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The Alabamian •

Clutch from the Cold: Ayla Ertekin delivers in her rookie year 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


The University of Montevallo women’s soccer team made history in 2024, stacking up a 14-6-3 record and one of the best the program has ever seen. They capped the year with a run to the NCAA Sweet 16, just the second appearance in school history. 


With most of their key players returning to the pitch in 2025, fans wondered if the team could make another deep postseason run. But few expected an untested freshman to become one of the team’s most important piece...
VIS •

What You Need to Know About Fitness Trackers

Get to the heart of the most important conversations in women's sports with the experts who know it best.


Go beyond the game and get to the heart of the most important conversations in women's sports with the athletes and experts who know the issues best.

Get to the heart of the most important conversations in women's sports with the experts who know it best.

Go beyond the game and get to the heart of the most important conversations in women's sports with the athle...
VIS •

Lacing Up a Legacy

The race for the WNBA’s Commissioner's Cup is underway, and on Sunday, June 1, the Las Vegas Aces added another win to their campaign, outpacing the Seattle Storm 75-70. Center A’ja Wilson led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds, a stat line that has become standard for the reigning MVP. Wilson currently leads the Aces in every statistical category, showing her dominance at a time where VISibility for women’s sports is at an all-time high. But Wilson’s influence isn’t limited to the hardwood....
The Alabamian •

The College Football Edit: Rivalry Week Takeaways 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


The regular season is coming to a close in the world of college football, and teams with everything to play for laid their seasons on the line during the week of Thanksgiving. From wacky traditions to wild endings, here’s some of the major results from the week, as well as what those results mean for conference championship and playoff implications for those teams.  


The Egg Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State 


The Egg Bowl is always a Friday highlight o...
The Alabamian •

Record Breaker, History Maker 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


Swimming is an unforgiving sport. Few athletes understand that better than Keara McGee, a senior on Montevallo’s women’s swim team. The countless early wakeups, the dry land sessions and pushing your body to the limit of its abilities with often little reward can break you down. 


But sometimes, that hard work does pay off. And it certainly has for McGee.  


Last winter, McGee became the first-ever female swimmer in program history to qualify for the NCAA N...
Shelby County Reporter •

Shelby County rallies past Valley, advances in playoffs for first time...

Thanks to Coosa Pines Federal Credit Union for supporting our football coverage this season.

By SARAH TURNER | Special to the Reporter

VALLEY – For the first time since 2008, the Shelby County Wildcats will advance to the second round of the AHSAA playoffs after a 26-23 win over the Valley Rams on Friday, Nov. 7.

"The biggest thing is we came out with a win,"  Shelby County head coach Zeb Ellison said. "We extended our season, and that's something that hasn't been done here in a long, long ti...
The Alabamian •

From the Bricks to the Big League 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


In his final season as a Falcon in the spring of 2025, Adiel Melendez was one of the most dominant pitchers in the Gulf South Conference. He posted an ERA of 2.38 in 98.1 innings pitched, going 10-5 as a starter and being named first-team All-GSC and All-Region.  


And in July, Melendez became the 10th Falcon to sign as a free agent to a Major League Baseball team after inking a contract with the Atlanta Braves. 


But Melendez’s journey was far from easy. I...
Voice In Sport •

Navigating the College Recruiting Process with Mikayla Blakes

A packed Coleman Coliseum roars in a tied up Sunday afternoon matchup between the home Alabama Crimson Tide and the Vanderbilt Commodores. Suddenly, a player drives through contact and sinks the shot. The referees will count it for one more and the crowd goes…silent?
Vanderbilt freshman Mikayla Blakes just put her team back in front with under two minutes left to play in the ball game. But the thing is, she’s been doing that all season. The Commodores got a 66-64 win on the road against the No....
Hoover's Magazine •

Jaguars on the Rise - Hoover's Magazine

By Sarah Turner
Photos by Cari Dean, Dawn Harrison, Jason Homan, Kelsea Schafer, Neal Wagner & Contributed
Fall Friday nights mean only one thing for most Alabamians. High school football rules all from August to November.
Across all classifications, there’s legendary programs, coaches and players that have all stemmed from the greater Birmingham area. However, Spain Park hasn’t really been in that conversation, until now.
Tim Vakakes is in his third year at the helm of the Jaguars’ football pro...
Shelby County Reporter •

Casen Fields’ 3 rushing TDs not enough to get Vincent past Winston County - Shelby County Reporter

By SARAH TURNER | Special to the Reporter 
DOUBLE SPRINGS – The Vincent Yellow Jackets’ season came to an end on Friday, Nov. 15 after a 25-20 loss against the Winston County Yellow Jackets.
“It hurts to lose,” Vincent coach Lucas Weatherford said. “I wanted to go a little bit further and make history for the school, but I can’t deny what the boys did.”
Undefeated Winston County had its stadium filled to the brim in order to watch the team take on Vincent.
Vincent entered the game with a 9-2 rec...
Shelby County Reporter •

Spain Park secures first undefeated regular season in victory at Gardendale - Shelby County Reporter

By SARAH TURNER | Special to the Reporter
GARDENDALE – The Spain Park Jaguars capped off their magical regular season run with a 35-12 win over the Gardendale Rockets on Friday, Nov. 1 at Gardendale High School.
“Anytime you get a bunch of high school kids that do hard things consistently and they play for each other, good things happen,” Spain Park head coach Tim Vakakes said.
For the first time in school history, the Jaguars ended the season unblemished with a perfect 10-0 record.
Gardendale w...
The Alabamian •

No expectations, no regrets

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


It’s 5 a.m. on a Monday morning. Nobody else on campus is awake, but members of the University of Montevallo’s men’s and women’s cross country teams’ alarms have all just gone off. Six, seven, sometimes eight or more miles on deck for the day, all finished before 8 a.m. classes start, six days a week, all semester long.  


This lifestyle is something graduate student Joseph Pitard has lived for six years now at UM. But Pitard said running has been a part of h...
Shelby County Reporter •

Spain Park dominates Calera for first region title since 2015 - Shelby County Reporter

By SARAH TURNER | Special to the Reporter
HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars left no doubt as they solidified their spot at the top of the region on Friday, Oct. 18 with a 42-7 win over the Calera Eagles.
“Our kids have gotten our program so far in three seasons,” Jaguars head coach Tim Vakakes said. “When we got here, we told them we’re going to compete for championships.”
Spain Park celebrated their seniors before kickoff, and the Jags had a lot on the line, including extending their seven-game w...
The Alabamian •

Where are the Falcon faithful? 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


It’s gameday in Central Alabama, a feeling like no other for student-athletes across the country. 


Donning purple and gold, the Falcons will take to the court to compete for their university at the highest level. 


But it can be disheartening for Montevallo’s athletes to look around Central State Bank Arena and only see 300 faces in an arena built for 2,000.  


More than 500 student-athletes call Montevallo home, but most teams won’t even have that many...
The Alabamian •

Tapping out on a historic season 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


The Falcon wrestling team has been making all kinds of history in their first year of competition. 


They’re the first Division II wrestling program in the state of Alabama, have set the highest attendance in Central State Bank Arena this season and they’ve produced Montevallo’s first-ever national champion. 


Graduate student Gabe Hixenbaugh grew up right down the road from Montevallo, a product of Thompson High School, where he had a very successful high...
The Alabamian •

Born to be a Falcon 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


The Falcons women’s basketball team has had its share of elite talent on the court, but superstar freshman Cali Smallwood is different.  


The Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year was destined to play basketball for the Falcons. 


The Blountsville native arrived on the bricks this fall following in her mother’s footsteps. Natasha Smallwood played basketball for the Purple and Gold in the late 90s, and is still recorded as having the third best three-p...
The Alabamian •

Remembering Barrett Dempsey 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


Bright candlelight filled Central State Bank Arena as Falcon athletes gathered on Feb. 13 to honor the memory of Barrett Dempsey, who was a member of the University’s wrestling team. 


Dempsey, a freshman from Byhalia, Miss. passed away in a car accident on Feb. 11. Athletic Director Mark Richard broke the news to the team the following day. 


Maddie Taylor, a senior on UM’s softball team, presented the idea to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and as...
The Alabamian •

How in the world did you get to UM? 

By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 


With 24 NCAA Division II athletic teams and more than 500 student athletes, it’s no secret that Montevallo’s campus is home to some elite talent. Athletes come to the bricks from across the country, and sometimes even around the world.  


81 international athletes make their home here in central Alabama, but one has to wonder: how do they get here? 


“In high school I really liked to run,” said Mateo Lopez-Hernandez, “so I was like if I could maintain that...