MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Griffin Lake took home his third and fourth medal at the USA Shooting Rifle National Championship, earning two more today at the event being held in Anniston, Alabama.
 
Lake rolled through his opening two air rifle qualifying relays with the top mark in the field, scoring 1260.1 (629.8-630.3). The Emmaus, Pennsylvania, native scored 250.4 in the junior final to take first place and 251.5 in the open final to finish as the runner-up.
 
Lake swept both the open and junior smallbore events earlier in the week to add two national titles to his resume. With his four medals this week, Lake has now taken home seven top-three finishes at national and international competitions this summer. He claimed both air and smallbore titles at the USA Shooting Junior Olympics and claimed a third-place finish and two more finals appearances at the ISSF World Cup.
 
Maximus Duncan also qualified for the open final after a score of 1245.2 (621.6-623.6). He finished in seventh place with a final score of 143.1.
 
On the women’s side, Ashlyn Blake qualified for the junior final after a qualifying score of 1251.3 (628.2-623.1). She took eighth place in the final with a 121.7 mark. Camryn Camp hit marks of 1243.9 (620.5-623.4) during qualifying to finish in 17th place.
 
Incoming freshman Jack Ogoreuc finished in 12^th place in the open division with a score of 1239.2 (619.1-620.1) to qualify for the junior final where he finished in seventh place. He hit the top mark in the U18 division. 
 

Calling all coffee connoisseurs – there’s a new coffee truck set up just outside of LSU’s campus on West Chimes Street that should be added to the rotation of your daily caffeine fixes.

Cherrybomb Coffee Co. is bringing its flavors to Baton Rouge “for the long haul” with a new look out of a 1973 Airstream trailer that has never been anywhere else other than its newfound concrete slab home. While new to most, some LSU students may have seen a similar looking trailer parked outside of their sorority once or twice before. 

25-year-old Noah McLain was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, and first started Cherrybomb Coffee when he was a 19-year-old freshman at Southeastern Louisiana University.

“I decided I wanted to roast my own coffee beans, so I started roasting coffee beans in my parents’ garage in 2019,” McLain said.

Every step taken on this journey is a stepping stone toward the bigger end goal, McLain said. After he got the hang of roasting coffee beans, he built his own coffee cart and started hauling it around Southern Louisiana to get the word out about his coffee.

In 2021, McLain upgraded from just a cart to his company’s first trailer, iconically named Clementine. The coffee cart and trailer combo gave Cherrybomb Coffee a boost in exposure – from private events like weddings and baby showers to small pop-ups for LSU Greek Life, word about Cherrybomb Coffee quickly made its way around.

Cherrybomb Coffee also saw its first location open up in Mandeville, Louisiana, in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic simmered down. McLain spent the entirety of the pandemic roasting coffee beans and shipping orders around the country, but he was ready to get the ball back rolling. He signed the lease and kept his business moving forward all while managing the demands of being a college student.

“I would skip class to go work sometimes,” McLain said.

McLain graduated in 2022 and it’s been all cherry red for him since. In addition to the Mandeville location, Cherrybomb Coffee expanded to Madisonville, Louisiana, to open its headquarters location in 2023.

Around the time the first location opened up, people from Baton Rouge started to call. McLain said he was doing multiple catering events and sometimes even hitting two to three sororities a day. The company’s rise in popularity around town led to his desire to open a location in Baton Rouge.

“We got really popular on campus,” McLain said. “The university has hired us to serve coffee here for special events. Baton Rouge in general, we’re constantly out here … I’ve been looking for a spot here for about a year and a half.”

After a long and hard search, McLain found a concrete slab available for rent that he just couldn’t pass up. He got married a little over two months ago and signed the lease while on his honeymoon, marking the beginning of his newest coffee trailer journey.

While the menu features some of the shop’s popular specialties and traditional classics, there’s also two new drinks available that are LSU-themed and unique to the Baton Rouge location: Mike’s Matcha and Bengal Brew. The trailer also offers CounterSpace baked goods and breakfast sandwiches.

Cherrybomb Coffee is open for business and here to stay throughout the school year at 136 W. Chimes Street. During the summer, the trailer is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hours are subject to change once classes begin and football season returns.

By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT – Westport is home to water polo enthusiasts, including Staples High sophomore standout Virginia Ferrari and her Staples co-op club teammates and captains Stella Savone and Olivia Kulga, also of Westport. The rest of the lineup comprises student-athletes from surrounding/ nearby communities.

Water polo continues in the school club offseason for Ferrari. She is in her fourth year playing club water polo and in her second as part of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) North East zone team.

The ODP is a training program designed to identify and develop athletes for the U.S. National Teams. It serves as the primary pathway for athletes that want to represent the country in water polo, meaning Ferrari has aspirations to advance in her career.

The country is divided into 13 regions and the athletes compete to be selected for a spot in the team of their zone. The program starts at the beginning of the fall season with ODP Zone camps, followed by regional championships and, potentially, national championships. 

“I enjoy playing with the development team very much. Playing with them gives me the opportunity to learn new plays and challenge myself even more. Also playing with different people every year is very exciting and fun,” Ferrari said.

Whether she is on the pool representing the Staples co-op club squad or competing for ODP Ferrari enjoys water polo because “it is a team sport and even if it is very tiring and I need to sacrifice the time with my friends and most of my weekends, I really enjoy spending my time in the water,” she said.

Ferrari is a utility player. In practice she asks the coaches to help her master different positions so the coaches and the team can rely on her ability to perform across the pool. “For this, I practice to my very best everywhere and try to be prepared when I have a game,” she said.

“I love playing on the Staples Water polo co-op team, because first, I’m very proud to represent Staples and second, because it is an opportunity to make new friendships with kids from other schools in the area. But mostly because of the team spirit. Ever since I have joined the Staples team, the electricity and enthusiasm that the team brings to every game or practice is amazing,” Ferrari said.

Global experience to bring back to the local team

Ferrari was part of the Staples swim team her freshman year but unfortunately, due to an injury could not join the team at the beginning of her sophomore year. Ferrari plans to be part of the swim team again in the fall of 2025.

During the Staples offseason Ferrari practices water polo at Greenwich Aquatics which is the most competitive level you can play water polo in the state, she said. “I travel a lot with them also because most of the tournaments are in California.”

During the last spring break Ferrari also played in Italy with a team from Sicily. “It was an incredible experience for me because in addition to learning different plays, I also met amazing players that made me feel immediately part of the team and I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to play with them,” she said.

Ferrari said she would like to convince others to join the Staples club water polo team because even it requires a lot of effort and stamina, it is a lot of fun. The more experienced players combine efforts with coaches to help the newer player develop.

“Together with the Staples coaches we have taught kids from all different grades how to learn to play the sport just by taking it step by step but definitely you need to have a strong background in swimming,” Ferrari said.

The Staples co-op is led by coaches Danillo Sierra and Kade Ramirez. Sierra notes that the sport has grown tremendously in Westport and the area.

“Water polo has taken a turn in the last three years at Staples High School and Fairfield County. Since 2004 when water polo started as a club program at Staples it has been a challenge increasing the popularity and level of the sport. Two seasons ago, things changed when Staples opened the door to athletes from other schools that wanted to take part in their program and train, play, and travel against other schools — mostly private and club teams — all over the county and New England region,” Sierra said.

The level of play and popularity has increased leading to the formation of the Northeast Water Polo Club, a local program that has been targeting and helping young athletes to learn more about water polo and helping their transition to high school and college, Sierra said.

“Our main goal is to keep growing and make sure all athletes can have an easy transition from middle to high school and create more opportunities for scholarships so they can play water polo at a collegiate level,” Sierra added.

Ferrari certainly has enjoyed her water polo playing experience and is hopeful of continuing at the next level.

“One thing I’m sure about is that I would like to go to a college that has a high level of water polo but that also has very good academics. It won’t be easy since there are not many colleges with women’s teams but I will definitely work hard to achieve this goal,” she said.

Many water polo student-athletes from the Staples program have gone on to play the sport at schools including Connecticut College, the University of Connecticut, Fordham, Boston College, Brown University and the University of Southern California.

“We would like to invite more young athletes to join our water polo program so we can share with them the passion we feel from the sport,” Sierra said.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s.

QUÉBEC — The fans broke a record, but Canada came up just short in Volleyball National League action on Saturday at Centre Videotron.

More than 12,030 spectators watched Canada fall to France 3-2 in the best-of-five match, including the tense 15-6 tiebreaker. The fan count is the largest audience the Canadian senior men’s team has entertained on home soil, and is a VNL North American record.

Brodie Hofer and Xander Wassenaar Ketrzynski led the scoring for Canada with 15 points apiece. France’s captain Trevor Clevenot, part of the Paris 2024 gold-medal winning team, led all scorers with 24 points.

“We let the game slip away from us, I think, we played well and maintained a pretty good level, but I don’t think this is anywhere near our maximum capabilities,” said Canada captain Fynn McCarthy. “We played a pretty good solid base level but that’s not good enough against France.

“(Trevor) Clevenot kind of ran away with it in the end and he’s a really good player, so credit to him, but we should be doing a better job against his service pressure … I’m proud of the guys. Lots of our guys have never played in front of crowd like that so it was amazing.”

France, which won the VNL title last year, led overall in attack points (72-67), blocks (8-4) and made a couple fewer errors. Canada led in aces 5-2.

Canada’s head coach Dan Lewis said: “I’m extremely proud of the guys, they never quit and they are growing with every game. We need a good start in the fifth and make better choices. But it’s great that we’re learning to execute at a higher level on a regular basis. I’m super proud.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.

The Canadian Press

Focus on the front row

Lots of front row talent

How much does money talk?

Photos: Wisconsin volleyball battles UW-Green Bay in spring exhibition match

EUGENE, Ore. – The Texas Tech women’s track and field team wrapped up its season scoring 22 points Saturday evening at Hayward Field. The women end the year 12^th overall in the team standings.

In the first event of the day, the discus throw, Shelby Frank finished a career-high at the meet third place throwing a PB 63.37m (207-11) – new PB by just over four feet. Over two days, Frank scored 14 points for the Red Raiders – second in the hammer throw Thursday. She finishes her career in the discus with three-straight First Team All-America honors.

In the high jump, Temitope Adeshina placed fifth clearing 1.87m (6-1 ½). Meanwhile in the triple jump, Victoria Gorlova finished fifth bounding 13.53m (44-4 ¾).

Notables

·      Zoe Burleson finished 13^th in the discus

·      Tamiah Washington finished 10^th in the triple jump