Baseball America’s Hot Sheet ranks the 20 hottest prospects from the previous week. This week’s installment considers how minor league players performed through May 25. Contributing this week were BA staffers Josh Norris, Geoff Pontes, Jesús Cano, Matt Eddy and J.J. Cooper.
The Hot Sheet simply recognizes how the hottest prospects in the minors did in the past week—it’s not a re-ranking of the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects.
Note that our Hot Sheet Show on YouTube will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday this week due to the Memorial Day holiday. We’ll also be answering prospect questions in our weekly Hot Sheet chat on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.
The Scoop:Kyle Isbel leads all Royals outfielders in home runs… with three. He’s the only Royals outfielder with more than one homer this year. Royals outfielders have combined for seven home runs this season, which is two more than Caglianone hit this week. So, it’s fair to say that the Caglianone countdown is starting to get deafening in Kansas City. There still are real questions about whether he’s capable of holding down an outfield spot defensively—he’s played just 10 games there so far—but there’s little question at this point that, the moment he gets the call, Caglianone will immediately become one of the biggest power threats in the Royals’ lineup. (JJ)
Why He’s Here: 2-0, 1.80 ERA, 10 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 17 SO, 1 HR
The Scoop: Well, what more can you say? Burns has been dominant at every stop—from the backfields, to High-A and now Double-A. The hard-throwing righty wrapped up a stellar week with a career-best 10 strikeouts, showcasing the kind of electric stuff that demands attention. He’s flashed elite command, issuing just one walk over his two outings. His fastball touches triple digits and pairs with a wicked slider. Both carry 70 grades—a rare combination for a pitcher this young and this polished. (JC)
Why He’s Here: 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 12 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 16 SO, 1 HR
The Scoop: Jump has been one of the most-featured players on the Hot Sheet over the past month. Could a leap onto the Top 100 Prospects list be next for the LSU product? At his current pace, he’s making quite the case. Jump has 20 strikeouts in 18 innings and has allowed just two runs in his first three starts at Double-A. The lefty’s success originates from his fastball, which sits at 94-95 mph, mixing in strong control and causing batters to whiff. He’s drawn comparisons to Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, who is another undersized southpaw whose deceptive delivery amplifies the effectiveness of his arsenal. (JC)
The Scoop: After hitting 24 home runs in his first professional season, Ritter only hit seven in 2024. This season, he’s reversed course, slugging his 10th, 11th and 12th home runs of the year on Sunday. Ritter’s first three home-run game might have gotten him onto the top of the Hot Sheet this week, but he’s been hot all season. He has improved his contact and swing decisions in 2025 and looks to be knocking on the door for a callup. Over 45 games with Triple-A Albuquerque, Ritter is hitting .284/.400/.580 with a 137 wRC+. A strong defender who can stick at shortstop long term, Ritter’s bat has caught up to his glove. (GP)
Why He’s Here: 0-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 SO, 1 HR
The Scoop: Sykora’s season was delayed by hip surgery, leaving him to rehab until May 3 when he made the first of two rehab appearances in the Florida Complex League. Those were followed by two more at Low-A, a level he dominated in 2024. On May 25, the Nationals bumped the righty to High-A. You’ll never guess what happened next: Sykora sliced and diced the Aberdeen IronBirds for four innings, finishing with nine strikeouts, no runs and just a hit and a walk on his ledger. The 16 swings and misses he coaxed were tied for the second-most in all of High-A. For the season, Sykora has punched out 32 hitters in 15 innings. (JN)
The Scoop: Hitting a baseball so high and so far that it clears the batter’s eye might leave a mark. Doing it twice in one series? Let’s call that a Laz-eration. Montes pummeled a pair of pitches from Hops hurlers over the big blue wall in dead center field at Hillsboro Stadium for two of his three longballs over the past week. The outburst helped make Montes the first player in the Northwest League to reach 10 home runs. For context, the NWL’s leader in that category last year was Cole Carrigg, who hit 16 home runs. Montes is just six off of that mark with more than three months to go in the season. (JN)
The Scoop: Baez reached High-A as a 19-year-old last year but lost momentum when he had season-ending meniscus surgery on his knee in July. The Mets slow-played Baez in spring training, and his rust was evident early this season. After hitting just .187 with no thump in April, it’s been a different story in May. Baez collected six hits with two homers and seven RBIs in a May 23 doubleheader at Jersey Shore and, overall in May, is hitting .377/.482/.594 with four homers, 21 RBIs, 12 walks and 10 strikeouts in 20 games. (ME)
The Scoop: This is what future stars look like. Young for the level? Nimmala was the second-youngest player in the Northwest League on Opening Day. Premium position? Nimmala has played shortstop on all of his non-DH days. Big-time performance? Nimmala’s name is all over the NWL’s offensive leaderboard, including the top spot for doubles (12) and extra-base hits (22, tied with Lazaro Montes), and second in home runs (nine), slugging percentage (.540) and total bases (87). With his early-season output, it’s clear that Nimmala has staked his claim as the best in the nest. (JN)
The Scoop: If you can string together a decent game night after night, you can put together a very solid season. And Teel has strung together a long run of solid games, even if he’s rarely been spectacular. He’s gotten a hit in 20 of his past 21 games, although his two three-hit games this week were his first three-hit games since March. He had a 10-game hitting streak earlier this month where he never had a multi-hit game. But Teel is hitting .356/.465/.644 this month and .293/.397/.490 overall. (JJ)
The Scoop: When Stewart gets hits, they tend to come in bunches—and he’s been piling them up. He’s notched 18 multi-hit games this season—including three more this past week—and is continuing to showcase the consistency and bat-to-ball skills that made him such a highly-regarded prospect. Long praised for his advanced approach at the plate, Stewart is backing it up with the numbers. He’s missing just 22.4% of the time overall, and his in-zone whiff rate sits just under 20%—a strong indicator of his pitch recognition and feel for the barrel. Stewart owns a 104.6 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, showing he’s consistently squaring balls up with authority. His max exit velocity of 110.4 mph adds even more intrigue, hinting at untapped power that could show up more consistently as he matures. (JC)
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO, 0 HR
The Scoop: Last season, Davalillo led the minor leagues with a 1.88 ERA. This year, he’s doing it again… only better. Through eight starts, Davalillo has allowed just four earned runs. After some quick work on a nearby abacus, we can conclude that he’s averaging one earned run every two starts. That’s good for an ERA of 0.92. Davalillo’s most recent turn might have been his finest yet. He struck out a season-best 10 and got 18 swings and misses in the process. Over his last two turns, Davalillo has allowed four hits and two walks, struck out 17 and allowed—get this—no earned runs. (JN)
Why He’s Here: 0-0, 2.25, 8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 19 SO, 1 HR
The Scoop: Promoted to High-A just a week ago, Yesavage did a two-step in his first week with Vancouver. The 2024 first-round pick made two starts against Eugene striking out 10 on Monday and then punching out another nine on Sunday. Yesavage did struggle with command in each start, however, as he walked three batters in each outing. Up to this point, Yesavage has dominated both levels of A-ball with his high-rise four-seam fastball, cutter and splitter. If he continues to beat up on High-A competition, Yesavage should be in Double-A by the all-star break. (GP)
The Scoop: Last year, in BA’s annual article surveying scouts about the best players they saw in the backfields during spring training, one evaluator had this to say about Arias: “His arrow is pointing up this spring after a minor league camp where he showed off fluid athleticism and a swing that was both malleable up and down the zone and geared toward shooting line drives to all sectors.” More than a year later, those words look prophetic. The 19-year-old Arias made quick work of Low-A Salem in the early days of the season and didn’t skip a beat after moving to High-A. He’s 32 for his first 89 in 21 South Atlantic League games and has struck out just eight times in 96 plate appearances. (JN)
Why He’s Here: 0-1, 4.50, 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO, 2 HR
The Scoop: The Pirates, despite being one of the worst teams in MLB, boast one of the best Triple-A rotations in the game with Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft. Despite giving up some hard contact on Wednesday (two home runs) Ashcraft walked just one batter while striking out nine. Ashcraft had the swing-and-miss stuff working in this start as he generated a season-high 19 swinging strikes. Ashcraft has shown serious development over the last few seasons, displaying starter upside after an injury-plagued start to his career. (GP)
The Scoop: The Dodgers’ embarrassment of riches seems to be never-ending, as Morales is one of the top prospects in the Arizona Complex League. Morales tallied a hit in all five games this week and had multiple-hit games on Monday and Thursday. He bookended the week with home runs on Monday and Saturday. Morales is hitting .266/.333/.563 with four home runs over 16 ACL games. He’s shown some concerning swing-and-miss early, but it’s coming with impact power in-game. (GP)
Why He’s Here: .304/.292/.696 (7-for-23) 6 R, 3 HR, 5 RBIs, 5 SO, 2 SBs
The Scoop: This is easily the best week of Gonzalez’s relatively young pro career. The 2023 first-round pick had never hit three home runs in a month before he hit three this week. Power is not usually Gonzalez’s calling card, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that from a week in which he was a pull-happy slugger. (JJ)
The Scoop: Delgado was revealed as the player to be named later in the trade that sent JT Brubaker to the Yankees back in April 2024. After back-to-back strong seasons in the Yankees system, he struggled to carry that momentum into his first year with the Pirates. But in 2025, he’s starting to trend in the right direction and looking more like the version of himself that once impressed. This past week may have been his best yet, highlighted by a three-homer performance in what was his first career multi-homer game. It’s an encouraging sign of things possibly turning around. That said, there’s still work to do, particularly with his approach, as swing-and-miss and chase remain areas to tighten up. (JC).
The Scoop: Jordan came to fame in high school because of his power, but in pro ball, he’s actually proven to be a pretty polished hitter with modest power. He’s a career .289 hitter, and his excellent work this week boosted him to a .306/.401/.485 line this year in his return to Portland. Jordan is showing improved power, and he’s extremely difficult to strike out (10.8% rate). He has started to play more first base than third, flipping what had been a pretty 50-50 job share. At this point, Jordan seems quite likely to reach the big leagues, and as a 22-year-old, there’s still time for his power to further blossom. (JJ)
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR
The Scoop: First impressions matter, and Morales made his count in a big way. In his Triple-A debut, he picked up right where he left off in Double-A, spinning six no-hit innings. Most impressively, he filled up the zone with 62 of his 88 pitches for strikes. Developing homegrown pitching hasn’t traditionally been the A’s calling card, but that narrative might be shifting. Along with Gage Jump, Morales is one of two rising arms in the system who have turned heads all season, earned well-deserved promotions and continue to shine on the mound. (JC)
The Scoop: Thompson needed a week like this. Albuquerque is a very hitter-friendly environment, and the Isotopes also play at places like Reno that are even better for hitters. As a team, the Isotopes are hitting .271/.357/.467 this year, so Thompson’s .255/.349/.443 slash line is actually below average. But a few weeks like this one could fix that quickly. (JJ)
We reported Figueroa as an under-the-radar player making noise in his first week of ACL play, and he’s kept right on rolling. He was promoted to Low-A soon after and left the ACL as one of its best hitters, leading the league in nearly every major category while hitting over .600. At 22 years old, however, he was one of the older players in the desert. The new level didn’t seem to faze him either. Figueroa slugged two homers in his first week at Low-A and looked like he belonged. An 18th-round pick out of Florida SouthWestern State College, he’s showing the same mix of power, speed and contact that made him successful in the junior college ranks. (JC)
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State concludes 2025 with a 23-8 record, showing tremendous turnaround after going 10-18 last season. It is the highest win total since 2011, while ISU also went 12-6 in Big 12 play to finish tied for third after being chosen ninth in the preseason poll.
Cyclones wrapped the season earning national and conference awards including AVCA Libero of the Year, AVCA Second Team All-America, Big 12 Libero of the Year and Big 12 Setter of the Year.
Iowa State is ranked in the final AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017 earning the rank of T-No. 22. It’s the highest final ranking in 13 seasons (2012, No. 14). The Cyclones capped the season in the second round of the NCAA Championship, ISU’s 18th trip to the tournament.
Rachel Van Gorp, National Libero of the Year
Van Gorp showed the nation she is the best of the best becoming the inaugural AVCA Libero of the Year. The true sophomore, in her first full season at the position, compiled a list of awards also including AVCA Second Team All-America, AVCA First Team All-Region, Big 12 Libero of the Year, First Team All-Big 12 and two Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Iowa State took home Big 12 Libero and Setter of the Year, while five Cyclones were placed on All-Big 12 Teams. Van Gorp was the unanimous choice for Libero of the Year, while Morgan Brandt secured Setter of the Year. Both were First Team All-Big 12 selections, and Tierney Jackson was placed on season team. True freshmen Alea Goolsby and Reagan Hanfelt earned Big 12 All-Rookie Team.
Leading the Conference
ISU ends 2025 as the Big 12 leader in digs (15.12 per set) and kills (13.98 per set). The Cyclones ranked top 25 nationally in kills (No. 18) and assists (12.91 per set, No. 24), helping lead Iowa State to hit at .245 on the season. The efficiency is the fourth-highest single-season hitting percentage in program history.
2025 By the Numbers
4 – ISU had four ranked wins on the season, the most since 2012. The Cyclones were the only Big 12 team to take down Arizona State this season and ended No. 6 ASU’s 12-match win streak and 26-match Big 12 win streak.
4 – Morgan Brandt ends her Iowa State career ranking fourth in program history with 3,787 assists. The total led all 2025 Big 12 active players.
7 – The Cyclones hit over .300 in seven matches. ISU had a stretch of three straight hitting over .400, a program first, while two of those match efficiencies now rank in the program all-time top 10.
8 – Iowa State ended non-conference with a record of 10-1, the best mark in eight seasons.
10 – Maya Duckworth entered the ISU top 10 in career kills and concludes her career with 1,073. Duckworth was the 12th in program history to join the 1,000-kill club.
12 – Iowa State sealed 12 Big 12 wins for the first time since 2012.
15 – ISU opened the season at 5-0 without losing a set, one of the final three teams to begins with 15 set wins. It marked the first time in program history to open the season with a 15-0 set record.
400 – Christy Johnson-Lynch celebrated win No. 400 this season vs. No. 16 TCU. Johnson-Lynch now owns 11 20-win seasons and 48 top 25 wins, with 12 in the top 10.
Kansas State volleyball All-American Shaylee Myers announced she is stepping away from the sport and will not pursue a professional career.
The Lincoln, Nebraska native was selected in the second round of last month’s Pro Volleyball Federation draft by the Atlanta Vibe, but has decided not to continue playing beyond her collegiate career.
Myers closed her time in Manhattan with one of the most decorated seasons the program has seen. She earned All-America Honorable Mention recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), becoming the 12th player in school history to receive the honor and the second under head coach Jason Mansfield, joining former Wildcat teammate Aliyah Carter.
Her All-America nod capped a historic senior campaign filled with accolades. Myers was named the program’s first-ever AVCA Region Player of the Year, earned AVCA First Team All-Region honors and was a unanimous First Team All-Big 12 selection. She also claimed three Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week awards during the season.
Statistically, Myers rewrote the K-State record book. She finished her senior year with 498 kills (4.70 per set) and 547.0 points (5.16 per set), setting the rally-scoring era single-season record for kills per set and tying for third-most total kills in that era. Her 34-kill performance against West Virginia on Oct. 1 marked the Big 12’s top single-match output of the season.
Myers reached another milestone during the NCAA Tournament, becoming just the 20th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills. She finished her career with 1,029 kills and 1,148.5 points, ranking among the program’s top 25 in multiple career categories.
K-State concluded the 2025 season at 18-10 overall and 10-8 in Big 12 play, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament — the program’s 19th postseason appearance and first under Mansfield.
Happy last day of 2025! We hope that, for you, it was a year to remember and not one to forget.
For the track and field community, this year left us with a lot to process. A quick search through the newsletter archives finds four uses of the word “change” in our subject lines this year, with phrases like “forecast,” “wide open,” “worth a try,” and “what?” sprinkled in as well. With one Olympic cycle firmly in the rearview and another just picking up steam, it makes sense: 2025 was, ultimately, a period of mass transition.
As the clock ticks to midnight tonight, we have a lot more questions than answers. Somewhere between “who will I kiss when the ball drops?” and “how hungover will I be tomorrow?”, you may start thinking instead about the bigger, more long-term unknowns looming for track and field in the year to come.
What do pro leagues look like next year?
Every professional sport evolves over time, but few go through as many evolutions and permutations as ours. That’s because we’ve never really had a dominant professional circuit.
Currently, we have the Diamond League, which seems to persist as “best of all the bad options.” One big improvement we got out of the 2025 season was the reclassification of the DL final to one last big event before the World Championships. The positioning, in essence, traded a little bit of star power for real stakes: a lot of the top stars opted to skip out on Zurich, but increased prize money and the promise of a wild-card entry to Worlds kept things interesting. Sure, the meets are still hard to watch (in the U.S.) and can feel repetitive mid-season, but it’s still the closest thing we have to a Premier League for track and field.
There was still enough of a perceived gap in the market, however, that several entities stepped up to try and fill the void. Grand Slam Track took the biggest swing at a legitimate Diamond League alternative, but unfortunately was also the biggest flop. All the public-facing messaging around the League’s bankruptcy filing insists that GST will return for a second season, but there’s a bit of a “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me” sentiment at this point in the game. It’s safe to say that, until GST is able to roll out a compelling argument for its own continued relevance, no one is taking for granted that it’ll be a genuine presence on the pro circuit moving forward.
At the other end of the spectrum, ATHLOS NYC’s second one-off exhibition meet was enough of a purported success that the event, organized by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has announced it’s expanding into a multi-event league for the 2026 season with stars Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Tara Davis-Woodhall attached as “advisor-owners.” Much like GST, there are more questions than answers at this point in time: How does a women’s-only event map onto a landscape that prizes gender parity? Will keeping its events in the fall ever move ATHLOS out of novelty status to feel like a “real” part of the season? Does the limitation of events to sprints, middle-distance, and long jump continue? Unlike GST, however, they benefit (at least in public perception) from taking an approach that’s generally seen as safer: starting small and expanding, rather than swinging for the fences and coming up short.
And then there’s the 11th-hour announcement that, once again, USATF will by trying to tie its disparate offerings into a branded package. This time, it’s a “USATF Tour”, which unifies 17 meets scheduled from March to July under one calendar. It’s unclear how this will be different from these meets operating entirely independently; the landing page for the site includes the notation “TBD” no less than seven times. You’ll need at least three different streamers to watch all the meets, and there doesn’t seem to be any clearly-stated prize or other incentive for athletes to participate in multiple events. The number of events isn’t even clear: the website says “16 unique events” but lists 17, the LA Distance Classic and LA Grand Prix are listed as separate events despite occurring on back-to-back days in the same city, and there’s an unnamed “Grand Prix” event set to air on NBC that has a date but no location.
It would be great if there was a unified domestic circuit for professional track and field in the U.S. It would be great if there was a premiere showcase for the best of women’s sports with a hefty prize purse. And it would be great if we all agreed to prioritize one A-tier circuit that mattered throughout the regular season. But more than anything else, it would be great if we could build a little year-over-year momentum for any one of these initiatives rather than facing down a whole bunch of unknowns each December.
How does World Ultimate Champs shape the season?
One of the few positive side effects of a life-altering global pandemic was that we haven’t had a track season without a global championship since 2018. In 2026, we’ll see what a season looks like when the entire sport isn’t oriented toward a ten-day conclusion where gold medals drown out any other metric of success.
Or will we? World Athletics is rolling out its new “World Ultimate Championship,” which, despite its name, is a three-day track meet and not a frisbee tournament. On paper, it’s sort of an unholy hybrid of a true global championship and a beefed-up Diamond League final, with most, but not all, events slated for a one-round final with big prize money on the line.
How this slots into the global calendar, and how it is perceived, remain to be seen. For steeplechasers, it might be business as usual, given that the event is omitted entirely (same goes, at least this year, for a number of jumping and throwing events). Small fields of 16 athletes on the track and 8 in the field will mean that simply qualifying for the meet will be prohibitively difficult, if not impossible, for even most pros. Conversely, it relies a lot on the biggest names to lend their star power to the event—only a few passes or withdrawals from reigning World/Olympic champs could make this event feel too small in a hurry.
Adding a new championship-style event to a non-championship year is a great idea in theory, but it has to feel like a championship level of stakes and competition to be taken seriously.
Does 2026 become the year of the comeback?
2025 was a year to forget for more than a few of the sport’s biggest stars. Olympic champs like Grant Holloway and Jakob Ingebrigtsen battled injuries and less-than-perfect returns, whereas domestic stars like Elle St. Pierre and Parker Valby returned late from long breaks. Some of the most dominant athletes of the last decade – like Yulimar Rojas, Shericka Jackson, and Soufiane El Bakkali—were not able to return to the top of podiums they’d once frequented.There’s a silver lining in each of these individual storm clouds, however: everybody loves a comeback story.
A year or two ago, athletes like Holloway and El Bakkali simply couldn’t seem to lose, and it was starting to get boring. Now, they get to head into 2026 with a chip on their shoulders rather than a target on their backs. Ingebrigtsen and Rojas are current world world record holders who remain squarely in their primes, at 25 and 30 years old, respectively. A few years of bad Achilles luck can’t possibly keep two of the sport’s biggest talents down for too much longer, right?
St. Pierre and Valby both returned to racing in November at the Abbott 5k in New York. St. Pierre was coming back from giving birth to her second son in May, and Valby was finally healthy again after an injury-plagued rookie season. Together, they represent two of the country’s biggest distance talents, but right now, we’re not quite sure where they fit into a broader pecking order where Nikki Hiltz and Sinclaire Johnson are dominating the middle distances and Shelby Houlihan has re-entered the chat.
Last, but certainly not least, there’s the crop of 30-something sprint stars who aren’t quite done. Shericka Jackson is just two years removed from her epic 21.41 200m gold in Budapest, and at 31, she’s still got the better part of a decade ahead of her if her countrywoman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is a model to follow. Trayvon Bromell already had a bit of a comeback season of his own, getting back atop the 100m ranks on the DL circuit but still falling short of the podium at USAs. And let’s not forget that both Tokyo Olympic champions, Elaine Thompson-Herah (33) and Lamont Marcell Jacobs (31) aren’t totally over the hill just yet, even if they’re a little farther removed from their best seasons and haven’t shown signs of life in a while. Ya never know.
Who tries a new event next?
2025 saw Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone forego the hurdles during her typically blistering trips around the oval. That foray into a new-ish-to-her event culminated in another gold medal, a 47.78 world-leading time, and a new American record. We already know that the closest thing to a rival SML has in the 400m hurdles—Femke Bol—will be experimenting with the 800m in 2026, and has already been spotted exploring fascinating training systems in her pursuit of half-mile glory. New events are in!
It’s pretty clear that if McLaughlin-Levrone gives the 400m her undivided attention for another season or two that she would have realistic ambitions to break the world record. She’s demonstrated world-class ability at this “off event” at every level of her competitive life. And what else does she have to prove in her primary event?
Male 400H World champ Rai Benjamin has also talked about wanting to take on the flat 400m or even the 200m in future seasons. Is there something about the hurdles that makes them get really boring over time? Regardless, it’ll be fun to see if Benjamin can improve on his PBs of 44.21 from 2023 or 19.99 from 2018. Heck, he even ran a wind-legal 10.03 in 2020 – is 2026 the year that births the first sub-10/sub-20/sub-44/sub-47 runner in history?
If there was ever a time for stars who’ve solidified their place atop one event to try another, it’s now. What’s to stop Faith Kipyegon from going even longer in distance, when she could always retreat to the safety of the 1500m if it doesn’t work out? Heck, even Jakob Ingebrigtsen has teased a return to the steeplechase. And simply typing out the words “Grant Fisher marathon debut” will trigger some sort of seismic activity as distance bros all over the world start to jump up and down with excitement all at once. And over in the infield, there’s one true wild card who could mix things up: Ryan Crouser.
Crouser is the best male shot putter in history, yes. But he still holds the American high school national record in the discus (72.40m) and secured World Youth Championship silver in that event back in 2009. During Crouser’s last complete outdoor season, 2024, his World ranking score in the shot was 1520. During 2025, the highest ranking attained by a discus thrower was 1476, belonging to Mykolas Alekna. Now those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt—comparing greatness across disciplines is tricky business—but if you’re Crouser, coming off an injury-shortened-ravaged campaign that still saw you win World gold in the shot, don’t you at least think about kicking the tires on a different event that you were historically great at as a teen, and that might tax your shot-put-worn body in different, career-extending ways?
Greater Akron stepped onto the national college scene with authority in a big way in 2025.
From national titles to being drafted at the professional level, area athletes shined.
Here’s our top 10 college moments involving local athletes:
1. Akron Zips men’s soccer returns to NCAA Tournament glory
Behind Big East Offensive Player of the Year Stefan Dobrijevic and conference goalkeeper of the year Mitch Budler, the University of Akron men’s soccer team reached the elite eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
NEVIS – Karly Cobb couldn’t have asked for a better way to begin her reign as the new head coach of the Nevis volleyball team.
Not only did the Tigers go undefeated to capture the Northland Conference title, but they capped off the season by winning the Section 5A championship to qualify for the state Class A tournament. Nevis lost both matches at state to finish the season with a 24-9 record.
“My first season as head coach was incredible. I had the most supportive assistants, the most motivated team, and an incredible backing from the school and community. I am grateful to be a part of this community and am loving every minute of coaching for the Nevis Tigers,” said Cobb. “The team had their success this season due to their willingness to work hard and work together toward their common goal: getting to the state tournament.”
The Tigers won the Northland Conference title with a 7-0 record by defeating Clearbrook-Gonvick (25-20, 25-12, 25-17), Laporte (25-10, 29-27, 23-25, 25-13), Pine River-Backus (25-18, 25-15, 25-18), Cass Lake-Bena (25-12, 25-9, 25-15), Blackduck (25-17, 25-18 25-22), Northome-Kelliher (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-8).
PR-B finished second in the conference with a 6-1 record as Blackduck (5-2), N-K (4-3), Laporte (3-4), W-H-A (2-5), C-G (1-6) and CL-B (0-7) rounded out the standings.
Nevis opened the season with wins over Park Rapids (25-23, 25-23, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10), Fosston (25-15, 18-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-9) and Lake of the Woods (25-20, 25-12, 25-18). The Tigers went 4-1 at the Ada-Borup-West Invitational and 1-3 at the Duluth East Invitational. At Ada, Nevis defeated Thief River Falls (25-22, 25-12), Red Lake County Central (25-19, 25-21), Fosston (23-25, 25-11, 15-9) and A-B-W (25-19, 25-20) while losing to Kittson County Central (25-7, 25-23). In the Duluth tournament, the Tigers defeated Duluth Denfeld (25-17, 25-13) while losing to Cloquet (25-22, 22-25, 15-11), Superior (25-23, 25-17) and Brainerd (27-25, 15-25, 15-5).
To close out the regular season, the Tigers posted wins over Sebeka (25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18), Browerville-Eagle Valley (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-9), Verndale (28-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) and Menahga (24-26, 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 15-6) before going 1-3 at the Pumpkin Classic in Moorhead. Nevis opened that tournament with losses to Moorhead (25-12, 25-8), Fargo North (28-26, 25-19) and Duluth East (25-22, 25-20) before closing with a win over Osseo (25-21, 25-22).
Senior Danika Anderson was named the Northland Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Anderson broke the school record with 52 digs in a match.
Contributed / Jodi Sandmeyer
For the Section 5A tournament, the Tigers received the No. 1 seed in the West and used wins over No. 9 B-EV (25-14, 25-17, 25-19), No. 4 Bertha-Hewitt (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21) and No. 3 Verndale (25-20, 23-25, 16-25, 25-16, 15-7) to reach the championship match. Nevis earned a trip to the state tournament with a 26-24, 20-25, 25-21, 29-27 win over Swanville, the No. 1 seed in the East, in the section title match.
In their fifth state tournament appearance, the No. 7-seeded Tigers lost to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (25-20, 25-21, 25-21) and Fillmore Central (25-22, 25-13, 25-6). R-T-R, the No. 2 seed, lost to No. 1 Mayer Lutheran in the title match while Fillmore Central, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 5 Cleveland for fifth place. Nevis also qualified for state in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“I feel that the girls had a good state tournament appearance,” said Cobb. “They played very competitively with RTR, finishing only a few points behind them every set and RTR ended up getting second in the tournament. Of course the girls had to work through nerves since it was their first time playing at (state) for every girl on the team. We then played Fillmore Central, and although that game did not go as we hoped it would, our girls stuck together and still gave it their all.”
Leading the Tigers this season were seniors of Ava Forbes, Clair Isaacson, Brenna Lindow, Danika Anderson and Amber Pyburn. Freshman Mackenzie Lindow and junior Cassandra Bolster rounded out the starting lineup with junior Emma Wike; sophomores Mya Durgin, Evelyn Dierkhising and Kyleigh-Ann Smart; and freshmen Arianna Hamblin and Sage Chase playing key roles as reserves.
Brenna Lindow capped off her senior season by being named the Northland Conference’s Outstanding Setter. Lindow concluded her career with more than 1,000 set assists.
Contributed / Jodi Sandmeyer
Forbes, Isaacson, Brenna Lindow, and Anderson received all-conference honors with Forbes being named the conference MVP, Brenna Lindow being named the conference’s Outstanding Setter and Anderson earning the conference’s Defensive Player award. Pyburn and Mackenzie Lindow were all-conference honorable mention players.
In 26 of the 33 matches (statistics weren’t available for the Thief River Falls, Ada-Borup-West, Duluth Denfeld, Brainerd, Kelliher-Northome, Moorhead and Bertha-Hewitt matches), Forbes led the Tigers with 458 kills, 62 blocks and 44 ace serves while adding 231 digs. Isaacson was second with 315 digs, tied for second with 38 ace serves and had 113 kills and 22 blocks. Brenna Lindow led the way with 782 set assists while contributing 31 blocks, 27 kills and 22 ace serves. Anderson was the team leader with 402 digs while serving 15 aces. Pyburn chipped in 185 kills, 83 digs, 46 blocks and 19 ace serves. Mackenzie Lindow had 190 digs, 112 kills, 38 ace serves and 21 blocks. Bolster had 50 digs and 13 kills. Dierkhising had 24 kills and 17 digs, Durgin had 35 digs and 13 kills, Hamblin had 37 digs, and Chase had 15 digs.
Senior Clair Isaacson received Northland Conference honors this season.
Contributed / Jodi Sandmeyer
Anderson also broke a school record with 52 digs in a match against Verndale in the postseason. Ava Forbes surpassed 1,000 kills and Brenna Lindow surpassed 1,000 set assists.
The Tigers will have five starting spots to fill, but Cobb is counting on her team to put another competitive group on the floor next season.
“I want to give the seniors a ton of credit for leading our team. Amber, Danika, Clair, Ava and Brenna gave their heart, grit and determination this season. They led with grace and their faith. They showed the other girls in the program what it means to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They had the motto ‘no doubt in my mind’ and they proved that to everyone. There was no doubt that they were here this season to accomplish their goals and they did just that. It is always hard saying goodbye to seniors, but this year is extra hard because these five have all been a part of the program since they were third graders, and I have coached all of them since 8th/9th grade on the JV team. I hope they know what a mark they have made on the Nevis program and I know they will always look back and cherish the memories,” said Cobb. “We will have two returning starters next year in Mackenzie Lindow and Cassandra Bolster. We will also have a few players that came off the bench this year and helped us out in Evelyn Dierkhising, Mya Durgin, Sage Chase and Ari Hamblin. Of course, after graduating five seniors we know we have some building to do. The younger classmen are fired up and want to get back down to St. Paul. They have now experienced the state tournament and want to make it their goal again. Our girls plan to put in the work this offseason and be ready to start off the 2026-27 season strong.”
Five Birmingham Region high school volleyball teams won to the AHSAA Elite Eight State Championship Tournament this season.
Class 7A Thompson earned a spot in the title match before falling to McGill-Toolen while Hewitt-Trussville lost to Thompson in semifinal action.
Other teams reaching the final four were Class 6A Spain Park and Class 5A Briarwood while Class 6A Homewood tell in first round play.
The Birmingham News All-Region team is comprised of players from Jefferson and Shelby counties, and compiled by the AL.com high school sports staff with input from coaches.
AL.com named Player of the Year, Attacker MVP, Defensive MVP, Setter MVP and Coach of the Year. Award winners are listed separately, but considered first-team selections.
Region second-best 498 kills, region-best 14.23 kills per match, 230 digs, 77 aces
College: Wallace-Hanceville
Sullivan Lell, Mountain Brook
5-4, Jr., Libero
477 digs, 84 assists, 50 aces
College: Southern Mississippi
Ja’Niyah Mosley, Spain Park
5-9, Sr., Middle
278 kills, 75 blocks
College: Undecided
Kayleigh Nguyen, Hewitt-Trussville
5-10, Jr., Setter
983 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 192 kills, 66 blocks, 389 digs, 63 aces
College: Undecided
Mae Noerager, Homewood
6-1, Sr., Right Side
222 kills, 49 blocks, 47 digs
College: Trinity (Texas)
Aliyah Pooler, Hoover
5-10, Sr., Outside Hitter
271 kills, 25 blocks, 268 digs, 37 aces
College: Alabama State
Alexis Rudolph, Chelsea
6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter
Region-best 511 kills, region second-best 12.17 kills per match, 41 blocks, 298 digs, 25 assists, 61 aces
College: Undecided
Aubrie Smith, Pelham
5-9, Sr., Outside Hitter
357 kills, 24 blocks, 241 digs, 49 aces
College: Undecided
Noelle Suellentrop, Briarwood
5-11, So., Setter
Region second-best 1,076 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 66 kills, 33 blocks, 252 digs, 68 aces
College: Undecided
Abby Tingle, Hoover
6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter
310 kills, 63 blocks, 70 digs
College: South Alabama
Bea Wiggins, Spain Park
5-11, Sr., Outside Hitter
487 kills, 44 blocks, 353 digs, 55 aces
College: Sewanee
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Briarwood’s Julie Roberts readies for action at the Juanita Boddie Tournament at the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala., Aug. 22-23, 2025. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com)Dennis Victory
Vestavia Hills’ Millie Burgess attacks during Class 7A play in the AHSAA North Super Regional volleyball tournament at the Finley Center in Hoover, Ala., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Vasha Hunt | preps@al.com)Vasha Hunt
Millie Burgess, Vestavia Hills
6-1, Sr., Outside Hitter
424 kills, 42 blocks, 294 digs, 43 aces
College: Jacksonville State
DEFENSIVE MVP
Thompson’s Kenzly Foote readies for play against McGill-Toolen during the AHSAA Class 7A volleyball state championship at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com)Dennis Victory
Kenzly Foote, Thompson
5-7, Sr., Defensive Specialist
Region second-best 673 digs, region second-best 14.96 digs per match, 151 assists, region-best 104 aces, region second-best 2.31 aces per match
College: Undecided
SETTER MVP
Spain Park’s Cailyn Kyes serves against Hartselle during Class 6A play in the AHSAA state volleyball tournament at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Vasha Hunt | preps@al.com)Vasha Hunt
Thompson coach Judy Green celebrates a set win against McGill-Toolen during the AHSAA Class 7A volleyball state championship at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com)Dennis Victory
