Zagreb, Croatia – June 16 – The USA Men’s Junior National Team beat Montenegro 16-10 today at the U20 World Championships. William Schneider led the offense with four goals while Charles Mills went for eleven saves in net. Team USA finishes group play in third place and will return to action on Wednesday at 10:00am ET/7:00am PT with the opponent TBD. All matches are scheduled to stream live on the World Aquatics YouTube. Live statistics will be available for every match from MicroPlus Timing Services.

Montenegro opened the scoring in this match with two quick goals before Team USA captain Ryder Dodd leveled the score with his own pair of goals. The two sides continued trading scores for the remainder of the period with Corbin Stanley, Kiefer Black, and Schneider connecting for the United States opposite three more goals for Montenegro, leaving the score knotted at 5-5 after one. The second quarter was when the Americans began to take control. Montenegro struck first but then went silent while Landon Akerstrom, Schneider, and Max Zelikov (2) pushed the lead to 9-6 at the half.

In the third, each side notched three scores. Montenegro was able to score the first two goals of the period to cut the deficit to one but they would get no closer than that. Schneider recorded the next two goals for the United States and then Benjamin Liechty pushed the lead to four before a late Montenegrin goal left the score 12-9 in favor of Team USA. The Americans were able to shut the door on any potential comeback with four straight goals from Bode Brinkema (3) and Dodd to begin the final frame. Montenegro managed a lone goal midway through the quarter to set the final score at 16-10 for the United States.

Team USA went 4/7 on power plays and 6/9 on penalties while Montenegro went 4/6 on power plays and 1/2 on penalties. 

Scoring – Stats

USA 16 (5, 4, 3, 4) W. Schneider 4, R. Dodd 3, B. Brinkema 3, M. Zelikov 2, L. Akerstrom 1, K. Black 1, B. Liechty 1, C. Stanley 1

MNE 10 (5, 1, 3, 1) I. Markovic 2, T. Perov 2, M. Nikaljevic 1, D. Dragovic 1, D. Stupar 1, D. Samardzic 1, N. Petrovic 1, N. Petrovic 1

Saves – USA – C. Mills 11 – MNE – A. Bjelica 4, D. Rajevic 1

6×5 – USA – 4/7 – MNE – 4/6

Penalties – USA – 6/9 – MNE – 1/2

 

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
Not only had Nathaniel Ezekiel not been beaten in a 400-meter hurdles race since last summer’s Paris Olympics, the Baylor senior had rarely even been pushed during the NCAA outdoor track and field season.
 
“I feel like the whole season, I’ve actually been competing against myself,” he said.
 

In the semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ezekiel beat former Baylor teammate Johnny Brackins of USC by more than two seconds. And when he was finally pushed by Texas A&M senior Ja’Qualon Scott over the last 100 meters in Friday’s final, the Nigerian Olympian responded.
 
“That was pretty cool,” said Ezekiel, who pulled away from Scott down the stretch to win in a school-record time of 47.49 seconds that ranks as the third-fastest in NCAA history and the fourth-fastest time in the world this year.
 

“I think sometimes, when there’s a lot of pressure, that’s when you actually do your best. I felt the guy from A&M right behind me, and I was like, ‘No, bro, no way you’re getting first!’ The pressure was good, I love it. Feeling that kind of pressure from someone for the first time in the season, I was like, ‘Okay, this is good. I just have to kick it again.”’
 
Baylor head coach Michael Ford said Ezekiel “set it up really well” in the early stages of Friday’s final.
 
“I thought those first six hurdles, he set it up like he wanted to,” Ford said. “I think he had a small little issue on, I want to say, hurdle eight. I think he got a little too close to it. He was running really well through there, but then he cleaned up hurdle nine. And hurdle nine is usually the one that I’m always concerned about him.
 
“I always tell him to go have fun. Just execute like you’ve been doing all year. You’re the only one that has run under 48 this year. Just do what you’ve been doing.”
 
One of 10 male candidates on the latest update for the Bowerman Award that’s presented to the top collegiate track and field athletes of the year, Ezekiel capped off his phenomenal four-year career at Baylor with his first NCAA national championship.
 
 A nine-time All-American, Ezekiel was a two-time bronze medalist in the outdoor 400-meter hurdles and was the runner-up in the 400 meters at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championship, losing by one-hundredth of a second to Georgia’s Will Floyd.
 
“It’s amazing,” said Ezekiel, Baylor’s first national champion in the 400 hurdles since two-time winner Bayano Kamani (1999, 2001) and the Bears’ first outdoor national champion since Trayvon Bromell won the 100 meters in 2014. “I didn’t get it indoors, but I said to myself, ‘I’m going to do my best to bring it home in the outdoors.’ And I did. I should say God did. and I’m grateful.”
 
It was also Ford’s first NCAA outdoor national champion in four years as the head coach. Alexis Brown, who won the NCAA indoor championship in the long jump, was the bronze medalist outdoors.
 
“My first national champion as a (Baylor sprints) coach was here with Trayvon, so I told them, ‘Who’s going to be my first national champ as a head coach out here?”’ Ford said. “And Nate was the one who did it. it’s always going to be special to me, having our first national champion in Nate in the 400 hurdles.”
 
The Nigerian record-holder as well, Ezekiel is turning pro this summer and could be back in Eugene for a Diamond League meet on July 5. Ultimately, his goal would be to go against the best in the world at the World Championships Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo.
 
Ezekiel was actually ranked No. 2 in the world until Sunday, when reigning Olympic gold medalist Raj Benjamin (46.54) from the U.S. and Brazilian bronze medalist Alison dos Santos (46.68) were both clocked in under 47 seconds at a Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden.
 
“It’s pretty amazing to run a fast time, 47.49, in my last race being a Baylor Bear,” Ezekiel said. “Obviously, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve put that into practice. I consider myself a professional athlete, and I have the mindset to do something better.”
 
Ford will be back in Eugene even earlier, returning for the USA Track and Field U20 Championships that begin Thursday at historic Hayward Field, where the Bears will be represented by freshman sprinter Hannah Lowe and triple jumper Iyanna Webb.
 
A Bowerman Award candidate as well, Brown and junior sprinter Tiriah Kelley are scheduled to compete in the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships July 31-Aug. 3 in Eugene, vying for spots in the World Championships in Tokyo.
 
 
 

The Golden Bears will open their season at home against San Diego State.

VB6/16/2025 1:03 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Bears To Visit Nebraska, Open ACC Play At Virginia Tech

California volleyball has released its full schedule for the 2025 season, featuring seven matchups against teams who ended the 2024 season ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top 25 and four in the top five. The complete fall schedule can be seen here.
 
The Golden Bears will open their season at home, hosting the California Tournament on August 29-31 against San Diego State (Aug. 29) and San Francisco (Aug. 31) at Haas Pavilion.  Cal will also appear in the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska, hosted by the powerhouse Cornhuskers, as well as the Cal Poly Tournament in San Luis Obispo.
 
The Vanderbilt Commodores, who just revived their volleyball program after a 45-year hiatus, will visit Berkeley Sept. 10 as part of ESPN Events’ “Showdown at the Net” showcase that features 16 matches between ACC and SEC schools.
 
“When building our nonconference schedule, the staff and I wanted competitive RPI matches that gave us opportunities to collect wins that would help our chances to make the NCAA Tournament,” Cal head coach Jen Malcom said. “We are particularly looking forward to playing at Nebraska in September – it’s an amazing place to play with a sellout crowd of over 10,000 volleyball fans who know and respect the game. Our team needs to start seeing and playing in environments like that before we are put into that situation in the future. Overall, we feel very confident that we will be tested before heading into ACC matches.”
 
Cal’s ACC schedule begins with visits to Virginia Tech (Sept. 27) and Virginia (Sept. 28) before the Bears return home to host 2024 NCAA runner-up Louisville (Oct. 3) and Notre Dame (Oct. 5).
 
The Bears and cross-bay rival Stanford will play in their annual Big Spike matchups in late November, first at Stanford on Nov. 19 and then in Berkeley on Nov. 23. Cal’s next home match will be its Senior Day, a clash against Boston College on Nov. 26, before closing out the regular season at Duke on Nov. 28.
 
“We feel ready as we head into year two of being in the ACC,” Malcom said. “The conference could look very different this year due to graduation and transfers. After finishing 12th in the standings last year, we know that being in the top half is doable for our group this season.”
 
In addition to Louisville and Stanford, the Bears will host two other teams that ended last year with a top-25 ranking (Pitt on Nov. 14 and SMU on Nov. 16), as well as NCAA Tournament teams Florida State (Oct. 18) and North Carolina (Nov. 9). In total, Cal will play seven of 2024’s top-25 teams and 10 tournament squads, as the Bears are also set to visit USC on Sept. 21, Georgia Tech on Oct. 24 and NC State on Nov. 2.
 
Cal expects to field a stout defense this season, led by specialist Sophia Johnson as well as top blockers Sawyer Thomsen and Mikayla Hayden. On offense, setter Natalie Lau returns for her senior season after posting the ACC’s fourth-highest assists and assists-per-set total as a first-year starter in 2024, while classmate Peyton DeJardin will provide a veteran presence on the left side. Looking for her chance to make an impact for the Bears this season is redshirt freshman Grace Agolli, the 2023-24 Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year who sat out last year due to injury.
 
The team will feature seven newcomers this season. Cal’s five-women freshman class includes USA Volleyball (USAV) Nationals All-American defensive specialist Francesca Popescu, who joined the Bears in the spring, as well as USAV National Champion opposite Annemarie O’Gara, Texas Girls Coaches Association (TCGA) All-State outside hitter Arissa Carbonara, Romanian National Team setter Maria Știrbu and Triple Crown NIT Open Division Champion Elise Lau, a defensive specialist. The Bears’ transfer class is composed of outside hitter Dominique Phills (Iowa) and middle blocker Ashleigh Woodruff (Stony Brook).
 
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball), and TikTok (@calbearsvb).
 

Texas A&M men’s track and field took home an NCAA title for the fifth time in program history.

The Aggies tied with Southern California, each finishing with 41 points and capturing a share of the national championship. This is the first time there have been co-champions since 2013 (Texas A&M was also part of that honor, tying with Florida).

The victory marks the Aggies men’s fifth outdoor title and head coach Pat Henry’s 10th national title —including men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor — with A&M. A&M had a pair of individual national champions and two runner-up finishes to highlight the weekend in Eugene, Ore.

The meet came down to the 4×400 meter relay, with USC in the lead with 40 points. Entering the race, only the Trojans, Aggies and Razorbacks were in striking distance for the title. USC scored one point while A&M scored eight to secure the shared victory. 

Entering the final relay, A&M sat in fourth place in the team standings. Title hopes rested on the performance of men’s 4x400m quartet of Hossam Eddine Hatib, Cutler Zamzow, Kimar Farquharson and Auhmad Robinson. Hatib set the pace for the Aggies before handing the baton to Zamzow, who led at the break. Another strong leg had Farquharson right in the mix at the three-quarters mark, with Robinson left to run. Robinson battled down the stretch and secured a second-place finish in the event with a season-best time of 3 minutes, 0.73 seconds, capturing the eight points needed to deliver the title.

Sam Whitmarsh drove the Aggies up the team standings when he won the men’s 800m crown with a 1:45.86 finish. On the opening day of the meet, Aleksandr Solovev contributed 10 points to the men’s total with title in the pole vault. The duo of Ja’Qualon Scott and Bryce McCray added 11 points to the team tally following a pair of personal-best performances in the 400m hurdles. Scott broke the school record in the event to claim a runner-up finish with a time of 48.29 and McCray came in sixth (49.52).

USC was the first team to sweep the indoor and outdoor titles since 2015.

A&M women’s track and field captures top 3 finish

The Texas A&M women’s track & field team secured a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships Saturday evening at Hayward Field in Eugene.

Junior Winny Bii captured A&M’s first national title in the women’s triple jump. After leaping 13.96 meters on her first attempt to capture the lead, she landed at the top of the podium for the win. The women’s 4x100m relay quartet of Jasmine Harmon, Camryn Dickson, Bria Bullard and Jasmine Montgomery took third in the event with a season-best time of 42.89 seconds. Junior Jaiya Covington finished second (12.93) in the 400m hurdles, capturing eight points for the Aggies.

The final meet capped off the 2024-2025 track and field season. Cross country will resume in the fall, and track and field will return in January 2026.

Reach Texas A&M Beat Reporter Tony Catalina via email at Anthony.Catalina@hearst.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.