Javelina Family, 

I am excited to share our May edition of the Javelina Rundown. As the Spring semester comes to an end, our Spring Commencement will start on Thursday, May 15th at the Steinke Physical Education Center.  We will have 58 current and former athletes participating in graduation across our 14 athletic programs, and are beyond excited to see where the next chapter in life takes them.

The Division II football playoffs will expand from 28 to 32 teams in 2025, the NCAA announced. This expansion is due to the new policy where all 16 football-sponsoring conferences receive automatic bids to the playoffs. The NCAA Division II Championships Committee has approved a new regional alignment for football, starting in 2025. Super Region 4 will consist of teams from the LSC, RMAC, GAC, and MAIA.


Academic Athlete of the Year

For the second time in this athletic year, a Javelina has brought home a Lone Star Conference Academic Athlete of the Year award. This time, it was graduate student triple jumper Jazmin Ray, who won the award for the Women's Outdoor Track and Field season. Ray is completing her MBA with a 4.0 GPA after graduating with an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering while carrying a 4.0. Ray holds both the indoor and outdoor school records in the triple jump and it set to compete in the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event next week.

Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week Awards:

April:
Tyler Schumann - Baseball: Pitcher of the Week
Ronald Grueso Mosquera - Men's Track and Field: Field Athlete of the Week

May:
Jhonatan Rodriquez-Osorno - Men's Track and Field: Track Athlete of the Week
David Guzman - Men's Track and Field: Field Athlete of the Week
Cynai Christopher - Women's Track and Field: Track Athlete of the Week

Postseason Awards:

Baseball:
Tyler Schumann - LSC Freshman of the Year
Ulises Quiroga - LSC All-Conference Second Team
Vincent Sanchez - LSC All-Conference Third Team
Nick Reyes - LSC All-Academic Team

Softball:
Lindsey Evans - All-South Central Region Second Team (D2CCA, NFCA), All-LSC Second Team
Arianna Alaniz - LSC Freshman of the Year, All-LSC Second Team
Kristina Nash - All-LSC Academic Team

Women's Tennis:
Guadalupe Tocci - LSC Newcomer of the Year, All-LSC Singles Honorable Mention, All-LSC Academic Team
Luna Jokanovic - All-LSC Doubles Second Team, All-LSC Singles Honorable Mention
Kaitlin Blount - All-LSC Doubles Second Team
Manuela Turolo - All-LSC Singles Honorable Mention
Annika Andersson Gomez - All-LSC Sportsmanship Team

Beach Volleyball:
Liana Huesca & Rylan Pollard - AVCA All-American
Madelyn Wallace & Kalani Vasquez - AVCA Top-Flight award

Track and Field:

Jazmin Ray - Academic Athlete of the Year
Vitiana Robert - All-LSC Academic Team

All-LSC First Team:
Thomas Nieto
Madison Alegria
Ronald Grueso Mosquera
Cynai Christopher
Vitiana Robert
Oneika Brissett
Sakara Wade
Paxton Hair

All-LSC Second Team:
Madison Ramos
Afaf Benhadja
David Guzman
Jhonatan Rodiguez-Osorno
Taylor Chaney
Sterling Riles
Michael Samihamba
Tony Benitez

All-LSC Third Team:
Kaylea Demetrius
Django Segovia
Roel DeLeon
Nathaniel Grant
Dorian Aranda
Jean Paul Castro Rivera
Jonathen Macareno


Team Updates:


Track and Field: 

After another great season on the oval, the Javelinas are gearing up for the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which take place May 22nd-24th in Pueblo, CO.

The teams began their postseason run with third-place finishes on both the men's and women's sides at the 2025 Lone Star Conference Outdoor Championships. They won five different events, placed top three in 12 more, while producing 23 total all-Conference team members.

Four individuals plus one relay made the All-LSC First Team, led by four gold-medal-winning performances - Thomas Nieto (men's pole vault), Madison Alegria (women's high jump), Ronald Grueso Mosquera (men's shot put & discus). Four Individuals plus a relay earned a place on the All-LSC Second Team, while three individuals plus a relay made the All-LSC Third team. 

Seventeen Javelina athletes will be competing in the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Pueblo, CO next weekend. On the men's side, 10 athletes will compete in nine total event entries (Jhonatan Rodriquez Osorno - 800m, Keyshawn Garcia - 800m, Thomas Nieto - pole vault, Ronald Greuso Mosquera - shot put, discus, David Guzman - shot put, discus, Paxton Hair - discus, 4x400m relay - Sterling Riles, Tony Benitez, Micheal Samihamba, Taylor Chaney). On the women's, seven athletes are set to compete in six total event entries (Madison Alegria - high jump, Afaf Benhadja - high jump, Jazmin Ray - triple jump, 4x400m relay - Oneika Brissett, Cynai Christopher, Vitiana Robert, Sakara Wade, Brissett & Christopher - 400m).



Softball: 

The Hogs finished their 2025 season with a 24-31 (19-25) record and, despite winning four of their final six games, came up just short of a trip to the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The team ended its year in the win column, taking down St. Edward's in nine innings behind a ninth-inning go-ahead inside-the-park home run from graduate student center fielder Lindsey Evans.

Atter a spectacular final year in the blue and gold, Evans was selected to the All-South Central Region Second Team by both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association, in addition to the All-LSC Second Team. Evans' batting average (.414) was the highest of any Javelina since 2022, while her walks total (35) was the highest since 2016. 

Freshman RHP Arianna Alaniz joined Evans on the All-LSC Second team, and was also selected as the conference's Freshman of the Year. During her first season with the Hogs, the young ace became just the fourth Javelina ever to throw 200 strikeouts in a single season, posting seven different double-digit strikeout games. Junior RHP Kristina Nash rounded out the postseason awards with a selection to the All-Academic team, after completing yet another 4.0 semester as a mechanical engineering major while also boasting a team-leading 3.09 ERA in her 19 total appearances. Her 25 total earned runs are the fourth-fewest in the LSC among qualified pitchers.



Baseball: 

Texas A&M-Kingsville concluded its 2025 season with a trip to the Lone Star Conference Tournament, where they faced off and eventually fell against the No. 2 seed UT-Tyler at Irwin Field. This season marked a return to postseason action for the Javelinas after missing out on the tournament last season.

Multiple Javelinas were awarded all-conference honors by the LSC, headlined by Schumann being named the conference's Freshman of the Year. The native of Fulshear Texas, was an essential piece to the Javelinas rotation this season. He finished the season 5-4 with a pair of saves, a 3.88 ERA in 48.2 innings of work and 43 strikeouts. Schumann is the first Javelina to be named the conference's Freshman of the Year since the 2018 season, when Tyler Flores was named to the award.



Beach Volleyball: 

The Javelinas' season came to a close in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Small College National Championship semifinals against No. 1 overall season Concordia Irvine. Texas A&M-Kingsville took down Spring Hills College in the quarterfinals of the gold bracket in a back-and-forth 3-2 win to advance to the gold bracket semifinals for just the third time in program history.

Two different pairs took home postseason hardware for the Javelinas as well. Pollard and Huesca were named Texas A&M-Kingsville's first AVCA All-Americans in program history during the semifinals at the tournament while Madelyn Wallace and Kalani Vasquez were named to the top-flight award.



Women's Golf: 

The Hogs wrapped their 2024-25 season at the LSC tournament, finishing in 10th place at the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club. Zoe Dean led the way for the Javelinas, finishing with  +14 scoreline, placing her in the top-25 for individual performers at the tournament. Mekdes Rozas finished in 34th place with a +19 scoreline while Alessia Rojas and Jamie Miller both finished in the top-50 individual performer at 41st and 45th respectively.



Women's Tennis: 

The Javelinas closed out their regular season as winners of three of their final four matches - including an upset win over No.21 Lubbock Christian - earning themselves a bid to the Lone Star Conference Tournament as the No.5 seed, where they lost in the first round to UT-Tyler. 

Led by junior Guadalupe Tocci, who won the Lone Star Conference's Newcomer of the Year award, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's tennis team stuffed the conference's postseason awards list. In her first year as a Javelina after transferring from Jones College, Tocci finished with a 12-6 record in singles play, and went 8-4 in the No.1 singles spot. Additionally, she was selected to the All-LSC Academic Team, an exclusive squad with just six members. She was also named an Honorable Mention to the LSC singles team, on-which she was joined by senior Manuela Turolo and graduate student Luna Jokanovic. 

Jokanovic also combined with junior Kaitlin Blount to make the all-LSC Doubles Second Team. Together, they went an outstanding 7-3 in doubles play during their LSC matches, primarily playing on the No.3 doubles court. Junior Annika Andersson Gomez rounded out TAMUK's contributions to the conference's postseason awards as she was named to the LSC Sportsmanship team.

Up and Coming:

2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships - May 22nd-24th
Pueblo, CO - CSU - Pueblo Thunderbown





Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and updates from Javelina Athletics here at Javelinaathletics.com. Live coverage of future games can be found through each team's respective social media page or through links on the website.

- Michael Salinas