WASHINGTON (January 8, 2026) – Howard University men’s and women’s track & field program returns from the winter break for a pair of meets: Rod McCravy Invitational (Jan. 9-10) and Penn Select (Jan. 10).
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION
 
Bison Nation can follow all the action via live results. Penn Select will stream on ESPN+.
 
MEET PREVIEW
 
MEN
 
On the track, senior sprinter Dylan Gaines (Houston) sits 14^th in the country with a 21.52 mark.
 
Fellow classmate Jorim Banque (Yaounde, Cameroon) and sophomore transfer Drew Dillard headline the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in with the 31^st (7.98) and 37^th (8.00) fastest times, respectively.
 
In the field, Dillard ranks 25^th in the high jump (2.07 meters) while fifth-year senior Sean Wray (Stafford, Va.) rounds out at 23^rd in the triple jump (14.94 meters).
 
WOMEN
 
Nationally, five Bison are ranked top 45 in the 60-meter hurdles: Lindsay Johnson (19^th); Gabby White (26^th); Lauren Thompson (36^th); Aniya Woodruff (38^th) and Kimbrel Winfield (45^th).
 
Sprinters graduate Marcia Sey (London, United Kingdom) and junior Yahnari Lyons (Hampton, Ga.) sit 22^nd (7.44) and 33^rd (7.46), respectively, in the 60-meter dash.
 
Lyons and Woodruff (Harrisburg, N.C.) also rank among the nation’s top sprinters in the 200-meter dash, posting 24.11 (11^th) and 24.65 (41^st) times, respectively.
 
Freshman standout Alexis Jones (New Windsor, N.Y.) rounds out HU with a 4:54.89 mark in the mile run, which ranks 34^th in the county.
 
LAST TIMEOUT
 
On Dec. 12, both squads competed in the annual Seahawk Shootout, hosted by Wagner College.
 
On the men’s side, Wray, Dillard and William Shepherd (Plano, Texas) led the charge with victories in the triple jump, 60-meter hurdles and 1000-meter run, respectively.
 
For the women, several Bison took home gold, including Jones claiming the top spot with a new school record in the mile run and senior Temi Banwo (Allen, Texas) earning two wins in the shot put and weight throw.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
 
On Jan. 16-17, HU goes to the Empire State for the annual HBCU Showcase.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine University track and field will return to action Friday and Saturday at the University of Kentucky-hosted Rod McCravy Memorial at the Louisville-based Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center.

Competition is set to begin at noon (ET) Friday with the high jump and 11 a.m. Saturday with the pole vault, shot put and triple jump. The event marks the second of six straight indoor meets at Norton SLC for the Knights, who will host the Jan. 16 Bellarmine Open and Jan. 23 PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic.

Bellarmine will be getting into full-throttle competition mode starting with the Rod McCravy Memorial. The Knights have competed in one previous meet, but the Commonwealth College Opener was over a month ago on Dec. 6.

Bellarmine had strong showings in the initial meet, highlighted by junior Amelia Svidal (11.79m) and freshman Tola Taiwo (13.90m) both setting new women’s and men’s indoor program records, respectively, in the triple jump. Svidal bested her own record while Taiwo shattered a mark that had stood since 2017.

In addition, senior Jansen Story placed first in the women’s 1000m, as did senior Zander Hooten in the men’s 60m hurdles.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

 

MITCHELL, S.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Track & Field announces the addition of Robert Atwater to the coaching staff as an assistant, bringing with him a plethora of top-end experience as a former college competitor.

Atwater graduated from Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, with a degree in Sports Management & Digital Marketing in 2025, which is also where he competed as a member of the Warrior Track & Field team for multiple seasons. Atwater is most notably a two-time national champion, claiming titles at the 2024 NAIA Indoor National Championships in the long jump and at the 2025 NAIA Indoor National Championships in the heptathlon. He is also a 12-time All-American, receiving such prestigious distinctions four times in the high jump, four more times in the long jump, twice in the heptathlon, and once in each the triple jump and pole vault. In total, Atwater holds 21 All-Conference honors from the Great Plains Athletic Conference and racked up seven total conference championships, making his winning pedigree a notable addition to the track and field program as a whole.

Coach Atwater also previously won two events at the historic Drake Relays during his time as a competitor and holds many impressive personal records, including a 7′ 2.5″ mark in the high jump, 25′ 3.5″ in the long jump, and a total score of 5396 in the heptathlon. Coach Atwater began his duties on December 22nd of 2025.

Don’t forget to follow Dakota Wesleyan University Athletics across all social media platforms! #RollTige

Men’s Volleyball | 1/8/2026 10:00:00 AM

Friday, January 9 | BYU | Provo, Utah | Smith Fieldhouse | 9 p.m. | WATCH LIVE

Saturday, January 10 | BYU | Provo, Utah | Smith Fieldhouse | 9 p.m. | WATCH LIVE

OPENING SERVE VS BYU

Saint Francis and BYU will have their fourth meeting of all time during the opening weekend. These two teams faced each other once in 2010 when the Cougars won 3-1 and then in 2019 during a BYU sweep of the Red Flash. In 2019, Saint Francis finished the year with a 15-14 record, including a 3-2 win against #14 Ohio State. 

THE WORD ON THE COUGARS

The Cougars are opening up their 2026 campaign after ending their 2025 season 19-10. BYU finished conference play with a 7-5 record after a close loss to Stanford in the MPSF Quarterfinals. Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga is one of the key returners for the Cougars standing at 6’5″ to grab 194 kills as an outside hitter. The junior had 134 digs, 40 blocks, and 25 aces to end the 2025 season. The second key player is BYU’s setter, Tyler Herget. Herget, the senior, assisted in the scoring by dishing out 818 assists. 

PRESEASON POLL 
Saint Francis men’s volleyball was picked to tie first in the NEC Preseason Poll. Daemen earned three first-place votes while the Red Flash claimed two. LIU and FDU both took a first-place nod to finish in third and fourth. Following behind, the newly added teams, Manhattan and UMES finish fifth and sixth. Rounding out the poll was D’Youville in seventh. 

NEXT TIME OUT 

The men’s team travels down to Kentucky to face Northern Kentucky on January 16 and 17.



RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT

Brady Stump returns as one of the team’s top leaders in kills (266), digs (99), blocks (40), and aces (25). During the 2025 campaign, the All-NEC first team outside hitter was seventh in kills per set, eighth in points per set, and 10th in hitting percentage in the NEC.  

Sam Lane also registered 135 kills and 65 blocks, coming in eighth in blocks per set in 2025. He was named to the All-NEC second team due to his dominant blocking abilities. Lane registered a season high of five blocks against Erskine back in April.  

Kyle Charles returns to collect more assists as he paced assists per set (9.97) in the NEC. He was announced as the NEC Rookie of the Year and All-NEC first team in 2025. The sophomore racked up three double double and had a season best of 62 assists versus Dominican. Charles collected 887 assists, 106 digs, 46 blocks, and 43 kills.  

Back as a graduate student, Richard Kaminski continues to look for digs in the backrow. The libero recorded 10+ digs seven times, accumulating 142 digs and 37 assists in the previous season with the Red Flash. Kaminski finished third in the NEC with total digs and seventh in digs per set.  

Nathan Zini returns after a season ending injury to compete in the 2026 campaign. In 2024, the opposite hitter was named NEC Player of the Year, All-NEC first team, and AVCA All-American honorable mention. He registered 410 kills, 125 digs, 63 aces, and 31 blocks. His 63 aces were the most across both Division I and Division II men’s volleyball.  

WELCOME TO THE LO’ 
Eight freshman are looking for their collegiate debut this weekend: Gianluca Gomez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Saint Joseph Metuchen), Derek Piatek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mars Area), Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista), Alexander Owens (Tuscon, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic), Nate Duff (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial), Andre Pimienta (Los Angeles, Calif./Wisebum Da Vinci), and Jack Wolgemuth (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).  

ABOUT THE COACH 

Mike Rumbaugh enters is 28th season as the Saint Francis men’s volleyball head coach in 2026. Rumbaugh is the second head coach in program history, after Gary Evangelisto, who guided the program for the first 15 years (1984-98).  Rumbaugh was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the third-straight campaign. Prior to joining the NEC, Rumbaugh and the Red Flash was a member of the EIVA for the first 24 years as a head coach. Saint Francis registered a winning overall season 10 times during this stretch and participated in the EIVA Tournament 10 times, advancing to the EIVA Championship Game four times (2006, 2007, 2016, and 2017) and winning the EIVA Hay Division twice (2001, 2005). Rumbaugh arrived in Loretto in 1998 after serving a six-year term as an assistant coach with the men’s and women’s volleyball teams at Mercyhurst College. Rumbaugh is a certified official by the United States of America Volleyball Association. He has served as an instructor at USA High Performance and Regional High Performance Camps, and coached the USA Continental Youth Team against domestic and international opponents at the USA Select Competition. 

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – The East Carolina track & field team will kick off the 2026 outdoor season this weekend at the Rod McCray Memorial Meet, hosted by the University of Kentucky. Although Kentucky is the host, the competition will take place in Louisville, Ky., at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center. 

The Rod McCray Memorial Meet features a field that includes multiple Power Four programs and strong regional teams, including Ole Miss, Ohio State, Indiana, etc. This provides the Pirates with significant early-season competition. Facing these high-caliber opponents gives ECU a chance to test its performance and establish an early-season benchmark across multiple event groups as they open their outdoor campaign.  

The meet starts on Friday, January 9, at 11:00 a.m. EST, with the first event being Men’s and Women’s high jump. You can find the full meet schedule here.

 

ECU Entries 

Men 

60 Meters – Tyson Tippett, Jace Coleman, Jonathan Willis, Rashun Fountain  

200 Meters – Tyjah Edwards, Chanan Mathis, Bryson Miller  

600 Meters – Jordan Good  

One Mile – Alex Sawyer, Elliott Kleckner  

4×400 Meter Relay 

• Squad A  – Fountain, Mathis, Tippett, Miller 

• Squad B  – Coleman, Edwards, Good, Willis 

Long Jump – Jared Harrell 

Triple Jump – Harrell 

Shot Put – Brandon Gayle, Shakiel Dacres 

Weight Throw – Dacres, Zion Glover  

Women 

300 Meters – Brianna Clayton, Deshay Turner, Amilia Speller  

60 Meters – Kelly Ufodiama, Jaidyn Ramsey, Daisha Shular, Clayton, Turner, Speller  

200 Meters – Dakota Minor, Ciara Douglas, Jalaia Creary, Amaya Pleas  

600 Meters – Madelyn Mead  

One Mile – Abrielle Schweitzer  

60-Meter Hurdles – Kailey Elliott, Aaliyah Brown-Muhammad  

4×400 Meter Relay 

• Squad A  – Brown-Muhammad, Clayton, Creary, Douglas 

• Squad B  – Elliott, Mead, Minor, Pleas, Ramsey 

• Squad C  – Ufodiama, Turner, Speller, Shular 

Long Jump – Kira Hawaaboo  

Triple Jump – Faith Spencer  

Shot Put – Macy Dulaney  

Weight Throw – Anna Baylor, Dulaney