Sports

USC women’s track and field team secures 2nd at NCAA Championships

It has been another strong year for the USC women’s track team. Having won the Big Ten Championship and sending multiple athletes to Eugene for the NCAA Championships, the Trojans were always going to be in a prime position to make a lot of noise on the national stage. USC earned a second-place finish during […]

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1 week ago

June 16, 2025

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USC earned a second-place finish during the NCAA Championships with 47 points. Georgia won the outdoor title for the 2025 outdoor season.

In order to do so well in the final standings, a team needs to have incredible athletes that have big-time performances. Among the Trojans to do so was Samirah Moody. The senior won the 100m race in a tight photo finish that saw her edge out the Trojan victory over the South Carolina, LSU, and Florida participants. Dajaz DeFrand and Brianna Selby also qualified for the final heat and finished in seventh and eighth, respectively.

The 4x100m relay team that consisted of Moody, DeFrand, Madison Whyte, and Jassani Carter earned first place and had a season-best performance, beating South Carolina, Texas A&M, and TCU’s squads.

Whyte came in second during the 200m race. DeFrand followed closely behind with a third-place finish. The 4x400m relay team, which consisted of Yemi John, Carter, Cenci, and Whyte, also ran a season-best time. They finished behind Georgia and Arkansas.

Earlier record-setting feat from USC freshman

On the field side of things, Ashley Erasmus further set the USC school record in the shot put. Her fifth-place finish in the event on Thursday provided the team’s first points of the week and capped off an excellent freshman year for her.

For Director Quincy Watts, this is a Trojan squad that has done exceedingly well throughout the year and is poised to continue to maintain this momentum. Considering that there are not too many seniors on this team, USC will have to like their chances to get even better as a team next year.

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Sports

Nebraska Volleyball Coach Dani Busboom Kelly to Light Cornhusker State Games Cauldron

Olympians, Super Bowl champions, and now Dani Busboom Kelly. The new Nebraska volleyball coach is set to be the torch lighter for the 41st Cornhusker State Games. The moment, which will take place next month, will mark a full-circle moment for Busboom Kelly, who competed in the Games in her youth. The cauldron will be […]

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1 minute ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is introduced. — Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is introduced during a break in the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly and former coach John Cook embrace. — Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is introduced during a break in the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Sports

2024-25 Season In Review – University of Hawai’i at Manoa Athletics

The magic was evident from the start. On a mid-August night in Waipi‘o, the Rainbow Wahine soccer team celebrated a dramatic comeback victory in a rousing kickoff to the 2024-25 University of Hawai‘i athletics calendar. The season-opening thriller would be just the first verse of a theme that coursed through the department into the heat […]

Published

5 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The magic was evident from the start.

On a mid-August night in Waipi‘o, the Rainbow Wahine soccer team celebrated a dramatic comeback victory in a rousing kickoff to the 2024-25 University of Hawai‘i athletics calendar. The season-opening thriller would be just the first verse of a theme that coursed through the department into the heat of May.

By the time the year ended with a strong showing from UH’s contingent in the first round of the NCAA Track and Field Championship, Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warrior teams had crafted a season replete with unforgettable moments.

Along the way, sustained success for the UH women’s programs remained at the forefront with the Rainbow Wahine volleyball, basketball and water polo teams repeating as conference champions and the soccer team earning the program’s first Big West crown.

The Rainbow Warrior volleyball team electrified SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center while maintaining a place among the nation’s elite. Crowds flocked to Les Murakami Stadium to experience the Manoa Magic generated by the baseball ’Bows, and across the street one of the nation’s winningest softball coaches bid aloha after more than three decades in the dugout.

Individual accolades included six Big West Coach of the Year awards and 11 student-athletes earned conference player of the year honors. A total of 148 current and former ’Bows received their diplomas in the fall and spring commencement ceremonies and achievements in both aspects of student-athlete life were recognized in a collection of national and conference academic awards.

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Sports

Bonner, Burmester, Capece and Croteau Named CSC Academic All-District

Story Links WALTHAM, Mass. – Four members of the Bentley women’s track and field team were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team for their combined performances on the track and in the classroom. The quartet are Caitlin Burmester, Mia Bonner, Molly Capece and Hannah Croteau. Burmester advanced to […]

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21 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

WALTHAM, Mass. – Four members of the Bentley women’s track and field team were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team for their combined performances on the track and in the classroom.

The quartet are Caitlin Burmester, Mia Bonner, Molly Capece and Hannah Croteau.

Burmester advanced to the ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

Burmester, a standout for both the track and cross country teams, majored in both accounting and liberal studies and was named the NE10 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year among a number of awards.

Bonner is an accounting major and competes in jumps for the track and field team. She earned an eighth place finish in the triple jump at the NE10 Outdoor Championships.

Capece was a sophomore in 2024-25 and majored in quantitative economics. She ran track this spring and cross country in the fall, which included finishing 17^th at the NE10 Championships.

Croteau majors in computer information systems and competes in hurdles. She earned a 12^th place finish in the 400 hurdles at the NE10 Outdoor Championships.

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Sports

Will Robertson Named Post-Gazette Boys’ Volleyball Player of the Year

Will Robertson Named Post-Gazette Boys’ Volleyball Player of the Year Posted on: June 25th, 2025 by Jonathan Spina By: Jared Barton After another tremendous season on the hardwood, junior Will Robertson has been named boys’ volleyball Player of the Year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He becomes the second member of the family to receive the […]

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22 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

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Will Robertson Named Post-Gazette Boys’ Volleyball Player of the Year

By: Jared Barton

After another tremendous season on the hardwood, junior Will Robertson has been named boys’ volleyball Player of the Year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He becomes the second member of the family to receive the award, after his sister Molly took home the laurels this fall.

Robertson had a team-leading 260 kills in the 2025 campaign. He also notched 44 blocks, 263 digs, and 23 aces. He carries a career statline of 762 kills, 111 blocks, 584 digs and 68 aces.

Robertson was a first-team all-section and WPIAL all-star for the second time and, according to Ken Wunderley, will soon be recognized on the PVCA all-state team for the second time when it’s announced later this month.

Robertson and the Tigers earned the team’s 23rd WPIAL title this spring before taking home runner-up medals to Cumberland Valley in the PIAA State Championship earlier this month.

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Sports

Central Michigan University

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Head Coach Arielle Wilson has signed her first transfer athlete to the Central Michigan Volleyball program in Karla Sanchez. Sanchez comes to Mount Pleasant after spending her freshman season at Houston Christian where she was a beach volleyball player. The 6’1 setter, a native for Canovanas, Puerto Rico, attended […]

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27 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Head Coach Arielle Wilson has signed her first transfer athlete to the Central Michigan Volleyball program in Karla Sanchez.

Sanchez comes to Mount Pleasant after spending her freshman season at Houston Christian where she was a beach volleyball player.

The 6’1 setter, a native for Canovanas, Puerto Rico, attended Colegio Adianez High School in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and played beach and indoor volleyball there for four seasons, 2018-2024. Sanchez was a top three setter for the U21 Women’s North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORECEA) at an international level.

Sanchez, an Olympic Youth Gymnasiade and 2025 competitor with the Puerto Rican National Team in the Panamericana Cup, won the silver medal with the national team in 2024.

On making the move to CMU, Karla says “I chose Central Michigan University because it felt like the perfect balance between high-level athletics and strong academics.

From the moment I connected with the volleyball staff, I felt seen — not just as an athlete, but as a person. The coaches truly care about player development and long-term success.

As an international student-athlete from Puerto Rico, finding a place that felt welcoming and supportive was important to me, and CMU gave me that sense of home. I also loved that I could pursue a double major in Industrial Engineering and International Business, which is a rare and powerful combination for a future career.

One moment that confirmed CMU was right for me happened during my visit — I watched a practice where the team competed hard, laughed together, and had a culture of respect. That energy and unity stuck with me. I knew I wanted to be part of that.”

For the latest news and updates on CMU Volleyball, follow the team in X (@cmuvolleyball) and on Instagram (@cmuvolleyball).

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Sports

Legendary Cloud County Track and Field Coach Harry Kitchener Announces Retirement

By Toby Nosker, CCCC SID Harry Kitchener, a legendary NJCAA track and field coach who won two national championships and turned Cloud County Community College into a consistent national title contender, announced his retirement after 48 years in Concordia. “I have been so proud to coach and work for Cloud County for 48 years,” […]

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43 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By Toby Nosker, CCCC SID

Harry Kitchener, a legendary NJCAA track and field coach who won two national championships and turned Cloud County Community College into a consistent national title contender, announced his retirement after 48 years in Concordia.

“I have been so proud to coach and work for Cloud County for 48 years,” coach Kitchener said in a statement. “Serving as head women’s and men’s cross country coach, head men’s track and field coach, and director of cross country/track and field has been an amazing career. We have accomplished so much and have made so many connections with wonderful people, it is hard for me to end my coaching career.”

Kitchener, the longest-tenured coach in Cloud County history, was inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017. He was named Region 6 Coach of the Year five times (1999, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2019), and NJCAA Indoor Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2006.

Under Kitchener, Cloud County reached remarkable heights, winning twenty consecutive Prairie Junior College Conference championships, seventeen Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference – West Division championships, and eight Region 6 championships. Kitchener led the T-Birds to its first-ever NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 2019. Kitchener was named that year’s Region 6 Men’s Coach of the Year, Central Region Coach of the Year, and NJCAA Men’s Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Kitchener also led Cloud County to a NJCAA Half Marathon National Championship in 2004.

Kitchener extended a heartfelt thank you to the student-athletes that chose to compete for him at Cloud County. In his 48 years with the T-Birds, Kitchener aided in the development of over 50 NJCAA national champions and nearly 350 national placers.

“I have had two team mottos in my overall 58 years of coaching,” Kitchener said. “‘Bigger is not always better!’ and ‘Make every finish line count for something!'”

Kitchener, whose original name was Harry Sargent, Jr, was born May 2, 1945 in Compton, California. From age four, Kitchener and two of his siblings were raised in children’s homes in Hutchinson, Kansas and Newton, Kansas. At the age of 12, Kitchener, his sister Sally Ann, and his brother Robert William were all adopted by their foster parents, Orville and Marcena Kitchener of Oak Hill, Kansas.

Kitchener graduated from Longford Rural High School as class salutatorian in 1963. He played quarterback on the high school football team, while he also excelled in basketball and track and field. Kitchener received many scholarship offers but elected to walk on the track and field team at Kansas State University. He lettered as a triple jumper and pole vaulter at KSU.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1967 and his master’s degree in 1970, Kitchener coached at Wakefield High School for ten years. There he coached junior and senior high school football, basketball, and track and field. He later started the school’s high school cross country program and coached the team for many years. In one of Wakefield High School’s best years under Kitchener, the school qualified teams for the state playoffs in both football and basketball while winning the state championship in cross country and track and field.

But Cloud County is where Kitchener established himself as one of the greatest coaches in Kansas sports history. Coach Kitchener made the move to Cloud County in 1977, first becoming the men’s cross country and track and field coach. Besides his coaching position, he also served as the college’s Director of Student Activities and Student Senate sponsor for 23 years.

Kitchener led the T-Birds to eight top three national placings with more than 200 NJCAA All-Americans.

As legendary as Kitchener’s coaching career has been, so too is the number of former student-athletes who became coaches themselves. He is proud of the number of former Cloud County student-athletes that also went on to become college and university track and field coaches, including Keith Blackwill (assistant cross country and track and field coach at Odessa College), Moses Dirane (graduate assistant at Fort Hays State University), Eugene Frazier (assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado), Randy Hasenbank (associate head coach at the University of Iowa), Kirk Hunter (associate coach at Wichita State University), David Kaiser (head coach at University of Texas at Tyler), Mike Kirkland (former head coach at Southwestern College), the late-Mark Phillips (distinguished head track and field coach at Cowley College), and Kirk Wren (head coach at Ottawa University), among others.

One of Kitchener’s most meaningful relationships is with current Cloud County assistant track and field coach, Ted Schmitz. Schmitz was a walk-on turned standout track athlete at Cloud County for Kitchener from 1977-1979. After finishing his academic career at Kansas State, Schmitz returned to Cloud County where he served as the head women’s track and field coach for 37 years and volunteer assistant men’s track and field coach for 40 years. He was inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008 and the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I have been truly blessed with a coach like Ted Schmitz, who has been with me for 46 years as an athlete and coach,” said Kitchener.

With Kitchener retiring, Schmitz is now the longest-tenured coach at Cloud County.

“I have been so proud and fortunate to coach Kansas high school athletes and athletes from all over the world and develop so many All-Americans in Concordia, Kansas,” Kitchener added. “Thanks to all that have supported Cloud County track and field in our community.”

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