CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini women’s track and field team has won all three University of Illinois Annual Athletic Awards including Athlete, Newcomer and Freshman of the Year as voted on by Illinois head coaches and DIA executive staff for the second-consecutive season.

Long jumper Tacoria Humphrey earned the title of Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the year on the heels of earning All-America honors and Big Ten Champion status during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

She won her Big Ten Indoor title with the third-furthest long jump in NCAA Indoor history, 6.94m (22-9 1/4). This mark is also the Big Ten, program and B1G Indoor Championships record. Following this performance she was named to The Bowerman Watch List, only the third Illini woman ever to be named to that prestigious list. She finished the indoor season with a silver medal at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the highest finisher ever in program history.

In the outdoor season she won her second-consecutive Big Ten Outdoor title to become a three-time Big Ten Champion. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, she became an All-American in her fourth-place finish which is the highest finish in program history. She’s only the program’s second All-American in the event as the last was 43 years ago with Becky Kaiser on Illinois’ first NCAA-qualifying team in 1982.

Humphrey is the fifth consecutive recipient from the Illini women’s track & field program to earn the Eddleman award, and the third of coach Petros Kyprianou‘s three-year tenure. She is the 23rd winner overall from track since the Illinois Female Athlete of the Year award was first presented in 1977. Track & Field has the most selections among Illini women’s sports programs.

Shot putter Abria Smith was named Illinois Newcomer of the Year from her incredible growth in her first year in the Illini throws program. Working with coach  J.C. Lambert she improved her personal best by over three meters from 15.84m (51-11 3/4) to 18.92m (62-1). Her 18.92m heave is not only a program record, but it’s the 14th-furthest throw in NCAA Outdoor history.

She finished the outdoor season as the shot put national runner-up, throwing 18.85m (62-1 1/4), to become the highest finisher ever in program history. A month prior she became the Big Ten Outdoor Champion in the shot put throwing 17.95m (58-10 3/4), the program’s first B1G Outdoor Champion shot putter since Olympic medalist Ashley Spencer in 2009.

During the indoor season Smith earned All-America honors with her program-record throw of 17.99m (59-0 1/4) to place seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships after a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with a mark of 17.87m (58-7 1/2).

Smith is the second consecutive member of the Illini women’s track & field program to earn Newcomer of the Year, joining 2024 honoree Darja Sopova.

Melissa Wullschleger was tabbed Illinois Freshman of the Year to go along with her Big Ten Freshman of the Year honor. She became a first-team All-American in the heptathlon with a program record 5,928 points in her fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She’s the program’s third-ever All-American in the event and the first since Carmel Corbett in 1996. As part of her school-record breaking score, Wullschleger also threw the program’s third-furthest javelin, 44.20m (145-0), to propel her into the top-4 at the national meet.

A month prior to the national meet she took fourth in the heptathlon at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships with 5,749 points. During the indoor season she placed seventh in the pentathlon at the Big Ten Indoor Championships with the program’s fourth-highest score of 3,984 points.

Wullschleger is the 11th Freshman of the Year for the Illinois women’s track & field program and the second-consecutive one following teammate Elizabeth Ndudi’s selection in 2024.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan is set to host the 2025 Miller Family Open Track and Field Meet, an inclusive competition for athletes with and without disabilities.

The event, taking place on Saturday, June 28, 2025, offers a unique opportunity for storytelling and imagery to showcase the incredible talent of adaptive athletes.

The meet will bring together para-athletes, athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and non-disabled competitors from institutions such as the University of Michigan, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Alabama.

Emerging competitors ages 14 and up are encouraged to participate, as the meet also serves as a talent identification event.

This open-format meet is a World Para Athletics and Move United-sanctioned qualifier for the 2025 Move United and USA Track & Field Nationals.

The event is part of the Guardian’s Adaptive Student Athlete Program (ASAP), which aims to expand access to competitive sports for college-level athletes with disabilities.

The event will take place at the University of Michigan Track and Field Stadium, located at 2540 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, and is open to the public.

Challenging perceptions of athleticism

Beyond showcasing the dedication of adaptive athletes, the meet reflects the efforts of Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami and the U-M Adaptive Sports and Fitness program to challenge traditional perceptions of what it means to be an athlete.

Now in its second year, the Miller Family Open Track and Field Meet continues U-M Adaptive Sports’ partnership with organizations such as Athletes Without Limits, Virtus, Move United, and USA Track & Field, creating competitive opportunities for a diverse range of athletes.

In addition to established national and international athletes, emerging competitors ages 14 and up are encouraged to participate, as the meet also serves as a talent identification event.

The event is part of the Guardian’s Adaptive Student Athlete Program (ASAP), a national initiative in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and Fitness program, which expands access to competitive sports—including track and field, wheelchair tennis, and wheelchair basketball—for college-level athletes with disabilities.

ASAP works to break down barriers to participation by increasing awareness, accessibility, and support for adaptive athletics.

Admissions to the event are free.

Additionally, a special ceremony will recognize donors from recent giving campaigns, with a surprise gift planned for incoming student-athletes.

The event starts at 9:30 a.m., and doors will open at 7:30 a.m.

• Events will feature the 100M, Open 100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 1500M, 3000M, and Universal Relay (4*100M)

• Long jump, high jump, javelin, shot put, discus, and club

The Association of Volleyball Professionals is returning to Virginia Beach for its second “Contender” event of the season, featuring some of beach volleyball’s rising stars.

The winners and runners-up in the $60,000 event at 12th Street and Atlantic Avenue will receive wild-card berths into the AVP’s Manhattan Beach Open in August.

Qualifying is set for 9 a.m. Friday, with the 24-team main draws to follow Saturday and Sunday.

Also this weekend in Virginia Beach is the AVP Juniors 4-Star Mid-Atlantic Championships.

The men’s top seeds are Derek Bradford of Porter Ranch, California, and Evan Cory of Metairie, Louisiana, while the women’s top seeds are Maya Gessner and Jacinda Ramirez.

Three men’s pairs have a local player.

**Shawn Yoder of Virginia Beach is playing alongside John Valeiras of Richmond.

**Brett Rosenmeier of Virginia Beach is partnered by Nick Drooker of Henrico.

**Ayden Keeter of Yorktown is playing with Carson Barnes of Ocean View, Delaware.

Colorado Springs, Colo. – A trio of field performers have been named the 2025 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athletes of the Year after a vote by the league’s head coaches. Air Force’s Texas Tanner earned the honor on the men’s side, while Colorado State’s Mya Lesnar and Fresno State’s Cierra Jackson were selected as co-recipients for the women.

The honor is awarded to the best male and female student-athlete(s) in the Conference following the conclusion of the outdoor season.

A native of Sheridan, Wyoming, Tanner earned first-team All-America honors in the hammer throw at the 2025 NCAA championship after finishing fourth with a throw of 75.22 meters, becoming the first Falcon in 60 years to secure All-America honors in a men’s throwing event. He added a 20^th-place finish and All-American Honorable Mention honors in the discus at the national meet.

The performance capped an outstanding year for the junior that saw him capture 2025 Mountain West titles and meet records in both the hammer throw (73.23m) and discus (63.59m), while setting the Conference’s all-time record in the hammer throw at 75.83 meters during the regular season. Tanner was named the MW Men’s Field Performer of the Meet for a second consecutive year and earned USTFCCCA Men’s Mountain Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year for the second time in as many seasons.

On the women’s side, both honorees came away with national titles at the 2025 NCAA championships.

Lesnar finished her stellar Ram career winning the shot put on her first attempt with a throw of 19.01 meters, becoming the first CSU thrower to win both an outdoor and indoor national title after her 2024 indoor shot put gold medal. Prior to the national championship, Lesnar picked up a second consecutive Mountain West shot put title at the 2025 Conference championship meet and set the Conference’s all-time record in the event in Fort Collins in May with a throw of 19.60 meters. The Alexandria, Minnesota, native was also named the 2025 USTFCCCA Women’s Mountain Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Jackson, a Chandler, Arizona native, made history for Fresno State, capturing the program’s first outdoor title and the Bulldogs’ first NCAA title in 26 years with her gold in the women’s discus. The senior’s opening throw of 65.82 meters set a national meet record and proved to be the winning throw, earning her first-team All-America honors. Jackson also added an eighth-place finish in the shot put (17.70m) to garner a second first-team nod in Eugene. At the 2025 Mountain West championships, she took silver in the both the hammer throw (65.50m) and shot put (17.77m), finishing on the podium in both events for a second a straight year.

Chaminade women’s volleyball coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke announced her nine-player recruiting class for the 2025 season on Wednesday.

Division I transfers Audrah Radford (6-2, outside hitter, Utah State) and Alizaysha Sopi (6-2, OH, Tennessee State) are among the group. Sopi is a Kapolei graduate.

The class includes three incoming freshmen from local high schools. They are Baldwin’s Lilinoe Paschoal (5-8, setter) and Imani-Maile Hargis (6-1, middle blocker), and Hanalani’s Aliyah Hofherr-Sanders (5-9 right-side hitter).

The other recruits are Anna Karasinska (6-3, MB, Nowa Ruda, Poland), Maylynn Mitchell (6-1, OH, Orange, Calif.), Beele Wieczorek (6-2 RSH, Wiesbaden, Germany) and Alexis “Lillie” Hinton (6-foot-2, OH, Spicewood, Texas).

Hinton graduated early from high school and played with the Silverswords beach volleyball team in the spring.

Moanalua’s Millare claims Gatorade honor

Moanalua’s James Millare was named the Gatorade Hawaii Boys Track & Field Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Millare, a junior, won the 800-, 1,500- and 3,000-meter events to help lead Na Menehune to the boys team title at the Island Movers/HHSAA State Championships in May at Kealakehe High School.

The Gatorade award recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service.

Millare, who has maintained a 3.41 GPA, has volunteered with his church community and has participated in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.