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🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. I Fought the Law. The Bobby Fuller Four

“The NCAA convinced an Ohio state appeals court to stay an injunction granted in favor of a group of college basketball players suing to compete for a fifth year, marking a temporary win for the sports organization that argues the plaintiffs have already exhausted their eligibility.

The sports organization has “presented a substantial case on the merits” and has shown it would face irreparable harm without a stay pending the case’s appeal, the First District Court of Appeals said in a Monday order.”

» Why It Matters. “At issue are new NCAA rules that apply starting with the 2026-27 season, allowing student-athletes to compete for up to five seasons within an age-based five-year period with more limited exceptions than were available under the old system.”

» Quotable. “In a statement Monday, the NCAA said it appreciated the appeals court’s “recognition of the harm caused by the injunction and the substantial arguments we have presented in favor of reversal, and we look forward to fully arguing the merits of the case in the future.””

Can Washington U. three-peat?

That’s the question as the 2026 season kicks off on September 1. The Bears became the first side to go back-to-back since Williams in 2017-18 and have the opportunity to join UC San Diego (1995-96-97) as the only champs in three consecutive seasons.

» Players to Watch. Reese Birch (M, Sr., Tufts); Aileen Carr (D, Jr., Scranton); Aubree Caya (F, Sr., UW-La Crosse); Olivia Clemons (F, Jr., Washington U.); Vivian Rojas Collins (D, Sr., Pomona-Pitzer); Ava Gizzie (F, Sr., Swarthmore); Maci Landel (F, Sr., Mary Washington); Jordan Lange (F, Sr., North Central IL); Mia Libby (M, Sr., Messiah); Jamie Nguyen (M, Jr., Chicago); Kaitlyn Nimmer (F, Sr., Emory); Gianna Panarelli (M, Sr., Vassar); Maddie Seebeck (D, Sr., MIT); Elizabeth Stophel (F, Jr., Williams); Avery Trapp (GK, Sr., Carleton); Sophie Viscovich (M, Sr., Washington U.)

» Returning Leading Goal Scorers. Aubree Caya (Sr., UW-La Crosse), 24; Hadley Stoddard (Jr., Maine Maritime), 21; Leah Morrier (Jr., Rivier), 18; Olivia Clemons (Jr., Washington U.), 17; Paige Letourneau (Sr., Emmanuel), 17; Julz Mohrbacher (Sr., Waynesburg), 17); Kate Nolan (Jr., Pratt), 17; Delin Peterson (So., Southern Virginia), 17; Xoie Warner (So., Southern Virginia), 17.

» Career Goal Scoring Leaders. Eowyn Lapp (Sr., Gordon), 46; Brittany Laird (Sr., Messiah), 40; Olivia Clemons (Jr., WashU), 39; Julz Mohrbacher (Sr., Waynesburg), 38; Lexi Templin (Sr., Hardin-Simmons), 37; Jordan Lange (Sr., North Central IL), 37

» Winningest Active Coaches. Scott Frey (Messiah), 518-36-37; Todd Olsen (Lynchburg), 515-132-65; Amy Howley Reifert (Chicago), 448-193-74; Mindy Quigg (Ithaca), 409-137-71; Sue Patberg (Emory), 405-167-74.Jim Conlan (WashU), 399-102-43; Luigi Scire (Webster), 394-121-24; Phil Benne (Roanoke), 393-252-64

stats provided by NCAA Stats

“As a challenging academic year drew to a close in May 2026, I sent an email to 12 administrators at the college where I teach, thanking them for their work during the year. Several years ago, when I served as part of the administration, I would have taken special note of such an email.

So, I was a bit taken aback when only a few of those to whom I sent it bothered to acknowledge it.”

» Situational Awareness. “Email is now the default mode of communication in colleges and universities, as well as across most workplaces and other areas of life. Unanswered emails have become as regular a feature of academic life.”

» Why It Matters. “There may be good reasons not to acknowledge or respond to an email, such as simply not seeing an email that went into a spam folder. But research shows that not responding to emails can have negative consequences on senders and on the broader college campus climate. Unanswered emails can make people feel ignored or disrespected, or jump to worrying or envisioning worst-case scenarios, such as being on the brink of getting laid off or fired.”

» Of Note. “In my experience, students often do not respond at all, let alone in a timely manner. But I have seen that they still often expect their professors to respond quickly when they initiate an email exchange. Some students even judge faculty by the speed of their responses.”

» Flag Football. Roanoke announced the addition of women’s flag football as its 29th intercollegiate sport starting in the spring of 2028.

» Conferences. The Little East Conference welcomed St. Anselm as an affiliate member in golf and ice hockey.

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