Gästebuch » -- Chase Morlock, North Dakota State, Sr.WR -- Lance Le

Katie Ledeckys Olympic Games are off to a flying start: The 19-year-old swimmer took gold in her first individual event Sunday night. And she didnt just win -- she blew her competition out of the water, finishing with a nearly 5-second lead and breaking her own world record in the 400-meter freestyle.By holding world records in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle, Ledeckys dominance continues to be astounding. During Sunday nights broadcast, as Ledecky quickly pulled ahead of the pack, NBCs Rowdy Gaines proclaimed: A lot of people say she swims like a man. She doesnt swim like a man -- she swims like Katie Ledecky.Indeed, the tendency to compare women athletes to men seems to arise no matter what, in an attempt to contextualize female athletic achievement in the male terms we understand as default.This girl is doing respectable times for guys, 11-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte told USA Today. Olympic silver medalist Connor Jaeger took the comparison beyond her impressive times. Her stroke is like a mans stroke, he told the Washington Post. I mean that in a positive way. She swims like a man.Lochte, Jaeger and most people comparing Ledecky to male swimmers are trying to be nothing but praiseworthy. And the idea that she has a mans stroke isnt entirely hyperbolic. As espnWs?Philip Hersh explains, her coach tweaked her mechanics to employ techniques rarely used by female swimmers:And yet, its easy to see why many on social media reacted strongly to the idea of comparing Ledecky to a man in the first place. Ledecky uses a stroke traditionally ascribed to men, but theres nothing about the skills required to employ that stroke that are uniquely male. Strength and timing can be acquired, and history has shown us that both improved training and increased access to sports helps close the gap between men and women athletes.This is demonstrably true in swimming. In 2012, the Atlantics Robinson Meyer found that womens world-record times in the 100 free have improved at a greater pace than the mens times since 1905. Interestingly, he also compared mens and womens world records across events and found that women come closest to men in longer races, particularly the 1500.Thats noteworthy with regard to Ledecky because, while she holds the world record in the 1500 free, she wont have the chance to swim the event in Rio. The womens mile is glaringly absent from the Olympic program, which has featured the mens 1500 since 1908.The reasons are vague and unconvincing -- everything from a lack of global reach to a dearth of public interest. But while the 1500 requires more patience from viewers than shorter races with more immediate excitement, theres no explanation for why that same reasoning isnt applied to the men -- nor why it also doesnt hold true for the 10K open-water swim, which was introduced to the Olympics for both men and women in 2008. As for the global nature of the womens mile, since the 1500 was added to the FINA world championship program in 2001, the event has hailed medalists from 11 different countries.The International Olympic Committee has thus far rejected FINAs attempts to push for the womens 1500 in the Olympics, citing too many events on the schedule. Thats a very real concern, and has led the IOC to foolishly eliminate other essential events in the past. (Welcome back, baseball and softball.)Having men swim a 1500 while the women swim an 800 harkens back to a time of immense resistance to all womens events, particularly those endurance sports thought to be too physically strenuous for delicate female bodies. And while that might not be the intention, its not happening in a vacuum. Its happening in a sports climate that tells women tennis players they cant play five sets, that belittles womens basketball and soccer players for hypothetically not being able to compete with the men, that delegitimizes womens sports entirely when athletes like Serena Williams or the UConn basketball team are deemed too dominant -- dominance for which Ledecky receives praise when its framed in mens terms.Its a vestige of still seeing sports as inherently male space, and of mostly male fans and commentators unable or unwilling to consider female athletes by their merits alone. Forgetting that half of sports fans are women, the narrative takes shape around terms to which the prototypical mens fan can relate. But when women are derided when theyre not as strong or fast as the men, yet simultaneously scorned when they dominate other women, we miss the point of womens sports entirely. We miss the fact that playing like a girl means something entirely different today than it meant 50 years ago.Its important to remember that Ledecky, who is going for a medal Tuesday night in the 200 freestyle, doesnt swim like a man -- she swims like Katie Ledecky. Mone Davis indeed does throw my curveball like Clayton Kershaw and my fastball like Mone Davis. There isnt a ceiling on womens athletic achievement, and strong female athletes will continue to innovate and evolve their events in terms of womens sports, not mens, even if and when that means competing on the same level.Regardless of comparison, womens sports need to be celebrated and enjoyed on their own merits -- by men and women alike. Whether you watched Michael Jordan as a Knicks fan, Mariano Rivera as a Red Sox fan or Nadia Comaneci as an American, you were still watching greatness, even if you were on the other team.So savor the moments you get to watch Ledecky and Williams and Simone Biles. 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(STATS) -- The top three finishers in the Missouri Valley Football Conference had the most first-team selections on the all-conference team announced Monday.Co-champion North Dakota State, which has won the last five FCS national titles, led the way with eight first-team selections, including repeat picks Zack Johnson, an offensive tackle, and Greg Menard, a defensive end. The Bison had four second-team and three honorable mention selections.South Dakota State, the other co-champion, and third-place finisher Youngstown State each had five first-team selections.The MVFCs postseason awards were announced last Wednesday, and South Dakota State captured three honors with quarterback Taryn Christion (offensive player of the year), linebacker Christian Rozeboom (freshman of the year) and John Stiegelmeier (coach of the year).---=MVFC POSTSEASON AWARDS=OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Taryn Christion, QB, South Dakota StateDEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Karter Schult, DE, Northern IowaNEWCOMER OF THE YEAR -- Chris Streveler, QB, South DakotaFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR -- Christian Rozeboom, LB, South Dakota StateCOACH OF THE YEAR -- John Stiegelmeier, South Dakota StateALL-MVFC FIRST TEAMOFFENSEQB -- Taryn Christian, South Dakota State, So.RB -- King Frazier, Northh Dakota State, Sr.ddddddddddddRB -- Martin Ruiz, Youngstown State, Sr.FB -- Chase Morlock, North Dakota State, Sr.WR -- Lance Lenoir, Western Illinois, Sr.WR -- Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, Jr.TE -- Dallas Goedert, South Dakota State, Jr.OL -- Brock Eisenhuth, Youngstown State, Sr.OL -- Zack Johnson, North Dakota State, Sr.OL -- Landon Lechler, North Dakota State, Sr.OL -- Jacob Ohnesorge, South Dakota State, Jr.OL -- Mark Spelman, Illinois State, Sr.DEFENSEDL -- Greg Menard, North Dakota State, Jr.DL -- Avery Moss, Youngstown State, Sr.DL -- Derek Rivers, Youngstown State, Sr.DL -- Karter Schult, Northern Iowa, Sr.LB -- Dylan Cole, Missouri State, Sr.LB -- Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State, Fr.LB -- M.J. Stumpf, North Dakota State, Sr.LB -- Brett Taylor, Western Illinois, Sr.DB -- LeRoy Alexander, Youngstown State, Sr.DB -- Trey Dempsey, North Dakota State, Jr.DB -- Robbie Grimsley, North Dakota State, So.DB -- Davontae Harris, Illinois State, Jr.SPECIAL TEAMSPK -- Miles Bergner, South Dakota, Sr.P -- Miles Bergner, South Dakota, Sr.LS -- Joshua Appel, Indiana State, Sr.RS -- Deion Holliman, Missouri State, Jr. ' ' '