American Gold Sports Alliance

Women in Sports

Three Women’s Soccer Members Named All-CCIW

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Liesl Whitener, Molly Fank First Team and Kayla Garcia Second Team were named CCIW All-Conference on Tuesday

APERVILLE, Ill. — Liesl Whitener, Molly Fank, and Kayla Garcia of Augustana Vikings women’s soccer were named to the CCIW’s all-conference teams on Tuesday, with Whitener and Fank earning First Team honors and Garcia earning Second Team.

Whitener led a balanced Vikings offensive attack in goals this season with four that included one game-winner. She was the team leader in assists with four and was the top points-getter with 12. The sophomore started all 16 games played this season and was second on the team in both shots and shots on goal. In league play, she ranked in the top ten in four different categories, including second in assists and seventh in shots.

Joining her on First Team, Fank played a pivotal role on the defense side that helped the team ranked third in goals allowed this season. The junior anchored a defense that posted five shutouts this season and held opponents to just 1.13 goals per contest. She had one goal on 11 shots this year.

Garcia joins her teammates on the All-CCIW selection list on Second Team after finishing second on the team with three goals during the regular season. The junior from Rock Island started all 16 games played this year and led the team in shots (47) and shots on goal (24). She ranked third in the conference in 2021 with two game-winning goals.

This year’s selections makes it three straight seasons the Vikings have placed three members on the all-conference list. No CCIW selections were made in 2020 due to COVID-19. Senior Anna Bross was also named a recipient of the CCIW’s RESPECT Award.

Allyson Felix, Naomi Osaka Earn Women’s Sports Awards

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by: AP News

NEW YORK (AP) — Olympians Allyson Felix and Jordan Larson were honored as Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Felix won two medals at the Tokyo Games — giving her 11 in her career — to surpass Carl Lewis as the most decorated American in Olympic track and field history. Larson led the U.S. women’s volleyball team to victory against Brazil for its first Olympic gold medal.

Naomi Osaka earned the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award for bringing awareness to social justice and mental health issues at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports on Wednesday night.

“I got the courage just to speak out growing up and seeing all of the people around me doing amazing things,” Osaka said, “and not having any fear and standing up for what they believe in.”

Kim Ng of the Miami Marlins, the first female general manager in baseball, received the Billie Jean King Leadership Award. Larry Scott, the former commissioner of the Pac 12 and former CEO of the WTA Tour, accepted the Champion for Equality Award.ADVERTISEMENThttps://65bceafc6476064c638f4381ef648bbd.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

A reception with King was held at the New-York Historical Society ahead of the virtual awards show. Also featured on the virtual program were former baseball manager Joe Torre, Olympic hockey star Meghan Duggan, two-time World Cup champion Julie Foudy, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and Women’s Sports Foundation President Phaidra Knight.

BIG TEN TABS MEGAN KAHN AS VICE PRESIDENT OF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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By: EMMA HRUBY | just women’s sports

Megan Kahn has been named Vice President of Women’s Basketball for the Big Ten, the conference announced Thursday.

The creation of the position was announced in October at the conference’s combined Basketball Media Days in Indianapolis. It’s the first senior-level position in the conference dedicated specifically to growing women’s basketball.

“Megan has been a leader and innovator in women’s college basketball for many years,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren in a release. “She has an extraordinary amount of experience in various roles and has developed a wide network of strong relationships in the women’s basketball community. Her ability to work collaboratively, while also thinking creatively and strategically, will be a tremendous asset to the Big Ten Conference and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Big Ten family.”

Primarily, Khan will be tabbed with “developing cohesive strategy to strengthen, enhance and expand the Big Ten women’s basketball operations, brand and strategic initiatives.”

As part of her new role, Khan will serve as the liaison to head coaches and campus administrators as well as Big Ten Network and other national television partners. Additionally, she will assist in the development of conference scheduling and in coordinating all day-to-day women’s basketball operations.

“I am excited and energized to take on this new role as the Big Ten’s first Vice President of Women’s Basketball,” Kahn said. “Big Ten women’s basketball is trending in an extremely positive direction, making this an ideal time to join our student-athletes, coaches, fans and the whole Big Ten community in taking our sport to new heights. We are at a critical inflection point nationally, not only in women’s basketball, but when it comes to gender equity as a whole and I believe the Big Ten is uniquely positioned to make impactful change in this area in the future.”

Khan most recently worked at WeCOACH, a non-profit committed to the educational and professional development of women’s coaches across all sports and levels. There, she served as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to WeCOACH, Khan served as both an assistant and associate commissioner at the Atlantic 10 Conference from 2008-12 where she supervised all of the conference’s women’s basketball operations.

Hyundia World Archery Cup: Williams Tops Ellison In All-American Final; Kaufhold Claims Women’s Crown

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With the Hyundai World Archery Cup held on U.S. soil for the first time, it was appropriate the men’s title match was an All-American affair.

Jack Williams of California won a shootout over Brady Ellison of Arizona for the gold medal Thursday at Riverside Park, the last two standing from among the division’s eight best men in the world.

Their finale not only guaranteed gold for the U.S. but also marked the first time that the host nation has won the World Archery Cup.

Williams said he felt great about his performance, and winning the gold medal in an All-American final on U.S. soil made it that much sweeter.

“For something like that to happen for the first time, and for me to be that person, is amazing,” he said. “For an archery tournament, this was a really good crowd, and it was great to have all these people cheering for us.”

The two men weren’t the only ones making history for the United States while in Yankton. Last week, Casey Kaufhold of Pennsylvania claimed silver in the women’s recurve at the World Archery Championships, the highest finish in 33 years for a U.S. woman in a world championship. On Thursday, she returned for the World Cup finals and fell just short of another medal.

And she’s only 17 years old.

“It feels really good to win the silver medal, and it makes it even more special to win it in your home country,” she said. “It felt wonderful to have people here supporting me. I have my coach and a lot of teammates here, cheering me on. It was a great atmosphere, and I’m super happy to win.”

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Meet the Athletes: Casey Kaufhold

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Casey Kaufhold is a 17-year-old archer looking to make her Olympic debut. She won bronze in the women’s individual recurve event at the 2019 Pan American Games and took gold in the mixed team event paired with veteran Brady Ellison. She also won gold in the women’s team event.

As part of our preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, NBC Olympics sent questionnaires to a wide range of athletes to learn more about their lives on and off the field of play. 

Here’s some of what we found out about Casey Kaufhold:

Tell us about your family.
My parents, Robert and Carole Kaufhold, own Lancaster Archery Supply. My dad has an archery background and made two national field teams for the U.S. My [older] brother, Conner, is also involved in archery. He also likes to hunt and fish.

What’s a typical training day like?
I train during outdoor season about four to five hours each day, and for indoors I practice three to five hours a day. I sleep about eight hours, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

What’s your favorite workout?
I like doing cardio like running, swimming, or biking. I’ll go on runs with my coach and we will race each other on the way back.

What’s the most grueling workout you’ve ever done?
When I used to do gymnastics, we would have workout days during our camps and the hardest circuit we did was a five-minute dead hang on bars and then a two-minute wall handstand followed by 20 leg lifts from a dead hang again.

What’s your first memory of archery?
My earliest memory of me doing archery is when I used to do compound archery. I was on a 3D target course and I had to “sneak up” or move closer to the targets because my bow didn’t shoot the length of the full distance. I think that memory was when I was 5 years old. I liked archery because it was so different from any other sport I had ever tried. I wanted to dedicate my life to it when I placed top three in my first national senior outdoor event.

What’s your earliest memory of watching the Olympics?
The first memory of me watching the Olympics was when Simone Biles, a U.S. gymnast, went to her first Games is 2016. At the time I wanted to go to the Olympics for gymnastics. I definitely wanted to do something I loved in a setting that big.

Is there anything you wish you could change about your sport?
I wish that archery had the rushing feeling of performing like gymnastics or figure skating does. I miss the way performing for the crowd and how moving to the music felt in gymnastics. I wish a part of archery could give me that same feeling of exhilaration.

What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome?
In order to participate in the 2020 Olympics, I had to begin competing at 70 meters at 14 years of age. I skipped over valuable competition years at 50 and 60 meters in order to achieve my goals.

What’s your music of choice while training?
My go-to song before a competition is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. I like a lot of older music. My top five songs on my playlist are “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” by Paul Anka, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye, and “My Girl” by The Temptations.

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Tara Miller Tries Australian Rules Football

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  • Director of Operations Tara Miller traveled to Austin Texas to umpire in the United States Australian Football League National Tournament. 
  • Despite being new to the sport, everyone involved in the tournament was extremely helpful and welcoming. 
  • If you are looking to get into a new sport, or just want to be a part of a great community, definitely look into Australian Rules Football.
[Read more…] about Tara Miller Tries Australian Rules Football

These Girls Are Ready For Some Football

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Oxford preparing for its first season of girls flag football, open its season at home Tuesday night

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Girls flag football got underway in Alabama this week. Oxford plays its historic first games next Tuesday in a three-team date at Lamar Field.

All of the Lady Jackets’ games will be three-team affairs. They play at home twice this 12-game season – Tuesday and the final week of the regular season Oct. 28. A statewide, one-classification championship game will be played the Wednesday of the Super 7.

“It’s been fun,” Oxford coach Wes Brooks said of the run-up to the season opener. “You think about a girl her whole lifetime thinking what it’s like to play football and now they’re getting that opportunity.”

Nearly 60 schools around the state have declared to play the sport in this first year it’s being offered by the AHSAA. Oxford and Anniston are the only teams in Calhoun County on that list, but they will not be playing each other.

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VALARIE ALLMAN CONTINUES “MAGIC” SEASON, BREAKING OWN AMERICAN RECORD IN DISCUS

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By Karen Rosen

After winning the Olympic gold medal and the Diamond League Trophy this year, Valarie Allman still longed to throw farther than one other person:  herself.

Allman did just that Sunday, winning the women’s discus throw in Berlin at the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) meet.

Her first attempt flew 71.16 meters (233 feet, 5 inches), a personal best by a meter which held up for the victory.

The “AR” next to Allman’s name on the results sheet did not stand for American record – although it was certainly that, eclipsing her own mark of 70.15 meters (230-2) from 2020. Allman now has eight of the top 10 throws in Team USA history – and her 68.80 in the final round in Berlin would have given her nine if secondary throws in a series were counted on the official list.

No, this AR stood for Area Record, with Allman breaking the North & Central American & Caribbean record of 70.88 meters set by Cuba’s Hilda Ramos in 1992. 

“This season, it’s been filled with so many magic moments,” Allman said. “The one thing I want to do every season is try to improve my best – 2021 was coming to the end and to have a PR feels so good! All the work paying off and to see that show up is really special.”

The 26-year-old Colorado native also shattered the meet record of 68.64 meters by Margitta Pufe of East Germany that had lasted since 1979.

And, finally, the mark was the longest throw in the world this year – surpassing Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands, who threw 70.22 in May — giving Allman the coved “WL” next to her name.

“HOLY MACARONI,” Allman posted on Instagram below a photo showing her and coach Zebulon Sion next to the scoreboard with the winning distance.

That was a fitting exclamation since Allman’s career began with pasta. Back in high school, the promise of a spaghetti dinner tempted athletes to try the field events. That led Allman, who had been a competitive dancer, to discover a new passion in life.

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USA Retain Women’s Sitting Volleyball Crown After They Defeat China in Dramatic Final

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Celebrations as USA overpower China 3-0 in a thrilling final to retain their Paralympic crown while Brazil claim bronze on the final day of competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

USA continued their dominance of women’s sitting volleyball by overpowering China in a thrilling final to retain their Paralympic crown.

The squad, which brought an end to China’s unbeaten run at the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016, did it again in impressive form to win 3-1 (25-12, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19) on the last day of competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

It was a fast and furious match with China’s ZHAO Meiling opening the scoreline with the first spike, but the Americans immediately responded with two from Kathryn Holloway and Lora Webster.

Setter Kaleo Kanahele Maclay, who won silver in London 2012 and gold in Rio 2016, was the USA’s key player in keeping the points flowing. Holloway slammed home another spike at 10-6 and the team motored towards the end of the first set, with Heather Erickson taking it in 25-12 in just 19 minutes.

The second set opened again with a point from China with XU Yixiao getting in the first spike, but after Maclay’s 39kmh serve, which was picked up by WANG Yanan, Erickson slammed home another spike, her seventh of the match.

It took just four minutes for the Americans to be up 8-3. China edged back with Wang getting a spike in after a dig error by Webster, but the USA pulled away and were soon up 12-6.

After time out at 13-6, China regrouped as TANG Xuemei, who was a gold medallist in London 2012, immediately smashed a spike passed Holloway. Zhang got a second in, but then Erickson hit home a winner, before Tang replied after a dig error by Matthews.

At 16-10 to the Americans it seemed only a question of time before they closed out the set, but China’s Xu and Wang had other ideas. They both set up a series of spikes and the scoreline got to 19-17. At two points adrift of their opponents, they levelled, but Matthews 11th spike of the match sealed the second set 25-20.

Going into the third, America was just a set away from back-to-back golds. Holloway opened with two points in quick succession. China got two back and the scoreline was drawn but Matthews got in her 12th spike to push them ahead. But Wang was pivotal in changing the score line with a series of spikes and the country was soon leading 10-8.

Holloway and Erickson levelled the score but China pulled away again. The points changed back and forth until China sealed the set 25-22 after 25 minutes.

The nation was more confident going into the fourth and denied the USA the opportunity to pull away with a series of points by Xu and LYU Hongqin. At 21-17 it was all to play for until USA claimed a block. China came back fighting with a point by Lyu, but Erickson, who had impressed throughout the match, set a spike at 24 and the matched was closed out after a reception error by Zhang at 25-19.

When the final bell went the USA team erupted in cheers and hugs. It had been a long battle. On their way to the final USA, who were also silver medallists in London 2012 and Beijing 2008 and bronze medallists in Athens 2004, had not conceded a set. They beat China in an earlier heat as well as Rwanda and the Russian Paralympic Committee before overpowering Brazil in the semifinal.

In the women’s bronze medal sitting volleyball match, Brazil came out on top with a 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 26-24, 25-14) win over Canada. Their compatriot Para swimming legend Daniel Dias, who retired this week as the sport’s most successful Paralympian with 27 medals, was in the arena to cheer them on.

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