COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Seven Minnesota State student-athletes were recognized this year as Strength & Conditioning Athlete of the Year for their sport through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA). Winners were honored at various team events this spring with a certificate.
 
The Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year Award program recognizes those collegiate and high school athletes whose athletic accomplishments reflect their dedication to strength training and conditioning.
 
Awards have been given since 1998.
 

” These student-athletes are the best of the best in Strength & Conditioning,” said Minnesota State Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Andy Stocks. “They have shown tremendous effort and passion on a daily basis. Their work ethic and dedication to Strength & Conditioning are undeniable. Their progress and performance during their collegiate career have far exceeded expectations.”
 
2024-25 Minnesota State Strength & Conditioning Athlete of the Year Winners
Emily Russo (Basketball)

Abby Gronholz (Swimming & Diving)
Nathan Gribble (Football)
Lucy Weninger (Soccer)

Megan Narveson (Track & Field)
Spencer Wright (Baseball)
Emma Loveall (Volleyball)
 
Stocks on Russo

“Emily has had a tremendous impact on the Minnesota State basketball program and the Strength & Conditioning department. Her work ethic sets a great example for others and her leadership drives her team to success. Emily is a true role model.”
 
Stocks on Gronholz
“Abby has shown tremendous effort in all aspects of being a student-athlete. She uses her performance in the weight room to drive success in the pool. Her hard work has won multiple NSIC championships and NCAA All-American honors. She is also successful in the classroom, being named to the NSIC All-Academic Team. Her drive to excel will lead her to great success in the future.”
 
Stocks on Gribble

“Gribble is a stalwart for the Maverick football program and the Strength & Conditioning department. His grittiness, intensity, and love for lifting are second to none. Gribble’s blue collar work ethic will drive him to great success in the future.”
 
Lee on Narveson
“Megan has fully bought into strength training to further her success any time she runs. She has used the weight room as a place to thrive and ensure her body stays strong and durable so she can handle what comes with running longer distances. She pushes herself every training session no matter how she feels and consistently finds a way to improve! She is a joy to have around every training session and does a great job pushing her teammates to the next level! She helps foster a positive training environment for our entire weight room!”
 
Lee on Wright
“Spencer understands and uses the weight room to create the best competitive advantage he can for himself on the mound. He trains with the highest intent whenever he steps in the weight room. He comes in every day looking to better himself as the strongest and most powerful athlete he can be. He also holds his teammates to the highest standards in the weight room to create a hard-working culture for the entire program! He is a great leader to have in the room every day.”
 
Lee on Loveall
“Emma bought in fully to the training system here on campus and used it to her advantage. She always came in with a positive mindset and put her best foot forward when it came to training every day. She pushed herself to be the strongest and most powerful version of herself, which would then help translate to her performance on the Volleyball Court. She was a joy to have around in the weight room during her time on campus!”
 

In the middle of June, every Sun Devil head coach casts a single vote for the Sun Devil Coach of the Year in honor of Frank Kush.

The award – presented around the anniversary of Coach Kush’s passing (June 22, 2017) – is a way for each coach to recognize a peer that impressed them the most.

There are no true guidelines for this honor; coaches can nominate someone who earned any honors, a coach who made an impression in their first year, or simply the nicest coach in the building. Once the nominations are in, one Sun Devil coach earns what one can consider the ultimate show of respect: an award from their peers in the 26-sport, 22-head coach department.

This year’s winner – and Arizona State graduate — did all of this…

–led his team to the Big 12 title (after being picked for last)

–earned Big 12 Coach of the Year

–had his team go undefeated at home for the first time since 2004

–placed his team seventh in the final Associated Press rankings

–impressed everyone associated with the program with a complete rebuild after back-to-back 3-9 seasons (only one was his)

–had every head coach vote for him, the first time that has happened in the awards history.

Congratulations Kenny Dillingham!

Where leadership meets legacy

As voted by his fellow ASU coaches, @KennyDillingham has been named the 2024-25 Frank Kush Coach of the Year! #ForksUp /// #ActivateTheValley pic.twitter.com/zVOUyAQM1V

— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) June 17, 2025

ANNUAL FRANK KUSH AWARD WINNERS

2024-25: Kenny Dillingham, football

2023-24: JJ Van Niel, volleyball

2022-23: Bob Bowman, swim and dive

2021-22: Matt Thurmond, men’s golf

2020-21: Todd Clapper, water polo

2018-19: Greg Powers, hockey

2017-18: Trisha Ford, softball

General | 6/17/2025 4:18:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – St. John Fisher student athletes Emma Cooper (field hockey), Audrey Grieb (field hockey), Sydney Carpenter (women’s lacrosse), Kaley Griffin (women’s lacrosse), Anna Winters (women’s rowing) and Sarah Burgess (women’s golf) have been selected to the 2025 NCAA Division III College Communicators Academic All-District Women’s At Large Team.

Cooper and Carpenter have advanced to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. NCAA, NAIA and College Division Women’s At-Large Academic All-America® First-, second- and third-team honorees will be announced on July 8. 

The 2025 Academic All-District® Women’s At-Large teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes at-large honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Cooper sustained a 4.0 grade-point average as a biochemistry student at Fisher. She started in all 20 games and recorded 20 points during the 2024 season en route to second-team All-Region honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). Cooper is a four-time NFHCA DIII Scholar of Distinction. 

Grieb maintained a 3.93 grade point average as a nursing student at Fisher. A four-time NFHCA Division III Scholar of Distinction, Grieb played and started in all 20 games this past season, tallying 20 points on six goals and eight assists. She garnered All-Empire 8 Conference first-team honors. 

Carpenter, who studied education and finished her time at Fisher with a 3.90 GPA, earned first-team All-America honors from the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association for the second time in three years this past season. She finished her career with 300 points, the second-most in Empire 8 history, and holds the conference record for draw controls with 504. 

An accounting and finance student, Griffin has maintained a 3.98 GPA through her junior year. This past season, she set career highs in goals (44), assists (14), total points (58) and draw controls. She was named MVP of the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, during which she had seven points on six goals and one assist to go along with nine draw controls over two games.

Winters, a rising junior, has maintained a 3.76 grade-point average while studying accounting and Spanish for two years at Fisher. She was named to the 2025 Liberty League Women’s Rowing All-Academic Team in May. 

Burgess, a biology major, has sustained a 4.0 GPA through two years at St. John Fisher. She earned All-Empire 8 first-team honors for the 2024-25 season. 

Harvard’s track and field team capped off an impressive week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this weekend, earning All-America First Team selections on both the men’s and women’s side.

Hungarian sophomore Ferenc Kovacs took home the bronze in the men’s 1,500-meter final with a time of 3:47.42 — becoming Harvard’s highest finisher in the event. Then, just two days later, he ran a 3:34.79 in the event at the Portland Track Festival to set a new Ivy League record and put him in a tie for the 14th fastest 1500-meter time in NCAA history. The two races added to Kovacs’ already impressive resume, after he broke the 1,500-meter school record during his freshman campaign.

Alongside Kovacs, seniors Chloe Fair and Izzy Goudros also received first team honors — an award given to the top eight finishers. Fair, who finished sixth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, becomes just the fourth Harvard women’s hurdler to receive the honor. Goudros finished seventh in the heptathlon after a stellar long jump of 6.39 meters moved her up in the standings from 14th place and earned her a new school record.

The Crimson had an historic performance at the 2024 Outdoor Championships, sending a record 18 athletes and picking up a first-place finish from Maia Ramsden ’24. Still, even though the team did not match last season’s stand-out results, this season marked the third consecutive year the program sent more than 10 athletes to compete, with 15 making the trip.

Fair said that the energy of the meet was palpable — particularly due to its location at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

“Everyone there is actually genuinely fans of track and field,” Fair said. “You look up and the stadium’s almost full, and it’s just absolutely insane.”

Fair, who graduated in May and is now headed to the University of Georgia to continue her track career, said it was “tough” knowing that the meet was her last time competing for the Crimson.

“Being a part of Harvard track and field is the thing I am most proud of from my time at Harvard,” Fair said.

Senior Ben Rosa was one of Harvard’s six athletes to earn an All-America Second Team nod, as the Ivy League 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter champion finished tenth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA championships. Rosa is Harvard’s first All-American in the event since Crimson star Graham Blanks, who surrendered his remaining NCAA eligibility in December to compete professionally.

Because the race started off slowly, Rosa said he knew “there was going to be a big burn up somewhere in the second half.” But even as the bell lap arrived, the group was still clustered together, and he liked his odds.

“About 600 meters to go, we were still so bunched up. I was saying, ‘shoot, I could win this thing,’” Rosa said. “At that point, I was racing to win.”

With 200 meters to go, the race finally spaced out as Ishmael Kipkurui of New Mexico made a decisive move, gapping the rest of the field. Still, Rosa — who was also participating in the final race of his collegiate career — said he was content with his 10th place finish.

“10th is a little bit far removed from that, but I would not have had it any other way,” he said.

Sophomore Tito Alofe, who was participating in the long jump at the championships for the second straight year, had been battling a nagging knee injury coming into the meet. Just three weeks after winning the Ivy League championships with a personal best jump of 2.25 meters, he aggravated his knee while qualifying for the outdoor championships at regionals.

“When I competed on Friday, I just was not very close to 100%. I actually did better than I expected, to be 100% honest,” Alofe said.

But he will head into the offseason encouraged by his season and motivated for the future.

“While I did not end up getting first team all-American, which was my ultimate goal, I’d say I’ve put myself in a pretty good position to do pretty big things next year,” he said.

On the women’s side, senior Victoria Bossong capped off her decorated Crimson career with a ninth place finish in the 800 meters, earning All-America Second Team recognition.

With the NCAA championships behind them, Harvard’s track and field athletes will now have some time to rest before many return to Oregon for the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at the end of July.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.