Tag Archive - women sports

Kenya Letting Go, Britian Holding On

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: April 19, 2010 at 12:33 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 2 Comments

Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, 16-years-old, has dual citizenship but a single love: swimming. She has been swimming for Kenya up until recently. She made the switch to Britian four days late for automatic admission to the 2012 Olympics, but she can petition the board for permission. Achieng is the #2 swimmer in the world and is leaving Kenya rather high-and-dry. In Kenya, where athletes are less available, she had a better shot at receiving the training, and pool time in Kenya, but now she is ready to move on and move up.

“Her chances were better here than there (England) where there are many good swimmers. She’s really let us down.” Andrew Nderu, her one-time coach at Peponi School, said. “It’s sad, given she’s number two in the world with a time of 31.04 seconds in 50m breaststroke. We will have to dig deep and come up with new swimmers,”

Tara Whitten: Working On Two PhD’s, One In Gold Medal Wins

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: April 16, 2010 at 11:03 am
In: Female Athletes With: 1 Comment

Tara Whitten, 29-years-old, can generally be found in two states of dress: a lab coat or cycling gear. She is a PhD student studying electrophysiology of the hippocampus. I didn’t know what that was either, but apparently it deals with how different areas of the brain communicate with each other.  Tara wasn’t always a cyclist, she is a former cross country skier who always had Olympic dreams. She switched sports three years ago when her skiing career was no longer progressing. The switch was a good one.

At the recent Track Cycling World Championships in Copenhagen, Tara ended a 16-year gold medal drought for Canada by winning the women’s omnium, a new Olympic event. Less than 24-hours later, she won the women’s points race giving Canada another gold.

“I remember setting goals with my first coach when I was skiing when I was 12, saying I wanted to go to the Olympics,” Tara said. “What I’m really excited about in track cycling now is my goal has changed from wanting to go to the Olympics to believing I can be a medal contender at the Olympics and that’s kind of special to me.”

Red Bull Gives You Wings, But Grete Eliassen Had All The Guts

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: April 15, 2010 at 11:01 am
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 0 Comments

Grete Eliassen, 23-years-old, is a professional skier; she is one of the best all-around skiers in the game, with multiple wins on her resume. Now, she has one more highlight to add to her accomplishments. She has just set the new world record for the highest hip air by a women. She reached speeds of approximately 60 miles an hour, hit the custom 30-foot tall hip and launched 31 feet above the deck of a gigantic hip jump (custom built by Red Bull).

 ”There is no other experience in the world that feels even close to what I feel when I am jumping. Having such a large feature built just for me was a super humbling experience. With my whole crew, family and friends watching it was really an incredible day. It is a moment in my life I will remember forever,” said Grete.

High School Senior, Cheerleader and Powerlifter

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: April 2, 2010 at 10:44 am
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 0 Comments

Mary Grace Jimenez is a high school senior, cheerleader, a student ambassador, a saxophone player and power lifter. At just 105 pounds, Mary Grace has a combined lift of over 500 pounds.

“I did gymnastics for 10 years so I knew I had the muscles to do it,” she said. “And I’m very big on women’s strength so that pushed me. I hate it when people say it’s only a guy’s sport.”

Mary Grace is making sure she is doing her part to make it a girls sport. In the North State Championships, she won the 105-pound weight class, by 35 pounds, with a total of 505 pounds: 205 in squat, 75 in bench press and 225 on dead lift.

History Changed–Kelly Kulick Wins PBA

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 24, 2010 at 8:56 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 0 Comments

Kelly Kulick, 32-years-old,  added the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) title Sunday at the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas to her list of accolades. She already holds  two PBA Women Series titles and with this outstanding performance, becomes the first women in history to win a PBA title. She beat the 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year, Chris Barnes, by 70 pins to win the title.  

“To be the first woman is huge…words can’t even describe the feeling. I feel confident I can be a good enough competitor to stay out on Tour. My next goal is to make a television show and become the first woman to win a PBA Tour title,” Kelly told press.

At Just Under 5′ She Has A Jump Shot & Scholorship

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 21, 2010 at 3:03 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 0 Comments

Alisha Andrews (in white and gold) is only 4’11″, but has been a starter on the Redan High School varsity basketball team since ninth grade and leads her undefeated team in every statistical column except rebounds and blocks. The Atlanta team has gone undefeated in the last 41 games. First-year coach Jerry Jackson recalled a story:

“Redan trailed a preseason scrimmage by three points with a few seconds remaining. She [Alisha] looked up at me, [a towering one-time college quarterback with the girth of an NFL lineman] and said, ‘Coach, just give me the ball. I’ll dribble down, step back and drill the 3.’ Which she did, forcing overtime.”

Her hight has her a bit over looked by the SEC and ACC, but she is already being scouted by mid-majors. She lives by the words of her father, “It doesn’t matter how tall you are, if you’ve got heart, you can do anything. Kids are gonna look up to you, even if you’re the smallest one.”

Asian Games Adds Women’s Boxing

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 20, 2010 at 6:40 pm
In: Female Athletes With: 0 Comments

It was announced on Wednesday by officials that women’s boxing will make its debut in the Asian Games this year. The decision was influenced by the addition of women’s boxing into the 2012 Olympics. The Asian Games, like the Olympics, will have three classes: flyweight, lightweight and middleweight. The Asian games, with over 14,000 participants from 45 countries competing in 42 sports, is the second largest sporting event with the summer Olympics coming in first.

Wheelchair Rugby

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 20, 2010 at 3:37 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff With: 0 Comments

In my daily quest for the latest and greatest, I came across this press release:

“Palm Beach County Therapeutic Recreation is hosting the 10th Annual Knock & Roll Wheelchair Rugby Tournament Friday through Sunday. The event, which will be held at Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation’s Therapeutic Recreation Complex, 2728 Lake Worth Road, will feature teams from the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain. More than 90 disabled athletes are expected to participate. Competition begins at 9 a.m. daily. The final will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Free. Call (561) 966-7088 or visit www.quadrugby.com.”

And, like you are doing right now, I wondered what in the world…so I found out. According to the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation, wheelchair rugby is pretty popular and combines some elements of basketball, rugby and ice hockey. It began in 1977 by a group of quadriplegic athletes who wanted an alternative to Wheelchair Basketball. The sport they created was originally called Murderball, but today is referred to as Wheelchair Rugby.

Could Third Time Be a Charm For Allison Baver?

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 19, 2010 at 1:29 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff, Video With: 1 Comment

Allison Baver, 29-years-old, is an U.S. Olympic Speed Skater hopeful. This is not her first opportunity to attend the Olympics, but it could be her first healthy showing. Her first two trips to the games were plagued with injury and this may be our first good look at Allison’s ability on the Olympic stage.  

A little over a year ago the skater had a horrible crash during an race resulting in breaking her right tibia, fractured in four places. She also suffered major ‘blunt force damage to her right  ankle. However, today Allison is super focused and excited about her third shot at the Olympic podium. 

 “The last four years, there have been a series of things happen, and I still managed to compete. The third Games mean so much because of all the things that have happened over the years. Everything changes when you have a trauma like that,” Allison said. “My trainer the other day said, ‘Allison, all of the things I’ve done to your leg and you’ve never said ouch.’ I’ve just tried to stay positive.”

Here is the video from that horrible accident. It is amazing that she is already back in exceptional shape and is ready for the race of her life!

LNF Ultra Cage Fight Night For A Cause

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 19, 2010 at 12:56 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff, Wrestling With: 0 Comments

MMA fighters gathered to raise money for breast cancer survivors this past weekend in an event put of my LNF Promotions. It was the first event for LNF Ultra Cage Fighters and was a huge success. The night consisted of 11 MMA matches, a martial arts academy demonstration, Dr. Lisa Tito’s board-breaking spinning back kick, and the extreme antics of “The Human Floor” Pete Tino.

It was only fitting that the ‘fight of the night’ was between two female fighters, Kaline Medeiros (pictured) and Katie Merrill. Katie dominated the first round, while the second round found Kaline with a fierce will to win. The fight went to a third round and then to a decision. A decision that has fans from both camps screaming. The Kaline Medeiros camp was screaming in victory, while the Katie Merrill camp made their discontent known.

“The fight could have gone either way,” LNF Director Greg Mendes said. “But I agree with the decision. And you can’t criticize the judges, they called it the way they saw it.”

“LNF Ultra Cage Fights is backed by LNF Promotions, a non-profit company comprised of Daniel Ferrie and his two sons, Jared and Alastair.  Until recently we had been mostly unaware of the continuing prevalence of breast cancer today.  Then in March of 2008, our mother, Linnet N. Ferrie, was diagnosed with the disease.  All within a year, Linnet underwent treatment, fought a hard battle, but ultimately and unfortunately lost out to the illness. 

From our loss we have established LNF Promotions and with it we hope to create an event that spreads the message of hope and raises higher awareness of the disease in both men and women so that others will join us in the Fight For Life.”

Paige Nemec, Varsity Wrestler Sets Ohio Record

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 19, 2010 at 12:19 pm
In: Female Athletes, Stuff, Wrestling With: 0 Comments

Paige Nemec, high school senior, has just set the record for the first girl in Ohio history to win 100 career varsity wrestling matches. She has a record of 100-30, and all but one of the match’s were against boys.

“There’s always going to be people that don’t agree with women competing in male-dominated sports, but I think some people have respect for me because I think I put in just as much work as the boys,” she told press. “I see myself as a wrestler, not a girl wrestler. I just want people to accept me as a wrestler and not worry about, ‘She’s a girl, and some guys won’t wrestle her.’ I don’t see any difference at all.”

Paige isn’t just an amazing wrestler, she is also a great soccer player with 65 career goals all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. While she has been offered a few wrestling scholarships, she has chosen to accept a soccer scholarship. She will be missed in the wrestling community, but will not be forgotten!

 

Basketball Getting Sexy All Year Long

Post Author: Lori Braun Posted on: January 17, 2010 at 8:13 pm
In: Female Athletes, Galleries With: 0 Comments

The Belarus Ladies Basketball team is the latest example of sexy women in basketball. The team posed, barely clad, for a calendar. It isn’t odd to have a hot player or two on a  team, but to have twelve?! 

You are just going to have to see for yourself. Which month is your favorite? I would have to pick August, but who wears leather in August?

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