DAVIS, Calif. – This past week on May 14, UC Davis athletics hosted its annual Endowment Celebration at the ARC Ballroom, a great event that brings together student athletes and the donors that have played important roles during their time at Davis.
 
This year, close to 100 donors, student-athletes, coaches and members of the senior administration were in attendance with the entire event being hosted by Director of Athletics Rocko DeLuca.
 
UC Davis athletics holds 76 endowments supporting grant-in-aid scholarships, programmatic needs and three coaching positions.
 
During the evening, student athletes and donors connected to share stories about how endowments and support of UC Davis athletics has impacted them positively. Providing opportunities to compete at the Division I level while also gaining an education from one of the top schools in the world.
 
Speakers during the event included Jamey Wright and Hodgens Family Director of Women’s Water Polo Kandace Waldthaler and former Aggie Jenn Thatcher O’Reilly. O’Reilly spoke about a new award her donations have gone towards, with the Jenn Thatcher ’88 Women’s Cross-Country award now available to assist future Aggies.
 
“The endowment dinner is always a special evening because it’s one of the few chances we get to connect donors directly with student-athletes,” said Senior Associate Athletics Director, Chief Development Officer Liz Gullett. “We not only use this opportunity to show how wonderful our student-athletes are to the people who support them, but we use this as an educational opportunity for our student-athletes to teach them about networking and etiquette in real time.
 
“At the end of the night, it is so great to see donors leaving feeling proud of UC Davis and the student-athletes gaining a better understanding of the support system they have around each of them.”
 
This story is an example of UC Davis Athletics’ commitment to the Ignite Strategic Plan Pillar of “Revenue Generation” by increasing the donor population and creating a best-in-class stewardship experience. Read more about our strategic plan here; IGNITE.
 

MEDFORD, MA (May 21, 2025) – The Tufts University women’s track and field team received even more postseason honors as the USTFCCCA All-Region awards were announced on Tuesday, May 20.

Leading off the list of award-winners is Jordan Andrew, who was named to the All-Region team for both the long jump and the triple jump. Her performance at the Sunshine Classic helped her qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, as well as set a season high in the long jump and set a new personal best in the triple jump with a mark of 12.29m.

Elysse Cumberland was also named to the All-Region team for both the long jump and the triple jump. The 2025 National Division III Indoor Triple Jump Champion continued to shine in the outdoor portion of the season, setting a new personal best in both the triple jump and long jump at the Sunshine Classic. Her personal best mark of 12.66m in the triple jump set a new program record by 21cm.

Two Jumbos received All-Region honors for their performances in the 400m hurdles. Arielle Chechile had a great rookie campaign in the event, setting a personal best time of 1:00.64 in the final meet of the season to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships. Emma Smith also had a strong senior season, setting a new personal best of 1:02.78 in the NEICAAA Championships.

The pole vault saw yet another pair of Jumbos combine with All-Region honors. Emma Gall and Nyla Thompson both were named to the All-Region team for their strong seasons in the pole vault. Gall’s new personal best of 3.57m was the best vault of any Jumbo this season, but Thompson was never very far behind. Thompson also set a new personal best this season, also landing a 3.57m.

First year Phoebe Bryar made an instant impact with the Jumbos as a middle-distance runner, and picked up All-Region honors for her stellar performance in the 800m run. She showed steady improvement throughout the season to earn a new personal record of 2:13.24 at the New England Division III Championships.

Lexi Dean picked up All-Region honors after a season competing in the 3000m steeplechase. The junior set a new personal best at the NESCAC Championships with a time of 11:15.00.

Elizabeth Donahue, the lone long-distance runner to pick up All-Region honors, made steady improvements throughout the season as well. She set a new personal best for herself in the event with a 36:05.44.

Mia Kurtz picked up the All-Region honors after a great debut for the Jumbos in the discus. The first year set a new personal best of 41.41m at the Emory Spring Break Classic. Ceci LaBarge also picked up All-Region honors, albeit in a different throwing event. Her award came for her performance in the hammer throw, which saw her land the fourth best mark in Tufts history with a 50.12m.

Harper Meek picked up All-Region honors after earning a berth to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in the high jump. Her season was defined by consistency, with all but one of her jumps being above 1.60m. Her personal best just stayed intact from last season after her 1.66m jump was a single centimeter shy of her record.

Makayla Moriarty burst onto the scene this spring with a number of great performances in the shorter running events. She picked up the All-Region honors in the 400m dash after setting the fastest time in Tufts program history with a 55.21. 

The final pair of Jumbos to earn All-Region honors is Lauren Zipoli and Tessa Player in the heptathlon. Both athletes set new personal bests at the New England D3 Championships, with Player taking the win with 4257 points and Zipoli in third with 4082.

–JUMBOS–

CLOVIS, Calif. (FOX26) — A tragedy can alter lives or take away people we love, but sometimes, sports can fill the void and give us a way to honor a lost loved one.

That was the case for the Clovis East boys’ volleyball team.

“Going from the lowest of the low, to the highest of the high, in one season is probably the most magical thing that I could have experienced,” said Clovis East senior Donavan West.

Marcos Orro was the boys’ volleyball head coach at Clovis East High School for nine seasons.

“Coach Orro recruited me fresh out of elementary school,” remembered West, “so I’ve been around [my teammates] since I touched a volleyball for the first time.”

Orro built a 2-time volleyball champion team and a family atmosphere, even bringing his 22-year-old son Niko aboard the coaching staff.

Marcos told him before the season, “Niko, we’re gonna win it all this year!”

Niko always answered cautiously optimistic, ”I don’t know, we’ll see.”

On his way to practice in early October, Niko received devastating news. His father passed away unexpectedly in his sleep.

[RELATED]Community mourns the unexpected loss of beloved Clovis East coach

The whole team was stunned.

“The death of Coach Orro really affected us a lot,” said Clovis East senior Logan Vang. “He played a big part in all of our lives, not just volleyball, but regular life by asking how we’re doing.”

Niko decided to finish what his dad had started, taking over as head coach.

“It was very tough and hard, but I know that he prepared me to be ready for a moment like this,” Niko said. “It’s been a conversation the whole year about, ‘Hey, let’s do this season for Dad.'”

With heavy hearts, Clovis East rallied together and made it all the way to the Valley championship game, where visiting Buchanan HS took a 2-1 set lead.

Then, the comeback started.

“The whole crowd was screaming ‘Clovis East.’ In the moment, I told myself, ‘Man, this is magic,'” said West.

Whatever magic there was, it worked. Clovis East won the Valley championship in a 5-set thriller, this one 7 months after head coach Marcos Orro passed.

“I was able to do what Dad wanted us to do,” Niko said.

[RELATED] Motivated by late head coach, Clovis East wins boys’ volleyball championship

But even without the title, just playing together helped the team – and Niko – get through the grieving process.

“This gym has always made me feel close to Dad,” Niko said. “After he passed, and when I came back, I saw the serving machine and I saw him standing there, shooting balls in it.

“I’m just glad that we were able to prove him right, and I think a lot of these guys in the program are going to prove Dad right in a lot of different aspects of their lives.”

Clovis East is still competing in the State playoffs.

NEW ORLEANS – The Johns Hopkins women’s track and field program had 19 student-athletes receive All-Region honors for the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field season, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday.
 
Lorna Arcese, Sara Bartlett, Carter Brotherton, Cooper Brotherton, Adriana Catalano, Jaclyn Donoho, Erika Ezumba, Annie Huang, Mirra Klimov, Emma Kothari, Storrie Kulynych-Irvin, Clarissa Newman, Claudia Ouimet, Lauren Phillips, Lianne Saussy, Harrinee Senthilkumar, Jamie Stelnik, Phoebe Williams and Anna Zinsser received All-Region Honors for their performances in their respective events.
 
The top five individuals in each event from each region earn All-Region honors, in addition to each of the members of a top three ranked relay team.
 
All-Region Honors
 
4x100m
Klimov, Saussy, Zinsser, Phillips
 
4x400m
Phillips, Huang, Arcese, Saussy
 
100m & 200m
Klimov
Phillips
 
400m
Phillips
 
800m
Huang
 
1500m
Huang
Kothari
Senthilkumar
 
5000m
Ca. Brotherton
Catalano
 
10,000m
Kulynych-Irvin
Stelnik
 
400m Hurdles
Saussy
 
3000m Steeplechase
Co. Brotherton
 
Triple Jump
Bartlett
 
High Jump
Donoho
 
Pole Vault
Newman
 
Shot Put & Discus
Ezumba
 
Hammer
Ezumba
Williams
 
Heptathlon
Ouimet
 

Prospect High School boys volleyball coach and math teacher Mike Riedy, right, is set to retire after this school year. The Knights boys head coach the past 30 years, he has 607 victories entering tonight’s Mid-Suburban League championship game against Barrington. Riedy also won 344 matches as Prospect’s girls coach for 20 seasons. In the foreground is assistant coach Peter King, who will succeed Riedy as head coach.
Courtesy of Scott McDermott

Time is winding down for retiring Prospect High School boys volleyball coach and math teacher Mike Riedy.

“For the most part it just seems like a natural progression,” he said.

First, there is work still to be done.

Prospect (25-8) hosts Barrington Thursday for the Mid-Suburban League championship, before the Knights’ state playoff opener Saturday against Chicago Academy at the Lake Park regional.

Riedy, who turns 60 on June 17, enters the Barrington match with 607 victories over 30 seasons as head coach, among the most wins in state history. He also won 344 matches in 20 seasons coaching Prospect girls.

Former athletic director Dave Good initially asked Riedy to be the head girls coach, though back in 1994 Riedy didn’t think he was ready for it. Good then told Riedy he’d also be coaching the boys team in the spring, Riedy said.

“Like an idiot I took it and ran with it,” he said, displaying his self-deprecating wit.

That first girls team went 2-32, according to Illinois High School Association records. By his fourth season he flipped that to 23-13.

The boys program made an even more smashing turnaround — 11-17 in 1995, 26-9 and fourth in state in 1997.

Riedy is not motivated by trophies. “The epitome of the program,” he said, are the sportsmanship awards given his teams by the IHSA and Zebras of Northern Illinois (ZONI), a volleyball referee organization.

Riedy himself gives back as a girls volleyball referee, which he’ll continue to do in retirement. He introduced Volley for the Cure to Prospect, raising tens of thousands of dollars toward breast cancer research, much of it donated to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

He’s written curriculum used in math classes and has taught in Prospect’s educator pathway program for students interested in teaching, producing many college education majors.

Likewise, by creating positive experiences in volleyball, Riedy has inspired former players to enter coaching themselves. Peter King, Riedy’s 11-year assistant, is a former Knight who will succeed Riedy as head coach.

“I’m incredibly proud of everything I’ve done here, but a lot of people helped me along the way,” Riedy said.

One in particular. Mike and Maria Riedy have been married 32 years.

“She is my rock, she is the one who put up with being a coach’s wife,” Mike Riedy said. “There’s a lot of stuff I’ve missed being a double head varsity coach, and she kept the house in order and raised two wonderful children, and I would be a complete mess without her.”

Riedy soon will make up for lost time. Sort of.

“I’m going to sit around and do nothing and love every minute of it.”

That’s how it’s done

The IHSA championship badminton match in singles went to extra points May 17 at DeKalb High School.

Needing a 2-point margin in the decisive third set, Neuqua Valley freshman Ishi Reddy won 21-13, 18-21, 23-21.

She beat her Wildcats teammate, senior Hannah George.

“Ishi won and Hannah went over to her and gave her a high-five, and then they both embraced in a hug,” said Neuqua sixth-year head coach Nick Benson.

“Then they went over and shook both referees’ hands. Pure class by both the girls.”

Neuqua already had its third state badminton title in hand, Reddy clinching it with a semifinal win over sophomore Adalyn Shum of runner-up Stevenson. Neuqua won with 22 points to Stevenson’s 21.5.

It was only the third time teammates played for the singles title. It was George’s second second-place finish to go with two third-place finishes.

Reddy (41-2) lost one match during the season to George (46-3), who took two losses against Reddy.

“Obviously they’re competitors on the court,” Benson said, “but they are terrific friends and teammates immediately after the match.”

Next level

Orlando Pride defender Kerry Abello, a 2017 Benet Academy graduate from Batavia, earned her first call-up to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

On Tuesday she was among 24 women named to the team that will play China PR in St. Paul, Minn., on May 31; and Jamaica in St. Louis on June 3.

The first player in Pride history to play 50 consecutive games, Abello has extensive Youth National experience with six prior call-ups, 10 combined caps, and a U-23 camp in 2022.

Regarding U-23, 2024 Olympic gold medalist Korbin Albert of Grayslake was among 20 call-ups Wednesday to the U-23 Women’s National Team. They will camp in Germany from May 26-June 3 and play Germany twice while there.

A midfielder, Albert was a difference-maker for Team USA in Paris. The former Notre Dame All-American scored the eventual winning goal in a 2-1 decision over Australia to become the first United States woman to score her first international goal in the Olympics. She now plays for Paris-Saint Germain.

Chicago Stars forward Jameese Joseph also was called up to the U-23 squad, her third international camp of 2025.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

11 Blue Jays Receive USTFCCCA Regional Honors
 

NEW ORLEANS – The Johns Hopkins men’s track and field program had 11 student-athletes receive All-Region honors for the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field season, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday.
 
Oluwademilade Adeniran, Alex Colletti, Emmanuel Leblond, Josh Lee, Thomas Li, Connor Oiler, Ethan Oluwole, Fisayo Omonije, Brady Ott, Sebastian Tangelson and Spencer Ye received All-Region Honors for their performances in their respective events.
 
The top five individuals in each event from each region earn All-Region honors, in addition to each of the members of a top three ranked relay team.
 
All-Region Honors
 
4x400m
Colletti, Ye, Omonije, Lee
 
100m & 200m
Colletti
 
800m
Omonije
 
1500m
Ott
 
5000m
Leblond
Li
 
3000m Steeplechase
Oiler
 
Triple Jump
Adeniran
Oluwole
 
Decathlon
Tangelson