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What to expect from BYU track teams at NCAA championships – Deseret News

It’s difficult to remember when or if BYU has ever headed into the hyper-competitive NCAA track and field championships with three athletes who rank among the top three in their specialties. That bodes well for BYU’s team-race ambitions. “Our men could be top-15 and women could be top-four if the big guns show up,” says […]

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2 weeks ago

June 10, 2025

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“Our men could be top-15 and women could be top-four if the big guns show up,” says Ed Eyestone, BYU’s director of track and field.

The big guns are Meghan Hunter, Lexy Lowry and James Corrigan, who have had brilliant, even sensational, seasons to date. If Casey Clinger had not turned pro in the middle of the season, BYU would have four top-three favorites.

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The NCAA championships will be held June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The men compete Wednesday and Friday, the women Thursday and Saturday. BYU qualified 19 athletes for the meet, counting members of a relay.

Hunter, a senior from Provo, recently became the third-fastest 800-meter runner in NCAA history, running 1:58.99 to win the Big 12 championship and then 1:58.95 to win the NCAA prelims.

Lowry, a senior from Idaho, is the fifth-fastest collegian of all time in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run.

Corrigan, who represented the U.S. in last summer’s Paris Olympic Games, has the third-fastest time in the nation, 8:22.20, which makes him the seventh-fastest American collegian ever.

The BYU trio will face formidable competition in Eugene, to say the least — most of them Kenyans who are running for U.S. schools.

“James is running very well right now, but the Kenyans on the men’s side are stronger and deeper than ever,” says Eyestone. “It might be more difficult to get top three at the NCAAs than at (the U.S. national championships).”

Five of the men’s top seven collegiate steeplechasers this season are Kenyans — Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa, New Mexico’s Mathew Kosgei, Kentucky’s Collins Kipngok, Iowa State’s Joash Ruto and Akron’s Bismack Kipchirchir. Kirwa is the second-fastest collegian ever, at 8:13.89.

Corrigan posted a time of 8:13.87 last summer in an 11th-hour effort to meet the Olympic qualifying standard — a time that would easily be the American collegiate record except it occurred after the collegiate season had ended and therefore isn’t recognized by the NCAA. He has not lost a steeplechase race this spring. On the other hand, he hasn’t met a field as formidable as the one he’ll see in Eugene.

Lowry, who will not contest the 5,000 because there’s not enough rest after the steeplechase, will compete against, among others, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, a 23-year-old Kenyan and the defending NCAA champion in both cross-country and the steeplechase.

Lemngole set the NCAA record in the steeplechase earlier this season with a time of 9:10.13. BYU’s Courtney Wayment holds the American collegiate record of 9:16.00, but Lowry is closing in, running 9:18.05 earlier this season. Lowry, one of the most improved athletes in the country, will have to top that mark to win in Eugene.

Hunter is one of the most talented track athletes ever to come out of the Utah high school ranks. She was largely a sprinter at Provo High who dabbled in the 800. As a senior she pulled off a rare quadruple performance at state, winning the 100, 200, 400 and 800. She set an all-classification state record in the 400-meter dash of 52.59 in 2018 that no one has come close to breaking, even with the arrival of the new high-tech shoes.

What happened next has been widely covered. She was in a serious car accident the summer before she entered BYU, breaking her neck. She underwent surgery to fuse several vertebrae and her recovery was long and difficult, both physically but especially emotionally. She suffered from PTSD and, more specifically, panic attacks, from the violence of the rollover car wreck.

After a so-so start to the 2025 season, she has performed sensationally the last six weeks. Only Olympic champion Athing Mu (1:57.73), the former Texas A&M star and Olympic champion, and LSU’s Michaela Rose (1:58.12), the 2023 NCAA champion, have run faster. Hunter will face Rose in Eugene in what will be one of the meet’s most anticipated races. Three other women have also run under two minutes this season.

Individual national championships are difficult to come by, of course. BYU men have won only two championships since 2009, both of them in the last six years — Clayton Young in the 10,000 in 2019 and Kenneth Rooks in the steeplechase in 2023. BYU women have won three individual events since 2012, all in the last three years — Wayment in the steeplechase and Ashton Riner in the javelin in 2022, and Anna Bennett in the 1,500-meter run in 2021.

BYU is one of the premier distance running schools in the country. The Cougars won both the men’s and women’s NCAA cross-country championships last fall, only the fifth time a school has pulled off that double.

BYU’s team hopes in the men’s NCAA track championships took a big hit in mid-April when Clinger signed a pro contract with Brooks, ending his collegiate eligibility (the NCAA allows NIL contracts, but it does not allow pro contracts because of the amount of the money and the inclusion of performance incentives).

BYU coach Ed Eyestone coaches from the stands during the 2024 NCAA regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 24, 2024. | Nate Edwards

Two weeks before he signed the contract, Clinger broke a 40-year-old school record in the 10,000-meter run. His time of 27:11.00 finally took down the mark held by none other than his own coach. Eyestone, a four-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympian, set the long-enduring record of 27:41.05 in 1985.

If Clinger had not turned pro, he would be the fastest collegian in the country by 25 seconds.

The BYU women’s team is set up to make a strong team showing in Eugene. Aside from the Big Three, BYU also has strong entries in the revived Carlee Hansen and Riley Chamberlain, who will compete in the 1,500-meter run.

Hansen, a junior from Woods Cross, transferred to BYU from North Carolina in 2023. In the two seasons since then, she has cut a whopping eight and a half seconds off her 1,500-meter time and qualified for nationals.

Her best time at North Carolina was 4:16.02. Like Hunter, Hansen saw little improvement until six weeks ago, when she ran 4:12.42 for a 13th-place finish. She made another dramatic improvement at the Big 12 championships two weeks later, when she posted a time of 4:08.70 to place second.

At the NCAA prelims two weeks ago, she placed fifth with a time of 4:07.64, breaking the school record of 4:08.53 set by Anna Bennett en route to winning the 2021 NCAA championships. In that same race, Chamberlain, a versatile junior from California, also broke Bennett’s record and qualified for nationals, finishing seventh with a time of 4:08.42.

“Meghan and Lexy could win, and Riley and Carlee could combine for some good points in the 1,500,” said Eyestone.

Teammates Jenna Hutchins (5,000 meters), Taylor Lovell (steeplechase) and Sami Oblad (400 meters) are also solid bets to score.

Aside from the distance races, BYU’s strongest event on the men’s side is the decathlon. Jaden Roskelley scored 8,000 points four weeks ago during a meet in Provo — ranked No. 4 in the nation — but it was teammate Ben Barton, a 6-foot-5 junior from Michigan with 10.48 100-meter speed, who won the Big 12 championship.

The BYU women have cracked the top 10 only twice in the team race during the last 19 years — ninth in 2022 and 10th in 2021. The BYU men have placed in the top 10 four times in the last seven years, including seventh last season.

Members of the BYU women's track and field team pose with coach Diljeet Taylor at the NCAA prelims May 27, 2025. — Members of the BYU women’s track and field team pose with coach Diljeet Taylor at the NCAA prelims May 27, 2025. | BYU Photo

Utah collegians competing in NCAA championships

In-state qualifiers for this week’s NCAA track and field championships, with national ranking noted.

BYU

Sami Oblad, 400 meters (10)
Meghan Hunter, 800 meters (2)
Tessa Buswell, 800 meters (19)
Carlee Hansen, 1,500 meters (10)
Riley Chamberlain, 1,500 meters (15)
Taylor Lovell, steeplechase (7)
Lexy Lowry, steeplechase (2)
Jenna Hutchins, 5,000 meters (15)
Gretchen Hoekstre, shot put, discus (19/18)
James Corrigan, steeplechase (3)
Luke Grundvig, 5,000 meters (10)
Creed Thompson, 10,000 meters (11)
Joey Nokes, 10,000 meters (10)
Eli Hazlett-Josh Taylor-Jonah Heimuli-Trey Jackson, 4×400 relay (8)
Jaden Roskelley, decathlon (4)
Ben Barton, decathlon (9)

Utah

McKaylie Caesar, 10,000 (19)
Morgan Jensen, 10,000 (20)
Megan Rose-Emily Martin-Bailey Kealamakia-Chelsea Amoah, 4×100 relay (22)

Utah State

Shelby Jensen, steeplechase (20)
Logan Hammer, pole vault (7)

Utah Valley

Kelsi Oldroyd, javelin (8)
Gavin Stafford-Cameron Franklin-Kade Thompson-Gabe Remy, 4×100 relay (20)

Weber State

Peter Visser, steeplechase (9)

Southern Utah

Ajia Hughes, high jump (18)

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WPVC 17 Armour Black wins AAU girls volleyball championship

When Amber McClain dove face-first into an aluminum bleacher to save one point during the championship match in the AAU Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships, she illustrated perfectly (and dangerously) just how determined the Winter Park Volleyball Club 17 Armour Black team was to win a national title for the first time. Spectators in the […]

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55 seconds ago

June 26, 2025

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Spectators in the stands gasped when the Winter Park High rising senior leaped over a soft padded barrier to punch the ball back into the court before crashing onto the bottom-row seating. She didn’t cry. She didn’t stop. She popped back up to her feet and scurried back onto the court to help finish the point, then staggered to the bench to be attended to by an athletic trainer at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.

“All I was thinking about was keeping the point alive,” McClain said afterward. “And keeping us on track for the national championship.”

Mission accomplished.

McClain had a battle-wound bandage on her forehead when she returned to play. She wore a big smile and later a gold medal as one of the 10 girls on WPVCs 17 Open AAU title team.

Winter Park was leading 17-12 in the second set when McClain made her crash landing. WVCA finished a 25-21, 25-20 Tuesday victory over Far Out 17 of Grand Rapids, Michigan. That secured the first AAU girls Open division championship for a club born in 2011 as a little sister to established Orlando area travel team programs such as Orlando Tampa Volleyball Academy, Top Select and Game Point Volleyball.

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WPVC 2025 17 Armour Black player Amelia Mancino, (5) spikes the ball during the AAU Girls Volleyball Nationals Tournament in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

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WPVC, armed with five members of the Winter Park High team that won the Class 7A state championship in November, went 11-0 over four days to make history.

McClain’s fearless dive was part of a surge WPVC delivered after trailing 7-4 in Game 2. The comeback began with Winter Park High’s Amelia Mancino running off six service points — three on ace serves and three on attacks by Isabella Umpierre, another WPHS standout.

“We came in wanting to win it all and this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” Umpierre said after the championship match.

The WPVC squad started Tuesday with a 2-0 win against Illini Elite of Illinois and then scored a nail-biting 25-23, 26-24 semifinal victory against perennial power Sports Performance of Illinois. SPVB (11-1) built big leads in both sets before succumbing to WPVC’s resolve.

The Winter Park club was down 14-6 in the first set before going on a 9-1 spree that included a stuff block by Katelyn Landis (West Orange High) and crucial kills by McClain and lethal lefthander Umpierre off sets by Elle Mottola (Boone).

Sports Performance went back ahead 22-20 on two big blocks. WPVC again had the answer. Paige Lehman (Winter Park) dove for two digs that led to a kill by Umpierre, McClain scored on a quick set by Mottola, and Mancino (Winter Park) ended the game with a kill.

WPVC trailed 15-10 in the second set but chipped its way back to a 21-21 tie and went ahead 23-22 on a block by Maddey Cruse (Lake Mary Prep). A Mancino dig forced a SPVB error for a 24-22 lead and Winter Park completed its championship run with an emphatic stuff-block by Umpierre, a 5-foot-10 hitter.

Umpierre, Mancino and Mottola were selected to the 14-player tournament All-American team.

“We’re a family. To do this together is amazing,” said Mottola.

She joined WPVC as a 10-and-under player, as did Lehman and Mancino. Others signed up as the program continued its climb.

Defensive specialist Isabel Bertelsen (Winter Park) and Landis were the first off the bench for a team that includes Gwenyth Berry (Horizon) and Cassidy Flakes (West Orange).

Winter Park overcomes Kissimmee Osceola to reach 7A girls volleyball final

WPVC players who have committed to colleges are Berry (Citadel), Bertelsen (Oregon State), Cruse (Embry-Riddle), Mancino (Appalachian State), Mottola (Arizona State) and Umpierre (UC-Davis).

WPVC beat teams with better-rated prospects to take the title. They did the same while winning a USA Volleyball 17 Open qualifier tournament in Salt Lake City in April — a feat Jackson said was “a huge deal”. Next up is the USA Volleyball 17 Open national tournament, which tips off Monday and runs through July 3 in Dallas.

The WPVC 16 Armour Black team tied for fifth in the AAU 16 Open division with a 9-2 record. Jordyn Lehman, a Winter Park HIgh defensive standout heading into her junior year, was picked to the All-American team.

“Both these teams have cemented a history for WPVC,”: said Matthew Jackson, who was head coach for both the 16s and 17s. “They love to compete. And to see how they’ve bought into each other over these years has been so great.”

Jackson, a former Ocoee high player and West Orange’s head coach for the past two seasons, is leaving the Warriors and WPVC, where he has coached since 2014. After leading West Orange to a 16-5 district title season he landed an assistant coaching job at Michigan State, starting July 7.

His top assistant, Wylie Devlin, is a former Winter Park High multi-sport star who played volleyball collegiately at USF.

The Game Point 17 Rox team went 10-1 and tied for fifth in the 17 Open bracket. Its only loss was vs. Far Out 25-21, 17-25, 15-9 in a quarterfinal. Kissimmee Osceola teammates Jordin Southall and Cate Palmi joined Innovation’s Aylani Correa as standouts for the GP squad coached by Sindee Snow.

The 52nd AAU nationals continues with boys play beginning Monday and running through July 7. The WPVC 17 Armour Black boys are one of the favorites in the 17 Open competition (Monday through July 3).

Winter Park Volleyball Club seeks ‘unprecedented’ title in AAU Nationals | Varsity Weekly

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.

Originally Published: June 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM EDT

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ASUN-UAC TO CREATE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE IN 2026

Story Links CONWAY, Ark. _ The Atlantic Sun Conference announced today a groundbreaking strategic alliance creating a consortium of two conferences (Atlantic Sun and United Athletic Conference), bringing together three Texas universities which are currently part of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with the five football-playing ASUN schools to create an all-sports […]

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June 26, 2025

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CONWAY, Ark. _ The Atlantic Sun Conference announced today a groundbreaking strategic alliance creating a consortium of two conferences (Atlantic Sun and United Athletic Conference), bringing together three Texas universities which are currently part of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with the five football-playing ASUN schools to create an all-sports United Athletic Conference beginning July 1, 2026.

The WAC announced Wednesday that Southern Utah and Utah Tech will be leaving the conference to join the Big Sky Conference, effective July 1, 2026, leaving UT Arlington, Abilene Christian and Tarleton State as the only three full members of the WAC. ACU and Tarleton State were already competing in the football-only incarnation of the UAC.

The new alliance is expected to strengthen and improve operational efficiency across both conferences and across the university campuses. It will create new growth opportunities across the southeast, and position both conferences for continued success in the future. The consortium will be led by current ASUN Commissioner Jeff Bacon, who will serve as its Executive Director, providing experienced leadership for this new venture. Current WAC Commissioner, Rebekah Ray, will assume a leadership role within the consortium.

“The landscape of collegiate athletics has changed rapidly in recent years, and this strategic alliance creates innovative opportunities for collaboration and increased efficiencies for all of the institutions involved,” said Matt Whiting, UCA director of athletics. “I am excited for what this means for the University of Central Arkansas and our Athletics Department as we enter a new era of college athletics.”

“As we navigate the changing world of collegiate athletics, I am excited about the opportunities presented in this strategic alliance and further strengthening our partnership and future with our current United Athletic Conference peers,” said UCA President Dr. Houston Davis. “This alliance positions the University of Central Arkansas well geographically, creating greater experiences for our student-athletes and fans.”

In 2026, the WAC will rebrand to the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which is the brand currently used to recognize the ASUN-WAC Football Alliance. This rebrand will better recognize the new membership composition of the Conference with all seven (7) UAC football-playing members housed within one conference, and the shift in geographic footprint.

The UAC will welcome new members Austin Peay State University, the University of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky University, the University of North Alabama and the University of West Georgia. The addition of five football-playing members (identified above) will bring total UAC membership to 8 members, including 7 football-playing members along with UT Arlington.

Remaining ASUN membership will include Bellarmine University; Florida Gulf Coast University; Jacksonville University; Lipscomb University; the University of North Florida; Queens University of Charlotte, and Stetson University.

Both the ASUN and the UAC will continue to operate separate championships as independent conferences. Championship formats and locations will be determined at a later date for sports that are not already contracted. The ASUN basketball tournament will remain in Jacksonville, Fla., and the UAC basketball tournament location is to be determined.

The UAC and the ASUN will remain independent conferences, each with their own automatic qualifiers (AQ’s) for NCAA postseason play. Both conferences will also continue to meet the NCAA sport sponsorship and membership standards. Membership will continue to be a top priority for both conferences. Through the President’s leadership the Consortium will evaluate potential opportunities for growth and best alignment of Institutions.

Sport sponsorship for the conferences will be as follows:

ASUN:

• Men’s Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swim & Dive and Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field

• Women’s Sports: Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swim & Dive, Tennis, Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball

UAC:

• Men’s Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Football, Tennis and Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field

• Women’s Sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball

“As many in the media and the public have mentioned, and as many other Division I conferences have discussed, the Division I Conference membership landscape at our level has become unsustainable and confusing,” the ASUN said. “We now have conferences that stretch from coast to coast, and conference membership often consists of a mix of football and non-football playing member institutions, public and private institutions, or institutions whose geography does not align well.

“In addition, conferences and institutions are looking for ways to reduce or streamline expenses, unlock new revenue streams, forge scheduling alliances, and prepare for the modern world of intercollegiate athletics.

“Through the formation of a consortium, this alliance allows two similarly situated conferences to partner together to resolve many of these challenges at once: better aligning our membership; reducing expenses; collectively leveraging assets such as media rights; providing members of both conferences games

and home games in multiple sports; and situating both conferences for streamlined decision making.”

“This is not a merger, but a forward-thinking alliance. We are proactively building a modern structure for intercollegiate athletics that benefits everyone involved. This alliance provides great leverage for two conferences and long-term stability amongst like-minded and similarly situated institutions.”

ASUN RELEASE

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Quarles and Vukelja Earn Men’s Track & Field CSC Academic All-District Honor

Story Links The 2025 Academic All-District Men’s Track & Field Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), were announced on Tuesday. The CSC Academic All-America program recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Carlos Quarles and Nikola Vukelja were recognized as Academic District honorees. Carlos […]

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28 minutes ago

June 26, 2025

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The 2025 Academic All-District Men’s Track & Field Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), were announced on Tuesday. The CSC Academic All-America program recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

Carlos Quarles and Nikola Vukelja were recognized as Academic District honorees.

Carlos Quarles, Second Year, Tampa, Florida

Recorded a 3.87 in Sports Management

A Sun Conference All-Academic selection

Named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete

Competed in the 200m, the 400m, and the 4x400m relay

Logged three top-10 finishes in the 4x400m relay

Had a personal record in the 100m dash, posting a time 11.40

Set a PR in the 60m dash with a time of 7.13 at the Keiser Winter Open, placing 12th

Nikola Vukelja, Third Year, Krusevac, Serbia

Posted a 4.00 in Exercise and Sports Science

Earned Sun Conference All-Academic honors for the second straight year

Named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete of the second time in his career

Raced in the mile run, the 600m, the 800m, the 1500m, and the 3000m steeplechase

Had three top-10 finishes

Finished eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Sun Conference Championships (Apr 26-27) (11:49.97)

Set a PR in the 1,500m run at the Emory Thrills in the Hills (Mar 27-29) with a time of 4:15.60

Placed eighth in the 600m run with a time of 1:29.12 at the Celebration Pointe Classic (Feb 7)

For all the latest on Keiser track and field, follow @keisertf on X and Instagram and like us on Facebook.

General athletic news can be found at KUSeahawks on Facebook, kuseahawks on Instagram, and kuseahawks on X.

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Kentucky vs. Pitt Volleyball Tickets Presale Link Now Live – UK Athletics

FT. WORTH, Texas – Presale tickets for the 2025 Shriners Children’s Showdown at the Net are now available through Ticketmaster and HERE, where fans can begin purchasing tickets in the Kentucky block with the presale code: WILDCATS. Kentucky will be facing the Pitt Panthers at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Sept. 10 as […]

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29 minutes ago

June 26, 2025

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Kentucky will be facing the Pitt Panthers at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Sept. 10 as part of a doubleheader of action at Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth, Texas, followed by Louisville facing off against Texas in the late match. Both matches will be televised on ESPN.

The Wildcats and Panthers met in the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship Regional Final, with the Panthers edging the Wildcats in three tight sets to advance to the NCAA Final Four last December. Pitt is one all four NCAA Final Four teams from 2024 that UK is set to face in its 2025 non-conference schedule.

Tickets go on sale to the general public without the presale code of a specific team Friday at 11 a.m. ET. The pre-sale link is good for the next 24 hours.

Earlier this year, ESPN Events also announced the “Broadway Block Party”, a volleyball event hosted by the Nashville Sports Council featuring three matchups between Big 10 and SEC schools.

2025 Showdown at the Net ACC/SEC Challenge

Tuesday, Sept. 9

Georgia Tech @ Tennessee (SEC Network)

Texas A&M @ SMU (ESPN2)

Boston College @ Arkansas (SEC Network+)

Stanford @ Missouri (ESPN)

Virginia @ Auburn (SEC Network+)

Florida @ North Carolina (ACC Network)

Georgia @ Clemson (ACC Network Extra)

LSU @ Notre Dame (ACC Network Extra)

Wednesday, Sept. 10

Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh (6:30pm ET, ESPN)*

Texas vs. Louisville (9pm ET, ESPN)*

Florida State @ Oklahoma (SEC Network)

Duke @ Mississippi State (SEC Network+)

South Carolina @ NC State (ACC Network)

Wake Forest @ Alabama (SEC Network+)

Ole Miss @ Miami (FL) (ACC Network Extra)

Vanderbilt @ California (ACC Network Extra)

* Shriners Children’s “Showdown at the Net” (Dickies Arena; Ft. Worth, Texas)

For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.

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How have coaches hired under Chris Del Conte fared?

Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman | Hearst – Austin Transition Last Friday, the Texas softball team announced that it had added Arizona transfer Kaiah Altmeyer to its roster. Altmeyer, a utility player, spent her first three years of college at Arizona. During the 2025 season, she hit .365 with 55 RBIs and 50 runs while earning all-conference […]

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33 minutes ago

June 26, 2025

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Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman
| Hearst – Austin Transition

Last Friday, the Texas softball team announced that it had added Arizona transfer Kaiah Altmeyer to its roster.

Altmeyer, a utility player, spent her first three years of college at Arizona. During the 2025 season, she hit .365 with 55 RBIs and 50 runs while earning all-conference honors in the Big 12.

This is not the first time that Texas has turned to someone with Arizona ties to help out its softball program. Bella Dayton, a star outfielder on UT’s 2022 and 2024 Women’s College World Series teams, was once an Arizona transfer.

Then there’s the story of the Longhorns’ coaching search in 2018.

As Texas celebrated its national championship during a June 7 ceremony at McCombs Field, athletic director Chris Del Conte shared a story about how Mike White became the Longhorns’ head coach. Back in the summer of 2018, Connie Clark — the only person to lead the Texas softball program — revealed she would not be returning for a 24th season.

Because he once worked as an associate athletics director at Arizona, Del Conte reached out to then-Wildcat coach Mike Candrea for advice. Who was the best softball coach in the country, Del Conte asked. Candera retorted that aside from him, the answer was White. White was coaching Oregon at the time, and his nine-year run with the Ducks included a 435-111-1 record and five College World Series appearances.

“If you can get Mike White to come to Texas, you’ll win a national championship,” Del Conte recalled Candera telling him.

So, Del Conte got White to come to Texas and White eventually made Candera’s prediction come to fruition. On June 6, Texas bested Texas Tech in the decisive game at the Women’s College World Series to secure the 30-year-old program’s first national championship.

That title wasn’t just significant for the softball program. It also spoke to Del Conte’s ability to hire. White was the second coaching hire made by Del Conte, who took over the UT athletic department in December 2017. Track and field coach Edrick Floréal and White, who were hired within two weeks of each other during June 2018, have since combined to win three NCAA championships.

How have Chris Del Conte’s coaching hires fared at Texas?

During Del Conte’s Texas tenure, the athletic department has hired 12 head coaches. Just two of those coaches — men’s basketball coaches Chris Beard and Rodney Terry — have been dismissed. (These numbers do not reflect Erik Sullivan, the volleyball assistant who directed the startup beach volleyball team in 2023 during its first year of existence.)

Those hires have won four national championships. In addition to Floreal’s two titles and White’s softball crown, Bob Bowman secured a national championship this past March during his first year with the men’s swimming and diving program. A fourth coach, Bruce Berque, led Texas men’s tennis to NCAA supremacy in 2019 as an interim coach.

Edrick Floréal (track and field, hired June 2018): Won a national championship with the Texas men’s indoor team in 2022 before he led the UT women to an outdoor title at Myers Stadium in 2023.
Mike White (softball, hired June 2018): Under White, Texas has compiled a 316-93-2 record with a national title and three appearances in the Women’s College World Series.
Bruce Berque (men’s tennis, hired May 2019): In the wake of Michael Center’s involvement in the Varsity Blues scandal, UT won a national championship with Berque serving as an interim coach. Five years later, Texas was the NCAA runner-up.
Vic Schaefer (women’s basketball, hired April 2020): Since Schaefer’s hire, Texas has won conference titles in the Big 12 and SEC. This past season, UT reached the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
Steve Sarkisian (football, hired January 2021): The Sarkisian era has featured 38 wins, a Big 12 championship and two appearances in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
Chris Beard (men’s basketball, hired April 2021): Went 29-13 but Beard was fired in January 2023 following his arrest on a third-degree felony domestic violence charge.
Rodney Terry (men’s basketball, hired March 2023): Terry went 40-29 in two full seasons after leading Texas to the Elite Eight as an interim coach. He was fired following the 2024-25 season.
Stein Metzger (beach volleyball, hired May 2023): Hired to build a beach volleyball program at Texas, Metzger led the Longhorns to a conference title and a NCAA Tournament win this season.
Bob Bowman (men’s swimming and diving, hired April 2024): Lured away from Arizona State to replace the legendary Eddie Reese, Bowman immediately made a splash by winning the program’s 16th national title in his first season.
Laura Ianello (women’s golf, hired June 2024): Texas concluded its first year under Ianello with a quarterfinal loss to Oregon in NCAA match play.
Jim Schlossnagle (baseball, hired June 2024): Texas won 44 games and an SEC title in its first season with Schlossnagle, a Texas A&M defector. The Longhorns, however, were upset in an NCAA regional that they hosted.
Sean Miller (men’s basketball, hired March 2025): Needing to replace Terry, Del Conte turned to Miller. Miller arrives in Austin with a 487-196 career record at Xavier and Arizona.

Chris Del Conte has often chased the top coaches to fill vacancies

Del Conte’s conversation seven years ago with Candera was foreshadowing of how Texas would handle coaching searches. By asking around about the country’s best softball coach, Del Conte signaled that Texas would go big-game hunting with him in charge.

Of the 12 coaches that Texas has hired during Del Conte’s time in Austin, three — Bowman, Ianello and Metzger — won a national championship before they got to Texas. Beard, Floreal, Schaefer and Schlossnagle had each led schools to runner-up finishes. Most of those hires had also just been head coaches at major schools with Berque, a championship-winning interim coach who had previously been the head coach at Michigan, and Sarkisian, a highly-regarded Alabama assistant who had led the programs at Washington and USC, being among the few exceptions.

So, what can a sales pitch from Del Conte sound like?

After replacing Ryan Murphy last summer, Ianello was asked just that. The ex-Arizona coach said that Del Conte randomly called her while she was in her office and told her that he was looking to make a coaching change. He then said, “I want you to go home, talk to your husband, talk to your family and you just let me know probably in 24 hours if it’s a thumbs up or a thumbs down.”

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Sports

Sports This Week: Water Polo standout headed to Sask Sport HoF

Noah Miller will become the first athlete from water polo to be inducted. YORKTON – Water polo might not be the first sport one thinks about when considering Saskatchewan athletes but one put together such a notable career in the sport he is among the athletes being inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame later […]

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39 minutes ago

June 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Noah Miller will become the first athlete from water polo to be inducted.

YORKTON – Water polo might not be the first sport one thinks about when considering Saskatchewan athletes but one put together such a notable career in the sport he is among the athletes being inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame later this year.

Noah Miller will become the first athlete from water polo to be inducted.

“I was just surprised – elated. I felt honoured,” Miller said of learning of his selection, adding there is a level of gratification in being honoured for all the work he put into the sport.

Miller was born in Regina in 1980, and actually started out as a youth with a swim club in the city.

“I was five years old. Mom put me in the swim club because my older brother was in it,” Miller told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview.

But it so happened his mother Klara Kesmarky Miller was involved as the executive director of the provincial water polo organization, a sport the younger Miller was interested in.

“When I was 12 or 13 I told my mom I wanted to switch into water polo,” he recalled, adding his parents were always supportive of whatever sport activity he was involved in.

“. . . Both my parents were big proponents of sport. They supported me in anything that was sport-related. They just felt sport was a really good tool and instrument to develop kids.”

Interestingly Kesmarky Miller is also being inducted this year for her involvement in gymnastic which lasted more than 60 years. At 16 she judged her first provincial competition and was helping coach the Regina Girls Gym Club’s competitive program. Miller spent 27 years as a judge and launched the YWCA Limberettes Gym Club in her teens and then helped establish the Queen City Kinsmen Gymnastics Club. She would serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Gymnastics Saskatchewan for 30 years.

It will be the first induction to feature a parent and child being inducted at the same time who were not inducted together as part of a team.

Once involved in water polo it became a passion for Miller and he excelled at it.

He was first selected to the Canadian National Water Team as a Youth player in 1995, and continued his national team international career until his retirement in 2008.

Miller spent nine years on the Canadian men’s national water polo team including serving as the team’s captain for five of those years. Miller competed at six FINA World Championships, three FISU World University Games, and won bronze medals at the Pan Am Games twice in 2003 (Santo Domingo) and 2007 (Rio de Janeiro). Miller also won six Canadian national championships with three clubs tying the most by a Saskatchewan water polo player.

“There are no regrets with my path,” said Miller, adding he tried other sports, in particular basketball which his father was good enough to be a University of Regina Cougar in in the 1960s, but the hoops gene missed his son.

In water polo Miller said he found a completely different sport.

“The sport of water polo is so different from any other sport. You’re in a foreign environment,” he said.

But it is an environment Miller said creates a dynamic sport that deserves more attention, as it does in Europe and Australia with pro leagues, something he hopes for in North America one day.

“It’s been talked about for a long time,” he said, adding it will take a lot of work “to have that come to fruition.”

The 2025 Induction Dinner & Ceremony will be held at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina on Saturday, Sept. 20.

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