NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  Perhaps the thing Falon Spearman loved most about track when she gave up gymnastics to focus on running was controlling her own destiny. It didn’t matter what she looked like getting over the hurdles. There were no judges. If she got to the finish line first, she won. It was uncomplicated and fulfilling. Track rewarded what she put into it.

Most of the time.

There was nothing particularly simple or satisfying about why Spearman didn’t qualify for the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Running in the East Regional in Lexington, Kentucky, she recorded successive personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles. In the quarterfinals, the final regional race from which 12 runners would advance to the NCAA Championships, she ran the 12th-fastest time—one-thousandth of a second slower than the 11th-fastest runner.  That runner advanced. Through a quirk of the format, Spearman went home.

The quarterfinals split runners into three heats. The top three finishers in each heat advance to the NCAA Championships, as do the runners with the next three fastest times across all heats. Running in a different heat, another competitor ran a slower time than Spearman but finished third in the heat—advancing automatically and bumping Spearman.

“What was so devastating for me was the thought that I have to do all of this over again next year,” Spearman said of that moment in Lexington. “All of that training and hard work and literally blood, sweat and tears to get to that moment. I bawled because I knew I had to do it all over again–and maybe to get the same outcome the next year. That terrified me.”

She did it all over again as a junior, but the outcome wasn’t the same. Along with teammate Allyria McBride, who qualified in the 400-meter hurdles, Spearman will represent Vanderbilt in this week’s NCAA Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. In addition to advancing to compete on the biggest stage in collegiate track and field, Spearman broke Vanderbilt’s school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.03 seconds in the opening round of regionals in Jacksonville, Florida.

• Watch Falon Spearman and Allyria McBride compete in the NCAA Championships on Thursday, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN.

There was more hard work, more blood, sweat and tears (you try smacking into a hurdle while moving at a speed most folks need a bicycle to reach). There was also someone there to remind her what was possible, someone who knows better than anyone how hard she’s worked—not just for tenths of seconds in a race but to grow into someone strong enough to push aside a fear of failure and start over. Twins and teammates, Falon and Santana Spearman are different people. They took different routes to Vanderbilt, Falon arriving as a transfer from Duke after her freshman year. But they know how hard it is to be yourself.

It’s why Santana knew Falon could put last year behind her. It’s why she approached her sister before their first race in this year’s East Regional with a simple message.

You’re going to nationals.

Finding Her Font

Falon was about 10 or 11 when she switched her focus from gymnastics to track and field, getting there ahead of Santana. A friend of the family encouraged her to try hurdles. It was a natural fit, the hip flexibility born of her gymnastics training lending itself to the new task. And more than a physical match, hurdling appealed to her in a way that no other event did.

“I feel like had I not started off with hurdles, I’m not sure how much I would have enjoyed track,” Spearman said. “I love—love—hurdling. Running is fun too, but at the end of the day I’m a hurdler and I genuinely love to hurdle. I think just being able to try my body in different positions and run through the air was very interesting to me from a young age.”

Where outsiders might look across lanes of hurdlers and see a blur of identical images, Spearman sees a canvas for creativity. With its prescribed skills and scripted movements, gymnastics felt stifling. On the track, as she poetically puts it, everyone is free to have their own font. On the diminutive side, she doesn’t look or run like many of her peers. She throws her whole body into propelling herself over the hurdles. It isn’t anyone’s idea of textbook form, coaches once comparing her to a spinning top, but it doesn’t matter if it’s effective.

“It doesn’t look very organized when I’m running,” Spearman allowed with a laugh. “I do a lot with my body, which is not a great thing. But when it goes well, it goes well.”

Although 100 meters was her ticket to Eugene this year and has long been her primary event, she has a not-so-secret soft spot for the 400-meter hurdles. She narrowly missed qualifying alongside McBride in that event, as well, while setting personal bests in both the first round and quarterfinals of the East Regional. The longer distance affords more technical grace, as she puts it. There’s time to think and adjust. It’s more of a chess match—albeit one in which seemingly every muscle in your body, not to mention your lungs, encourages you to find something better to do with your time by the final stretch. The 100, by comparison, is a leap of faith, testing just how much you believe in yourself.

“You have to be so aggressive and go so fast, you cannot afford to think once the race starts,” Spearman said. “Your body just has to go into default mode. I’m not exaggerating when I say you don’t have time to think about anything during that race. The hurdles come at you so quick. You have to trust that everything you’ve been doing in practice will copy and paste to the race.

“And that’s a very scary thing when it comes to, for example, regionals where that meet and that one point in time dictates whether or not you’re going to nationals.”

Twins Reunited

Maybe that’s why Santana’s message to her the morning of their first race in this year’s regionals hit home as more than idle encouragement. No one could better read her.

The sisters set out to go to different colleges, even mentally scratching potential destinations off their list if the other showed interest. It wasn’t out of animosity toward each other. It wasn’t a desire to get away from each other, a negative motivation. Instead, it was a positive step toward each making her own way in the world. Even so, all the intentionality in the world doesn’t make it any less strange to be on your own.

“For the first time, life was happening—school, track, everything—and she wasn’t there to do it with me,” Falon said. “That was just such an interesting feeling, knowing that I have to catch her up on everything. I would actually have conversations with her as if she had been there. And she’d be like, ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’”

After a frustrating freshman season that ended earlier than she would have hoped, Falon went to watch Santana compete in the 2023 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Seeing her sister happy and in her element competing against the best in the country, Falon wondered whether she had made a mistake not considering Vanderbilt. When she entered the transfer portal, Althea Thomas, director of cross country and track and field, was an easy sell. Falon was initially more concerned about pitching Santana on the idea.

She needn’t have worried. With her sister’s blessing, Falon made the move to Nashville.

In high school, the sisters disliked competing against each other. Hurdles weren’t Santana’s sole focus, so it never felt like a level playing field. That held true for a time after Falon transferred to Vanderbilt—only by then it was because Falon felt her lost freshman season put her far behind her thriving sister. Keeping as many lanes and teammates as possible between each other in practices, they tried to avoid comparison and competition.

That has gradually changed, so much so that they now seek out the competition. Part of it was Falon regaining her form. Any tenths of a second between them vanished. Perhaps part was also growing into their shared space at Vanderbilt. They still don’t live together—that would be a little bit too much shared space, Falon notes with mock alarm—but they are close to inseparable nonetheless. Secure in what makes them different, they make each other better on and off track—complete with a little good-natured ribbing.

“I feel like when we do well in the training and we both get fast, we can have the trash talk,” Falon said. “You can just feel the energy when you’re racing against her in practice. The goal is obviously to get to the line first, but you also want to get down off each hurdle fast, so we can just feel each other trying to get off the hurdles as fast as we can. There’s a lot of banter now—and that just means we’re both doing the right thing.”

On to Eugene

Santana has always been the calm sister, Falon the bundle of energy, not altogether unlike that spinning top to which her coaches compared her. Santana spreads her interest far and wide at Vanderbilt. Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day earlier this year, she worked with peers at Emory to organize the Vanderbilt Athletics’ Day of Service at the King Center in Atlanta. Last year, she studied abroad in South Africa. She’s the one Falon goes to for perspective. She’s the one who counseled Falon in the aftermath of last season’s heartbreaking near-miss at regionals, reminding her that if she did all she could—as evidenced by setting personal bests throughout the meet—then it wasn’t meant to be.

And even this year, when Santana finished just five places and one-tenth of a second shy of advancing to nationals after running a personal best in the quarterfinals, she had the perspective to celebrate her sister’s joy.

“She knew this was my dream since high school,” Falon said. “She knew how much led up to that moment. It was great having someone to share it with, especially someone who knows what you’ve been through. Transitioning from Duke to Vanderbilt was very hard. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life—I’m young, so it was definitely the most difficult thing that I’ve done so far. And having someone who’s seen you through it all— and sharing that moment with them—really meant a lot to me.”

As the sisters like to say, when something good happens to one of them it happens to both of them.

Mosebi collected his first career second-team All-American honor, after placing 17th in the men’s 100-meters with a time of 10.21.

The relay team of Jaiden Rollins, Mosebi, Durian Moss and Amare Williams earned second-team All-America status, placing 16th with a time of 39.31.

Tyson Williams concluded his season in the 110 hurdles, crossing the line in 20th at 13.77.

Curtis Williams rounded out the evening for FSU in the men’s triple jump finishing in 20th with a mark of 7.18m

The 20th ranked women’s team will begin competition on Thursday, starting with the 4×100 relay at 7:05 p.m. ET. Expanded coverage throughout the meet can also be found on the ESPN family of networks and can be accessed at Seminoles.com. Live Results will be available here. 

NOLE SUMMARY:  

–Men’s long jump (final):

Curtis Williams | 20th | 7.18m (23-4)

-Men’s 110m hurdles (Semifinal)   

Tyson Williams | 20th | 13.77

Men’s 100-meters (Semifinal)  

Neo Mosebi | 17th | 10.21

-Men’s 4×100-meter relay (first round):  

Jaiden Rollins, Neo Mosebi, Durian Moss, Amare Williams | 16th | 39.31

FLORIDA STATE NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE 

THURSDAY, JUNE 12 – Women’s semifinal

7:05 p.m.     4x100m relay

7:38 p.m.     3,000m Steeplechase- Brooke Mullins

8:25 p.m.     100m –Shenese Walker, Joella Lloyd

8:41 p.m.     400m – Kaelyaah Liburd 

9:14 p.m.     400m hurdles – Tyra Wilson 

10:36 p.m.   4x400m relay

FRIDAY, JUNE 13- Men’s final

8:10 p.m.-   Triple jump-Kyvon Tatham 

 

For more information on Florida State track and field, follow Twitter (X) @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.      

 

 

European Aquatics is proud to announce the full details of a new series of education clinics as part of the European Aquatics Academy programme for this summer’s junior and u23 competitions.

Running alongside the 2025 Junior and U23 Championships, these clinics are designed to support the development of coaches, technical officials, and support staff across all disciplines. From swimming and diving to artistic swimming, open water, and water polo, each session provides expert-led insight into key areas of athlete performance, technical evaluation, and mental preparation.

Delivered in close collaboration with the World Aquatics development team, the sessions are led by experienced professionals and offer a unique opportunity to learn, grow, and share expertise with peers across Europe.

All clinics are free to attend, and registration is now open at www.eaacademy.eu. Places are available for both in-person and virtual attendance, ensuring accessibility for all federations and individuals.

We encourage every National Federation to take full advantage of these opportunities, invest in the people behind their athletes, and contribute to raising the standard of aquatic sport across the continent.

Summer 2025 Clinics – Now Open for Booking at eaacademy.eu

Open Water Junior Championships – Setubal

Topic: Role of nutrition in preparation for OW Swimming Events for Age Groups

Thursday 19 June 2025 | 16:00–17:00 | Lisbon (WEST)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/open-water-championships-junior-setubal-role-of-nutrition-in-preparation-for-ow-swimming-events-for-age-groups

Junior Artistic Swimming Championships – Athens

Topic: Competition Through the Eyes of an Artistic Swimming Technical Controller

Wednesday 25 June 2025 | 18:00–19:30 | Athens (EEST)

Facilitator: Ana Montero

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/junior-artistic-swimming-championships-athens-real-basemarks-video-examples-of-routines

Junior Diving Championships – Athens

Clinic #1: Performance, analyses and evaluation approach of technic in junior diving

Wednesday 25 June 2025 | 18:30–20:00 | Athens (EEST)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/junior-diving-championships-athens-clinic-1-performance-analyses-and-evaluation-approach-of-technic-in-junior-diving-2

Clinic #2: Neuro Linguistic Programming and other aspects of mental preparation; nutrition in competition and for physical advancement

Friday 27 June 2025 | 18:30–20:00 | Athens (EEST)

Facilitator: Ingrid Fantanals

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/junior-diving-championships-athens-clinic-2-neuro-linguistic-programming-and-other-aspects-of-mental-preparation-nutrition-in-competition-and-for-the

U23 Swimming Championships – Samorin

Topic: The Development of Eneli Jefimova

Friday 27 June 2025 | 19:00–20:00 | CEST

Facilitator: Henry Hein

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/u23-swimming-championships-samorin-the-development-of-eneli-jefimova

Water Polo U16 Women – Manisa  

Topic: Vertical position with ball training

Monday 30 June 2025 | 11:00 – 12:00 | Istanbul (GMT+3)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/water-polo-u16-women-manisa-vertical-position-with-ball-training

Junior Swimming Championships – Samorin

Topic: Is the end-spurt the key to success?

Saturday 5 July 2025 2025 | 13:00 | CEST

Facilitator: Joshua Neuloh

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/junior-swimming-championships-samorin-is-the-end-spurt-the-key-to-success

Water Polo U16 Men – Manisa

Topic: Vertical position with ball training

Thursday 10 July 2025 | 11:00 – 12:00 | Istanbul (GMT+3)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/water-polo-u16-men-manisa-vertical-position-with-ball-training

Water Polo U18 Men – Oradea  

Topic: Pressing defence individual tactic and man-down defence

Saturday 23 August 2025 | 13:00 – 14:00 | Bucharest (EEST)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/water-polo-u18-men-oradea-pressing-defence-individual-tactic-and-man-down-defence

Water Polo U18 Women – Gzira

Topic: Pressing defence individual tactic and man-down defence

Saturday 6 September 2025 | 13:00 – 14:00 | Malta (CEST)

https://www.eaacademy.eu/lms/courses/water-polo-u18-women-gzira-pressing-defence-individual-tactic-and-man-down-defence

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech Athletics was recognized for its outstanding creative and digital content, earning a total of seven awards in the 2024-25 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Creative & Digital Design Contest.
 
The annual contest, which continues to grow in size and prestige, drew a record-breaking 2,160 entries this year, including 930 from the University Division.  Louisiana Tech was among more than 250 institutions and conference offices participating, with over 650 individuals recognized across the contest.
 
LA Tech’s content creators were honored across multiple categories, showcasing the department’s depth and versatility in creative production:

• Jun Lee, Assistant A.D. for Creative Video Services, earned two top five finishes in the Short Form Videos/Reels category:

  • 3rd Place – Football Game Week Hype Video
  • 4th Place – Blue Helmet Reveal Video

• Kevin Albarez, Associate Director for Strategic Communications, received recognition in the Game Notes category:

  • 17th Place – Women’s Basketball Game Notes vs. Illinois State (WNIT Great 8)

• Courtney Pugh, graphic designer, led the way with four awards across various categories:

  • 2nd Place – Football Gameday Program (Programs category)
  • 3rd Place – Football Signing Day Graphic (Signing Day Package category)
  • 10th Place – Milton Williams Super Bowl Champion Graphic (Major Awards & Championships category)
  • 16th Place – Lane Burroughs 300 Wins Graphic (Individual Awards, Milestones & Records category)

“The Creative & Digital Design contest continues to showcase the immeasurable talent of the CSC membership in the creative space as we recognize the best in our industry through a wide variety of contest categories as judged by their peers,” said CSC committee chair Patrick Murphy of the Colorado School of Mines.
 
The contest, now in its second year under an expanded format, has seen a dramatic rise in participation—jumping over 125 percent from 957 entries in 2023-24. Nine contest categories experienced year-over-year growth, with significant expansion in the Portfolio Contests, which drew 173 submissions and saw the addition of two new categories.

EUGENE, Ore.-Four Sumit League student athletes competed during the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday with one earning second team All-American honors and two more earning honorable mention All-American honors. 

Kansas City

Tory Lanham earned second team all-American honors after finishing 13^th in the 200 meter dash at his first NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Wednesday evening. The Roo Sophomore ran a 20.52 to finish sixth in his heat. 

North Dakota State

North Dakota State University thrower Sam Roller placed 24th in the javelin at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday evening at Hayward Field, garnering honorable mention All-America status.

 

Roller threw 198-9 (60.58m) on his first attempt to take 24th place overall.

 

The Summit League champion finished his Bison career at No. 5 on the NDSU all-time list in the javelin.

 

Roller’s NCAA Championships appearance was the 10th for the North Dakota State men in the javelin over the past 10 seasons.

 

The top eight finishers in all events earn first team All-American honors, places 9 through 16 are named second team All-Americans, and all other national meet competitors receive honorable mention status.

South Dakota

Competing at his first NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday evening, Tre Young placed 18^th in the men’s pole vault competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon to earn honorable mention all-American honors.

 

Young, a senior from Toledo, Ohio, cleared the opening height of 17-0 (5.18m) on his first attempt. It took three tries to clear the second height of 17-5 ¾ (5.33m) before bowing out at 17-9 ¾ (5.43m).

 

Young had a strong senior campaign for the Yotes, winning the Summit League crown in the pole vault with a new personal best of 18-0 ½ (5.50m). Young advanced through the NCAA West First Round by clearing 17-5 ½ (5.32m) in College Station, Texas two weeks ago.

He wraps up his time as a Coyote with four all-Summit League honors and a Summit League title in the pole vault. He also earned Summit Leauge Peak Performer honors twice in his career. He sits tied for fourth on the Coyote Outdoor Top 10 and seventh on the Coyote Indoor Top 10 in the pole vault.

 

South Dakota has three more Coyotes in action Thursday evening, with two pole vaulters in Anna Willis and Gen Hirata set to compete along with Sara Reifenrath on the track in the 400-meters. The pole vault is set to begin at 6:35 p.m. Central Time with the 400-meters set to run at 7:51 p.m. Central Time.

South Dakota State

Cody Larson competed in the 3000-meter steeplechase but was unable to finish the race due to injury.

#SummitOTF