For the fourth time in five years, Elon University’s women’s track and field team reigned supreme at the Coastal Athletic Association Outdoors Championship on May 15. They clinched the title with 147 points — 25 more than Hampton, who finished second. It is the sixth championship for the Phoenix in their ten league meets. 

This victory comes with some redemption after the team was denied a fourth straight championship the previous season. Director of track and field, and cross country Mark Elliston listed injuries as a big reason why they couldn’t capture last year’s championship. He said it made a huge difference for everyone to be at full strength this season. 

Injuries weren’t the only component driving the team’s desire to reclaim the championship. Junior Lizzie Lopez said the team was motivated by projections that ranked them No. 3 among all CAA teams. 

“We probably had a different attitude,” Lopez said. “We were projected to finish third and we wanted to show everyone that we weren’t a third place team, and we deserved to be at the top.”

She said that after last season, there was an overwhelming determination for the team to finish strong heading into 2025. 

Elliston said he was impressed by the team’s desire to get back to their winning ways. He listed their preparation and work ethic as two key factors which helped them stay focused.

“To have them all at 100% was good,” Elliston said. “The preparation was there. Everyone was able to do the workload, and then also continue to stay focused as we went into the meet. That was a really big positive as far as going for the title again.”

For the tournament, Elliston attributed Elon’s success toward having multiple players excelling in different events. The team’s diversity in competitions additionally served as inspiration to their players. Elliston said each player had their own particular event. 

“I think each team member may have had their own event that really inspired them,” Elliston said. “To have two or three events go well and have that team member doing better than expected is always something that inspires everyone to do their part.”

Whereas some track teams may have great distance runners or terrific hurdlers, Elon had athletes who excelled in multiple categories. Some of their notable results in hurdling included sophomore Caden Cerminara coming in fourth for the pole vault, along with senior Jazlyn Jefferson and freshman Mia Stimpson finishing top five in the triple jump. 

In long distance events, Elon had junior Hannah Weber, along with seniors Madison Synowiec and Mariana Martinez, finish top three in the 5,000 meter. Sophomore Quinn Smith and junior Sara Petitjean finished top two in the 1,500 meter. 

Elliston labeled Elon’s versatility as a key factor in the team’s performance. He said it was great seeing the Phoenix perform as a team throughout the duration of the championship. 

“We needed to come through in as many events as we could to the best of our abilities, and that’s what we did,” Elliston said. “Some teams come to the championship and they have a lot of sprinters, jumpers or some really good throwers, but we came in as a complete team.”

No player embodied that more than Lopez, who competed in the heptathlon: a seven-event athletic contest which includes sprinting, hurdling and throwing competitions. While Lopez was initially nervous, she said the support from her teammates helped ease her concerns. She finished in first place with a score of 4,959 points. Lopez made her presence felt during each event. She placed first in the long jump and finished no lower than fifth in all other events.

Lopez said it was rewarding for her after missing the second day of last year’s championship with an injury. She said she felt a surge of accomplishment after completing the whole event. 

“Last year I wasn’t able to complete the second day because of my injury, so it was really cool to finally finish the heptathlon as a whole,” Lopez said. 

As Elon closed in on the title, Elliston said one of his favorite things was seeing how much his players were building up one another. He said he viewed the championship as a total team effort giving credit to the seniors, who he described as a “very strong class,” and to the freshman, who he said made a difference in their first year. 

“We came into the championship as a team,” Elliston said. “It was really great to watch everyone feed off each other, knowing that we had the strength and that we were going to make a run at the championship, and that’s what they did.”

Some of Elon’s athletes will continue their season at the National Collegiate Athletic Association East preliminaries in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 28-31. Senior Mikayla Jones was chosen in the 5,000 meter, while Synowiec was selected for the 10,000 meter. 

Jones and Synowiec will compete within the Eastern region for a bid to the NCAA track and field championship in Eugene, Oregon, from June 11-14.

“It’s pretty exciting to see,” Elliston said.  

The Philomath High School boys volleyball team placed sixth over the weekend at the Oregon High School Boys Volleyball Association’s state tournament following a trophy-match showdown against none other than Newport, the school that tied the Warriors for first place in the regular-season District 2 standings.

The appearance at the state tournament capped the inaugural season of PHS boys volleyball.

“They made PHS sport history this weekend,” Warriors coach Helen Bennett said, “and I had the honor and privilege of being a part of it.”

The Warriors (17-8) and Cubs (14-8) ended up in the fourth-/sixth-place match with a high noon showdown Sunday at the Olympus Sports Center in Hillsboro. The Cubs had come into the tournament as the No. 2 seed and lost their tournament-opening match Saturday to Molalla in straight sets before regrouping for a four-set win over Phoenix. Fourth-seeded Philomath, meanwhile, lost in four sets to Cascade in its first action on Saturday but took care of Marshfield in a three-set consolation win.

Newport pulled off the win in what proved to be another epic battle between the two teams, 19-25, 25-21, 12-25, 25-20, 17-15.

“However heartbreaking it was to lose — with a few boys and their coach emotional — it wasn’t anything to be sad about,” Bennett said. “It’s a tremendous feeling to go down fighting, knowing you played your heart out and left it all on the court. The boys played their best when it counted most and they can hold their heads high because of it along with that sixth-place trophy.”

It was the fifth time that Philomath and Newport squared off on the volleyball court — each school beating the other twice during the regular season and both ended up 10-2 in the district’s final standings.

PHS senior Carson Winder had a big match against Newport with 14 kills, four blocks and eight aces — including six aces alone in the third set. Junior Chris Eaton pitched in eight kills, and senior Isac Marcelo and junior Antonio Martinez each served three aces. Senior Raul Sanchez finished with 20 digs and had 80% passing efficiency — a statistic that measures pass quality on serve receptions.

The Warriors opened the tournament Saturday with a loss to Cascade, 25-16, 25-18, 25-27, 25-21. The Cougars, which has an athlete who plans to play at the Division I level in college, ended up with third place in the tournament.

“After the first set jitters, we battled hard, getting better as the match went on, even winning the third set, 27-25, but they had too much fire power,” Bennett said.

Winder had nine kills and four blocks against Cascade. Eaton finished with five kills.

The loss dropped Philomath in the consolation bracket to face Marshfield, a league opponent that Philomath swept this season.

“We knew we couldn’t take them for granted and had to beat them to have a shot for the fourth-/sixth-place trophies in the consolation bracket final,” Bennett said.

The Warriors won the match in straight sets, 25-12, 25-18, 27-25. Philomath had a dozen ace serves in the victory and at the net, Eaton had four kills and Winder had four blocks.

Estacada, third-seeded team, ended up winning the championship with a five-set victory over top-seeded Crook County.

Boys volleyball is designated as an “emerging sport” and does not yet have the full sanctioning of the Oregon School Activities Association. Boys volleyball is in its second year of the OSAA’s evaluation period.

Bennett said participating in the OHSBVA tournament was a great experience for the team.

“Looking back to how we started this season with only a few players with any volleyball skills — most only experiencing the game in PE classes — it’s amazing how much they’ve improved,” she said. “Obviously the learning curve is high when you start at square one. But I don’t know of another sport that has so many individual skills needed to perform, for almost every player to learn, in addition to understanding rules, rotations, positions, player exchanges and offensive and defensive strategies.”

Bennett added, “So for us to go 10-2 in league, 17-8 overall and finish with a sixth-place trophy our first year, I couldn’t be more proud of their hard work, commitment and success.”

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Berlin would hold the Olympic beach volleyball next to the Brandenburg Gate if it is chosen as Germany’s bidder for the 2036 or 2040 Games.

The plans were included in the city’s official bid submission to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), which was made available on Tuesday.

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“This is a huge opportunity. An opportunity for sport, an opportunity for Berlin, an opportunity for Germany,” Berlin mayor Kai Wegner said at the city’s Olympic Stadium, which was the centre point of the 1936 Games under Nazi rule.

Berlin, bidding together with the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein as the conceptualized Berlin+, wants to host the Olympics exactly 100 years later to show how much the city has changed.

In addition to Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia (with the Rhine and Ruhr region) also want to be Germany’s bidder.

The final decision on the German bid is to be made by the third quarter of 2026.

The NOlympia Berlin initiative wants to prevent an Olympic Games in the capital and plans to force a referendum against the proposals.

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Fairfax, Va. – The NCAA First Round qualifiers begin Wednesday, May 27, and George Mason University will be well represented as several student-athletes look to advance on the national stage.

Freshman Davian Burke will get things started for the Patriots, competing in the 110m hurdles at 6 p.m. He is set to race in the first heat of six, facing a competitive field that includes athletes from Kent State, Florida State, South Florida, Florida, South Carolina, ULM, and Cornell. The top three finishers in each heat, along with the next six fastest times overall, will qualify for Friday’s quarterfinals.

Later that evening, at 8:20 p.m., Joziah Johnson, the reigning Atlantic 10 gold medalist in the 400m hurdles, will step onto the track. Johnson has been placed in the final heat and will race in lane four. His competition includes runners from North Carolina, Samford, South Florida, Tennessee, Coppin State, Howard, and Georgia Tech. Like the 110m hurdles, the top three in each heat and the next six fastest times will move on to the quarterfinal round.

On Thursday, Kailynn Tyson will be the only Patriot in action. She will compete in the long jump at 4:30 p.m. Tyson is also scheduled to return to competition on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for the triple jump.

Friday’s events will feature two more Mason athletes. Geni Roberts is slated to compete in the triple jump at 2:30 p.m., while Wesley Bond will close out the day with the 3000m steeplechase at 5:40 p.m.

With strong performances across a variety of events, George Mason’s athletes are poised to make an impact at this year’s NCAA First Round qualifiers.

After a trip to the Elite Eight round last season the Guntersville High School volleyball program is looking to build on their success in 2025, starting with a new head coach in Melissa-Paul Gardner.

“Coach Brittany Case did an amazing job with this program,” Gardner said. “Last season they went to the Elite Eight which is something they hadn’t done in a few years and was a big milestone. I want to build on what she did, I want to take us to the Final Four and in the end win a state championship, that will be my goal until the day I die.” 

Gardner has a long history with the sport, starting back to her time playing at Hartselle High School where her team won the state championship in 2012. After one year playing at Wallace State College in Cullman she would return to coach eighth grade volleyball at her alma mater but after one year, she made a big move cross country to Indiana, becoming a coach at Munciana Volleyball in Yorktown, the longest running volleyball club in the country. Gardner would coach at Munciana for five years, later taking on the head coaching job at Cowan High School. In her first season in 2019 she took the team to a state championship win and a Final Four appearance in 2020 before departing to return to Alabama. 

Gardener learned a great deal about the game while in Indiana, citing it as “one of the toughest volleyball states in the country.” 

“The game should be fast,” she said. “Passing is more important that attacking as an aspect of gameplay, if you can’t pass you can’t open up hits on the ball. I feel like in Alabama we find those big hitters and just hone in on them but in Indiana it was all about the small game in the back court.”

Back in Alabama Gardner would coach two seasons at New Hope, reaching super regionals in her first season, while also helping to establish and coach the Bama Elite volleyball club in Guntersville with her husband Randy, a sister club to Munciana. Most recently, she was serving as an assistant coach at Calhoun Community College while still continuing to coach fourteen and sixteen-year-old teams at Bama Elite. She says that the call to come coach the Wildcats was the job she had been waiting for ever since returning to Alabama, noting the strong legacy of the program and remembering the times she had played against them in high school.

“Hartselle and Guntersville have never been rivals but every time we played them we always knew we were playing a great team,” she said. “It was always a tough matchup and I really think this program’s legacy draws a lot of people to volleyball and I want to keep that going.”

One of the most important things that drives Gardner is bringing attention and support to the game of volleyball. While a coach at New Hope she recalled the great support she received from the community which she believes helped carry them to the regionals her first year. When her team made its state championship run at Cowan she says she had a group of student fans that followed the team to every match, a mindset she wants to bring to Guntersville and show people the athleticism and fun that comes out during volleyball season.

“I don’t feel like volleyball gets the support in Alabama like it does in some other states,” she said. “I want people to see what a fast paced and fun game this really is and how these girls put their bodies on the line every single play.” 

The team held tryouts just last Wednesday, with Gardner saying they had a strong turnout of around thirty-five students and a big participation from the underclassmen. Gardner will only have a short couple of months to prep the team, which will begin practice in June and work all through summer for the opener in August. 

“It’s tough with how late in the game I came on but I feel confident in the coaches I have lined up and in myself,” she said. “With this team I think we can take these two months and get right where we need to be to get the season started.”

The Wildcats will open their volleyball season against Hayden on August 21 at Boaz High School.

AUSTIN, Texas – Five South Carolina softball players were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Softball team Tuesday (May 27). Sam Gress, Nealy Lamb, Arianna Rodi, Emily Vinson, and Lexi Winters earned the honor that recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom.

Vinson earns her third Academic All-District® honor of her career, while Rodi and Winters earned their second.

Gress, Rodi, and Winters were selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced June 17.

The right-handed pitching Gress adds to her season accolades after earning her third NFCA All-Region honor earlier this season. She has a 3.83 GPA while pursuing her graduate degree in sport and entertainment management. She was drafted by the Florida Vibe of the Fastpitch United Pro Series. She was also named to the All-SEC Second Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team. A graduate student, she led the SEC and is 13th in the nation with five saves. She also leads the team with five complete games. Gress is second on the team with 14 wins, 104 strikeouts, and a 2.83 ERA. On the season, she finished with has 44 appearances over 150 2-3 innings with one shutout.

Lamb, a right-handed pitcher, is majoring in public health and has a 4.0 GPA. The sophomore ended her first season with the Gamecocks third on the team with a 10-3 record. She had a 3.26 ERA, striking out 81 batters over 73 innings pitched. She struck out a season-high seven batters in back-to-back games against Saint Francis and Georgia State. Against rival Clemson, she earned the win after tossing five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and struck out four Tigers.

Rodi adds to her remarkable first season in Columbia after earning NFCA All-Region Second Team honors. The junior first baseman carries a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in services management. She set a pair of South Carolina records with 17 home runs and 49 walks, and her 55 RBIs are third all-time.  She hit a home run in five straight games, which is tied for the 14th longest streak in NCAA Division I history. Her 37 game on-base streak was the fourth longest streak in Division I this season.

An outfielder, Vinson is a psychology and has a 4.0 GPA. In her lone season with Carolina, the senior started 60 games. She led the team with nine stolen bases. She batted .202 with 24 runs scored, 11 RBIs, and two home runs. Vinson drove in a season-high three runs in a win over Kentucky.

Winters, a junior catcher, has a 4.0 GPA and majors in economics. She played in all 61 games, starting 59 behind the dish. She previously was named to the NFCA All-Region Second Team. Winters was second on the team with 53 RBIs, which ranks tied for fifth all-time in program history. Her six home runs and .527 slugging percentage are also second on the team. She had a .331 batting average with 13 doubles for the season. Behind the plate she threw out eight attempted base stealers.

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.