NEW ORLEANS, La. — Senior Savannah Sutherland and assistant coach Steven Rajewsky of the University of Michigan women’s track and field team have earned United States Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Regional Awards, as announced Friday (June 20).

Sutherland was named Great Lakes Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Rajewsky was named the Great Lakes Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

A vote of USTFCCCA member coaches determined

Award winners following the conclusion of the 2025 NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Performances from both the NCAA Championships and the regular season were considered.

Sutherland captured her second national title in the 400-meter hurdles and her third straight top-two finish at the NCAA Championships on June 14. She ran a personal-best 52.46 seconds to finish 2.20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, set five records — the NCAA record, the NCAA Championship meet record, the Big Ten record, the Michigan program record and the Canadian national record — and earned first team All-America honors.

The Borden, Saskatchewan, native is now just the second runner in NCAA history to break 53 seconds, with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone setting the previous collegiate record of 52.75 in 2018. The time comes in at No. 9 in the world on the all-time performance list and is tied for the second-fastest time in the world this season.

Sutherland also ran the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, running 50.71 for the fastest second leg and second-fastest split of the race. The relay squad finished 19th overall with a time of 3:33.75 to be named All-America honorable mention.

The senior capped an impressive career in her final season for the Maize and Blue, winning her third straight Big Ten title in the 400-meter hurdles before setting the NCAA East First Round meet record (54.39) for the second consecutive year. She also helped set the program record in the 4×400-meter relay twice this season and earned a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.

Rajewsky, in his 12th year as an assistant coach at Michigan, coached Sutherland to setting a collegiate record of 52.46 in winning the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. His sprint/hurdle group also twice lowered the program record in the 4×400m relay and finished third at the Big Ten Championships.

• USTFCCCA Release

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Jadin O’Brien was named as the Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year for the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field season, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Pewaukee, Wisconsin native finished as the runner-up in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last weekend. She posted a personal-record and program-record score of 6256, which put her as No. 12 on the all-time collegiate scoring chart in the event. In May, she captured the ACC Outdoor Track & Field title in the heptathlon with a then-PR of 6220. O’Brien set a meet record in the event and became the first Notre Dame track and field athlete to win the ACC heptathlon crown.

O’Brien swept the 2025 USTFCCCA Region Field Athlete of the Year awards as she also earned the honor after the conclusion of the indoor track & field season.

The full list of USTFCCCA Regional Athletes and Coaches of the Year is available to read by following this link.

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Campers hold up their “Ls” for Lowndes during a group photo at the Lowndes Volleyball Camp.

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Lowndes head volleyball coach Jesi Thomas leads campers through a drill.

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Campers hone their skills in foundational volleyball skills through hands-on drills.

VALDOSTA — As the fall season approaches, Lowndes’ volleyball program is working hard to ensure that all levels of their program remain active during the summer and focused on the fundamentals.

This week, Head Coach Jesi Thomas and her staff welcomed a group of sixth,  seventh, and eighth graders for a developmental camp aimed at building both fundamental skills and a stronger future program. Next week, a younger group of elementary school kids will take the court for their own camp.

The camps, part of Lowndes’ multiple offseason efforts, focused on essential techniques like passing and serving—skills Thomas called “the only way you can start a point.” The players were divided by age across the gym and spent each day learning the structure of organized play, developing muscle control, and participating in guided drills. But beyond the technical training, the camp served a larger purpose: introducing younger athletes to the “Lowndes way” of volleyball.

Thomas said this year’s group has already shown something special.

“The group has really good chemistry this year,” she said during the camp. “Way more than we had at this point last year. That part is interesting—especially since they are younger.”

While the younger athletes learned the basics, they were guided by a lineup of familiar faces. Current JV and varsity players helped with the camp, while two recent graduates, former seniors who played key roles last season, returned to assist. Thomas discussed that the mix of experience levels created a positive environment where the younger campers could look up to players who had walked the same path. It also reinforced one of Thomas’ primary goals: creating continuity between middle and high school programs.

For Thomas, leading the Lowndes volleyball program has become more than a career move—it’s become a calling.

“I love it. It’s literally a dream job that I did not know was my dream job,” said Thomas. “I could not see myself doing anything outside of this. I love the girls.”

That passion translates into the culture Thomas continues to try to build within the team. As the season approaches, she’s focused on preparing a younger but eager group of athletes to step into the roles left by last year’s graduating class. 

Campers will also make an appearance at Crimson and White Night. Set for August 12, the event started last year and offers fans a chance to get an early look at the squad while celebrating the program’s growth. As for the season itself, Thomas said she hopes the community shows up the same way her players have—ready, energetic, and loud.

“Come out. Come out and support. We love having the environment that we have for volleyball,” she said. “It’s like almost a playoff-caliber game every single night.”

OMAHA, Neb. – When Coastal Carolina baseball takes the field at Charles Schwab Stadium on Saturday to compete for a national championship, it will carry the banner for the Sun Belt Conference, which has undergone a meteoric rise since expanding to its current 14-member configuration ahead of the 2022-23 season. 
 
The Chanticleers—proud members of the Sun Belt since the day after winning their baseball national championship in 2016—will be the second Sun Belt program to compete in an NCAA Division I national championship final during the 2024-25 season, following Marshall men’s soccer. With that appearance, the Sun Belt will join the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC as 1-of-5 conferences with multiple appearances in NCAA Division I national championship finals this season. 
 
The Sun Belt regular-season and tournament champion Chanticleers have not lost a game since April 22, including an unblemished run through postseason play. Coastal Carolina carried the longest-ever winning streak into the College World Series (23 games) and now into the College World Series national championship round (26 games)—snapping a 77-year-old record 18-game winning streak entering the national championship by USC in 1948 in the process. 
 
Sun Belt Coach of the Year Kevin Schnall summed up the Coastal Carolina run following Wednesday’s national semifinal by saying, “It’s incredible, but it’s not unbelievable.” 
 
That statement could just as easily have been describing the Sun Belt’s rise since the 2022-2023 season. The league has paced all non-autonomy conferences in Bowl Season representation in football for three-straight years—including leading the nation with 12 Bowl Season qualifiers in 2023—and established a conference record with 37 NCAA postseason and Bowl Season berths during the 2023-24 season—when it was a multi-bid league in women’s soccer, men’s soccer, volleyball, football, softball and baseball. 
 
The Sun Belt’s first-ever appearance in the College World Series final comes on the heels of a four-season span in which it has sent 14 teams to NCAA Baseball Regionals, 10 to NCAA Baseball Regional finals and two to NCAA Baseball Super Regionals. That grouping has included four regional hosts and national seeds—No. 13 Coastal Carolina (2025), No. 16 Southern Miss (2025), No. 10 Coastal Carolina (2023) and No. 16 Georgia Southern (2022). 
 
Historically one of the nation’s premier conferences in the diamond sports, the Sun Belt has been a multi-bid league in baseball in 30-of-36 seasons since 1989 and in softball in 11-of-15 seasons since 2010. The conference has produced seven Super Regional and two Men’s College World Series teams in baseball since the current tournament format was adopted in 1999 and eight Super Regional and three Women’s College World Series teams since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 2000. 
 
In the three seasons since reestablishing its men’s soccer conference in 2022, the Sun Belt has sent nine teams to the NCAA Tournament, with two advancing to the Men’s College Cup—Marshall (2024) and West Virginia (2023). That grouping has included five national seeds—No. 13 Marshall (2024), No. 1 Marshall (2023), No. 5 West Virginia (2023), No. 12 UCF (2023) and No. 1 Kentucky (2022)—and the No. 1 overall seeds in 2022 and 2023. 
 
In football, the Sun Belt’s .571 bowl winning percentage during the College Football Playoff era (2014-2024) trails only the SEC (.578), while its .545 all-time bowl winning percentage leads all non-autonomy conferences since the conference began sponsoring football in 2001. 
 
Building upon its own 2016 national championship and the Sun Belt’s sustained rise across a number of conference-sponsored sports, Coastal Carolina baseball will attempt to take the next step for the conference in the College World Series final this weekend. With a championship series victory, the Chanticleers would become the Sun Belt’s second-ever NCAA team national champion, joining Old Dominion women’s basketball (1985). 
 
Regardless of this weekend’s result, Schnall sums up the sentiment for Coastal Carolina baseball and the Sun Belt Conference by stating, “This is not a fluke. This is not a Cinderella deal…and we’re not going away.”  
 
With 14 universities in 10 contiguous states, the Sun Belt has established itself as a power player in NCAA Division I as 1-of-5 conferences with multiple appearances in NCAA Division I national championship finals this season and an opportunity to hoist a national championship trophy this weekend. 
 
The Sun Belt is rising. This is not a fluke. This is not a Cinderella deal…and we’re not going away. 

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The 2024-25 school year was one for the record books for George Mason University Athletics, delivering five Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) titles and the most successful run since joining the league 11 years ago. 

The Patriots captured A-10 titles or championships in: 

“This year’s success is a reflection of the passion, resilience, and drive our coaches and student-athletes bring every day,” said Marvin Lewis, assistant vice president and director of athletics. “We’re proud to make history together and a strong sign of what’s possible for George Mason Athletics moving forward.” 

This marked the highest single-school year total in program history, surpassing the previous record of four titles set during George Mason’s inaugural A-10 campaign in 2013–14. It also marked the first time since 1994–95, during the university’s tenure in the Colonial Athletic Association, that the Patriots won five combined regular season and conference championships in one academic year. 

Additional highlights from a banner year: 

• Men’s soccer Head Coach Rich Costanzo was named A-10 Coach of the Year after guiding the Patriots to their first regular season title, finishing 13-4-1 overall and 6-1-1 in A-10 play—their best conference finish—and earning them a top seed in the A-10 Championship. 

• Men’s basketball Head Coach Tony Skinn was named A-10 Coach of the Year after leading the team to a share of its first-ever regular season A-10 conference title, a program-tying 27 wins,  and its first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance since 2009. 
  

• The women’s basketball team recorded a program-best 27 victories, won its first A-10 Tournament title, and secured its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament appearance. 
  

• Student-athletes earned a collective 3.32 grade point average (GPA), with a record 78 named Provost Scholars earning a 3.75 GPA or higher, and nearly half securing Dean’s List honors. In total, 18 student-athletes earned all-conference honors or individual titles, and 75 earned weekly conference awards. 

With historic wins, academic excellence, and rising national visibility, George Mason is building momentum, positioning the university as a competitive force in the A-10 and across the collegiate athletics landscape.