Athlete Spotlight

Rutgers Women’s Basketball lands 2024 Five-Star G Kiyomi McMiller

January 8, 2024 by Tara S

Alec Crouthamel • TheKnightReport

In the wake of facing off against star Caitlin Clark, the Rutgers women’s basketball team landed another star in the form of a verbal commitment from five-star guard Kiyomi McMiller, who joins signee Zachara Perkins in the team’s 2024 recruiting class.

McMiller, who is in her second season playing at the Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, chose the Scarlet Knights over the likes of Ole Miss, Florida State, and Temple.

The 5-foot-9 point guard is currently ranked 22nd in the country according to espnW’s recruiting rankings.

On the court, McMiller is at her best with the ball in her hands as a scoring guard. She has great speed with the ball and elite handles to get past defenders and find an open look, even drawing (lofty) comparisons to former NBA star Jamal Crawford with her ability to dribble in space with the ball. Appropriately nicknamed “The Product”, arguably McMiller’s best trait is her creativity on the court, with or without the ball.

“I’m inspired by both of my parents,” she told Business of College Sports. “I get my creativity from my dad and my grandmother, which carries over to my dribbling. I’m always in the gym with my mom and dad working on my game.”

She’ll join a stacked guard room with youth and experience mixed in at Rutgers, with contributors such as Kaylene Smikle, Mya Petticord, Lisa Thompson, and Jillian Huerter. Head coach Coquese Washington, formerly a guard herself in college and in the WNBA, is putting together a room of guards that can attack off the perimeter to either set up teammates or take it themselves for the score.

Similarly, off the court, McMiller has also become a trailblazer. Back in February, she became the first high school athlete to sign a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal with the iconic Jordan Brand. Bringing that brand recognition to Piscataway will put more eyes on the program, and Rutgers as a whole.

The Silver Spring, Maryland native grew up in a basketball family, as both of her parents coached at nearby Montgomery College. Her father, Mike, also joined on at Life Center Academy as an assistant coach.

“It’s a dream come true being with the brand that stands for the same passion that I have for the game,” she said. “I look forward to encouraging basketball players to use their creativity and platform to define their purpose.”

McMiller and Perkins currently make up the program’s 2024 class, but Washington and the staff may not be done yet. Fellow five-star guard Mikayla Blakes, ranked tenth in the class, also has Rutgers among her finalists. There’s plenty of familiarity with the program, as Blakes attends Rutgers Prep in Somerset, and current Scarlet Knight Antonia Bates played for the Argonauts out of Easton, Pennsylvania.

Both Blakes and McMiller were listed as two of the top scorers in the class by espnW, and adding both players would bring a lot of attention and hype to a Scarlet Knights program looking to get back on track in the Big Ten.

Rutgers women’s basketball lands a 5-star recruit in Kiyomi McMiller

January 8, 2024 by Tara S

By Kristian Dyer via Rutgers Wire

Kiyomi McMiller committed to Rutgers women’s basketball on Saturday afternoon, giving the Scarlet Knights the highest-ranked recruit since head coach Coquese Washington took over the program.

A five-star guard, McMiller is ranked the No. 22 player in the nation by ESPNW. She is a part of the 2024 recruiting class.

McMiller plays for Life Center Academy (Burlington, New Jersey). Through 11 games this season, she is averaging 29.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Playing a strong schedule both nationally and in-state, Life Center is currently 5-7 on the season.

She is the second-highest-ranked recruit in the nation in the 2024 class behind five-star guard behind Mikayala Blakes. ESPNW ranks Blakes as the ninth-best recruit in the nation.

For Washington, this is a huge recruiting win for her and the program. Landing a top-tier in-state target who is ranked among the best players in the nation is certainly an important building block for the Scarlet Knights

Cherotich – the “small Faith” inspired to rising heights by Kipyegon

January 3, 2024 by Tara S

Mike Rowbottom | World Athletics

For the athlete that Faith Kipyegon calls “small Faith”, it has been a very big year.

At the age of 19, Faith Cherotich – the rising talent who has recently been mentored by the multiple world and Olympic champion Kipyegon – is a senior world medallist in the 3000m steeplechase and reigning world U20 champion.

She is also the women’s World Athletics Rising Star awardee for 2023.

“I am very happy and proud to receive this award,” Cherotich said shortly before receiving her honour at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, where ‘big Faith’ received the World Athlete of the Year award for women’s track after setting three world records and earning two world titles.

Kipyegon has set a dizzyingly high bar in 2023. But one day, perhaps, Cherotich – who had only finished her studies at school two weeks before the Monaco event – can hope to operate at a similar level in the No.1 Olympic sport.

“Faith Kipyegon has been mentoring me on how to be a good athlete,” she said. “I want to be a champion, to follow her. She has been teaching me a lot. I really appreciate it.

“It was a very good year for me. It was my first World Championships and I was happy with how I ran. It was a good race for me.”

Faith Kipyegon and Faith Cherotich at the World Athletics Awards 2023 (© Mattia Ozbot)

The year had begun for her at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, where she helped Kenya earn silver in the women’s U20 team event, missing out on an individual medal by one place.

Having finished third in the previous year’s Wanda Diamond League Final, where her time of 9:06.14 moved her to third on the world U20 all-time list, Cherotich began her 2023 Diamond League season by finishing third in the opening meeting in Doha.

But a few weeks later her progress was traumatically undermined when the car she was travelling in – en route to compete in another Diamond League meeting – was involved in a collision with a runaway truck, leaving her with minor injuries and concussion.

“I had an accident in a car,” she said. “But then I recovered, and I had three weeks to train before the World Championships trials. I was able to qualify, so that was good.”

In the final at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, she was the last in the field to hold on to the eventual respective gold and silver medallists, Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi and her fellow Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech, the 32-year-old world record-holder.

Cherotich finished almost five seconds clear of her nearest rival, Ethiopia’s Zerfe Wondemagegn, clocking a personal best of 9:00.69.

Faith Cherotich at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (© Getty Images)

In the first Diamond League meeting after the World Championships, in Zurich, Cherotich was again third behind Yavi and Chepkoech.

And in a super-fast Diamond League Final in which the world champion set an area record of 8:50.66 and Chepkoech followed her home in a season’s best of 8:51.67, Cherotich broke the nine-minute barrier with a personal best of 8:59.65. That time in Eugene places Cherotich 11th on the senior world all-time list.

Valentijn Trouw from Global Sports Communication, who manages Cherotich’s career, is quietly confident of her continuing progress.

“I think she is going to be a future star,” he said. “She has all the ingredients. It reminds me – we are here with Faith Kipyegon and Faith Cherotich, and Faith Kipyegon 10 or 12 years ago was coming into athletics like Faith Cherotich is coming into athletics now.

“She is extremely talented. But besides that, she has a good mentality, she is calm and she is composed. She knows what she wants and she is coming in gradually in a very nice way but has the future on her side.

“She has incredible opportunities. But she has had a tough year this year because she had a quite serious car accident at the beginning of the year,” he added. “She was on her way to Eldoret to take a flight for one of the Diamond Leagues and a truck hit the car and that took her out for about six weeks.

“Everybody survived in a good way but with some injuries. But Faith had to take some rest because she had some minor injuries, including concussion. We needed to make sure she took it really easy and didn’t start back too quickly.

“Then she had a very short time to come up to the trials and she made the team, and then she had time to build on that and be ready for the World Championships.”

Faith Cherotich at the Diamond League meeting in Doha (© Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)

It further proved her positive mindset.

“In those kinds of situations, you see how somebody is handling the situation. And to be honest, I have never seen her panicking,” Trouw continued. “She is always calm, she accepts life as it comes and makes the best out of it. And with that attitude, plus her talent, she can achieve anything.

“Many times, for us from the outside, if you look at how an athlete is handling those kinds of situations you see also how they are behaving when they are under immense pressure in an Olympic final or going for a record in the Diamond League – it is very telling.

“Faith stayed extremely calm and accepted advice from the team around her. I think she joined our team two years ago. She was at school and she was showing some great potential in cross country.

“She helped win team silver at the World Cross Country Championships – and she expected a little more, but she did well.

“She is still very young, but you feel there is so much inside that if we go slow she can have a 15- or 20-year career and go a long way.”

Asked if her securing a senior medal in Budapest had surprised him, Trouw added: “No. It could have happened that she ran fourth, fifth or sixth and still ran a good race. But to try to go for a medal was realistic. Because after the trials, she still had the time to prepare for the World Championships.

“Some people, you don’t need to tell them what to do in a competition because their intuition is such that they know what to do. And she is somebody that senses extremely well what she can do and what she can’t do.

“And so tactical races – be it fast, be it slow – it doesn’t matter so much for her because she is very much herself and she knows how much fuel is inside to bring it in a good way to the finish line.

“So far, I have not seen her making any tactical mistakes, where you would say: ‘You should have done this different’. And that, combined with her strength and talent, means she can do good things in championships.”

Kenya’s Faith Cherotich on her way to the world U20 3000m steeplechase title in Cali (© Oscar Munoz Badilla)

Prior to the World Championships, it had appeared that Cherotich’s predecessor as world U20 champion – her 20-year-old compatriot Jackline Chepkoech – stood a better chance of reaching the podium in Budapest. Jackline Chepkoech ran a PB of 8:57.35 in London in the lead up and then placed ninth in Budapest.

“I think both Faith and Jackline are the future for Kenya in the steeplechase,” said Trouw. “We help them both. They don’t train together, but they are very good together when they are in the Diamond League. They share the room together and they are friendly, but they don’t train together.

“Faith is still a bit younger and newer to athletics and to settings like this. But at the same time, she is very much herself, and that helps not just in life in general, but also in sports.

“As for her coach, we are now looking for someone to take her career forward. So far, she has been in school and she had a local coach who has been overseeing her. For 2024 she would like to get more experience in the Diamond Leagues, and to run consistently under nine minutes, and to go for a good result at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“She just wants to make the next step in athletics. But she is in a phase of her career where things can go fast.”

Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

10 BREAKOUT PERFORMANCES BY TEAM USA ATHLETES IN SUMMER SPORTS IN 2023

December 22, 2023 by Tara S

BY CHRÖS MCDOUGALL | Team USA

New stars emerge every four years at the Olympics and Paralympics. If you were paying attention in 2023, though, you might have caught a preview of what’s to come next summer.

The year before the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 saw several breakout performances from Team USA athletes, results that included world championships, world records and drought-busting finishes.

Fans can follow along throughout the year at TeamUSA.com, but as we look ahead to the Olympic and Paralympic year in 2024, here are 10 athletes who showed in 2023 that they could be names to watch for in Paris:

Minna Stess, Skateboarding

Currently ranked 5th in the world, Minna Stess made history this year by placing third at the WST Park World Championship 2023 in Rome Ostia. In addition to securing crucial points for the Road to Paris 2024, Stess became the first U.S. woman ever to podium at an Olympic qualifier or Worlds event. At just 17 years old, she is considered the top U.S. female athlete in park skateboarding.

Mark Reis: Team USA

Sarah Adam, Wheelchair Rugby

Long a mixed-gender sport in name only, wheelchair rugby in the United States now has a female star. Adam broke through to become the first U.S. woman to compete at the world championships in 2022, and in 2023 she established herself as a go-to scorer on a team with Paralympic gold-medal aspirations. Adam, who when not playing is a professor of occupational therapy at St. Louis University, played key roles for Team USA in two major tournaments this year, including the Parapan American Games in November in Santiago, Chile. A victory there made Adam the first woman to win Parapan Ams gold in the sport and secured Team USA’s spot in Paris next year. Only Chuck Aoki, a three-time Paralympic medalist, scored more points than Adam.

Team USA

Hannah Chadwick guide Skyler Espinoza, Para-Cycling

Chadwick and her visual guide Espinoza didn’t plan to race the track sprint event at August’s world championships in Scotland. Yet in their first sprint race together, the new tandem won a bronze medal. Later, at the Parapan American Games, they opened with another unexpected win in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit. One day later they were back at their preferred 1,000-meter distance, and back atop the podium, this time in the time trial. The winning time also set a new Parapan Ams record for the event. In Paris, Chadwick, of El Cerrito, California, and Freeport, Maine, native Espinoza will aim to win Team USA’s first Paralympic medal in a visually impaired cycling event since 2008.

Mark Reis

CJ Nickolas, Taekwondo

The 21-year-old Nickolas put U.S. men’s taekwondo back on the map in May when he finished as runner-up in the men’s 80 kg. class at the world championships in Azerbaijan. Nickolas, of Brentwood, California, defeated the reigning Olympic bronze medalist in the semifinals before falling to the division’s top-ranked athlete in the final. In doing so, he became the first U.S. man to win a world championships medal in the sport since 2009. After no U.S. men qualified for the Olympics in taekwondo in 2021 — the first time that had happened — Nickolas should be in position to not only qualify for Paris but maybe even contend for a medal.

Noelle Malkamaki, Para Track & Field

Breaking a world record is so fun Malkamaki decided to do it three times this summer. The 22-year-old from Decatur, Illinois, first established a new global mark in the women’s shot put F46 at the U.S. championships in May. In July, she did it twice more at the world championships in Paris. Her final throw of 13.32 meters secured both the world title and her second world record of the day. Malkamaki, who throws collegiately for DePaul, only recently began throwing in Para competitions, and already she’s a favorite for a Paralympic medal next year in Paris.

Getty Images

Fred Richard, Gymnastics

Richard arrived on the scene in 2022 eager to draw attention to his sport , both through TikTok and his performances. It’s safe to say he’s succeeded in both. In April, the 19-year-old wrapped up his freshman season at Michigan by winning the all-around and two event titles at the NCAA championships. Six months later, in Belgium, he broke through on a higher level. Richard left the world championships with a pair of bronze medals — in the team and the all-around. Those marked the first medals for U.S. men in those events at a global championship since 2014 and 2012, respectively. And Richard’s high-flying ways aren’t limited to his stunning floor exercise and high bar routines. His creative gymnastics challenge videos have earned him a following of 645,000 and counting on TikTok.

(L-R0 Valarie Allman and Laulauga Tausaga-Collins pose with their U.S. flags.

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, Track & Field

Talk about owning the moment. Tausaga-Collins unleashed the biggest throw of her life — by far — to become the first U.S. woman to win a discus world title. The Hawaii-born, California-raised thrower missed the Tokyo Olympics and finished 12th of 12 in the final of last year’s world championships, both while battling back injuries. At this year’s worlds in August in Hungary, Tausaga-Collins sat in fifth place with two throws to go. That’s when she broke out for a 69.49-meter throw, beating her personal best by nearly four meters. Her U.S. teammate and the defending Olympic champ, Valarie Allman, was just behind Tausaga-Collins in second (69.23 m).

Joe Kusumoto

Sam Watson, Climbing

Speed climbing will debut as an Olympic medal event in Paris after being rolled into a combined event in 2021 in Tokyo. That’s good news for Watson, who at 17 is already one of the fastest in the history of the sport. In April, Watson, of Southlake, Texas, scaled the 15-meter wall in 5.02 seconds to establish a new U.S. record. The only thing missing for Watson was a climb like that when it counts most, in a final. He finally put everything together at the Pan American Games in October in Santiago, where he not only won the gold medal but also clinched his first Olympic berth.

Getty Images

Joscelyn Roberson, Gymnastics

The world championships didn’t end quite how Roberson had hoped — a “freak injury” in warmups kept her out of the team and vault finals. But just about everything prior in 2023 was a dream for the 17-year-old from Texarkana, Texas. Following a switch to Simone Biles’ gym last year, Roberson enjoyed a breakthrough winter racking up medals at competitions in Germany, Egypt and Colombia. The powerful tumbler is particularly strong on floor and vault, the latter of which she won at the U.S. championships. In only in her second year at the senior elite level, Roberson showed she can hang with the best in the world.

Joe Kusumoto Team USA

Jeromie Meyer, Wheelchair Basketball

Make no mistake, the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team is still a veteran-led group. If the team is to win a third consecutive Paralympic gold medal next year, though, it’ll need key contributions from players like Meyer, of Woodbine, Iowa, who proved to be a key contributor off the bench this year. Meyer closed out his first senior tournament with Team USA by dropping in five points in a 67–66 win over Great Britain to secure the world title in June in Dubai, UAE. He was the only bench player to record a point. Meyer was at it again at the Parapan Am Games, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds in the final as Team USA thumped Colombia to secure the gold medal and a spot in the Paris Games.

Chrös McDougall has covered the Olympic and Paralympic Movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Athletics star Yemi Mary John crowned winner of SportsAid’s One-to-Watch Award 2023

December 22, 2023 by Tara S

By: Sports Aid

Track sensation Yemi Mary John, 20, from Woodford in Essex, has been named as the winner of SportsAid’s prestigious One-to-Watch Award for 2023! Yemi Mary received the annual Award, supported by Royal Bank of Canada, after an outstanding year which saw her claim gold in the 400m at the European Athletics U23 Championships and two senior relay medals at the World Athletics Championships.

Yemi Mary, who also featured in the top 10 last year having won gold at the World Athletics U20s Championships in 2022, was presented with the Award by 400 metres legend Christine Ohuruogu MBE at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Monday (18 December). She edged out para cyclist Archie Atkinson, 19, and BMX rider Freia Challis, 15, as they finished in second and third positions respectively.

“It’s a really good feeling and it’s great to have had this season’s achievements recognised!” said Yemi Mary shortly after being presented with the Award. “They caught me off-guard with my Award which was a lovely surprise. Christine has done amazing things, not only in the sport as a whole but in the 400 specifically, so just to have her recognise me and be able to be in a room with such great and successful people is exciting. I appreciated her being there for it.

“I feel like it sets me up for a great trajectory of success and hopefully I will follow in the footsteps of those before [who have won the One-to-Watch Award]. I feel like I’m already on the radar especially because of my first senior season, not only just competing but coming away with medals. The targets I had for the season were hit in the senior field and it solidified my position there and hopefully I can now go further next year.”

The One-to-Watch Award has gained a strong reputation for identifying the best up-and-coming prospects in Britain since its launch in 2006. Previous winners, including Tom Daley OBE, Hollie Arnold MBE, Jodie Williams and Alex Yee MBE, have already amassed over 50 senior medals from Olympic and Paralympic Games, World and European Championships, and Commonwealth Games.

Yemi Mary, who dabbled in many sports from gymnastics to MMA when growing up, only started properly competing on the track in 2019. The University of Southern California student has been supported by SportsAid for the last two years and is now determined to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games having made such an impression on the world stage at senior level in 2023.

“Olympics year, Paris has to be my first and biggest target,” added Yemi Mary. “Obviously performing in the NCAA’s season as well will be key to making sure I appear on the senior scene on an individual basis as well as in the relays. I just need to keep on doing what I have been doing and ramp it up. It’s been working pretty well so far….so just doing that, times 10. I don’t like to put a lid on my goals by giving one specific number or title but I’m definitely wanting more medals, more golds, more Olympics, more records even. I want to grow as an athlete and a person.”

The top 10 for this year’s One-to-Watch Award were selected from around 1,000 rising British stars supported by SportsAid across more than 60 different sports. Athletes are nominated by their sport’s governing body on the strength of their talent and potential, as well as their recent achievements, before a judging panel, led by Sarah Winckless MBE, identifies the winner, runner-up and third place.

The remaining shortlisted athletes – equestrian Alice Casburn, fencer Amelie Tsang, canoeist Greta Roeser, weightlifter Isabella Brown, squash player Jonah Bryant, golfer Kris Kim, and para athlete Madeline Down – have had their achievements celebrated with in-person visits from SportsAid. The charity’s staff has travelled to their training environments to gain further insight into how they balance sport with their day-to-day commitments.

Each of the top 10 athletes are receiving a cash boost in recognition of their incredible feats. Yemi Mary is being awarded £1,000 as the winner with Archie receiving £750 and Freia benefitting from £500. Alice, Amelie, Greta, Isabella, Jonah, Kris and Madeline will each be given £250. They have also been provided with gift packages focused on nutrition, mental wellbeing, sleep and recovery.

SportsAid alumna Christine was delighted to present the One-to-Watch Award to Yemi Mary and predicted a bright future for each of the top 10. Christine, who was crowned Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion while accumulating over 20 international medals during her senior career, has high hopes for Yemi Mary having seen the potential she has demonstrated in the 400m discipline.

She has also been impressed by how the USC athlete balances her sport with her Economics studies – alongside the time she spends as a committed volunteer at a homeless shelter. Yemi Mary, who has taken inspiration from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation, hopes to build a similar legacy of her own while inspiring young girls to pursue their sporting ambitions.

“I think Yemi’s fantastic,” said Christine. “I am really blown away by how young she is and how much she does, not just on the track, but outside track. I think it’s a great inspiration for her peers, and for older people, that you can juggle the two successfully. I’m hoping that this Award will continue to inspire her to keep reaching and wanting to be the athlete that causes a stir and mixes things up.

“I think the 400 metres in this country is in a really great place both in the men’s and the women’s. And I think that’s what’s great about Yemi – she does really keep the girls on their toes. And not only that, I’ve also noticed that it inspires the other younger athletes. Because when you see someone else who is new and young coming through, it gives other people the opportunity to believe that they can do the same thing and that they can create an impact. I think she should be really proud of herself.”

Christine added: “I was a recipient of a SportsAid award not too long ago….a very, very, very, very many few years ago! The sports world can get very, very crowded, and very, very noisy. So the athletes are working away, often in their own pockets around the country, and they can sometimes feel like they’re doing all this hard work and nobody cares. I think that it’s really nice for the athletes to feel like they’ve been seen, they’ve been recognised and that their hard work hasn’t gone in vain.”

Here’s more information on the top three for this year’s One-to-Watch Award….

Winner

Yemi Mary John
Athletics
20, from Woodford, Essex

• Gold in the women’s 400m at the European Athletics U23 Championships
• Silver in the 4x400m mixed relay at the IAAF World Athletics Championships (senior)
• Bronze in the 4x400m women’s relay at the IAAF World Athletics Championships (senior)

Runner-up

Archie Atkinson
Para Cycling
19, from Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester

• Gold in the men’s C4 Scratch Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)
• Bronze in the men’s C4 Road Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)
• Fifth in the men’s C4 Individual Time Trial at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)

Third place

Freia Challis
BMX
15, from Halstead, Essex

• Gold in the women’s race at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships (15 years)
• Gold in the women’s race at the UEC BMX Racing European Championships (15 years)
• Gold in the women’s race at the UEC BMX Racing European Cup (15/16 years)

And here’s the seven athletes who made the top 10 alongside Yemi, Archie and Freia….

Alice Casburn
Equestrian
21, from Norwich, Norfolk

• Seventh place at the Burghley International three-day event (open age group)
• Seventh place at the Thorsesby Park 4* International (open age group)
• Eighteenth place at the Badminton International 5* three-day event (open age group)

Amelie Tsang
Fencing
17, from Bromley, Greater London

• Gold in the women’s individual foil at the World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships
• Gold in the women’s individual foil at the British Fencing Championships (senior)
• Silver in the women’s individual foil at the EFC Cadet Championships (Cabries event)

Greta Roeser
Canoeing
18, from Guildford, Surrey

• Gold in the women’s K1 5,000m at the ICF Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships
• Silver in the women’s K1 Long Course (17.7km) at the ICF Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships
• Gold in the women’s K1 Short Course at the ECA Junior Canoe Marathon European Championships

Isabella Brown
Weightlifting
19, from Ashford, Middlesex

• Bronze in the women’s 76kg category at the EWF European Junior and U23 Weight Lifting Championships
• Silver in the women’s 76kg category at the British Weight Lifting Championships (senior)
• Ranked third in Europe and eighth in the world in the 76kg category at junior level

Jonah Bryant
Squash
18, from Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex

• Gold in the men’s singles event at the ESF European U19 Individual and Mixed Team Championships
• Gold in the mixed team event at the ESF European U19 Individual and Mixed Team Championships
• Silver in the men’s singles event at the British Junior Open Championships

Kris Kim
Golf
16, from Worcester Park, Greater London

• Won the Junior Ryder Cup with Team Europe by a record margin (Kris won 3.5pts from 4)
• Won the R&A Boys’ Amateur title (U18)
• Won the EGA European Boys Team Championships (U18) and set new course-record

Madeline Down
Para Athletics
16, from Selly Oak, West Midlands

• Gold in the women’s T38 100m at the Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Youth Games
• Gold in the women’s T38 long jump at the Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Youth Games
• Gold in the women’s T38 100m and long jump at the England Athletics National Championships (U17)

Amani Jones named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

December 18, 2023 by Tara S

BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING

Amani Jones (Ola, Ga./North Central College) has been named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on December 14, 2023.

Jones won the title at 123 pounds at the North Central Open, held at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. on Sunday, December 10. The event is one of the toughest women’s college open tournaments. Jones helped lead North Central to the team title in this 29-team tournament, which featured top teams from the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA women’s wrestling.

Jones, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA and a 2023 NCWWC runner-up, scored a 10-0 technical fall over Iowa’s Ava Rose in the finals. As the top seed at 123, Jones won all five of her matches with bonus points, including three falls and two technical falls. She scored pins over Kivah Cavallero of the University of Providence, Karla Topete of Carthage College and Cali Leng of Iowa (in the semifinals.) Her other victory was a 10-0 quarterfinal technical fall over Isabelle Silva of Indiana Tech.

Jones is junior at North Central. In addition to her 2023 NCWWC second place, Jones placed fifth at the 2022 NCWWC Nationals. She was a 2023 U20 World bronze medalist for the United States at 55 kg. She won the 2023 U20 World Team Trials, and was fifth at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open. In 2022, Jones won the Pan American U20 Championships. A graduate of Ola High School in Georgia, Jones was a 2019 16U Nationals champion and fifth at the 2021 Junior Nationals.

To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete’s name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.

30 Under 30 2024: Meet The Athletes And Executives Leading Sports Into The Future

December 12, 2023 by Tara S

These all-stars are expanding their industry into new sports, technologies and demographics.

Shannon Rhodes says she’s “one of one,” but that’s not a boast. A senior director with the NBA, leading a team that builds apps for the league, the 29-year-old Rhodes notes, sadly, that there just aren’t many other women at the intersection of sports and software engineering.

“My aim,” she says, “is to be one of many.”

Rhodes isn’t the only one redefining what success looks like in the sports world. Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, 28, cofounder of the fast-growing sports drink brand Barcode, and Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler, 28, who has his own fantasy football show and frequently streams himself playing video games, are helping expand athletes’ opportunities off the field. Meanwhile, Kelly Sherman, 28, is aiding that effort from the agency side, working with WME Sports’ content division to launch media companies for athletes.

Diana Flores, 26, captain of Mexico’s women’s national flag football team, is bringing attention to a new sport—one that’s headed to the 2028 Summer Olympics. And Jason Spector, 29, is introducing fans to new technologies, merging artificial intelligence with gambling as CBS Sports’ lead data scientist.

ll six are members of Forbes’ 2024 30 Under 30 class in the Sports category, highlighting the all-star athletes, innovative founders and accomplished business professionals defining the future of the industry. Candidates—who had to be 29 or younger as of December 31, 2023, and could not have been previously named to a Forbes 30 Under 30 continental list—were reviewed by a panel of judges featuring some of the sports world’s biggest players: Devin Booker, the Phoenix Suns’ star shooting guard and an alum of the 2022 30 Under 30 list; Sal Galatioto, founder and president of investment bank Galatioto Sports Partners; Carolyn Kindle, CEO and co-owner of Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC; and Renee Montgomery, a two-time WNBA champion as a player who has transitioned to ownership with the Atlanta Dream.

Two of this year’s Under 30 listers—Lauren Esrig, 29, of the Voice in Sport Foundation and Alison Reed, 28, of Women in Sports Tech—work with nonprofits creating new opportunities for women in the industry. Natalie White, 25, founder of Moolah Kicks, is also thinking about inclusivity, but with an entrepreneurial twist: Her company makes performance basketball sneakers designed specifically for female feet. Also in the world of women’s basketball, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, 27, is serving as an advisor for a new league for high schoolers while aiming to launch a new professional league during the WNBA offseason.

Those efforts, and the momentum sweeping across women’s sports more broadly, helped land 18 women among the list’s 30 members.

Along with gender equality, racial diversity is also a growing concern in the industry, with KB Partners senior associate Matt Howard, 29, noting, for instance, that he is among a small group of Black investors in venture capital. But here, too, the 30 Under 30 honorees intend to make a difference. Tennis star Jessica Pegula, 29, for example, now sits on the board of the Asian American Pacific Islander Tennis Association. In all, 15 members of this year’s list identify as people of color.

“As a young Black man, I am passionate about working in a profession that allows me to work predominantly with Black men that are considered culture drivers and sometimes even leaders in our community,” WME Sports basketball agent Isiah Turner, 29, says, adding, “I also believe that in today’s society, one of the best ways to create change is through economics, and that is one of the things that drives me every day to be successful.”

Other sports luminaries from the 2024 list include Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, 26; Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards, 22; and Olivia Dunne, 21, who leads a dual life as an LSU gymnast and as one of the faces of the NCAA’s new NIL marketing era.

Victoria Arlen, 29, who recovered from two serious neurological conditions to win four Paralympic medals and join ESPN as an on-air host, shared her motto with Forbes, and it is surely one her fellow Under 30 listers can relate to, even under less life-threatening circumstances: “Face it, embrace it, defy it, conquer it.”

29 | Tennis Player

Jessica Pegula

Tennis loves a teenage prodigy, whether it’s Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams or Coco Gauff. Pegula, though, had to wait, and work, for her success, not cracking the top 100 in the world rankings until 2019, when she was 24. Next came a meteoric rise to No. 3 in singles in 2022 and No. 1 in doubles in 2023. “Looking back four years later about where my mindset was, I don’t know if I really, truly believed it,” she says. “It’s just been a very long journey.” That trek began in Buffalo, New York, where Pegula’s parents, Terry and Kim, are the billionaire owners of both the NFL’s Bills and the NHL’s Sabres. Pegula can more than stand on her own now, however, making an estimated $6 million from endorsements and appearances on top of $6 million in 2023 prize money. She also owns a skin care line, Ready 24, and sits on the board of the Asian American Pacific Islander Tennis Association. “Athletes are becoming more than one-dimensional, becoming many different things and showing their interests on and off the field,” she says. “And I think it’s great.”

27 | Forward

Napheesa Collier

Napheesa Collier, who took most of the 2022 WNBA season off after welcoming her first child, returned to the court in 2023 and got right back to dominating, finishing fourth in scoring and seventh in rebounding. Working with fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart, she is also launching a new league called Unrivaled to play during the WNBA offseason, and she will serve as an advisor for Overtime Select, a new league for high schoolers.

25 | Outfielder

Ronald Acuña Jr.

In his six seasons in the majors, Ronald Acuna Jr. has helped the Braves win six division titles, displaying Ruthian power, lightning speed and seemingly limitless swagger. Among his accolades: the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award, four All-Star selections and, most recently, the 2023 NL MVP Award. He is the first player ever to post 40 home runs and 70 steals in a single season.

25 | Outfielder

Ronald Acuña Jr.

29 | TV Host

Victoria Arlen

Two rare neurological conditions left Victoria Arlen in a vegetative state for nearly four years, and doctors believed her chances of survival were slim. But she recovered to win four medals in swimming at the 2012 Paralympics and joined ESPN as on-air talent in 2015 at age 20. She now hosts shows including “SportsCenter” across the network’s platforms and also appears on “American Ninja Warrior Junior” on NBC’s Peacock.

29 | Cofounder

Austin Barone

Austin Barone is CEO and handles sales and business development for Just Play Solutions, a workflow and automation platform he cofounded in late 2014 while playing football at the University of Kansas. Barone says Just Play has helped coaches and sports organizations adapt to a new digital age, offering features including automated scouting and advanced data analysis.

28 | Senior Manager of Brand and Content Strategy

Robyn Brown

After Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in February 2022, Robyn Brown devoted the Mercury’s social channels to raising awareness and telling Griner’s story, with the #WeAreBG campaign driving 103 million impressions, she says. For a follow-up in 2023, Brown led the social strategy for DT10K, a campaign around Diana Taurasi becoming the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 points.

22 | Swimmer

Kate Douglass

Kate Douglass had one of history’s most dominant collegiate careers in any sport, becoming the first Division I swimmer to win three individual national titles in three different strokes and piling up 15 NCAA titles during her time at the University of Virginia. At the international level, she won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and piled up nine medals between the 2022 and 2023 world championships.

21 | Gymnast

Olivia Dunne

Olivia Dunne has been an all-American on uneven bars at LSU, but she is better known as one of the faces of college sports’ NIL era, with more than 12 million followers between TikTok and Instagram. She has long-term partnerships with brands including Vuori, American Eagle and Motorola, and Forbes estimates that she made $2.3 million over the 12 months ending in June.

22 | Shooting Guard

Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards appeared as the trash-talking antagonist in Adam Sandler’s 2022 basketball film “Hustle,” foreshadowing a breakout year in which he earned his first NBA All-Star selection with the Timberwolves and led Team USA in scoring at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Edwards, the NBA’s No. 1 overall pick in 2020, also recently released his first signature shoe, with Adidas.

29 | Director of Strategy and Development

Lauren Esrig

Working with the Voice in Sport Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to equity and access to sport for girls, Lauren Esrig has built a Title IX micro-grant program to address gaps at U.S. schools. Noting that only 3% of sports science research is conducted with female athletes, she has led investments in studies focused on women with Stanford and Harvard, and she helped secure Adidas as a research partner.

28 | Running Back

Austin Ekeler

Austin Ekeler has risen from an NCAA Division II star at Western Colorado and an undrafted NFL rookie to starring for the Chargers. Off the field, he has a fantasy football show with Yahoo Sports and has frequently streamed himself playing video games on Twitch, helping earn him a reputation as one of the most “interactive” athletes. He also recently launched fan-engagement platform Eksperience.

29 | Senior Associate

Matt Howard

At KB Partners, a $127 million sports-tech-dedicated investment fund, Matt Howard shoulders major responsibilities, leading and negotiating deal terms, observing on boards and supplying updates to limited partners. A former team captain for Penn basketball, he also continues to mentor young players and speaks on panels focused on preparing young athletes for college.

26 | Quarterback

Diana Flores

Diana Flores, who picked up flag football as an 8-year-old, went from playing in the NFL’s grassroots program in Mexico to participating in the league’s flag championships and, in 2022, leading her country to a 39-6 blowout of the U.S. to win gold at the World Games. She now serves as a global ambassador for the NFL and is the first Under Armour athlete in her sport

27 | Brand Consulting Executive

Stasia Foster

Stasia Foster is a sports marketer working in the sports consulting division at CAA, providing strategic advice to brand clients including Bose, New Balance and JPMorgan Chase on sports league and property sponsorships, talent partnerships and experiential marketing strategies. She was also one of the first CAA sports consulting representatives to participate in, and later graduate from, CAA Elevate, the firm’s agent training program.

26 | Quarterback

Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson, the NFL’s MVP for the 2019 season, signed a five-year, $260 million extension with the Ravens in May after representing himself in negotiations. His $72.5 million signing bonus, which set an NFL contract record, made him football’s highest-paid player for 2023. Off the field, he has a personal clothing brand, a restaurant and a production company and record label.

24 | Professional Skateboarder

Tyshawn Jones

Tyshawn Jones doesn’t skate in competitions but is known as New York’s king of street skating for his jaw-dropping videos, including a production for Supreme that earned him Thrasher Magazine’s 2018 Skater of the Year Award. (He claimed the honor again in 2022.) He started signing sponsorships at age 13 and is also active as an entrepreneur, with a board company, a parts provider, an underwear line and a restaurant.

28 | Forward

Kyle Kuzma

On the court, Kyle Kuzma is a versatile forward, now playing on a four-year, $102 million contract. Off it, he cofounded the fast-growing sports drink Barcode, which made a splash by signing fellow NBA player Victor Wembanyama as an ambassador. Kuzma also created a lifestyle brand, Childhood Dreams, and has collaborated with Puma on two apparel collections

28 | Global Consumer Direct Marketing Lead For Women’s Running

Darcy McFarlane

A former pro soccer player, Darcy McFarlane led key digital and physical product launches for Nike around the 2023 Women’s World Cup, including the Phantom Luna cleat and the company’s first athlete workouts for Netflix. In an earlier role, she was product marketing manager for the Nike Running and Training Club apps, helping develop the shoemaker’s first adaptive workouts

25 | Water Polo Player

Maddie Musselman

Maddie Musselman won Olympic gold in 2016, finishing as Team USA’s second-leading scorer at age 18, and she was named tournament MVP at the Tokyo Games in 2021 as the U.S. claimed another title. She has also racked up four world championship golds, cementing her as the best athlete in her family, no small feat considering her father was an MLB pitcher and her mother played college soccer.

28 | Director of Program Operations

Alison Reed

A former soccer player at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a military veteran, Alison Reed says she always found herself the only woman in the room and decided to become an advocate to help women land leadership roles themselves. She now runs the fellowship program for Women in Sports Tech, a nonprofit helping businesses diversify talent pipelines and create more inclusive cultures

29 | Basketball Data Science And Scheduling Lead

Patrick Harrel

Patrick Harrel leads the NBA’s game scheduling optimization, using data to route road trips more efficiently to reduce the travel burden on NBA players. He has also helped design and implement the NBA’s Covid restart in 2020 and its new play-in and in-season tournaments, and he serves as a league representative on the Competition Committee, which recommends rule changes each year

25 | Founder

Natalie White

Natalie White is CEO of Moolah Kicks, which produces sneakers specifically designed for female basketball players. Through a partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Moolah’s first production run debuted in more than 140 stores, helping create the retailer’s first women’s basketball wall, and the brand now appears in more than 500 stores and is expanding its direct-to-consumer channel.

21 | Forward

Angel Reese

Angel Reese led LSU to its first-ever women’s basketball national championship in 2023, earning the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Award to go with first-team all-American honors. She has also become one of the most marketable stars of the NCAA’s new NIL era, appearing in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue and partnering with brands including Coach, Reebok and PepsiCo’s Starry.

29 | Connected Engineering Lead

Shannon Rhodes

Shannon Rhodes’ teams have launched nine global NBA apps on 12 connected device app stores and worked on the Los Angeles Clippers’ new streaming app, ClipperVision, powered by the NBA app. Previously, she worked on the software engineering team at ESPN, catching the company’s attention, she says, with her senior project at Villanova, which was to automate the first-and-ten line with a $10 camera for high schools

23 | Sprinter

Sha’Carri Richardson

Sha’Carri Richardson missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after a failed drug test drew her a one-month suspension; she was later lauded for speaking openly about how she used cannabis to cope with Olympic qualifying and the death of her biological mother. After a disappointing 2022 season, she took gold in the 100 meters at the 2023 world championships with the fifth-fastest time ever. She also won bronze in the 200.

28 | Agent

Kelly Sherman

After starting in the mailroom at WME, Kelly Sherman became the first agent in the company’s sports content division, building top athletes’ media businesses. She helped Peyton Manning build Omaha Productions, playing a role in the creation of the “Manningcast,” and she has been involved with the companies of notable athletes including LeBron James and Draymond Green, as well as the Kobe Bryant Estate.

23 | Forward

Sophia Smith

Although the U.S. failed to accomplish its goal at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Sophia Smith was the breakout star for a team in transition, posting two goals and an assist. She has been even more dominant at the club level: The NWSL’s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2020, she led the Portland Thorns to the NWSL title in 2022 and earned league and championship MVP honors

29 | Lead Data Scientist

Jason Spector

Jason Spector developed Sportsline AI, an artificial intelligence model that predicts scores and player stat lines for the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, MLB and most of the world’s biggest soccer leagues. Once he could demonstrate that it could outperform professional handicappers, he says, he joined CBS Sports’ “Early Edge” podcast to give out betting picks

29 | Agent

Isiah Turner

Isiah Turner signed his first NBA client, Josh Christopher, while in law school in 2021 and has represented picks in the last two NBA drafts as well, with Jabari Walker and Gradey Dick. Turner has also helped his agency place clients in European, Asian and Latin American leagues and played a key role in recruiting young talent as NIL clients.

29 | Chief Growth Officer

Tom Weingarten

Tom Weingarten, who started as an intern in 2015, now serves as chief growth officer at sports media company Overtime, where he leads its social media strategy across 80-plus accounts. (He actually joined the company before it was called Overtime and was among its first ten employees.) Weingarten also has a role as on-air talent, interviewing players and speaking on podcasts.

Brynn King Breaks NCAA Pole Vault Record

December 7, 2023 by Tara S

ROBERTS WESLEYAN Athletics

AKRON, Ohio – The indoor track and field season started off with a bang for Roberts Wesleyan pole vaulter Brynn King as the grad student broke the NCAA Division II pole vault record with a clearance of 14-feet 5-1/2-inches.

King broke the 14-year old NCAA record in her first-ever meet with the Redhawks while at the Akron Haynes Lancaster Open on Friday evening hosted by the University of Akron. The record was previously held by Katelin Rains of Minnesota State set on Feb. 21, 2009 with a vault of 14-feet 5-1/4-inches. King is now the top vaulter in NCAA DII and has the second-best mark in any division of the NCAA.

“I felt great going into the meet today,” King said. “I have been seeing a lot of technical improvement in practice and was ready to go out, have that meet atmosphere and excitement and see what kind of bars I could jump. It is really exciting to have the D2 record now, we had set that as a goal for me this year and it is really exciting to be able to cross that off the list.”

King, who is a transfer student from Duke University came to Roberts to train under Olympic gold medalist Jenn Suhr. The coach and athlete duo have their expectations set high for both the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.

“I have been jumping some big bars in practice and didn’t execute as well as I wanted to this meet,” King said. “So we have some high expectations for the rest of the season and am planning on much bigger bars coming real soon.”

Roberts track and field will travel to Grand Valley State on Dec. 8 for the GVSU Holiday Open.

Caitlin Clark Makes History With 3,000 Career Points

December 7, 2023 by Tara S

MADISON WILLIAMS | Sports Illustrated

Caitlin Clark made college basketball history on Wednesday, scoring her 3,000th point. Now, the Iowa superstar sits in a class all by herself.

Iowa star Caitlin Clark needed just 22 points when entering Wednesday’s game vs. Iowa State to make NCAA Division I basketball history.

In the third quarter, Clark hit a three-pointer to score her 3,002nd point in her Iowa career.

The shot made her the first basketball player, either men’s or women’s, in NCAA Division I history to record 3,000 points along with at least 750 rebounds and 750 assists. She is the 15th player in NCAA history to hit at least 3,000 points.

It was fitting that Clark reached this historical mark in Ames, Iowa, which is just 41 miles from her home town of Des Moines.

Clark has never won at Iowa State in her career. But, since she was at an opposing arena, the crowd wasn’t as electric for her accomplishment than if she was at home.

Clark and the Hawkeyes played in front of a sold-out crowd at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa games tend to be sold out in every location the Hawkeyes play at, in part thanks to Clark’s popularity. The Hawkeyes even started their season with an exhibition game in Kinnick Stadium in front of over 55,000 fans.

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