Sports
14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky encourages Gen Z grads to set goals—but don’t expect to achieve them: ‘You don’t have to win the race’
For Gen Z navigating today’s complicated entry-level job world, it can feel like it’s more important than ever to be the best—and stick out against the sea of competition. However, 14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky says being too focused on beating others can actually backfire. Instead, she encourages young people to stay in their lane […]

For Gen Z navigating today’s complicated entry-level job world, it can feel like it’s more important than ever to be the best—and stick out against the sea of competition.
However, 14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky says being too focused on beating others can actually backfire. Instead, she encourages young people to stay in their lane and define success on their own terms.
“You don’t have to win the race. You just need to win your race,” she said to this year’s graduates at Stanford University, her alma mater. “And winning your race means falling in love with the process. Fall in love with the process, not the podium.”
The 28-year-old added that instead of being focused on the performance of others, it’s critical to set your own standards for success.
“I set goals, but those goals aren’t about winning. Winning is inherently about comparison,” she said. “The real race is always the same: it’s me against my goals.”
And while Ledecky’s advice may sound counterintuitive for an Olympic athlete, she’s won more medals than any U.S. female Olympian (including nine golds, the first she won at just 15 years old) and holds the world record for the women’s 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle.
In the end, keeping your eyes on someone else’s lane can throw you off your own pace. The more energy you spend tracking the competition, the less you have to invest in mastering your craft.
Fortune reached out to Ledecky for comment.
Keep the right people in your lane
Like being in the corner office, swimming can largely feel like a lonesome single-person sport (the 1500m freestyle is 30 laps back and forth for over 15 minutes). However, Ledecky insists that success can’t be achieved without having other people in your corner to help you along the way.
“You can’t go the distance alone, continue to surround yourself with people who will challenge you, support you and make you laugh, make sure you spend time with the people who matter to you,” she told the class of 2025.
It’s a message echoed by other professional athletes in their own journeys. Fellow American olympian Simone Biles credited her mom as someone who helped her stay focused on achieving her goals.
“It does give me chills thinking about what I have accomplished in gymnastics,” Biles said to graduates at Washington University in St. Louis this year. “But I’m going to let you in on a little secret—being the GOAT was never the goal.”
Like Ledecky, Biles wasn’t focused on being the best gymnast ever, but rather the best version of herself.
“To be an elite student or an elite athlete or an elite anything, you have to be…the kind of person who is fueled by their own passion,” Biles added. “My goal was to be the greatest Simone Biles of all time.”
The similarities between CEOs and athletes
By many means, the skills needed to succeed in business are similar to those of a professional athlete. According to McKinsey, the need for time management, resilience, and a learning mindset are especially parallel.
“The best leaders today have made a generational change in their thinking, one that closely parallels how elite athletes prepare, train, and compete,” wrote McKinsey partners Bob Sternfels and Daniel Pacthod. “In several ways, the two jobs—CEO and athlete—are highly correlated.”
In fact, many chief executives credit sports for shaping their leadership styles in the boardroom.
Stephanie Linnartz, the former CEO of Under Armour, told Fortune that as a runner, she learned the importance of treating the pathway to success as a marathon, not a sprint.
“Sports can empower all of us to achieve excellence in every aspect of our lives. We are all athletes, pursuing our own greatness in everything that we do,” Linnartz said. “Personally, I’ve always been an avid runner as the sport has kept me grounded throughout my life and focused on what’s up ahead, rather than behind.”
Sports
WolfPack Top 20 Moments in 20 Years
Story Links Join the WolfPack in celebrating our past! With the upcoming 2025-26 season marking the 20th year of the WolfPack, we are excited to launch our Top 20 moments in 20 years campaign. Recognizing the top moments both on and off the field of play from the ‘Pack, this campaign […]

Join the WolfPack in celebrating our past!
With the upcoming 2025-26 season marking the 20th year of the WolfPack, we are excited to launch our Top 20 moments in 20 years campaign.
Recognizing the top moments both on and off the field of play from the ‘Pack, this campaign will celebrate the many outstanding achievements that our WolfPack student-athletes have achieved since 2005-06.
Whether it’s a playoff victory, an overtime winner or a monumental occasion for the department – nominate your favourite moment at the link below and have your say in the top 20 moments of the first 20 years of the WolfPack.
NOMINATION LINK
Sports
Season Review: 2025 Michigan Women’s Track and Field
Big Ten Indoor Championships: T10th of 17 (31 points) NCAA Indoor Championships: T28th (8) Big Ten Outdoor Championships: 9th of 19 (46) NCAA Outdoor Championships: T26th (10) The University of Michigan women’s track and field team had another successful season, earning one NCAA individual championship, two Big Ten individual titles and seven Big Ten medals, […]

Big Ten Indoor Championships: T10th of 17 (31 points)
NCAA Indoor Championships: T28th (8)
Big Ten Outdoor Championships: 9th of 19 (46)
NCAA Outdoor Championships: T26th (10)
The University of Michigan women’s track and field team had another successful season, earning one NCAA individual championship, two Big Ten individual titles and seven Big Ten medals, as well as setting seven program records, three national records, one collegiate record, one NCAA Outdoor Championships meet record, and one Big Ten record during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Individual Highlights
• The Maize and Blue earned three individual medals at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, with Savannah Sutherland claiming the 400-meter dash title (51.74 seconds) for the second straight year. Aasia Laurencin finished second in the 60-meter hurdles (7.97), and Elizabeth Tapper finished third in the shot put (18.26 meters/59 feet, 11 inches).
• Laurencin’s time set the St. Lucia 60-meter hurdles national record while Tapper’s mark set the program shot put record and is 24th all-time on the NCAA performers list.
• The trio represented Michigan at the NCAA Indoor Championships, with Sutherland placing fourth in the 400-meter dash (51.23) and Laurencin placing sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.09). Sutherland’s time set the program and Canadian national records for the 400-meter dash. Tapper finished 12th (16.90m/55-5.5) in her NCAA Championships debut.
• Earlier in the season, Sutherland also set the program 200-meter dash record (23.26) and came just 0.01 seconds shy of the 60-meter dash mark with a time of 7.34 at the Michigan Invitational.
• In the outdoor season, Sutherland claimed her third straight Big Ten 400-meter hurdles title (55.37) before setting the NCAA East First Round meet record in the event for the second consecutive year with a time of 54.39 to punch her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• Tapper finished second in the shot put at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and set the program record with a mark of 17.65m (57-11). Sidney Green also took home silver in the 400-meter hurdles (57.47), while the 4×400-meter relay team of Payton Smith, Sutherland, Green and Trinity Henderson earned bronze (3:32.47). Emma Yungeberg finished fourth in the javelin throw, improving on her program-record personal best with a mark of 53.08m (174-1).
• Clare McNamara had a breakout performance in the heptathlon at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, setting six personal-best marks, including coming in at No. 3 on the program performers list in the heptathlon (5,698 points) to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• Four Wolverines qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships as individuals, with Sutherland (400-meter hurdles), Yungeberg (javelin throw), Tapper (shot put) and Abigail Russell (shot put) punching their tickets at the NCAA East First Round. The 4×400-meter relay team of Smith, Green, Sutherland and Noelani Phillips set the program record (3:29.22) for the second time during the season to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• In her final race for the Maize and Blue, Sutherland won her second NCAA 400-meter hurdles title (52.46). The time set a new collegiate, program, Big Ten, NCAA Championship meet and Canadian national record and is ninth all-time in the world. She is now just the second NCAA athlete to break 53 seconds in the event (Sydney McLaughlin, 52.75) and the third Wolverine to earn multiple individual national titles. Sutherland was named the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and a 2025 finalist for track and field’s highest honor, The Bowerman. She is the first Bowerman finalist in program history and is the first female finalist to represent the Big Ten for the honor.
• Tapper earned second team All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the shot put (16.97m/55-8.25), while Russell, Yungeberg, McNamara and the relay team were named All-America honorable mention.

Savannah
Sutherland

Aasia
Laurencin

Elizabeth
Tapper

Emma
Yungeberg

Abigail
Russell

Clare
McNamara

Payton
Smith

Sidney
Green

Noelani
Phillips
Honors and Awards
NCAA
All-America (First Team): Savannah Sutherland (indoor 400m, outdoor 400m hurdles), Aasia Laurencin (indoor 60m hurdles)
All-America (Second Team): Elizabeth Tapper (indoor shot put, outdoor shot put)
All-America (Honorable Mention): Emma Yungeberg (outdoor javelin throw), Abigail Russell (outdoor shot put), Clare McNamara (outdoor heptathlon), Payton Smith (outdoor 4x400m relay), Savannah Sutherland (outdoor 4x400m relay), Sidney Green (outdoor 4x400m relay), Noelani Phillips (outdoor 4x400m relay)
Big Ten
Track Athlete of the Year: Savannah Sutherland (outdoor)
All-Big Ten (First Team): Savannah Sutherland (indoor, outdoor)
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Aasia Laurencin (indoor), Sidney Green (outdoor), Elizabeth Tapper (outdoor)
Sportsmanship Award: Sam Tran (indoor), Aasia Laurencin (outdoor)
USTFCCCA
Track Athlete of the Year: Savannah Sutherland
Great Lakes Region Track Athlete of the Year: Savannah Sutherland (indoor, outdoor)
Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year: Steven Rajewsky (indoor, outdoor)
College Sports Communicators
Academic All-District: Savannah Sutherland
Academic All-Big Ten
Riley Ammenhauser, Sr., Sport Management
Maya Anderson, So., Sport Management
BreeAna Bates, Sr., Sport Management
Abby Bonnema, Jr., Pharmaceutical Sciences
Haley Deighan, Jr., Psychology
Natalie Desarbo, Sr., Environment
Trinity Franklin, Jr., Psychology
Sidney Green, So., Political Science
Amare Harlan, So., LSA Undeclared
Samantha Hastie, Sr., Data Science
Adele Havlick, So., Environment
Mary Caroline Heinen, Gr., Management
Trinity Henderson, Jr., Business Administration
Leah Hill, Jr., Organizational Studies
Kennedy Johnson, Sr., Sport Management
Brooke Johnston, So., LSA Undeclared
CC Jones, So., LSA Undeclared
Catrin Koselka, Sr., History and Political Science
Aasia Laurencin, Gr., Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, & Substance Abuse
Alyna Lewis, Jr., History
Mara Longenecker, Jr., Movement Science
Lisa Luecke, Jr., International Studies and Spanish
Yasmine Mansi, Sr., Business Administration
Mia Manson, Gr., Management
Clare McNamara, Gr., Business Analytics
Gabbie Michael, Sr., Molec, Cell & Dev Biology
Gabriella Newman, Jr., History BA and Political Science
Chiamaka Odenigbo, Gr., Mechanical Engineering
Lauren Pansegrau, Jr., Biology
Lucy Petee, Gr., Cognitive Science and Communication and Media
Noelani Phillips, Gr., Movement Science
Hannah Pricco, So., LSA Undeclared
Meredith Soule, Jr., Art and Design
Savannah Sutherland, Sr., Biology, Health, & Society
Elizabeth Tapper, So., Biomolecular Science
Rylee Tolson, Jr., Anthropology
Ainsley Workman, Jr., Neuroscience and History
Emma Yungeberg, Jr., Communication and Media
Jadyn Zdanavage, So., Economics
Sports
Boys U19 National Team Sweeps Canada at 2025 Pan American Cup
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (July 9, 2025) – The U.S. Boys U19 National Team earned its second straight win at the 2025 NORCECA U19 Pan American Cup with a commanding 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-17) sweep over Canada on Wednesday in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The U.S. (2-0) will continue pool play tomorrow, Thursday, July 10th at 3:00 p.m. […]

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (July 9, 2025) – The U.S. Boys U19 National Team earned its second straight win at the 2025 NORCECA U19 Pan American Cup with a commanding 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-17) sweep over Canada on Wednesday in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The U.S. (2-0) will continue pool play tomorrow, Thursday, July 10th at 3:00 p.m. PT against Puerto Rico.
“They had some pretty big guys and we did a good job of slowing them down. They had some great servers and we passed really well,” said U.S. outside hitter Blake Fahlbusch. “It felt great to get a win against Canada. They’re a good team but we came out hotter than we did yesterday and got the win in three.”
The U.S. outperformed Canada in service aces (9–2) and was once again led by opposite Corbin Batista with 12 points on nine kills two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Isiah Powell followed closely with nine points, including three kills three blocks and three aces.
Outside hitter Logan Hutnick added seven points on seven kills, while Blake Fahlbusch tallied seven points as well with six kills and one ace.
On the defensive end, libero Ben Bayer anchored the backcourt with 10 digs. The U.S. serve receive and defensive discipline limited Canada’s ability to find offensive rhythm throughout the match.
From the start, the U.S. controlled the tempo, maintaining a steady lead throughout the opening set and closing it out 25-20. In the second set, the U.S. held a dominant lead for much of the first set, but Canada battled back to tie the score at 25-25. However, the U.S. had the final say, claiming the last two points to secure the set, 27-25.
The U.S. was consistent in their execution in the third set, as the team closed out the third set, 25-17 to complete the sweep.
With strong serving efficient attacking and steady defense, the U.S. will look to carry this momentum into its next match against Puerto Rico.
2025 Boys U19 National Team Pan American Cup Roster
Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Ben Bayer (L, 6-1, Menomonee Falls, Wisc., Sussex Hamilton HS, Badger)
3 Thomas Phung (L, 5-10 Garland, Texas, Harvard University, Southern)
6 Thomas Demps IV (OH, 6-4, Raleigh, N.C., Broughton HS, Carolina)
9 Dante Cayaban (MB, 6-7, Saint Cloud, Fla., Saint Cloud HS, Florida)
13 Logan Hutnick (OH, 6-6, Huntington Beach, Calif., Huntington Beach HS, Southern California)
15 Blake Fahlbusch (OH, 6-8, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Loyola HS of Los Angeles, Southern California)
17 Peter Chriss (S, 6-6, Menlo Park, Calif., Menlo Atherton HS, Northern California)
18 Brett Novak (S, 6-6, Lancaster, Calif., Paraclete HS, Southern California)
22 Kale Cochran (OH, 6-7, Roseville, Calif., Whitney HS, Northern California)
23 Corbin Batista (OPP, 6-7, St. George, Utah, Alta HS, Intermountain)
24 Isiah Powell (MB, 6-7, Silver Spring, Md., Springbrook HS, Chesapeake)
25 Brodie Heshler (MB, 6-7, Harrisburg, Pa., Central Dauphin HS, Keystone)
Coaches
Head Coach: Jonah Carson (MVVC)
Assistant Coach: Sean Byron (Marist College)
Assistant Coach: Spencer Wickens (Stanford)
Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg (UCLA)
Team Doctor: Dr. Chris Cornell (Coduhi Clinic)
Team Lead: Brandon Oswald (NTDP)
Schedule
All times PDT
July 8: USA def. Venezuela, 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-16, 32-30)
July 9: USA def. Canada, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-17)
July 10: USA vs. Puerto Rico, 3 p.m.
July 11: Quarterfinals
July 12: Classification 7/8, 5/6 and semifinals
July 13: Medal matches
Sports
Petitions, protests freeze define Kisumu regional sports kick-off
Thursday 10th July, 2025 03:40 AM| By Bosco Magare Secondary schools ball games officials (extreme left and centre) are introduced to football team players, before kick-off of a boys football match. PHOTO/Lilega Sports Chaos over player eligibility forced organisers to postpone the kick-off of the Nyanza regional secondary schools ball games in Kisumu, […]

Thursday 10th July, 2025 03:40 AM|

Chaos over player eligibility forced organisers to postpone the kick-off of the Nyanza regional secondary schools ball games in Kisumu, as officials moved swiftly to vet all athletes and block ineligible participants before today’s rescheduled start.
In an exclusive interview on July 9, 2025, with People Daily, shortly after arriving at the competition venue in Kisumu City, Nyanza Regional Secondary Schools Sports Association (NSSSA) Secretary General Tom Thomas Odhiambo said, “The ball games were initially scheduled to kick off on, Wednesday, July 9, and instead we decided to devote the whole day to vetting athletes, identifying bona fide participants from schools, and weeding out ineligible participants. So, the regional games will start on Thursday, July 10, 2025.”
Odhiambo explained that Nyanza regional secondary schools’ ball games officials decided to start the competition programme with vetting of athletes to avoid disruption of the games fixtures midstream through the filing of petitions by competing school teams once the games tip off.
He also noted that the vetting exercise was introduced to curb the increasing cases of petitions filed by various school teams over the fielding of ineligible athletes by opponent school teams.
Odhiambo stated that “over the years, petitions by various school teams ended up disrupting the regional competition. This year, there have also been several petitions filed by a number of school teams at both the sub-county and county levels.”
“In Siaya, we had the case of Maranda High School moving to court after the school’s boys football team was not cleared by games officials to participate in the county games, since the entire team players had not been registered in the newly introduced Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Players Information System (PIS) database,” Odhiambo recalled.
He further stated, “Schools like Maranda did not register their football team players in the PIS and argued that the players are Kenyans and should just be allowed to compete during the Siaya county games. You see, schools like Maranda were introducing their own games regulations instead of adhering to KSSSA sports management rules.”
He pointed out that elsewhere in Kisii County, the Sameta High School football team was also disqualified from playing at the county ball games following failure by the school to register players in the PIS database.
Odhiambo added that “Kisii County will be represented in boys’ football at the Nyanza regional schools games by Nyagicha Secondary School football team. In Nyamira County, where last year’s regional games participants Matutu P.A.G Mixed Secondary football team was banned at the semis this year, the county will be represented by Gekendo Secondary’s football team at the Nyanza regional games.”
The NSSSA Secretary General also cited Kisumu County as being plagued by cases of petitions, especially by boys’ football teams such as Kisumu Boys, Kisumu Day, and Onjiko, who were accused by opponent teams of allegedly fielding ineligible players at either sub-county or county levels.
Odhiambo said to avoid similar cases coming up during the course and duration of the Nyanza regional schools ball games, NSSSA officials decided to vet, identify bona fide athletes, and isolate ineligible participants before the regional competition kicks off in earnest today at the following venues: Moi Stadium, Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Mamboleo and other school-based sports grounds within Kisumu City.
“Athletes from all secondary schools teams that qualified to compete in all the Nyanza regional ball games must be vetted afresh, and participants whose details were not captured in the Players Information System (PIS) database recently introduced by Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) will not be cleared to participate and compete at the games,” he explained.
Sports
Joe Coleman, No. 3 pick in first MLB draft and 1972 AL All
Associated Press Jul 9, 2025, 08:20 PM ET Joe Coleman, a lanky right-hander who won 142 games in 15 major league seasons and was an All-Star in 1972 with Detroit, died Wednesday morning, his son said. He was 78. Casey Coleman said his father died in his sleep in Jamestown, Tennessee. The son and father […]


Joe Coleman, a lanky right-hander who won 142 games in 15 major league seasons and was an All-Star in 1972 with Detroit, died Wednesday morning, his son said. He was 78.
Casey Coleman said his father died in his sleep in Jamestown, Tennessee.
The son and father of major leaguers, Coleman became the No. 3 pick in baseball’s inaugural amateur draft in 1965 when he was selected by the Washington Senators. His father, also named Joe — who pitched in the majors from 1942-55 — negotiated a club-record $75,000 signing bonus.
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Coleman became the first player to reach the majors after being drafted when he debuted for the Senators on Sept. 28, 1965. He threw a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-1.
After the 1970 season, Coleman was traded to Detroit in a deal that sent Denny McLain to Washington. He enjoyed his greatest individual success with the Tigers, going 88-73 with a 3.82 ERA from 1971-76.
In 1971, he went 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA after recovering from a skull fracture that hospitalized him for two weeks. He was an All-Star the following season and made his only postseason appearance, striking out a then-playoff-record 14 batters to shut out the Oakland Athletics in Game 3 of the five-game American League championship series. The Tigers lost the series 3-2 and Oakland went on to beat Cincinnati in the World Series.
Coleman’s strikeout record stood for 25 years. Baltimore’s Mike Mussina fanned 15 in the 1997 ALCS against Cleveland.
Coleman also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final season, he made 10 relief appearance for the 1979 Pirates, who went on to win the World Series.
For his career, he was 142-135 with a 3.70 ERA and 1,728 strikeouts in 484 appearances (340 starts).
After retiring as a player, Coleman worked as a pitching and bullpen coach for the California and Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners along with several minor-league clubs.
“He was a good man with a really good heart,” Casey Coleman said. “Everywhere I went in professional baseball, I met pitchers he coached. Many gave him credit for making it to the big leagues.”
Casey Coleman pitched in 58 major league games for the Cubs and Kansas City from 2010-14.
Born in Boston, Joe Coleman graduated from Natick High. He attended Ted Williams’ baseball camps, where he learned how to throw a curveball and slider.
In addition to Casey, Coleman is survived by his wife, Donna, daughter, Kristen, and three grandchildren.
Sports
20 Straight Semesters of Academic Excellence for CUI Swimmers
Story Links IRVINE, Calif. – In their 2024-25 season representing the Green and Gold, the Concordia University Irvine swim and dive teams once again rose to the occasion with high academic marks. The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced the Spring Team Scholar All-America honorees and for […]

IRVINE, Calif. – In their 2024-25 season representing the Green and Gold, the Concordia University Irvine swim and dive teams once again rose to the occasion with high academic marks.
The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced the Spring Team Scholar All-America honorees and for the 20th straight semester, both Concordia swim and dive teams earned a GPA of at least 3.0 or higher.
Under the leadership of head coach Bert Bergen, the CUI women’s swim and dive team earned a combined 3.26 GPA in the 2025 spring semester, while the men’s squad also earned a 3.10 GPA.
With 20 straight semesters of academic excellence with this honor, that means the CUI swim and dive programs never missed that mark during their entire run through the NCAA DII Era.
For the full list of schools that made the bar from the CSCAA, CLICK HERE
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