The easy part for Utah Valley was to accept the invitation to join the Big West Conference.

Now comes the hard work of getting ready to make the move.

The Wolverines have more than a year left to compete in the Western Athletic Conference and while some sports — men’s basketball, baseball and women’s soccer, for example — seem ready to take on the challenge, others will have to step up their game to be competitive in the Big West.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about with our coaches,” UVU Director of Athletics Jared Sumison said. “We’re excited to be in the WAC for the next year and that will give us time to prepare. We need to get better competitively in some sports. Our facilities are really good but there are a couple where we can do some upgrades and get prepared for the Big West move.

“We’re in a place right now where our coaches are already preparing for recruiting and for the opportunity ahead of us. It’s a more competitive league so a lot of our sports are going to have to ramp up. It comes down to fundraising and friend-raising.”

UVU Vice President Val Peterson said he sees great advantages in the Big West in terms of competition, stability and level of play.

“Facilities will be something we’ll continue to work on,” Peterson said. “On the drawing board we have a student athletic academic building. We need to continue to maintain our academics. It’s important to us an as institution to have success in the classroom. Our coaches are recruiting to be competitive in the Big West.

“I think our coaches are up to the challenge and are excited about it. They are already out looking for the right student-athletes to be part of our program. The college athletic landscape continues to change very rapidly and we’re making sure we’re adjusting to that. I think our profile fits nicely with the Big West.”

League commissioner Dan Butterly said as the Big West moves to 11 teams his office will take an active role in helping Utah Valley prepare for membership.

“UVU is the largest public institution in the state of Utah,” Butterly said. “They have a strong, diversified academic profile, tremendous leadership and a strong athletic program with many championship teams. We’ll be ramping UVU up to the Big West bylaws and our policies and procedures. We’ll be getting to know their staff. One big initiative will be working with UVU in changing their conference logo out in all of their facilities.”

When Utah Valley joins the Big West on July 1, 2026, it will be the only program in the conference not based in California.

“As we looked at UVU, we did our campus visit early in February,” Butterly said. “We can see how easy it is to get to UVU and we enjoyed walking through their facilities. One of our board members said, ‘We’re not named the Big California, we’re named the Big West.’ We’re excited to get the state of Utah back to the footprint of the Big West.”

Utah State competed in the Big West from 1978 to 2005.

“Our fans have really started to travel better,” Peterson said. “It will be a lot easier for our fans to go to California and a lot of our fans are already planning trips to our games out there. Utah Valley will be a better traveling school as we go into the Big West.”

Big West Conference 2026

Hawaii and Cal Davis are headed to the Mountain West Conference and Utah Valley will join the Big West, making it an 11-team league. Here’s what the Big West will look like in 2026.

Cal Poly

The Mustangs swept the Big West 2025 Track and Field Championships, winning both the men’s and women’s team titles, and also won both of the league’s cross country titles.

Cal State Bakersfield

The Roadrunners made the transition to Division I in 2006 and became a full member in 2010. Bakersfield’s last league championship came in 2004 (men’s swimming and diving).

Cal State Fullerton

The Titans women’s golf team won the Big West Championship and was the first-ever No. 10 regional seed to advance to the NCAA Finals.

Long Beach State

The 49ers won the 2025 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, defeating back-to-back defending champion UCLA in three sets.

Cal State Northridge

The Matadors are one of just 45 schools in the nation with a beach volleyball program. The men’s soccer team reached the third round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

UC Irvine

The Anteaters won their first-ever Big West Commissioner’s Cup for the 2024-25 season, getting top three points in 11 of the 17 league-sponsored sports.

UC Riverside

The Highlanders produced five national championship teams in baseball and women’s volleyball at the Division II level.

UC San Diego

The Tritons accepted a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, losing to No. 5 Michigan 68-65 in the first round to finish with a 30-5 record.

UC Santa Barbara

The Gauchos Manu Duah was the No. 1 selection in the 2025 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by San Diego FC.

California Baptist

The Lancers compete in 21 intercollegiate varsity sports including water polo, stunt, cheerleading and dance.

Utah Valley

The Wolverines join the Big West on July 1, 2026 and will have the premier soccer facility in the league. The $20. million UCCU Stadium, which seats 3,000 spectators and includes luxury seats, opens this fall.

EUGENE, Ore. – Qualifying for her ninth NCAA Championship of her career, Sydney Horn closed out her collegiate career with a Second Team All-American honor at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She placed 10th overall in the women’s pole vault on Thursday afternoon after clearing 4.39m.
 
“She’s had such a historic career,” Pole Vault Coach Scott Houston commented. “She’s a nine-time All-American – a seven-time first team, two-time second team. I think she’s the only female athlete that I can recall that’s qualified for every single NCAA championship she’s ever tried to qualify for so it’s a little bit bittersweet that she missed the first team this year.
 
“She jumped great indoors, reached a historic 15 foot bar as a female in college which is something that very few people in the country have ever done. Then she got a little bit of a hamstring injury through the beginning of outdoors, and we navigated it well. She broke the outdoor school record after coming back and was feeling good. Then she had some mental challenges moving back up polls and so we just missed a little bit here and there and that’s just the way the competition goes. Finishing 10th in the country is a phenomenal finish for anybody.”
 
DATE: June 12, 2025
SITE: Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon
EVENT: 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
 
Horn entered at the opening bar at 4.09m and cleared it on her second attempt. She moved up to 4.24m and cleared the bar on her first attempt. Maintaining her rhythm, she cleared the next bar at 4.39m on her first attempt. She took three attempts at 4.44m but was unable to clear it, finishing in 10th place overall.
 
This concludes Horn’s outstanding career at High Point, making her the most decorated athlete in HPU history.
 

#GoHPU x #DefendTheTeam

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Antigua and Barbuda were handed a straight set defeat by St Lucia as they just missed the top podium spot in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championship held in St Kitts over the Whit weekend.

St Lucia’s Ericka Gaspard and Clio Phillip delivered a flawless run in the tournament, overpowering Antigua and Barbuda’s Jassania Joseph and Jaya Carr in straight sets (2-0), winning 21-11 and 23-21 respectively, to finish the tournament unbeaten. 

The St Lucian duo controlled the opening set with authority but had to dig deep in the second after trailing 19-20. Displaying calmness under pressure, coupled with sharp execution, Gaspard and Phillip rallied to close the match 23-21, completing their perfect tournament and claiming the gold medal.

In an interview after the victory, Phillip said, “We feel great, we are excited, we are happy. This is what we came to do, win the gold.”

Speaking about the match, Gaspard said, “We really had to work hard in the last set. Our confidence allowed us to push through the last points”.

Meanwhile, Dominica’s Alyssa Bully and Joyan Pascal secured an exciting bronze medal victory in three sets over Anguilla’s Deandra Fleming and Lavesha Richardson. Bully/Pascal came out strong to take the first set 21-14, but Fleming/Richardson fought back in a tight second set, edging it 22-20 to force a decider. In the third, Bully and Pascal regained control with a dominant 15-7 finish to clinch the 2-1 win and a spot on the podium.

The top three finishers of the event move on to represent the ECVA at the NORCECA World Championships Qualifier Tournament.

Meanwhile, Dominica’s Mervin Mingo and Bill Frederick were crowned ECVA U21 Men’s Beach Volleyball Champions for the second year in a row, delivering a confident 2-0 win (21-17, 21-15) over St Lucia’s Victor Rio and Peter Emmanuel in Sunday’s gold medal match also in St Kitts.

About The Author

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The senior’s throw earned her All-America Honorable Mention status and marked a powerful conclusion to a remarkable comeback journey. After missing two seasons due to injury, Sanders returned to competition last year and fought her way back to the national stage.

 

BEAVER RESULTS

Thursday

Javelin

18. Sara Sanders – 48.47m/159-0

 

OUR MISSION

Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary’s Beach Volleyball continues to build their 2025-26 squad in the Spring recruiting window, signing Isla Johnson out of Harbor High School in Santa Cruz. Standing at 5-8, Johnson played outside hitter for her school’s indoor team, while enjoying a benedettaandexler66@gmail.com
dominant career on the sand as well in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. 

Over four years playing for the Pirates of Harbor High School, Johnson led her squad to four straight SCCAL Titles in beach volleyball, and two consecutive SCCAL Titles in indoor volleyball. On the hardwood, Johnson was a four time All-League honoree, culminating her prep career with League MVP honors. Following the culmination of both her prep indoor and beach career, Johnson was honored as Harbor High School’s Student-Athlete of the Year. 

Johnson originally committed to the University of Utah, but following the announcement of the Utes would be discontinuing their program, she re-opened her recruitment, and the Gaels were quick to reach out. 

Coach Harrer remarked,

“Isla is a well rounded player that will bring versatility to the team. She’s proven herself at high levels in California beach circuits and will add strength to our incoming freshman class!”

Johnson will join fellow true freshmen Bella Reyes and Ellasyn Scuba on the 2025-26 roster. 

#GaelsRise

By: Jonathon Zenk, Assistant Director of Communications

NATCHITOCHES—Two days. Two All-Americans.

It was a successful trip to nationals for Northwestern State as Roy Morris earned All-American honors Wednesday and now Maygan Shaw does the same Thursday evening.

Shaw clocked a 51.80 in the 400-meter dash to place 14^th and also earn a Second Team All-American spot during the women’s first day of nationals at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

It is the first time a women’s sprinter has ever earned an All-American spot.

Coming out of a veteran-laden third heat in lane No. 4, she put heat on the top two qualifiers, but the top two qualifiers—Georgia’s Dejanea Oakley (50.18) and Iowa State’s Rachel Joseph (50.77) pulled away in the home stretch and were ultimately the only two to make it from the heat.

“I am so proud of her,” associate coach Adam Pennington said. “She really went for it today and just came up a little short. But to be a top 14 girl in the entire country is nothing short of amazing.

Making it last year was great, but making it individually is much different. I believe she is now the first All American sprinter in an individual event in NSU history. That’s alone tells you where she sits as the greatest.”

She will now prepare for USA championships but until then we will celebrate today and her amazing career. She loves cheese cake so we might end the night with that .

Shaw was out in front of Tennessee’s Javonya Valcourt, one of the 10 fastest 400-meter runners in college athletics, but Valcourt came back to squeak past Shaw to finish fourth in the heat and 13^th overall with a time of 51.65.

To qualify for Saturday’s finals, a runner has to finish in the top two of her heat or be one of the three next fastest times.

While only nine qualify for the finals, Shaw did once again earn a spot as an All-American.

It is the second consecutive All-American honor for Shaw, also doing so as a member of the 4×400 relay team, which also made the second team.

Shaw wasn’t the only member of the Southland Conference to earn an All-American spot, as Southeastern Louisiana’s Onyah Onyinye Favour also made the second team after finishing 16^th the event and sixth in her first heat, running a 52.39.

Another familiar name—former NSU runner Sanaria Buter—placed 21^st with a time of 52.78 for Arkansas.

Georgia went 1-2 in the semifinals, as Aaliyah Butler, the favorite in the event, ran a 50.16, finishing just .02 ahead of Oakley.

All nine finalists are from power conference teams, including five from the SEC, two each from Georgia and Arkansas.

This ends arguably the best career for any NSU sprinter ever, finishing it off with a bang with another All-American spot.

As a senior, she broke both the indoor and outdoor school records, including clocking a Southland Conference record 51.19 at the LSU Alumni Gold, shortly after breaking the SLC and school records two weeks before at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational with a 51.87, also breaking the meet record as well as the Walter P. Ledet Complex record.

Now Shaw gears up for the USA Championships, which will also be held at Hayward Field, starting on July 31 in Eugene.