SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Vincennes University freshman Landon Gardner (Danville, Ind.) qualified for the 2025 NJCAA Division I Golf National Championships earlier this week at the 2025 Region 24 Championships at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill.

Gardner led the Trailblazers at the Region 24 Championships in the 54-hole, two-day tournament, finishing day one with a 77 in round one and an 80 in round two.

Gardner closed out his tournament strong Tuesday, posting a round of 77, including four birdies to come away with a tournament total of 234 and 10 birdies in the tournament.

Freshman Kadin Gibson (Franklin, Ind.) matched Gardner’s start Monday, shooting a three-over par 75 in round one before ending the day with an 80 in round two.

Gibson closed out his tournament Tuesday with a final round 79 ending in a tie with Gardner, forcing a one-hole playoff.

Gardner came away with the win in the playoff, punching his ticket to the National Championships as an individual qualifier.

Freshman Brock Naile (Trico, Ill.) was the next VU scorer, finishing day one with a first round 78 and a 79 in round two.

Naile closed out his tournament with a final round 83, finishing with a total of 240 and placing 20th overall.

Sophomore Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) and freshman Parker Steininger (Vincennes, Ind.) rounded out the VU results in the tournament, with Nealis shooting an 81 and 86 Monday before closing out the tournament strong with a final round 82 to place 28th overall.

Steininger opened the tournament with a first round 81 before finishing with an 85 in round two and an 86 in the final round to place 31st overall.

The Trailblazers as a team shot 311 in round one, 324 in round two and came in with a team score of 321 in round three for a tournament team score of 956, finishing fifth overall.

Heartland Community College came away as the Region 24 Champions this season, finishing with a team score of 892, with Parkland College and Illinois Central College qualifying for the NJCAA National tournament.

Gardner joins Blake Arnold from Danville Area Community College as the two individual qualifier representing Region 24 at the 2025 NJCAA Division II National Championships.

Gardner will head to the National Championships, beginning Tuesday, May 20 and running through Friday, May 23 at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind.

Ragland completed third season at the helm of the program

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Head Men’s Basketball Coach David Ragland has signed a contract extension, University of Evansville Athletics Director Dr. Kenneth “Ziggy” Siegfried announced on Wednesday.

“Coach Ragland is someone who does things the right way, on and off the court. He understands the deep impact our men’s basketball program has on the University of Evansville, the community, and those who came before us as Purple Aces,” Siegfried said. “His ability to recruit top student athletes who fit the University of Evansville, his genuine care for those he coaches, and his leadership across our athletics department make him an invaluable asset.”

“This extension is a reflection of our confidence in his vision, and more importantly, in our shared belief that we can win at Evansville. We are committed to doing the work together to return Purple Aces Basketball to a level of excellence our fans and alumni proudly remember and deeply believe in.””

Ragland is coming off his third season at the helm of the Purple Aces squad.  Under his leadership, the program has shown great improvement while accomplishing feats that have not been seen in six decades.  Despite injuries taking a toll for the majority of the 2024-25 season, Ragland and his staff led the team to its highest Missouri Valley Conference win tally in nine seasons.  With eight league victories, UE finished with its best mark since the 2015-16 campaign.  The MVC road win tally from the season was also the best since 15-16 and featured triumphs at Belmont, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois.

“I want to thank President Pietruszkiewicz and Dr. Siefried for their belief in my leadership of our basketball program,” Ragland exclaimed.  “I am honored to serve as the head coach at the University of Evansville.  My family and I love being back home in this wonderful community. It is a true blessing to be aligned with the leader of our athletic programs along with the leader of our University.”

In just his second season with the Aces, Ragland orchestrated an unbelievable turnaround that saw the program improve its win total by 12 games from the season prior.  The 2023-24 team wrapped up the year with 17 victories, its highest win tally since 2017-18.  UE opened the season with victories in its first six games, becoming the first Aces team in its Division I era to accomplish the feat.  The last Evansville squad to open a season at 6-0 was the 1964-65 National Championship team.  In its opening game at Arch Madness, the team defeated Illinois State to win its first game in St. Louis since 2017.  Following the season, Evansville was invited to the Ro CBI, marking the first postseason appearances for Evansville since winning the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament Championship.

Ragland was recognized with the Ben Jobe Mid-Season Honor in January of 2024.  His work in directing the Aces to the strong start garnered national attention and saw him as one of the frontrunners for the postseason award, which is given to the top minority head coach at the Division I level.

On the individual side, UE student-athletes are receiving as much MVC recognition as any other time in program history.  Following the 2024-25 campaign, four players earned prestigious league honors.  Highlighting that list was Connor Turnbull, who was honored as the 2025 MVC Defensive Player of the Year.  Turnbull joined Egidijus Mockevicius as the only two in UE history to earn the award.

Over the last two seasons, the Aces other honors include two All-Newcomer Team honorees (Tayshawn Comer, Ben Humrichous), two on the All-Freshman Team (Chuck Bailey III, Gabriel Pozzato), a pair of Scholar-Athlete honorees (Cam Haffner, Humrichous), two All-Bench Team members (Bailey, Tanner Cuff), and Most Improved Team (Haffner).  Humrichous was also named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024.

“I look forward to continuing to work closely with Prez. P and Ziggy in pursuit of reviving our storied program,” Ragland added. “Together we will strive to empower our student-athletes to be courageous leaders by acting bravely in a diverse, ever-changing world. Go Aces!”

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana and Illinois State University non-conference baseball game, scheduled for Wednesday in Normal, Illinois, has been canceled due to rain and will not be rescheduled. The Screaming Eagles (20-24, 9-9 OVC) are scheduled to return to action Friday on the road at the University of Tennessee at Martin (16-27, 7-10 OVC) in Martin, Tennessee.

The series starts Friday at 5 p.m.; continues Saturday at 3 p.m.; and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

USI resumes conference play in sixth, a half-game out of fifth and with a two-game lead over seventh. The top eight teams in the OVC advance to the conference tournament at the end of the season. There are four weeks left in the 2025 OVC regular season, including this upcoming weekend.

Following the road trip, the Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field to start the season’s final homestand of the season. USI will host the University of Evansville May 6 before Southeast Missouri University comes to town for a three-game set May 11-13. The homestand concludes with a makeup game with UE at the USI Baseball Field.