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Carolina junior wins a gold medal at the Paralympics

September 30, 2021 by Tara S

Emma Schieck reached the pinnacle of the sport she loves when she won a gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics as a member of the U.S. sitting volleyball team.

By Brandon Bieltz, University Communications.

When Emma Schieck first started playing volleyball at age 7, not everybody thought that it was for her. Because of permanent nerve damage that prevents her from fully straightening and rotating her left arm, a sport like soccer might be more her speed, they said.

But Schieck loved volleyball from the first time she picked up a ball at an elementary school “try it sports day.”

“I loved it. It was the best time,” says Schieck, now a junior at Carolina. “I had to leave volleyball to go to the cheerleading session, and I remember in the middle of the session getting up and leaving, going out the back so I could go back to the gym and play more volleyball.”

She wasn’t going to let a physical disability get in her way. The suggestion that she couldn’t play has fueled her drive. She has played 13 years of standing volleyball, and, most recently, picked up sitting volleyball, the adaptative version of the sport.

Schieck recently reached the pinnacle of the sport she loves when she won a gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics as a member of the U.S. sitting volleyball team. With Schieck acing the gold-medal point, the team defeated China 3-1 on Sept. 5 in Tokyo to earn gold.

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17-YEAR-OLD ARCHER CASEY KAUFHOLD’S SILVER ENDS 33-YEAR MEDAL DROUGHT AT WORLDS

September 27, 2021 by Tara S

By Karen Price | TEAM usa

The world may not belong to archer Casey Kaufhold yet, but the keyword there is yet.

On Sunday, the 17-year-old who is coming off her first Olympic appearance won the silver medal at the World Archery Championships in Yankton, South Dakota. It’s the first women’s medal at the world championships for the U.S. in 33 years. She lost to Korea’s Jang Minhee 6-0 in the final.

“I literally thought of it as I have nothing to lose,” Kaufhold told USA Archery. “I’m 17 and I’ve only been shooting international tournaments for, like, three years so why hold back? I put everything out there, didn’t hold back pretty much and that was my main goal, to leave it all out there on the stage.”

On the men’s side, Brady Ellison didn’t get the opportunity to defend his world title after losing in the semifinal but held on in windy conditions later in the day to defeat Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey for the bronze medal 6-2.

Ellison, ranked No. 1 in the world, was looking to become the first man ever to repeat as recurve world champion but lost in an upset to Marcus D’Almeida of Brazil in a semifinal tiebreaker. Ellison competed at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for the fourth time this summer but failed to medal for the first, finishing seventh overall.

Ellison, Jack Williams, and Matthew Nofel did win the recurve men’s team gold final against Olympic champions Korea earlier this weekend.

For Kaufhold, a teenager from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, appearing in her first world championship final, it was another big step in her rise in the sport.

Earlier this year she broke the under-21 world record in the 72-arrow, 70-meter qualification round the Olympic Trials, becoming the first in the junior age group to shoot higher than 680. She scored 682 out of 720 points, beating Korean An San’s record of 678 set in 2019. She made the Olympic team and finished 17th overall.

On Sunday, she scored a major upset in the semifinals, knocking off the Olympic gold medalist and the woman whose under-21 record she broke back in May, San, by a score of 6-2.

Unfortunately, Kaufhold struggled with consistency in the gold medal match and trailed Minhee 4-0 going into the third set. Both archers shot nines to start things off, but Kaufhold shot another nine on her second arrow and Minhee responded with a 10. A second 10 finished things off and Minhee claimed the world title.

Karen Price

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Multiple Hat Tricks Lead Helena High Girls Past Capital

September 20, 2021 by Tara S

HELENA — Throughout her high school career, Helena High’s Rachel Plaster has had a penchant for finding the back of the net.

Prior to Wednesday’s crosstown matchup with Helena Capital, Plaster had scored four goals in seven games this season. But against the Bruins, the senior scored four goals, including a first-half hat trick in what wound up as a 7-1 win.

“It was a really fun day,” Plaster said after the win. “I think I was just finally playing to play. Instead of looking at stats and things like that. I feel like I got my mojo back a little bit — just playing hard, trying to win 50/50 balls and worrying how to progress the ball. I’ve had a bit of a mental thing, I just feel like every time I shoot, it’s been right at the goalie, but today, I just felt good and I’m just so proud of all my teammates.”

One teammate the senior can be particularly proud of is sophomore Avery Kraft, who netted a hat trick of her own on Wednesday.

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These Girls Are Ready For Some Football

September 20, 2021 by Tara S

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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The Most Surreal Thing I’ve Ever Done’: UNC Student Emma Schieck Reflects on Paralympic Gold Medal

September 14, 2021 by Tara S

Posted by Michael Koh

When she returns to Chapel Hill after taking the semester off, UNC student Emma Schieck will have some extra hardware to show off from her time away: a Paralympic gold medal.

Schieck is a member of the United States national sitting volleyball team, which won gold at this year’s Tokyo Summer Paralympics. Schieck served the winning ace in the gold medal match against China. What was going through her head when she prepared her final serve?

“To be completely honest, nothing. I hardly even remember it,” Schieck told 97.9 The Hill. “I remember the second I realized I was gonna be going in, because my coach had told me a few points before, if Katie [Holloway], number five, our captain, gets back, ‘You’re going in and serving for her.’ And at that moment, I was like, ‘Oh crap. Like, don’t miss this. Don’t mess this up. This is it.’”

Schieck is a junior at Carolina. She said the entire experience of representing Team USA in Tokyo, almost 7,000 miles from her hometown of Statesville, N.C., is one she hasn’t fully taken in yet.

“It was the most surreal thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “It’s still kind of processing. Honestly, it really didn’t hit fully until I got home, and was walking to the airport. And I was like, ‘Wait, this just happened. I just did this. This is the experience I just had.’”

Schieck has permanent nerve damage that prevents her from fully straightening or rotating her left arm, but that didn’t stop her from playing standing volleyball competitively through high school. Schieck cited a need to prove others wrong as a motivating factor.

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

September 14, 2021 by Tara S

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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OLYMPIAN MIRACLE MAKES WORLD TEAM IN WOMEN’S FREESTYLE; BURKERT WINS IN DECIDING THIRD BOUT FOR FOURTH WORLD TEAM

September 13, 2021 by Tara S

By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Jenna Burkert of Army WCAP celebrates after her stunning win at the World Team Trials. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com

Six new U.S. Senior World Team members in women’s wrestling were determined during the Championship Series at the Senior World Team Trials in Lincoln, Neb.

The winners join four Tokyo Olympic medalists from the USA to form the 10-athlete team competing in Oslo, Norway, October 2-10.

2020 Tokyo Olympian Kayla Miracle of the Sunkist Kids will also compete in the World Championships in Oslo after defeating 2018 World bronze medalist Mallory Velte in two matches at 62 kg. Miracle won the first bout, 5-3, but was able to open up her offense in a 10-2 victory in bout two. This will be Miracle’s second Senior World team, to go along with the Olympic berth.

Making her fourth Senior World Team was Jenna Burkert of Army WCAP, who needed three full matches to defeat 2019 World champion and 2020 Olympian Jacarra Winchester of the Titan Mercury WC at 55 kg. All three bouts were close, with exciting finishes.

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HOW CISCO IS HELPING POWER NELLY KORDA AND THE LPGA

September 10, 2021 by Tara S

BY: Emma Hruby | Just Women’s Sports

Not even Nelly Korda predicted the year she would have on the golf course.

After COVID-19 forced the suspension of part of the 2020 season, Korda has doubled her wins on the LPGA Tour in 2021, claimed her first major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The 23-year-old enters the Solheim Cup this weekend ranked No. 1 in the world after the most dominant season on tour of any women’s golfer.

Cisco has been following Korda’s career ascent with pride.

The technology company partners with Korda and eight other golfers across the PGA, LPGA and APGA Tours, creating one of the most diverse rosters of athlete brand ambassadors in golf. When Cisco signed Korda along with older sister Jessica Korda and Danielle Kang in January 2020, she was coming off of a few titles and her first top-10 ranking, but the company couldn’t have known how quickly she would rise.

The reputation Korda has built since then is what makes her an ideal representative of Cisco’s mission in golf. Through their involvement in the sport, Cisco is committed to creating more visibility for women’s golf and ultimately inspiring the next generation of female golfers.

“The last 18 months have truly been a whirlwind,” Korda said. “Obviously when I partnered with Cisco at the beginning of last year, no one could have imagined what would come with the Tour being suspended and the world really coming to a halt.

“But to come out of such an uncertain time playing the best golf of my career, and to win my first major championship, become World No. 1 and win an Olympic gold medal all in the last few months is more than I ever could have dreamed.”

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Memorable Moments of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

September 7, 2021 by Tara S

After 12 days of outstanding athleticism, skill and courage, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is over. The global sporting event was a feast of historic firsts and moments of shared joy and pain. These are just some of the memorable highlights.

After a year’s delay to the start of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, “moving forward” had been the overwhelming theme of the Opening Ceremony. From that impressive start to the Games, there has been a stream of outstanding performances from more than 4,400 athletes who have travelled from across the globe to take part; from historic firsts to moments of shared joy and pain. We salute everyone who took part.

Here we record just a few of the many special moments.

DAY 1: Australia’s Paige Greco wins first gold at Tokyo 2020

Paige Greco, 24, became the first gold medallist of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The Australian won the C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit, in a time of 3:50.815 to set a new world record.

READ MORE: Australia’s Paige Greco wins first gold medal of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic GamesPaige Greco AUS is presented with the Gold Medal in the Track Cycling Womens C3 3000m Individual Pursuit at the Izu Velodrome, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday 25 August 2021. Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock. Handout image supplied by OIS/IOCHandout image supplied by OIS/IOC. Olympic Information Services OIS.

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