Men’s Outdoor Track and Field | 6/5/2025 11:30:00 AM

SUNY Geneseo graduate student Charlie Wilson was named the 2025 Niagara Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and Geneseo Track and Field Assistan Coach Dan Moore earned the 2025 Niagara Region Assistant Coach of the Year award as announced by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) .

Wilson, who hails from Romeo, MI, earned runner-up honors in the 10,000-meter run at the 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship, crossing the finish line in an all-time Empire 8 record time of 29:21.43 to earn First Team All-American honors. He also shattered the Empire 8 record and qualified for nationals in the 5,000-meters with a time of 14:08.50 at the Widener Final Qualifier on May 12. He would go on to finish 12th in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Championships and earn Second Team All-American honors. Wilson was also a USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region selection in both the 5,000- and 10,000-meters. In addition, Wilson was named the 2025 Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Year.

Moore, in his ninth year as Assistant Coach at SUNY Geneseo, coached the Knights’ Charlie Wilson to a runner-up finish in the 10,000-meter run at the 2025 NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships. In addition he coached a fifth place finish for Pierce Young in the steeplechase and a third place finish for Ryan Hagan in the 1,500-meter run. 

ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com.
 
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Legions of athletes, including the great Ted Williams, suspended or postponed their pro sports careers to enlist in the military during World War II. Racial segregation begat the color barrier code in our national pastime, baseball, before Jackie Robinson broke it in 1947. The Cold War reached a geopolitical pressure point in 1980 with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, so the US Olympic team boycotted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. Women deal with an enduring gender pay gap, so the four-time World Cup champion US women’s national team had to sue the US Soccer Federation for equal pay before obtaining it at the bargaining table in 2022.

Now, a local high school athlete born in Brazil who came to this country at the age of 6 with his parents is caught up in the Trump and MAGA crusade to deport 1 million immigrants during the first year of his second term, by almost any means necessary, even if they’re legally or morally gray.

“Concerns about immigration policy have been at the forefront in our community for a while. They’re certainly taken on a greater level of intensity and urgency now,” said Milford High principal Josh Otlin.

“We’ve been fearful that this day has been coming for months. We have a very high concentration of immigrant families in our community. We’ve seen in the past couple of weeks that there has been a dramatic increase in detainments in Milford.

“Marcelo’s detention in Milford is part of what has been a surge in actions that started approximately two to three weeks ago.”

The detainment of Gomes by ICE, which was seeking the young athlete and high school band member’s father but scooped him up as collateral enforcement, shows the fragility of the sports bubble. The reaction by the community and the scene at Milford’s Round of 16 tournament loss to Taunton displayed the flipside — the unifying fight and force.

You must marvel at the power of sports to unite people for a common cause, to serve as an amplifier of calls for change. We saw this in the wake of the death of George Floyd when athletes took to the streets to demonstrate with ordinary citizens.

In that same spirit, the rallying cries in Milford’s 3-1 loss on Tuesday weren’t about trying to get the Scarlet Hawks over the hump in a playoff match. They were an outpouring of support for Gomes — the exercise of vocal but peaceful dismay and disobedience regarding his detainment.

“The volleyball game was a natural place for people to come together and speak on behalf of Marcelo,” said Otlin.

The match milieu with T-shirts, stickers, and crowd calls with the message of “Free Marcelo” reminded that sports resonate beyond just a final score. Reducing them to only the numbers on a scoreboard misses their echo of humanity. It’s a prosaic view harbored by those eager to bury their heads in the sand and annoyed others won’t follow.

Even the Taunton team donned shirts expressing support for Gomes. The volleyball match was bigger than a mere high school sporting event. It was a cathartic congregation.

Otlin said the outpouring was moving. That he’s proud and inspired by the way his students have used their voices. The former social studies teacher is watching his students engage in an important real-time civics lesson.

A Milford native, Otlin, 47, played sports for Milford High. He participated in soccer, swimming, and track.

“Milford is no different; it’s like many American communities. High school sports are community events,” said Otlin. “They bring together not only students in the school but students with their families, alumni, and older people in town. They’re intergenerational events.

“Sports does so many good things for kids, one of them is bringing them into something bigger than themselves.”

Losing a teammate to an injury or a suspension is one matter, but losing one to federal immigration policy is quite another.

Otlin said the volleyball players, led by one of their captains, Colin Greco, have displayed maturity and resiliency. That’s a credit to them and to coach Andrew Mainini and athletic director Peter Boucher, said Otlin.

“I was with the boys on Saturday morning when coach told them this terrible news. I was there to speak to them, as well. They were shocked and speechless and upset,” said Otlin. “I’ve been able to see over the past couple of days how they’ve moved past that initial shock into action and catalyzed their classmates with them into supporting their teammate.

“I know that Colin and all the guys on the team have been doing their very best to take advantage of the opportunity to speak out to those that are willing to listen.”

Regardless of your political views or the rigidity of your stance on immigration enforcement, you should respect these young men taking the role of dedicated teammate to Gomes into the real world.

Yes, sports serve as a distraction, a retreat, a salve from the bombardment of stress points flooding timelines and grabbing headlines.

But when that peace is broken, they’re also a way to fight back.

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.

NEW ORLEANS – For the third time in the last four years, the Texas State University athletics department has claimed the 2024-25 Vic Bubas Cup, the Sun Belt Conference announced Thursday. 
 
Texas State, a member of the Sun Belt Conference since 2013-14, has earned its fourth Vic Bubas Cup. This also marked the first time the Bobcats have won the honor in consecutive years.

The Bubas Cup is the Sun Belt’s annual all-sports championship trophy, awarded to the top athletics department in the conference based on a points system. 

Texas State earned 152.5 points to outpace Arkansas State (139) and Coastal Carolina (124). Louisiana (118.5) finished fourth, as App State (116) rounded out the top-five in the Bubas Cup standings. 

Texas State, which sponsors 16 of the Sun Belt’s 20 sports, won the Sun Belt women’s indoor and outdoor track & field title, the men’s outdoor track & field championship and the volleyball tournament crown. The Bobcats were also the softball regular-season champions and tallied top-four league finishes in women’s soccer, football, men’s indoor track & field and women’s tennis. 

The Vic Bubas Cup is named after the Sun Belt Conference’s first Commissioner. Bubas was appointed the conference’s commissioner on Oct. 6, 1976, and served for 14 years until his retirement in 1990. He led the conference during a period in which its membership increased from six to eight members and its sport sponsorship grew from four to 10 sports. Bubas was a three-time ACC Coach of the Year at Duke in the 1960s, taking his team to three Final Fours. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Bubas passed away in April 2018 at the age of 91.

 

Points for the Bubas Cup are awarded based on regular-season finish for sports that have a regular-season conference schedule. Points are awarded based on Sun Belt Championship finish if that sport does not have a regular-season conference schedule. Points are awarded based on the number of schools sponsoring the sport. Institutions not sponsoring a sport do not receive points in that sport. Institutions tying for positions split the combined points of their positions.

 

For sports that have both a regular-season schedule and a conference tournament, one additional point will be awarded to the winner of the conference tournament, including an additional point for winning the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship.

 

For sports with divisions, the conference records of all teams are ranked and points are awarded regardless of divisional finish. Standings for the sports of men’s and women’s soccer are determined by points rather than winning percentage.

Vic Bubas Cup All-Time Winners

1977 – Jacksonville

1978 – South Florida

1979 – South Florida

1980 – South Florida

1981 – South Florida

1982 – South Florida

1983 – Old Dominion

1984 – South Florida

1985 – South Florida

1986 – South Florida

1987 – Western Kentucky

1988 – South Alabama

1989 – South Alabama

1990 – South Florida

1991 – South Alabama

1992 – South Alabama

1993 – South Alabama

1994 – South Alabama

1995 – Arkansas State

1996 – South Alabama

1997 – South Alabama

1998 – Arkansas State

1999 – South Alabama

2000 – South Alabama

2001 – Middle Tennessee

2002 – Western Kentucky

2003 – Western Kentucky

2004 – Middle Tennessee

2005 – Middle Tennessee

2006 – Western Kentucky

2007 – Middle Tennessee

2008 – Western Kentucky

2009 – Middle Tennessee

2010 – Middle Tennessee

2011 – Middle Tennessee

2012 – Middle Tennessee

2013 – Middle Tennessee

2014 – Western Kentucky

2015 – South Alabama

2016 – South Alabama

2017 – South Alabama

2018 – South Alabama

2019 – Texas State

2020 – Arkansas State

2021 – South Alabama

2022 – Texas State

2023 – South Alabama

2024 – Texas State

2025 – Texas State

Hope College swimming and diving head coach Jake Taber ’04 has been elected to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Board of Directors by his peers.

Taber joins Trinity University (Texas) head coach Cathleen Pruden as NCAA Division III representatives on the board.

The CSCAA represents and advocates for all divisions of intercollegiate swimming and diving. The organization features nearly 2,000 members.

“It’s certainly an honor to be selected for this position,” Taber said. “There is so much happening and a lot of uncertainty surrounding college athletics right now. The opportunity to serve our sport, coaches and student-athletes is one I am honored to do.” 

Previously, Taber has chaired the CSCAA Division III Polls Committee for several years.

“Jake has a tireless dedication to advancing Division III swimming and diving,” said Samantha Barany, executive director of the CSCAA. “His leadership has already helped shape the national conversation through his work on the Division III Top 25 Polls. We are honored to have him bring his passion and insight to our Board of Directors.” 

Taber has been the head coach at Hope since the 2018-19 season.



In women’s swimming and diving, Taber has guided the Flying Dutch to four consecutive Top-20 finishes at the NCAA Division III championships: ninth in 2024-25, 15th in 2023-24, 10th in 2022-23 and 19th in 2021-22. He also led the Flying Dutch to six MIAA team championships, including five in a row (2021-25). 



Taber has coached five MIAA Most Valuable Women’s Swimmers, three MIAA Most Valuable Women’s Divers and MIAA champions in 68 individual and relay events combined. Taber was named MIAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year by his peers in 2024 and 2025.



In men’s swimming and diving, Taber guided Hope to one MIAA title and five runner-up finishes. Taber has led the Flying Dutchmen to an MIAA team championship in 2022, four runner-up finishes and two third-place efforts. He has coached MIAA champions in 36 individual and relay events combined.



Prior to returning to his alma mater, Taber served as head coach at Albion College (2012-18) and Olivet College (2007-12; now The University of Olivet). He also worked as an assistant coach under CSCAA Hall of Fame head coach John Patnott for three seasons at Hope.

 

The International Testing Agency (ITA), which oversees World Aquatics’ anti-doping programme, collected 1,413 samples from 680 athletes of 63 nationalities in the first quarter of 2025.

Out-of-competition testing accounted for the vast majority of samples, with 1,355 collected outside of competition periods. In-competition testing yielded an additional 58 samples.

Of the total samples collected:

• 959 were urine samples

• 454 were blood samples

These figures reflect a coordinated international effort to promote clean sport and uphold fair play. The continued increase in both volume and geographic reach of testing underlines World Aquatics’ commitment to safeguarding the integrity of aquatic sports. It also reinforces a strong dedication to transparency in the fight against doping.

You can access the AQIU’s anti-doping statistics page here.

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