WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Junior Jason Bois broke the school record in the 110-meter hurdles yet again to lead the Union College men’s outdoor track & field team on day one of the 2025 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Outdoor Championships, held on Wednesday afternoon at Williams College’s Weston Athletic Complex.
 
All four Union entries exceeded their seeding on the first day of competition, highlighted by a pair of personal bests and another program record falling in the hurdles.
 
Bois continued his mastery of the program’s 110-meter hurdles record on Friday, booking his spot in tomorrow’s final with a dash of 11.81 seconds in the second of four preliminary heats, taking fourth in easily the most competitive heat and seventh overall heading into tomorrow. The junior entered the event seeded 15th.
 
Sophomore Nate Okwaning also bested his seeding by double digits in the 100-meter dash, finishing in a personal-best 10.77 seconds to come less than a tenth of a second away from qualifying for the finals. Entering the day as the 22nd seed, the sophomore finished 10th out of 32 runners.
 
Junior Nick Entner also posted a top-20 finish for Union in the javelin throw, placing 16th with a throw of 51.23 meters on his third and final attempt. He was joined in the event by classmate Mason Lang, who placed 28th overall with a top mark of 45.66 meters.
 
The Garnet Chargers will be back in action at the AARTFC Championships tomorrow, with three Union entries looking to find their way to the podium.
 
 

Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban addressed growing speculation Wednesday about his possible involvement in a new college sports commission reportedly being formed by former President Donald Trump to address issues surrounding name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules.

Saban, speaking at the Regions Tradition pro-am golf tournament, confirmed he had heard about the effort but said he has not yet been formally asked to participate.

RELATED: Report: Trump creating commission on college sports to help solve NIL issue

Further reporting indicated Trump’s intention to create a commission on college sports to help to solve the issue and that Saban was going to be one of the co-chairs of the commission.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really know much about this commission,” he told reporters. “I don’t really know what this commission would do. I think we know what needs to be done. I just think we’ve got to figure out who’s got the will to do it…I’ve learned one thing about coaching for all these years that when you get into a subject like this that’s very complex, it’s probably good not to talk about it off the cuff. So I’ll find out more about it.”

RELATED: Tuberville: Trump and Saban could join forces to tackle NIL reform – hopes to talk tonight at UA

“If there’s something that I can do to help college football be better, I’m always going to be committed to do that. I was committed to do that as a coach, to help players be more successful in life. And I would continue to do the same thing now,” Saban said.

The Middlebury baseball team tallied two major NESCAC awards, as Kyle McCausland was tabbed player of the year and Mike Leonard earned coach of the year honors. Additionally, McCausland, Nathan Samii, Jacob Sherf and Stefano Yozzo were all-conference selections.

HONOREE HIGHLIGHTS

• McCausland (Player of the Year + First Team)
  • McCausland becomes the second player in conference history to earn the player of the year laurel twice in their career after winning the award in 2023. He joins Alec Ritch (2022) and Noah Walker (2007) as the only Panthers to tally the accolade. 
  • The senior ranks first in the NESCAC in total bases (101), runs batted in (RBI) (47) and home runs (12). The Panther also leads the team with 49 hits and 29 walks.
  • McCausland became the all-time leader in career hits with 199 and has top marks in runs scored (153) and doubles (44).
  • The outfielder is also the program’s home run leader, blasting 40 in a Panther uniform.
  • The senior tallies his third consecutive All-NESCAC First Team honor.
• Samii (First Team)
  • Samii earns his initial all-conference laurel.
  • The Panther has been a force at the plate, leading the league with a .411 batting average and .720 slugging percentage.
  • Samii is third in career doubles for Middlebury, tallying 41. 
  • He has reached base in 23 of 29 games played this season.
• Sherf (Second Team)
  • In his final campaign, Sherf tallies his first All-NESCAC nod.
  • The reliever paces the squad in appearances (18) and has allowed just five runs over 26.1 innings.
  • Sherf has pitched in 25 contests over his career, striking out 29 batters and giving up a .188 batting average.
• Yozzo (Second Team)
  • Yozzo secures all-conference honors for the first time.
  • The right-hander took a step forward this season, posting a 1.50 earned run average and striking out 25 batters.
  • Yozzo is second on the squad with three saves and while limiting opponents to a .176 batting average.
• Leonard (Coach of the Year)
  • Leonard earns his third NESCAC Coach of the Year honor in the last four seasons. 
  • He joins Bill Decker (Trinity) and Mark Woodworth (Wesleyan) as the third coach to win the award three or more times.
  • Leonard, joined by assistants Mike Phelps, Devin Burke and Garrett Eddy, guided the Panthers to the East Division’s top seed and their third conference crown in the last four seasons. 
  • Since arriving at Middlebury, he has eclipsed 25 wins or more five times in a season, including a program-record 32 during the 2024 campaign.

The Panthers return to the diamond for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday against Cortland at 2:30 p.m. in New Jersey.

Charles Barkley is making waves on social media again amid a stunning admission over the limits of NIL funding for his beloved Auburn Tigers.

Barkley was a star player at Auburn in the 1980s before he embarked on a Hall of Fame career in the NBA and garnered additional fame as part of TNT’s Emmy-winning “Inside the NBA” studio show. He has always given back to Auburn, especially as the men’s basketball program has ascended to elite status under head coach Bruce Pearl.

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But in a new interview with WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Alabama, Barkley has called the “notion” that he will give “legal or illegal” millions each year to Auburn University “the stupidest thing” he has ever heard.

The UMass hockey team unveiled its 2025-26 schedule on Wednesday and a unique slate awaits the Minutemen next season.

Starting with a two-game set on Oct. 4-5, UMass will welcome Northern Michigan to the Mullins Center to kick off head coach Greg Carvel’s 10th season in Amherst. The Wildcats will be making their first ever trip to Western Massachusetts in the season-opening series. UMass last faced Northern Michigan in 1999.

The Minutemen’s non-conference portion continues the following week with an away game at Stonehill, one of the newest Division I programs in the country, on Oct. 10. The Skyhawks joined the top ranks during the 2022-23 season and are one of five independent teams nationwide.

UMass will then play its first of four games against Northeastern throughout the season the week after, on Oct. 17. Carvel confirmed during the offseason that due to American International College dropping its Division I program midseason last year, the Minutemen and Huskies decided to play an additional game against each other as a non-conference matchup. On Oct. 18, UMass will play Bentley for the second time in two years after beating the Falcons during its season-opener in 2024-25 in Waltham. Both games are set to be played at Mullins.

The Minutemen will make their longest journey of the regular season the following week when they head to Omaha, Nebraska for two games against the Mavericks. UMass will be making its first trip to the Cornhusker State since 2003. The Minutemen played Nebraska-Omaha during last season’s Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas and lost, 3-2, in overtime.

Continuing the theme of former in-season tournament opponents, Cornell will square off with UMass twice at Mullins over Halloween weekend. The Big Red beat the Minutemen during last season’s Desert Hockey Classic in Tempe, Arizona, 4-2. 

The month of November will be grueling for UMass as seven of its eight games will come against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025. It starts with the second game against Cornell on Nov. 1, then two versus Maine — the reigning Hockey East champions – at home on Nov. 6-7. Next, the Minutemen will have their first home-and-home against Boston College on Nov. 14-15, before a Thursday-Saturday home-and-home with Providence starting on Nov. 20.

UMass will finish out its non-conference docket with a Black Friday showdown against Army in West Point, N.Y. on Nov. 28.

From then on it’s Hockey East play the rest of the way and the Minutemen will play games two and three against Northeastern in Boston to close out 2025 on Dec. 6-7.

Boston University will serve as UMass’ first opponent of 2026 on Jan. 9-10, before two against Merrimack on Jan. 16-17. Both will be home-and-home series for the Minutemen.

UMass then will make the drive up to Burlington, Vt. for the second year in a row for two against the Catamounts on Jan. 23-24.

The fourth and final contest with Northeastern is the week after on Jan. 30 at Mullins, then the Minutemen will have three consecutive games against in-state rival UMass Lowell starting on Feb. 1 before that stretches to another home-and-home on Feb. 6-7.

UMass will get a week off following its three against the River Hawks, then will have a pair of home-and-home series to close out the month of February. New Hampshire (Feb. 20-21) and UConn (Feb. 27-28) serve as the Minutemen’s two opponents in that stretch.

The Minutemen will close out their home schedule in early March with a bout against BC on March 5, then will head to Durham, N.H. for their regular-season finale against the Wildcats on March 7.

UMass’ 24-game Hockey East slate features three games against BC, UMass Lowell and UNH.