Sports

Women's sports investor Kara Nortman on outlook, experiences and opportunities

Published

7 months ago

June 6, 2025

Women's sports investor Kara Nortman on outlook, experiences and opportunities

Kara Nortman has gained an interesting perspective on the women’s sports landscape in recent years. She is known, most prominently, as one of the original owners of Angel City FC when the NWSL franchise launched in 2020.

Then, after a long career in venture capital, she and investor Jasmine Robinson co-founded Monarch Collective, a private equity fund and investment firm. The company’s thesis is unique: It only wants to invest in women’s sports.

Now that Nortman is doing that full time, and after topping off its first $150 million fund with an extra $100 million in investment earlier this spring, she talked with The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov about how she sees the field of women’s sports investment, at a time when the WNBA is expanding, the NWSL continues to grow and momentum across women’s sports is accelerating at an unprecedented rate.

(Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Can you walk me through your current investments in sports?

Monarch is the first fund to exclusively focus on women’s sports. We just closed on $250 million, and I think (it is) the only fund that is raised of that magnitude that has that exclusive focus. We’ve now made three investments: Boston Legacy, the Boston NWSL team; Angel City, the Los Angeles NWSL team; and the San Diego Wave.

You had a lot of insight into the NWSL picture with your Angel City role and investment, as well as with Monarch and your three investments across the league. What kind of leaguewide insight have you gleaned?

I’m sort of wired to the macro view. And as a firm, we go very, very deep with our teams. But then I think it’s not just the three investments, but we really are doing work across multiple sports, all the most mature sports.

So it tends to be soccer — or football between here and Europe, basketball in the U.S., golf, tennis, and we do spend time in volleyball and flag football and other areas. But I think having that perspective and working across different leagues, which are kind of evolving and emerging right now in a very different way on the women’s side than the men’s side, I think it just gives us perspective, candidly, on where to be patient and where to be impatient. And then it also gives us perspective, in particular, working across the teams we do, on how to share best practices.

Building Angel City from the ground up when no one had a real P&L? We were the first team (that) went from zero to $30 million in revenue and 16,000-plus season ticket holders, and we put mission at its core. Like, what does that look like in each team? And how do you make it specific for that market?

When we’re working with a team, what are the 80 percent of “you know what you should do” that are just best practices, and then what’s the 20 percent that’s unique and different to you as control owners and this market with what you care about, with what your fans care about?

You said you’re learning when to be patient and when to be impatient. When do you need patience?

Specifically, it’s getting to know markets and stakeholders and decision makers, and understanding that that’s often a multi-year-long process. I think the other part of patience is just really understanding that everything comes in stages.

When you emerge from startup land and start building things more entrepreneurially, as I have, you can sometimes rush to secure the best media contract, the best merchandising platform, and the best X, Y, and Z in every role. You’ve got to define (what is) best for the stage of development, and what are the two or three things that are your highest priority, that are going to have the most impact long-term.

Usually, that’s the control owner, who you’re working with, who you’re bringing in to lead the team day-to-day. And then length of contracts, around things that will drive long-term revenue and visibility for teams at the league level. Those are things I think are deeply thoughtful and strategic about. So that’s our patience.

I think a lot of people get impatient when they can’t get the actual thing they want done. Like, they can’t invest in a particular team or league, and then they just go do something else that takes up all their time, versus being patient and waiting for the right thing, even if it takes a year or two or three to get there.

Have you had to wait to join a team or league that you wanted to be part of? What has been the level of demand for your product compared to the level of demand in the broader market?

We have a lot of conversations very early — or even first, where we can be — and we have been to many people who we don’t necessarily work with: “How would you think about structuring this? What kind of partner are you looking for?”

What are your questions around this kind of strategic plan for this soccer team or this basketball team or this kind of league in another part of the world? And where we can just show up and take all of our knowledge and information — we all are ex-operators in sports — and just be helpful.

That has led to a couple of our investments. It’s how we started with Boston. We just started helping Boston. We’ve done that with many others.

We have to be thoughtful about that now, because a lot of people call us for help. We’re very disciplined on how we set things up for partnership, both in terms of do you actually care about representation and the impact you can have by not just hiring the same old people?

When we underwrite something, it’s not just the fundamentals of the market, but it’s “Who are we working with?” and are we going to really empower a team to be the top 20 percent of any team out there?

I think what has been reflected to us by some of our limited partners is we’re great at dropping everything when a great opportunity shows up, digging in and doing the work.

For being passive investors, it doesn’t sound like you’re very passive.

I don’t know what that word means. We very much abide by conflict policy and league rules. We view ourselves as change-agent capital at a stage where women’s sports need it.

The top teams are edging toward a billion dollars in revenue worldwide. There is a lot of work to be done to take teams from zero to something. So we are passive by league definitions. We stay completely out of the sporting side of the operation. Europe has different kinds of considerations.

But we show up with our expertise, our talent, our playbooks, and we help people build a fan experience, as well as think through the business side, including real estate and practice facilities. With Boston, I think we’re on the phone with them three times a day, but in thoughtful ways.

With Angel City, it had the control sale to Willow Bay and Bob Iger at a record-setting number a few months ago. What did that mean for Monarch?

I think for Monarch, it was a huge validation that we cannot just come in when there’s a transaction with all the known pieces, but that we can come into moments where other people may not know how to price or even how to move forward with imperfect information. And we have a lot of confidence to understand how to evaluate things, where transaction multiples are all over the place, maturity of organizations is all over the place. We can come in, really thoughtfully look at a situation and come up with a win for all.

You also invested in Boston Legacy FC. The initial rollout for that franchise and the BOS Nation branding didn’t go well. What happened? And how did Monarch help the control owners and management navigate that situation?

I think a huge part of what we do is we immediately drop everything, and it doesn’t matter the time of day, the weekend, and we all roll up our sleeves and say, “OK, what’s the problem? What’s the solution?”

And then we create a psychologically positive space to understand, “OK, is this a crisis?” Is this the opposite? Is this just fine? And then how seriously you take it is important, not just for the response to the world, but for how you learn and grow and develop as an organization where there’s a lot of pressure in women’s sports to live up to the value in their missions.

Specifically on Boston Legacy, we all got on the phone right away. The team is excellent. Came up with, quickly, a couple of key hires, a process to understand what was missed. We extend our network … who are the two or three other people who’ve gone through this? Get on the phone. And then how do you go and listen to the community?

I think what’s interesting is on the other end of it, and now, having sat through many calls and where the team was thoughtful and deliberate about how to decide how to move forward. I think a negative has become a big positive. Everyone in the world of sports knows about the Boston NWSL team.

The organization got so much stronger and more mature through it. And it’s not whether you make a mistake, it’s how you react to it and respond to it.

You announced another $100 million for your fund last month. Is that a reflection of the growth of the ambitions of Monarch or is that a reflection that you need more money now to be able to invest substantively in women’s sports?

We try to be thoughtfully ambitious. What that means is, if you go raise too much money right now, what are you going to put it to work in? And then what’s your value proposition behind it, and can you live up to it?

The women’s sports market — Deloitte just came out with their numbers — is $2.4 billion compared to half a trillion for the men’s. How many premium opportunities are there? And how can you do real work against them if you’re kind of spread thin across a lot of them?>

So our ambitions have always been big, but we’ve always wanted to map them to being able to put capital to work in a thoughtful way that aligned with our strategy. Our strategy has not changed. We’ll make seven, eight, nine investments out of this pool of capital. And so that is exactly what we said when we raised the first dollar and closed it.

What happened was twofold on that first question. One was that you saw the market develop much faster than I think anyone expected, so more teams with real P&Ls across soccer and basketball. Again, when we started, it was just Angel City. Now you have a couple of teams — a few teams in the WNBA, a handful of teams in the NWSL. So valuations went up.

We tend to be doing the most work alongside control owners, and we wanted to be able to put the right amount of capital against that when we do a transaction. Then our limited partners saw our work and were very impressed with how we were doing things, and wanted to put more capital in.

Are you part of any bidding group for a WNBA team as part of its expansion process?

Unfortunately, I can’t comment on that one.

I would say that the quality and number of opportunities we can spend time on at Monarch have also grown, really, exponentially since we started the fund. So we don’t feel like any one thing is a must-do.

We try to be thoughtful about who we work with and the fundamentals of the market. Do they want partners like us? Do we share values? And then, how can we structure this thoughtfully from a pricing standpoint? Because we spend our lives working on this and need to make sure we deliver returns as well.

What are the biggest opportunities in women’s sports now? What are we going to be talking about in a year when it comes to women’s sports investing?

I think we’re going to be talking about how spikes translate into kind of smoother curves. And I think that’s one of the things we’re talking about coming out of March Madness, which is you see these spikes over time. I like to talk about the 60,000 people who showed up in Liverpool to watch the Dick, Kerr Ladies in 1920 before the FA banned women from playing football there in 1921. The hard work comes in between.

And so I think it’s going to be the non-sexy stuff. It’s not: What’s something that’s coming out of the blue? It’s: How do you get all the teams in all the leagues to raise attendance and to build a consistent fan experience that’s best for their market? And then how do we do adjacent programming along with media rights to kind of build the interest and intrigue? What are we doing with our rights in media, commerce and gaming?

It is building out these smooth curves like this, coming out of the spikes, and not being so obsessed with the vanity metric of, “Did you break a record, post-Caitlin Clark?” and more around, like, “How is everybody doing with the blood, sweat and tears part?”

All the less sexy stuff that comes from just doing the work behind the scenes. And if we get half the league, three-quarters of the league getting three-quarters of their arenas and stadiums filled for every game, I mean, media rights will continue to take off.

You know the growth is going to be enormous, but it’s going to come with hard work.

(Photo: Kelly Sullivan / Getty Images for TechCrunch)

Sports

Track and Field Returns to Indoor Season

Published

53 seconds ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Scarlet Knights resumes the 2025-26 season in the New Year, a schedule that will test them across some of the nation’s most competitive stages.

Rutgers got the season started with a select group of distance runners traveling to Boston for the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. The meet saw Lucas Reguinho and Kelsey O’Neil break the men’s and women’s indoor 5,000-meter school records, respectively.

The Scarlet Knights return several top performers from a year ago, including Charlee Crawford and Sincere Robinson who were each named to the Big Ten Indoor Athletes to Watch list.

Rutgers will continue the indoor season with back-to-back meets in Philadelphia, first at the Penn Select (Jan.10), followed by the Quaker Invitational (Jan. 17). The Scarlet Knights will compete in a split weekend with members of the squad traveling to Boston for the Scarlet and White Invitational (Jan. 24) and the Hokie Invitational (Jan. 24) in Blacksburg, Va. They return to familiar territory in Philadelphia for the Penn Invitational (Jan. 30) and head to New York to host the Scarlet Knights Open (Feb. 6).

From there, the Scarlet Knights continue to build their momentum at the Valentine Invitational (Feb. 13) in Boston, followed by a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 13-14). The indoor stretch concludes on a championship stage at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 27-28) in Indianapolis, Ind. The NCAA Championships conclude the indoor season back in Arkansas on March13-14.

With winter behind them, the team transitions to the outdoor season, beginning with warm-weather competitions in Florida at the USF Alumni Invitational (March 20-21) in Tampa and the Miami Invitational. The group splits again the following weekend to participate in the Raleigh Relays (March 26-28) and UCF Knights Invitational (March 27-28).

The Scarlet Knights are back North for the Sam Howell Invitational (April 4) in Princeton, N.J. The Scarlet Knights then return to their home track for the Rutgers Relays (April 11) in Piscataway. Rutgers travels West for the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 16-18) in Azusa, Calif., before returning East for the IC4A/ECAC Championships (April 17-19) in Fairfax, Va.

Next up are the historic Penn Relays (April 23-25) in Philadelphia, followed by the Larry Ellis Invitational (May 1-2) in Princeton. A trip to Baton Rouge, La. for the LSU Invitational (May 2) closes out the regular outdoor season before the Big Ten Championships (May 15-17) in Lincoln, Neb. The NCAA East First Round will take place in Lexington, Ky, followed by the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., where Hayward Field sets the backdrop for a highly competitive finale. Rutgers sent a program-record eight Scarlet Knights to last year’s NCAA Championships.

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Mansfield Adds Two to 2026 Volleyball Roster

Published

19 minutes ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head volleyball coach Jason Mansfield announced the additions of UTEP transfer Fuka Sekita and Tennessee transfer Camdyn Stucky to the 2026 roster Wednesday morning.

Sekita, a 5-foot-1 libero/defensive specialist from Hyogo, Japan, comes to Manhattan for her senior season after a one-year stint at UTEP, where she helped the Miners to a 25-5 overall record and first-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

“We are so excited to welcome Fuka to our K-State Volleyball family,” Mansfield said. “She is a quick, fearless defender who is incredibly skilled as a passer, server, and setter. Fuka is driven to be the best she can be, has a deep love for the game of volleyball and will bring a great deal of experience and passion to our team.”

In her lone season at UTEP, Sekita anchored the Miners’ defense with a team-leading 364 digs (3.64 digs per set) – the seventh-best mark in the Conference USA – and reached double-figure digs in 23 matches. She produced a season-best 24 digs against Missouri State on November 1, while also adding 99 assists and 19 service aces.

“I chose K-State because it will be a great experience to play in one of the best conferences,” Sekita said. “The people were so positive, and I felt very comfortable with them. Also, K-State has amazing facilities. These are the reasons why I chose K-State.”

Prior to her time at UTEP, Sekita posted two standout seasons at New Mexico Military Institute, earning NJCAA First Team All-American and AVCA Second Team All-American honors. At NMMI, Sekita competed in 243 sets across 69 matches and tallied an impressive 1,297 digs, averaging 5.34 digs per set, while also contributing 191 assists and 65 service aces.

In addition to her All-American honors, Sekita named the 2023 Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) Defensive Player of the Year and 2024 WJCAC Conference Most Valuable Player. She also earned 13 WJCAC Player of the Week honors and was a four-time NJCAA Defensive Player of the Week.

Sekita is the daughter of Yumiko Sekita and has two siblings, Nodoka and Akari. She plans to study kinesiology during her time at K-State.

Stucky, a 6-foot-3 setter, returns to her home state of Kansas following her redshirt-freshman campaign at Tennessee, where she appeared in seven matches and recorded five kills, three assists, and two blocks.

“We are so excited to welcome Camdyn to our K-State Volleyball family,” Mansfield said. “She is a long, dynamic athlete with great hands who can play the entire game at a high level. Camdyn is strong in her faith, and family means everything to her. We love having another Kansas kid in our program.”

Prior to her commitment to Tennessee, Stucky was a two-sport athlete and letterwinner at Maize South High School in Wichita, also pitching for the Mavericks’ softball team.

“I was looking for a place near home where I could thrive, and that’s exactly what I found,” Stucky said. “I am so grateful.”

She capped her senior campaign with 935 assists, 207 digs, 173 kills, 57 aces and 54 blocks to lead Maize South to its third-place finish in the Kansas 5A State Tournament and a 38-5 overall record. Her performance at the tournament earned her a spot on the All-State Tournament Team.

Stucky also recorded five matches with 30 or more assists and posted one double-double, finishing with 37 assists and 11 digs. She led the squad in assists and aces, ranked second in blocks and digs, and tallied five or more kills in 17 matches. She finished third on the team in kills and led the Mavericks with a .435 hitting percentage on the season.

During her junior campaign, Stucky tallied 790 assists, 165 digs, 123 kills, 49 aces and 41 blocks en route to earning First Team All-Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division I and Second Team All-Class 5A honors.

She is the daughter of Casey and Cody Stucky, and has four siblings: Caiya, Cy, Cohen, and Channing. She plans to major in business while attending K-State.

The Wildcats finished the 2025 season with an 18-10 overall record and a 10-8 mark in Big 12 play, earning the program’s first at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship since 2021.

2026 K-State Volleyball Signing Class

Name	Yr.	Pos.	Ht.	Hometown / High School / Club
Skylar Brady	Fr.	OH	6-1	Bethany, Okla. / Bethany HS / Oklahoma Peak Performance
Ellah Derrer	Fr.	MB	6-4	Davenport, Iowa / Davenport Assumption / Iowa Select VBC
Addison Massey	Fr.	OH	6-1	Las Cruces, N.M. / Las Cruces High School / Texas Performance
Reese Resmer	Fr.	MB	6-0	Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville HS / Boiler Juniors Volleyball Club
Fuka Sekita	Sr.	L/DS	5-1	Hyogo, Japan / Mukogawa Women’s University Senior HS / UTEP
Camdyn Stucky	R-So.	S	6-3	Wichita, Kan. / South Maize HS / Tennessee

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Sports

Volleyball Legends codes: Full list of codes for January 2026

Published

36 minutes ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

If you’ve ever wanted a Haikyu!! game in Roblox, then Volleyball Legends is for you, and with our codes, you’ll be able to dominate the court.

Based on the hit Volleyball manga and anime Haikyu!!, Volleyball Legends is one of the biggest sports games on Roblox.

These codes will mostly get you Spins, but if you’re after some other codes, you may want to check out our pages for The Forge, Blox Fruits, Fruits Battlegrounds and even Fortnite Steal the Brainrot.

But if you’re here for Volleyball Legends codes, you can read on for the full list of available codes that you can redeem right now.

Volleyball Legends codes: Full list of codes for January 2026

Here is a full list of available codes for Volleyball Legends in January 2026:

Active codes

UPDATE_51 – 5x Lucky Style Spins
SET_DUMP – 5x Lucky Style Spins
NEW_YEAR – 5x Lucky Ability Spins

Expired codes

HAPPY_HOLIDAYS
JINKO_CLAUS
UPDATE_50
UPDATE_49
BAN_CHALLENGE
FREE_ABILITY_SLOT
UPDATE_48
SEASON_X
WINTER_IS_HERE
PITY_FIX
UPDATE_47
2_BILLION
KAZANA_BACK
UPDATE_46
CHALLENGE
HAKKA_NERF
ULTRA
CLONE
UPDATE_45
BUG_FIXES
MASTERY_2
UPDATE_44
1V1
SEASON_9
UPDATE_43
HOTFIX
MASTERIES
KISUKI_BUFFED
TAICHOU_WINNER
UPDATE_41
PLAYERCARDS
SECRET_CARDS
UPDATE_40
ROBO_ARM
HIDARI_GOAT
SPOOKY_MONTH
TWINS_RETURN
UPDATE_39
UPDATE_38
FALL_SEASON
BECOME_SPIDER
YOGAN_BUFF
3M_FAVS
UPDATE_37
ANGRY_MAN
300K_CCU
UPDATE_36
TSK_RETURNS_WOO
GOAT_SETTER_RETURNS
UPDATE_35
UPDATE_34_BALANCE
EXTRA_TOUCH_BUFF
NEW_STYLE_SOON
PROTORI_100K_CLUB
SCHOOLS_BACK
INDOOR_COURT
UPDATE_33_EVIL
UPDATE_33_GOOD
CURVE_SPIKER
2RAINBOWSTATS
UPDATE_32_JINKO
VOTE_BLOXY
UPDATE_31_W
EXTRA_TOUCH
BLAME_DONDRED
FREE_SLOT_HERE
TSH_RETURNS
UPDATE_30
BIG_HUGE_UPDATE
SOME_ABILITY_SPINS
DON’T_TAP_THE_GLASS
SEASON_6_GRIND
MIKAGE_W
MIKAGE_GOATED
1_BILLION_VISITS
UPDATE_28
NEW_ABILITY
1MILLION
MATCHMAKING_PLS_WORK
UPDATE_27
UPDATE_26
NEW_STYLE
KAZANA_COMING
SPINS
BONUS_SHELL
BONUS_YEN
VOLCANO_SEASON
2M_MEMBERS
UPDATE_25
UPDATE_24
900K_MEMBERS
QOL
PROTORI_50K
UPDATE_23
TAICHOU_YEN
TAICHOU_SHELLS
TAICHOU_SOON
PROTORI_YT
800K_MEMBERS
ABILITY_FIX
700M_VISITS
UPDATE_22
UPDATE_21
650M_VISITS
2M_FAVS
750K_MEMBERS
1_MIL_FAVS
5M_FAVS
6M_M_MEMBERS
7M_FAVS
100M_VISITS
10MIN_DELAY
180K_FAVS
1M_LIKES
250K_MEMBERS
350K_MEMBERS
400M_VISITS
40M_VISITS
50M_VISITS
600K_MEMBERS
AURA
BACK_TILT
BALANCE
BLOCKING
DELAYED
EASTER
FAST_MODE
GODLY_BLOCKER
KIMIRO_ABILITY
KIMIRO_BLOCK
KIMIRO_BOUNCY
KIMIRO_HEIGHT
KIMIRO_OUT
KIMIRO_SET
KIMIRO_SPEED
KIMIRO_SPIKE
KIMIRO_THICK
MADNESS
MOBILE_FIXES
NEW_TIMESKIP
OP_LIBERO
PRACTICE_AREA
PROTORIONTWITTER
RANKED_FIXING
SEASON_3
SECRET_ABILITY
SHIELD_BREAKER
SHUTDOWN_CODE2
SILLY_POTIONS
SUPER_DIVE
TWINS_ARE_HERE
TWINS_REWORK
UPDATE_20
UPDATE_19
UPDATE_18_CRYSTALS
UPDATE_18
UPDATE_17
UPDATE_16
UPDATE_15
UPDATE_14
UPDATE_13
UPDATE_12
UPDATE_5
UPDATE_4

How to redeem codes in Volleyball Legends

Redeeming your Volleyball Legends codes is simple, and only requires following these quick steps:

Launch Volleyball Legends in the Roblox client
Hit the ‘Shop’ icon at the bottom of your screen
Hit the ‘Codes’ icon on the left-hand side of the menu
Type or paste your code of choice into the text box
Hit ‘USE CODE!’ to redeem
Enjoy your rewards!

Just be aware that, in order to use codes, you must first reach Level 15 – any codes used before reaching this level will not work!

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

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Sports

Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield sheds light on Una Vajagic’s departure

Published

52 minutes ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Updated Jan. 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m. CT

MADISON – In the wake of Wisconsin’s Final Four run and heartbreaking loss to Kentucky, Kelly Sheffield’s hope was to have a moment to embrace the season before addressing players’ futures upon the team’s return to Madison.

The 13-year Wisconsin volleyball coach, sitting in his Kellner Hall office, could envision in an ideal world “taking a deep breath, for the coaches to have a bourbon, for the kids that are 21 to probably share in one as well and our younger ones to have a Shirley Temple – whatever it is that they have, a Diet Coke – and just toast each other and say, ‘Damn, that was fun, that was unbelievable.’”

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Volleyball signs six freshmen for 2026 season

Published

1 hour ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech volleyball coach Cindy Pindral announced six incoming freshmen to the team for the 2026 season. Outside hitter Reagan Lesley from Clinton Township, Mich., middle blocker Laney Knaack from Waunakee, Wis., setter Ella Maxwell from North Aurora, Ill., outside hitter Kayla Heinonen from Delano, Minn., defensive specialist Natalie Leach from Burlington, Wis., and outside hitter Mia Hahn from Fairbanks, Alaska have all committed to continuing their education and playing careers at Tech in the fall.

“This is a very exciting and dynamic signing class that will bring a lot of energy and skill to our roster,” Pindral said. “Each of these student-athletes have earned high accolades during their prep careers, and I have no doubt that they will each leave a positive mark on our program.”

Reagan Lesley – Outside Hitter / Clinton Township, Mich.

Reagan is a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Clinton Township, Michigan. She was a four-year starter on varsity and two-time captain for Chippewa Valley High School, where she led the Big Reds to three consecutive conference championships. She was the 2024 MVP/Player of the Year for her conference. Reagan was a three-year All-Conference First Team selection, two-time First Team All-County and four-year All-State Academic Student. In her Senior season, Reagan was named All-Region and broke Chippewa Valley’s 29-year-old kills record with over 1,400 kills and led her team to its first district championship since 2014. She played club for both Michigan Elite and Unified. Reagan will be pursuing a degree in business.

Laney Knaack – Middle Blocker / Waunakee, Wis.

Laney is a 6-0 middle blocker from Waunakee, Wisconsin. She has been the starting middle for Waunakee High School varsity, as well as for Sting United and Madtown 18-1s national club teams. During her senior season, Waunakee was ranked fourth in the state in Division 1, went 41-9-0 overall, and made it to the Wisconsin State semifinals. Waunakee also won its conference in her junior and senior years. In her senior season, Laney earned Honorable Mention All-State Badger-Large Conference, Second Team All-Conference, ranked second in the conference in hitting percentage, and fourth in blocks. Laney will be pursuing a degree in business.

Ella Maxwell – Setter / North Aurora, Ill.

Ella is a 5-8 left-handed setter from North Aurora, Illinois. She was a three-year starter for West Aurora High School and the captain of the team in her senior year. She received Upstate Eight Conference Player of the Year honors in 2025 and was a three-time All-Academic Varsity Scholar. Ella led her team to a Conference Championship in 2024 and a runner-up finish in 2025, which marked the first time the school advanced past the first round of regionals in 2019. Ella hit the 1,000-career assist mark in her senior season with 600 assists as her season total. She also played for Club Fusion Volleyball Club for six years and was a JVA-Watchlist member in her junior year. Additionally, Ella was a State Qualifier in track and field for the 4×400 relay in 2023 and 2024. She earned All-Conference and All-Academic honors in track and field in 2023 and 2024. Ella will be pursuing a degree in business at Tech.

Kayla Heinonen – Outside Hitter / Delano, Minn.

Kayla is a 5-8 outside hitter from Delano, Minnesota. She was a four-year varsity player for Delano High School and attended the Minnesota State Tournament in two of the four years. She was voted All-Conference and won the team’s Leadership Award in each of the last three seasons. In her Senior season, Heinonen held Delano’s highest hitting percentage and earned an All-Tournament team spot at the AAA Showcase Tournament. She plays for Crossfire Volleyball Club at the Elite level. Kayla also had three state appearances for Delano track and field. She will be pursuing a degree in either business or kinesiology/integrative physiology.

Natalie Leach – Defensive Specialist / Burlington, Wis.

Natalie is a 5-5 defensive specialist from Burlington, Wisconsin where she was a three-year letter winner for Burlington High School and played club for VC United. Natalie helped lead her team to Conference Championships in the 2023 and 2025 seasons and was a State Qualifier in WIAA Division 1 in her 2023 season. She was named team captain in her senior season and led the Demons with 4.2 digs per set, and earned First Team All-County and Honorable Mention All-State recognition. Natalie was named to the WVCA All-Academic Team in all three eligible seasons and named First Team Best and Brightest by AVCA for her senior season. She plans to major in engineering.

Mia Hahn – Outside Hitter / Fairbanks, Alaska

Mia is a 5-11 outside hitter from Fairbanks, Alaska, where she was a two-year letter winner for Lathrop High School. Mia was named MVP and First Team Middle Alaska Conference All-Conference while helping her team to a 4A State Tournament Quarterfinal appearance in the 2025 season. She led the conference in kills and earned multiple All-Tournament awards, including Best Attacker at the Whaler Invitation in Barrow, Alaska. Mia competes with Alaska Elevate Volleyball Club and was recently selected as one of the top 12 players in the state of Alaska to represent the Alaska U.S. Team at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon, where she will compete against Canadian provincial teams and international programs including Norway and Finland. Prior to Lathrop, Mia competed for Kaiserslautern High School (Germany) and earned All-Euros Tournament Team honors as a sophomore. She plans to major in business while at Tech.

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Sports

2026 Men’s Track & Field Season Preview

Published

2 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Over his first two campaigns, Caleb Smith has produced successful efforts in the heptathlon and decathlon events. He broke the school record in the heptathlon, posting his best total of 4,952 points to win the Middlebury Winter Classic. A few weeks later, Smith paced the event at the Division III New England Championships to earn all-region accolades and qualify for the NCAA Championships. He translated that success to the decathlon, winning the title at the Carla Coffey Invitational and Williams’ Farley Interregional Extravaganza. He garnered All-NESCAC accolades with a third-place showing in the high jump and claimed all-region honors in the decathlon.

Sam McGarrahan returns after a superb season in the field events. He qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the high jump, clearing the bar with the 18th-best height at 1.95 meters. McGarrahan topped the podium in the event during the Division III New England Championships, soaring to a school-record effort of 2.05 meters. He also set the program mark in the long jump, leaping 6.81 meters at Middlebury’s New England Small College Invitational. McGarrahan became the NESCAC Champion in school-record fashion in the high jump (2.00 meters) and recorded a third-place leap in the long jump. His high jump efforts outdoors earned him all-region honors.

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