EUGENE, Ore. – North Florida senior Smilla Kolbe cemented one of the most decorated seasons in program history when she became the program’s first-ever Outdoor First Team All-American with a sixth-place finish in the women’s 800m at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Saturday.

Kolbe turned in a time of 2:00.37 to record her second First Team All-American honor of the season. She joins Briana Frazier in 2012 and Eden Meyer in 2017 as one of three All-Americans – First or Second Team – in program history. She entered the meet with the third-best time in the nation this season and fourth-best time in collegiate history.

Kolbe was one of eight runners to receive First Team All-American honors in the event and concluded her collegiate track and field career with three All-American distinctions. She was one of five women’s runners in the nation to take home First Team All-American honors in both indoor and outdoor track and field this season.

Kolbe advanced to the final on Saturday after she earned an at-large qualification spot with a time of 2:00.70 in the semifinal on Thursday. She advanced to Hayward Field after she recorded first-place finishes in her heat at the 2025 NCAA East Region First Round hosted at North Florida’s Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on May 29 and 31.

The Hanover, Germany native concludes her accomplished career at North Florida as a three-time All-American, including a pair of First Team selections, an eight-time All-ASUN selection across outdoor track, indoor track and cross country, a four-time ASUN Track Athlete of the Week honoree and most recently the ASUN’s Most Outstanding Women’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year. She holds five program records across the three seasons and is the event record-holder for both the ASUN Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

Kolbe was also a five-time ASUN All-Academic Team selection with three ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year nods, as well as a CSC Third Team Academic All-America selection in 2024. She is set to graduate from North Florida with her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a 4.0 GPA.

After the men’s titles were awarded on Friday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the women’s titles will be determined on Saturday at the University of Oregon.

Tune in on Saturday night to ESPN2 to watch all the track and field action.

How to Watch NCAA Outdoor Championships, Women’s Day 2

• Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025
• Time: 9:00 PM EDT
• Channel: ESPN2
• Stream: Fubo (Try for free)

Friday will see titles awarded in the 4×100 relay, 1500 meters, 3000 steeplechase, 100 hurdles, 100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 400 hurdles, 200 meters, 800 meters heptathlon, 5000 meters, 4×400 relay, discus, high jump, and triple jump.

Several women’s champions have already been crowned this week. Georgia’s Stephanie Ratcliffe won the hammer, Washington’s Hana Moll won the pole vault, Louisville’s Synclair Savage won the long jump, Colorado State’s Mya Lesnar won shot put, Missouri’s Valentina Barrios Bornacell won javelin, and New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei won the 10,000 meters.

Meanwhile, in the semifinals of the events, several notable achievements happened. Florida’s Anthaya Charlton and South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford tied in the 100 meters, both running the sixth-best collegiate time ever, and Ford also became just the fifth college woman to run the 200 meters in under 22 seconds. LSU’s Michaela Rose ran the 800 meters in under 1:59, a record-setting fifth time she has done so.

Who will take the trophies home on Saturday? Tune in to ESPN2 to find out. Live stream this event now by starting a free trial of Fubo.

Live stream the NCAA Outdoor Championships with Fubo: Start your free trial now!

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Olympic silver medallist Johnson wasn’t sure if she’d make it to the start line in Setúbal after battling illness for the last few days, and says her goal coming into today was just to ‘survive’.

“In all honesty, I’d actually been battling illness into this and the plan was just to survive basically until the end. I think it just shows how strong I am even under not ideal conditions”.

The gold medal winner from Somabay did far more than just survive, dominating the second half of the race after working her way up from 16th position at the halfway point. Working alongside Taddeucci and Monaco’s Lisa Pou, they formed a small gap from the pack in the fifth lap, edging away with each stroke before veteran Jouisse cemented herself back in the top three.

Johnson made her move for the gold on the penultimate lap, moving to the front and stretching the athletes behind her into single file racing. “To hold two laps in the front was definitely not what I expected”, she said.

“Once I was leading the last lap, I thought well let’s just hold on. I saw they were in single file behind me and basically once you’re in single file, unless I dropped my pace drastically then, it’s really hard to pass. So I just backed myself a little bit, but also was very very careful with how I did the race because of the way I came into this [event].”

Taddeucci, who joined Johnson on the podium at the Paris Olympic Games, maintained a leading position throughout the race in what was a commanding display from the Italian.

After a blistering first lap from Sprint Lap winner, Japan’s Airi Ebina – who crossed through the first timing gate 40 seconds quicker than the men’s field earlier today (17:27.50) – Taddeucci was provoked to respond early in the race. Respond she did, attacking the race from the start in what has become a signature tactic for the 28-year-old.

Taking a completely different tack was France’s Jouisse, who took bronze in 1:53:43.10. Following her triple sweep at the French National Open Water Championships last week (3km, 5km, 10km), Jouisse adds to her collection of eight World Cup medals.

“[The conditions] were the same with the current changing during the race and some waves. I think on the first lap that it was really wavy which was a bit scary actually. The water temperature was changing; at the end of the fourth buoy that was warm, and then cold so we froze – I couldn’t even feel my feet anymore!” she said.

Speaking on the pace of the first lap, she said: “I never play for the sprint on the first lap. But I didn’t expect it to go that fast actually. Normally it goes fast and then it slows down a little bit, but it didn’t. I don’t know what I split for the first three laps, but I was really, really in the back.

“At some point, I saw that the pack broke a little bit and I was at the beginning of the second pack so I thought, okay, you’ve got to move right now and if not you’re out. With the current and everything, if you lose the front, there’s a high chance that you never come back.”

Strong performances from Germany’s Lea Boy and Monaco’s Lisa Pou, who finished in 5th (1:53:49.50) and 8th (1:53:53.60) respectively, saw them in contention for medals at different points. Pou led a split pack on the fourth lap, which dictated a big change in the race standings following a sharp turn at one of the buoys.

Boy maintained her position in the top 10 throughout the majority of the race, finishing strong down the home straight to touch just behind fourth place finisher, Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas of Hungary (1:53:44.80).

Ibiza champion Angela Martinez-Guillen (ESP) touched home in sixth place (1:53:50.40) while seventh went to Germany’s Celine Rieder, the silver medallist from Ibiza which marked her first international open water individual medal (1:53:50.80).

Racing continues in Setúbal tomorrow with the Men’s and Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint races, the heats of which get underway at 11:00 and 13:00 (local time), respectively.

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BREA, Calif. – Former UC San Diego water polo coach Denny Harper was officially inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame Friday.

Harper was one of five enshrined in the 41st class during a ceremony in Brea, Calif. The honorees represent international athletic excellence as well as gifted coaches and referees who have dedicated their lives to water polo.

Harper, who announced his retirement from UC San Diego in July of 2022, spent 42 years at the helm of the UC San Diego men’s program. He also led the Triton women’s team from 1985 until 1999. His teams combined for 942 victories.

The Triton men posted a 697-496-4 (.584) record between 1980, his first season with the Tritons, and 2021, his final season at the helm. He was named the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) National Coach of the Year 17 times and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Coach of the Year 19 times. In 2024, Harper was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ACWPC.

The Tritons advanced to the NCAA Championship on 15 different occasions, finishing second for the first time ever in 2000. In 1995, Harper’s squad became the first Division III team to advance to the NCAA Final Four, repeating the feat in 1998 and 1999.

Under Harper’s direction, UC San Diego proved to be a regular contender in the WWPA since the league began sponsoring championships in 1981. In 35 seasons, the Tritons captured 18 titles and 14 runner-up trophies. UC San Diego has been consistently ranked among the top-12 teams in the NCAA rankings and rose as high as No. 3 in the nation in 2006.

Harper coached the UC San Diego women’s water polo team from 1985 through 1999, compiling a 245-122-2 overall record. The Tritons won five USA Water Polo crowns, one national runner-up effort, and two national third-place trophies.

A 1978 graduate of San Diego State University, Harper coached at Rancho Alamitos High School, Indio High School, and SDSU before coming to UC San Diego.

He played two years at Santa Barbara City College before moving on to San Diego State to finish his college career.

He began his collegiate coaching career at SDSU, leading the women’s club team. Harper graduated in 1978. He helped the Aztecs to a 130-18 record.

In late 1979, fate intervened when best friend and former SBCC teammate Russ Hafferkamp asked Harper if he wanted to lead the UC San Diego men. It was a life-changing decision that turned a passion into a career. His four-plus decade run with the men’s squad is nothing short of legendary.  

The 2025 class also includes two of the most formidable defenders in Team USA history – Melissa Seidemann, a three-time Olympic and world champion, and Jesse Smith, a five-time Olympian and 2008 silver medalist. Also inducted Friday were coaching great Ricardo Azevedo as well as official/referee David Alberstein.
  
To learn more about the Hall of Fame, including a look at all the past inductees, click here.
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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.