere and proximity to family.

She originally joined the track team just to stay active in the spring but quickly found a supportive environment that sparked a passion for throwing.

“I showed up to practice for a few weeks and really loved the community around me,” she said. “They all want me to become the best person I can be and keep me challenged at the same time.”

Although hesitant at first about her sprinting ability, Jensen quickly found her strength in the shot put and discus.

“I love both shot and disc in different ways,” she said. “I love the disc because it makes me feel fast and explosive, and I love the shot because it makes me feel strong and joyful. Discus is always a challenge, but I feel the most accomplished with shot.”

That sense of accomplishment culminated in 2023, when she won the Class 3A state title in shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 9.5 inches. She’s since surpassed that mark, finishing her senior season with a personal best of 40-1.5 in shot put and 115-9 in discus.

“I feel like my personal realization of success came when I won state as a sophomore,” Jensen said. “I love the competition and seeing myself improve little by little each week. Every week is a chance to see all the work I’ve been putting in come together.”

Jensen said her motivation is rooted in growth — through both wins and losses.

“I personally love feeling all the pain on the bad days,” she said. “I know the result will be great one day. It feels amazing seeing all your training come together and showing everyone what you’ve been training for. No one truly sees your bad days, but everyone will see the good days and how it came to be.”

Though known for her strength in the throwing ring, Jensen is no slouch on the track, running the 100-meter dash in 14.42 seconds.

“Coach Kirk thinks I’m a competitive sprinter,” she said, laughing. “But the running events have never been my forte.”

Before trading her Titans blue for CMU maroon, Jensen will compete one last time for Coal Ridge at the 2025 CHSAA Class 3A State Championship on Thursday, May 15, in Lakewood.

“I have felt so comforted within my own community,” she said. “Since signing, many people have come up to me with hugs and kind words. I feel like no matter what I do, this community will always be here supporting me through it all.”

“I just want to say thank you, not only to my coaches and teammates, but also to my family and friends for everything they do,” she added. “They are amazing role models, and without their support, I don’t know where I would be today.”

Columbus East and Columbus North will play each other in their softball sectional opener, but the city rivals would have to wait until the finals to meet in the baseball sectional and boys volleyball sectional.

The Bull Dog and Olympian softball teams will play in the first semifinal of the Class 4A East Central Sectional May 28. North beat East 12-4 April 21.

Franklin will play the East Central-Whiteland winner in the second semifinal. The sectional final will be May 29.

Hauser will play Oldenburg Academy in the first round of the Class A Rising Sun Sectional. The winner will meet Crothersville in the semifinals. Trinity Lutheran will play Milan in the first round, with the winner facing Rising Sun or Jac-Cen-Del in the semifinals.

Also in Class A, Edinburgh will play Knightstown in the first round at Tri, with the winner meeting North Decatur or Tri in the semifinals. South Decatur drew a first-round bye and will face Waldron or Morristown in the first semifinal.

Jennings County drew a bye and will play Lawrenceburg or Greensburg in the second semifinal of the 3A Batesville Sectional.

Brown County will host Brownstown Central in the first round of the 2A Brown County Sectional. The winner will meet South Ripley in the first semifinal.

The regional round is June 3, with semistates June 7. The state finals are June 13-14 at Purdue.

Baseball

Columbus East will host a 4A baseball sectional. Columbus North will play Whiteland in the first round May 28. The Olympians will meet Whiteland in the first semifinal, and the North-Whiteland winner will face East Central in the second semifinal May 30. The sectional final is June 2.

Hauser will play Jac-Cen-Del, and Trinity Lutheran will meet Rising Sun in the first round of the Class A Jac-Cen-Del Sectional. The winners will square off in the semifinals.

Also in Class A, Edinburgh will play Morristown in the first round of the Morristown Sectional. The winner will meet Knightstown or Waldron in the semifinals. South Decatur will face Tri in the first round, with the winner playing Southwestern (Shelby) or North Decatur in the semifinals.

Jennings County will host a 3A Sectional and will play Lawrenceburg in the first round. The winner will meet Franklin County or Batesville in the semifinals.

Brown County will play Austin in the first round of the 2A Switzerland County Sectional. The winner will face Southwestern (Hanover) or Brownstown Central in the semifinals.

The regional round is June 7, with semistates June 14. The state finals June 20-21 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

Boys volleyball

This is the first year boys volleyball is being sanctioned by the IHSAA and East and North are the only local schools entered. The Bull Dogs will play Greenwood Christian Academy in the first round May 14, and East will face Whiteland in the first round May 15 in the Franklin Sectional.

The North-GCA winner will play Shelbyville in the first semifinal May 17. The East-Whiteland winner will meet the Greenwood-Franklin winner in the second semifinal May 17. The sectional final will be the evening of May 17.

The Franklin Sectional winner will advance to the May 24 Perry Meridian Regional. The state finals are May 31 at Purdue’s Mackey Arena.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Dickinson women’s track and field team collected multiple medals on Sunday to knock on the door of a Centennial Conference crown, but it was not quite enough as the Red and White finished in second as the action concluded at Patterson Field on the campus Ursinus College. Junior sprinter Erin Olsavsky ended a memorable weekend by being named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet.

Sprints

Erin Olsavsky opened her day up by securing second in the 100m with a time of 12.51. With hurdles added to the distance Annie Leder clocked in at 16.22 for fourth, while Leah Biwott collected seventh (17.72).

Olsavsky grabbed her second medal of Sunday during the 200m as she put up a personal record time of 25.22 to take the win.

The 400m saw Maddie Brown lay down the second fastest time of 57.84 to claim silver, followed by Marley Kurey who just missed the podium in fourth (58.57). Once hurdles were placed on the track Lily Swain hit the line in 1:07.02 to seize fourth, while Lily Cusa clocked in at 1:09.35 to earn sixth. 

Distance

The duo of Amiyah Priebe and Sophia Kovalski did battle in the 1500m taking 11th (4:44.55) and 25th (5:01.32) respectively.

Two of three podium spots for the 5000m thanks to Elizabeth Barbash occupying second (17:50.51) and Maddie Garber putting up a personal record time of 17:55.84 to nab third.

Relays

The 4x100m team of Emily Chaine, Maddie Kyle, Leder and Olsavsky collected seventh by stopping the clock at 52.90.

Abbe Kitchin, Brown, Kurey and Swain clocked in at 3:59.79 for second during the 4x400m.

Field

Three members of the Red and White competed for the javelin title with Olsavsky grabbing fourth with a toss of 30.95m, followed by Sarah Glickson in 12th (22.66m) and Jenna Deep in 13th (22.56m).

Damien Labrada earned a Top-10 finish for the shot put with a mark of 11.33m being good for seventh, while Deep just missed the Top-10 landing in 11th (10.42m).

Leder nabbed sixth in the triple jump after hitting the sand at 10.80m.  

Team Standings

Johns Hopkins won the title with a score of 338.5, followed by: Dickinson (125.5), Swarthmore (109), Ursinus (66.5), Franklin & Marshall and Haverford (47), Gettysburg (41), Muhlenberg (37.5), Bryn Mawr (32) and McDaniel (14).

Up Next

A select group of individuals will head to Chester, Pennsylvania a week from Monday to take part in the Widener University Final Qualifier.

Suntory Sunbirds Osaka claimed the inaugural men’s title of Japanese volleyball’s rebranded SV.League on Monday with a three-set win over JTEKT Stings Aichi in Game 2 of the best-of-three final.

The Sunbirds followed Saturday’s come-from-behind Game 1 victory with a 29-27, 25-16, 25-22 win at LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.

Suntory Sunbirds Osaka players, including Ran Takahashi (far R), celebrate winning the men’s SV.League volleyball title after beating JTEKT Stings Aichi in Game 2 of the playoff final at LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on May 5, 2025. (Kyodo) 

The Sunbirds ended the seesaw opening set with a spike by Ran Takahashi after saving three set points. The Osaka-based club kept the momentum going in the next two sets.

The SV.League was launched last year with the aim of becoming the world’s most competitive and popular volleyball league by 2030. SV.League clubs have lured many big-name players from around the world.

The Sunbirds finished the regular season in second place behind Osaka Bluteon, who lost in the semifinals to the fourth-place Stings. The top six teams advanced to the playoffs.

Related coverage:

Volleyball: Osaka Marvelous win inaugural SV.League women’s title

TURLOCK, Calif. — Cal State East Bay women’s track and field capped off its 2025 season at the CCAA Track & Field Championships presented by Pollo Campero this past Thursday through Saturday at Al Brenda Track at Warrior Stadium, hosted by Stanislaus State. The Pioneers placed 10th among 11 scoring teams, highlighted by a pair of standout performances that brought home one gold medal and one silver medal.

Notable Pioneer Performances

Track

• Jenna Rodriguez captured the CCAA title in the 800 meters on Saturday with a time of 2:11.32 seconds, meeting the NCAA provisional standard for the third time this season. She became the first Pioneer women’s track & field student-athlete to win a gold medal at the CCAA Championships since 2022, when Chase Worthen claimed the 1,500 meters.

• Destini Clinton ran a personal best of 12.77 seconds in the 100 meter preliminaries.

Field

• Julia Carmona earned silver in the triple jump on Friday with a personal best mark of 11.85 meters. She was also named Freshman of the Meet for women’s track and field and also competed in the long jump and on the 4×400 meter relay team.

Cal Poly Pomona claimed the team title for the fourth consecutive year, continuing its dominance in the conference.

Up next, Rodriguez has a strong chance to represent Cal State East Bay at the 2025 NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships later this month in Pueblo, Colorado. She met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in the 800 meters multiple times this season, including Saturday. The official announcement of national qualifiers is expected during the week of May 12.

EWING, NJ — #5 Rowan claimed its tenth-straight New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship, totaling 313 points to finish 85 points ahead of second place and host The College of New Jersey. The team title marks the 23rd overall in program history.

Stockton was third (87 points) followed by Montclair State in fourth (49), Ramapo in fifth (46), Rutgers-Camden in sixth (28), NJCU in seventh (21), Kean in eighth (19), and Rutgers-Newark in ninth (14) respectively.

FINAL RESULTS

Sunday’s highlights:
– Jason Agyemang took down two events on Sunday, winning the 110 meter hurdles (13.74) and the 400 meter hurdles (52.69), both of which are PR’s. His time in the 400 hurdles puts him at #6 in Division III.
– The Profs went 1-2-3-4 in the high jump as Jamile Gantt had the top mark of 2.06 meters. Arrington Rhym was second (1.98 meters) with Noah Wampole in third (1.93 meters), and Derrick Robinson in fourth (1.88 meters).
– Joshua Cason ran 14:54.87 to win the 5000 meters.
– Shamar Love registered a pair of second-place finishes and two Division III top 20 times; first in the 100 meters (10.46 – 18th) and the 200 meters (21.18 – 15th).
– The 4×100 relay of Love, Masai Byrd, Robert McKinney, and Evan Corcoran set a meet record of 40.88 in a first-place result.
– Lowrentzky Ambroise, Nana Agyemang, Samael Milevoix, and Luke Halbruner made up the winning 4×400 relay (3:16.20).
– Josh Caudill threw his second-best outdoor mark in finishing second in the shot put (14.96 meters).
– Val Augustin took third in the decathlon (5126 points).
– Cole Kolodziej cracked the four-minute mark for a PR in the 1500 meters (3:59.25) where he was fifth.

Next up for the squad is the Widener Last Chance Meet on Monday, May 12th for last cracks at qualifying for the Division III Championships which kick off on May 22nd.