CAA Well Represented Amongst Individual Qualifiers For NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminaries

5/23/2025 8:30:00 AM

Ben Kane

WOMEN’S QUALIFIERS | MEN’S QUALIFIERS
 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 23, 2024) –Thirteen programs earned individual qualifiers for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary by the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee.
 

The regional qualifier list includes 28 women from 10 programs, while 24 men were selected from six institutions. North Carolina A&T was the only program to have relay teams qualify, with two selected from the men and one from the women.
 

For the women, A&T led the way with six individual qualifiers while Monmouth had three and Hampton two. William & Mary had three including the conference’s lone steeplechase qualifier Catherine Garrison. The CAA’s Most Outstanding Track Performer, Towson’s Cristal Cuervo, also made the cut, qualifying for the 400m. CAA Title winners Elon had two individuals qualify in the distance events, Mikayla Jones (5000m) and Madison Synowiec (10000m).
 

For the men, the CAA Champions North Carolina A&T dominated with nine individuals earning a spot alongside two relay teams. The Aggies had qualifiers across the board with Isaiah Taylor’s name being called on twice in both the 110mH and the 400mH hurdles. After a strong season, UNCW claimed six spots with the CAA’s Most Outstanding Field Performer Ivan Poag earning a spot in the Triple Jump. Northeastern took four spots, with Monmouth the only other program to post more than one qualifier.

The first-round competitions are scheduled for May 28 – 31. The University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, Florida will host the east first round. The qualifiers out of these two regions will compete in the NCAA DI men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships held June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.

 

Women

Campbell: Ticora Gaskin (Long Jump)

Delaware: Emarie Jackson (Shot Put), Olamide Ayeni (Discus Throw)

Elon: Mikayla Jones (5000m), Madison Synowiec (10000m)

Hampton: Jordan Mozie (800m), Dejah Grant (400mH),Damali Williams (Discus), Rochele Solmon (Discus)

Monmouth: Yasmeen Tinsley (100mH/400mH), Veronica Chainov (High Jump), Rett Schnoor (Long Jump), Vanessa Wood (Shot Put)

N.C. A&T: Fajr Kelly (800m), Lucheyona Weaver (100mH), Spirit Morgan (High Jump), Olivia Dowd (Triple Jump), Julieth Nwosu (Shot Put/Discus Throw), Taylor Reagor (Shot Put), 4x100m Relay Team,

UNCW: Jordyn Robbins (Javelin)

Northeastern: Savannah Blair (100m/200m), Camryn Cole (High Jump)

Towson: Maya Tucker (100m), Cristal Cuervo (400m), Leeann Redlo (High Jump), 

William & Mary: Arianna DeBoer (10000m), Catherine Garrison (3000m Steeplechase), Elizabeth Strobach (Pole Vault)

 

Men

Campbell: Mekhi Dupree (200m)

Hofstra: Abraham Longosiwa (10000m)

Monmouth: Ahmad Brock (Long Jump), David Strong (Long Jump)

N.C. A&T: Xavier Partee (Triple Jump), Brayden Hodgest (Shot Put), Nakhi Benjamin (200m), Elijah Thomas (400m), Caleb Gurnell (400m), Dyimond Walker (800m), Isaiah Taylor (110mH/400mH), Thomas Smith IV (110mH), Xzaviah Taylor (400mH), 4x100m Relay Team, 4x400m Relay Team

UNCW: JT Allen (110mH), Cameron Wright (110mH), Donovan Lara (High Jump), Bryson Robinson (Long Jump), Ivan Poag (Triple Jump), Miles Higgins (Javelin), 

Northeastern: Brunner Williams (200m), Ethan Exilhomme (110mH), Cameron Rogers (400mH), Nicholas Pisciotta (Hammer)

Stony Brook: Collin Gilstrap (1500m)

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina is bringing a former world champion to lead its beach volleyball program.

José Loiola was announced as the incoming coach of the Gamecocks on Friday.

Loiola was most recently an assistant at UCLA, where he helped lead the Bruins to a 30-6 season last season and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. He’s also had stops with the Team USA Volleyball Development Program, the 2012 Men’s International Volleyball Federation and the 2015 U21 Junior National Team.

“José Loiola’s background and knowledge in beach volleyball is unmatched,” USC Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati said in a statement. “His success as a player, coach and leader in the sport speaks volumes as to the caliber of coach we are bringing to Columbia. His passion for the sport will build a positive culture in the program. I am excited to have José as our beach volleyball coach.”

Loiola, a native of Brazil, won the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championship partnering with Emanuel Rego. He also finished second in the 2001 event with Ricardo Santos and represented Brazil in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

Loiola also coached several beach volleyball professionals like Sarah Hughes, Kelley Claes and Summer Ross, all of whom went on to win titles in national and international volleyball championships.

Loiola said he is excited to start building a top program at USC.

“I am super excited for the opportunity to become head coach of this program,” he said in a statement. “I feel like everything I have done up to now – going back to get a degree, coaching all different levels of athletes – have led me to this point. The University of South Carolina has a beautiful facility for student-athletes. With my passion for this sport and commitment to develop the player and the person, together, we will make this a place where potential becomes legacy.”

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BATON ROUGE, La. – Head coach Tonya Johnson has released the non-conference schedule for the 2025 volleyball season.

The Tigers’ non-conference slate features 11 matches, including four against three teams that reached the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. With the announcement of the non-conference schedule, LSU will face 12 teams that participated in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

All match times, as well as a television schedule, will be announced later.  

After an exhibition match against Tulane on Aug. 22 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, LSU will host SMU (Aug. 29), South Alabama (Aug. 30) and Baylor (Aug. 31) for its opening weekend in Baton Rouge. On the second weekend of the season, the Tigers will travel to Houston, Texas, where they will play three matches against Omaha, San Diego State, and Houston, respectively, on Sept. 4-6 at the Fertitta Center.

LSU will begin week three with a match against Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, as part of the Showdown at the Net tournament. Over two days, operated by ESPN Events, all 16 volleyball programs from the Southeastern Conference will compete against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Tigers will conclude the week with a contest against Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday, Sept. 14, at the PMAC.

In the final weekend of the non-conference schedule, the Bayou Bengals will travel to the City of Angels, where they will play against USC twice on Sept. 25-26 and Cal on Sept. 27 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

LSU opens SEC play on the road at Oklahoma (Sept. 26) and Arkansas (Sept. 28) before hosting Tennessee (Oct. 3) and Florida (Oct. 5) for its SEC home opening weekend.

The SEC Volleyball Tournament will return for the first time since 2005. It will be held from Nov. 21 to 25, 2025, at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga.  

General admission season tickets for the 2025 season are on sale now, and the request list for reserved seating is live.

Directly support LSU Volleyball by contributing to the Volleyball Excellence Fund today!

For the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can follow the team on its social media outlets, such as www.facebook.com/lsuvolleyball and @lsuvolleyball, as well as on Instagram and X.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A hall of fame athlete and accomplished coach at both the professional and collegiate levels, Jose Loiola (JO-say Loy-OLA) has been named the University of South Carolina’s second head beach volleyball coach, athletics director Jeremiah Donati announced Friday, May 23. Loiola most recently served for two seasons as assistant coach for the UCLA Bruins and coached professional teams on both the men’s and women’s side, dating back to 2014.

“Jose Loiola’s background and knowledge in beach volleyball is unmatched. His success as a player, coach and leader in the sport speaks volumes as to the caliber of coach we are bringing to Columbia. His passion for the sport will build a positive culture in the program. I am excited to have Jose as our beach volleyball coach.”

Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati

This spring, Loiola was recognized as the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Collegiate Beach Assistant Coach of the Year after UCLA went 30-6 in the regular season and earned the top seed in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the national semifinal. In his two earlier seasons on the UCLA (2021 and 2024) the Bruins were national runners-up. Individually, UCLA had four players earn AVCA All-American honors and in the fall, Loiola coached the team’s duo of Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez to a title in the AVCA Beach Pairs National Championship.

Between his two stints at UCLA, Loiola worked as head coach of USA Volleyball’s National Team Development Program from May 2021 to June 2023. In his first year at the helm, Team USA placed two pairs in the semifinals and won gold at the 2021 U19 World Championships in Phuket, Thailand. He had previously spent four years (2015-18) leading USA Volleyball Beach High Performance tryouts.

Loiola got his start in coaching in 2011 as the head coach of Team Wave (indoor volleyball club). He also served as a coach for the 2012 Men’s International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) U19 World Championship, the 2012 U17 Women’s Junior National Team, the 2013 U21 Men’s and Women’s World Championships, the 2014 U21 Women’s World Championship – winning bronze – and served as the head coach for the U21 Junior National Team in 2015.

Loiola began his career coaching professionals in 2014, working with Casey Jennings and Jeremy Casebeer. He worked with three different teams in 2015, highlighted by Theo Brunner and Nick Lucena finishing fourth at the FIVB World Championship. Also in 2015, he coached the tandem of Irene Pollock and Caitlin Ledoux. In 2017, Loiola coached Sara Hughes and Kelley Claes to an Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) victory in Chicago. He also coached Hughes and Summer Ross from 2018-19, as the duo won two AVP tour events and went on to win gold in Russia on the FIVB circuit.

Between his work on the AVP and FIVB circuits and the national team program, Loiola has also worked with Andy Benesh and Miles Partain (2024 Paris Olympians), Tri Bourne (2020 Tokyo Olympian), Reid Priddy (2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio Olympian) and Trevor Crabb on the men’s side, and Katie Horton, Julia Scoles, Emily Day and Jen Kessy on the women’s side.

As a player, Loiola reached the highest level of the sport, representing Brazil at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with teammate Emanuel Rego and finishing ninth.

In the professional beach volleyball scene, Loiola recorded 55 event titles over a career that spanned two decades: 35 coming from the AVP national circuit and 20 more internationally with FIVB. Among those wins were the 1997 King of the Beach, the 1999 FIVB World Championship in Marseille, France, the 2001 Goodwill Games Australia and two Manhattan Beach Open titles (1995 and 2000).

Loiola was the first international player to be selected AVP Rookie of the Year (1993) and then MVP (1997). His first title, an indoor tournament in 1995, marked the first time an AVP event was won by two foreign-born players, as he claimed the title with Eduardo Bacil. He won four AVP Offensive Player of the Year awards (1995-98) and, in 2001, the FIVB chose Loiola and Rego as one of the two best teams of the 1990s.

Loiola was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association’s Hall of Fame in 2014 and the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2017.

For continued coverage and updates on South Carolina beach volleyball, follow the Gamecocks on X and Instagram.