The Lindbergh High School girls soccer team notched a statement win on April 14, shutting out Union 2-0 behind a dominant performance from sophomore standout Kasey Patten. Patten netted both goals—one in each half—leading the Flyers to victory. She now has three goals on the season for Lindbergh. 

The Flyers’ defense also shone against Union, with Mackenzie Bieg and Josie Watz combining efforts in goal to secure the clean sheet. It was the third win of the season for Lindbergh, who had previously defeated Seckman and Jackson on March 25 and April 7, respectively.

With the win against Union, Lindbergh improved to 3-5-1 on the year. As of April 24, Lindbergh sits at 4-8-1.

Despite a losing record, the Flyers have been competitive in a challenging early-season schedule, suffering narrow losses to strong programs like Cor Jesu, losing 1-2, and Rockwood Summit, losing 0-1. Though the opposition has been stiff, Lindbergh head coach Jake Pittroff emphasized the importance of testing his squad against elite competition.

“We’ve been competitive and played in some really tough games. I think we are starting to put things together and play better.” Pittroff said. “I’m a big believer that a team has to be built by playing the best. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

With the postseason looming, Pittroff hopes the rigorous schedule will pay dividends.

“I think the tough schedule helps us,” Pittroff said. “We are getting better technically and tactically. I also think our decision-making has improved, especially defensively.”

The team is led by captain Lauren Smith, who will continue her soccer career at Spring Hill College, a Division II school. Senior Kate Warren also provides leadership and experience, while Danni Cotter, who has tallied four points this season, is set to play at UMSL. Patten, as well as Gabby Moran, who has six points on the season, have emerged as key offensive catalysts.

With a daunting Class 4 district on the horizon, Pittroff remains realistic about the challenges ahead.

“It’s just a powerhouse,” Pittroff said. “It’s one tough district.”

As the Flyers continue to build both their tactical foundation and mental grit, Pittroff is optimistic about where this journey could lead.

“It’s a journey of learning,” he said. “The girls are building aptitude and mind skills, which are life skills they will need to be successful.”

The Flyers faced Notre Dame on April 16, winning 1-0. They next played Webster Groves on April 18, St. Joseph’s on April 21 and Layayette on April 22, losing the three games 0-3, 1-4 and 0-5, respectively.

Lindbergh will face Ursuline Academy on April 25 at 5:30 p.m.

In 2022, Hugo Calderano vowed he would be “better than the Chinese” table tennis players – and, on Sunday, he was true to his word.

Ranked at world No 5 going into the tournament, Calderano won it the hard way as he overcame third-ranked Tomokazu Harimoto in the last eight and No 2 Wang Chuqin in the semis before beating Lin in the final.

Victory saw Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva extend his congratulations.

“Very pleased with the unprecedented feat achieved by Hugo Calderano in Macau, at the table tennis World Cup,” Lula wrote on social media. “In a tournament between 48 of the world’s best international players, the Brazilian became the first player from the Americas to reach the final and win the tournament by beating China’s Lin Shidong, the world No 1, this Easter Sunday.

“Fantastic work by a top-five-in-the-world athlete who, for almost 15 years, has been supported by the federal government’s athlete grant. Congratulations, Hugo Calderano. Immensely proud.”

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year on Wednesday as the third winner of the award.

The award that comes with the Jerry West trophy debuted after the 2022-23 season and was first awarded to then-Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry won in 2024.

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Brunson is now the third point guard to win in the award’s history. He finished in the top five in voting in each of the previous two seasons.

Brunson won the award with 70 out of 100 first-place votes. Denver Nuggets center and MVP finalist Nikola Jokić and Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards were the other finalists for the award. Jokić finished second in voting (26 first-place votes), and Edwards finished third (2).

What makes Jalen Brunson ‘clutch?’

The NBA defines a clutch player as the “player that delivers most when the game is on the line.” Per the NBA, “clutch time” consists of the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points.

Brunson finished second in total clutch points (156) by a single point to Edwards (157). But he reached his total in fewer clutch minutes (135.3 to 160.4) and at a more efficient clip.

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Brunson’s 1.15 points per clutch minute were more than Jokić’s (1) and Edwards’ (0.98), and led the league for anyone who played more than 13.1 total clutch minutes.

Brunson shot 51.5% from the field in the clutch, which trailed Jokić’s 56.2% success rate but was well ahead of Edwards’ 46.2%. Jokić finished second in the league in clutch assists (36), while Brunson finished third (28). Trae Young led the league with 37 clutch assists, while Edwards had the 28th most with 13.

Jokić (50) and Edwards (45) finished in third and fourth place in total clutch rebounds, while Brunson’s 11 didn’t make the top 100. But clutch, in this instance, is more about scoring production than anything else, and Brunson’s efforts on that front for a Knicks team that finished third in the Eastern Conference compelled voters to deliver him the award.

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Brunson made his second consecutive All-Star team this season and finished the regular season with averages of 26 points, 7.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game. He shot 48.8% from the field and 38.3% from 3.

Brunson’s Knicks are in a 1-1 tie in their first-round playoff series with the Pistons that will resume with Game 3 on Thursday in Detroit.

For most Virginia student-athletes, balancing academics and varsity sports is enough to fill a calendar. But for Shelby Bavin, a junior coxswain on the women’s rowing team, life includes one more high-stakes commitment — firefighting. 

Her nights end in turnout gear, racing to respond to emergencies as a volunteer firefighter, while her mornings begin on the Rivanna Reservoir directing Virginia’s crews through intense practices. But whether she is calling the final sprint of a 2K or suiting up for a structure fire, Bavin’s drive — and trust in the people beside her — makes her a vital teammate, in every sense of the word. 

Having grown up next to the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va., Bavin was surrounded by a large rowing culture — after seeing her older brother start rowing when he entered high school, she decided to give it a try in eighth grade, when her local team allowed it. For the next four years, Bavin dedicated her life to being the best she could be as a men’s team coxswain for both Alexandria City Titan Rowing and Old Dominion Boat Club. During that time, she earned two state championship medals and competed at SRAA national championships. 

After coming to the University, Bavin knew that she wanted to make an impact on another community in addition to the rowing team, and joined the Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department at Albemarle County Station 8 back in November 2023, after hearing about it from a good friend who was actively firefighting at the time. Since then, she has logged nearly 1,400 hours of service as both a firefighter and an Emergency Medical Technician.

On average, active University student volunteers at Station 8 clock around 100 hours per month, and Bavin is no exception. That, combined with an academic course load, is an impressively packed schedule. Between her weekly 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. overnight shifts on Wednesdays, 6:25 a.m. morning practices and a full academic course load, Bavin’s calendar is often full from dawn till midnight. 

While many students seek to decompress in breaks between commitments, Bavin finds balance by leaning into hers. 

“Going to the fire station is a way for me to decompress from school,” Bavin said. “And rowing is a way for me to decompress from school. And then, getting to the station, I can take my mind off rowing, and being at the boat house I can take my mind off bad calls I might have sat on. I think in a way, the three things balance each other, because they’re all so different.” 

Bavin does not see her ultra-packed schedule as a sacrifice — rather, it gives her purpose. For Bavin, this is a mindset which connects to her time with Virginia rowing. The Cavaliers are focused on success, of course, but it is always a success which is earned through grit, toughness and a love of community. 

“The quote we have above our boathouse door, which is ‘Entitled to nothing, grateful for everything,’ is the thing that speaks to the values of our team the most.” Bavin said. 

In both firefighting and rowing, trust is required — sometimes even blind faith. Whether it is entering a burning building with someone new or lining up with an unfamiliar crew on race day, Bavin says both rowing and firefighting demand confidence in others’ training, instincts and commitment.

As a coxswain, Bavin is the eyes and ears for her boat. As the rowers all face backwards, Bavin needs to be on high alert for obstacles in her path and do her best to communicate to her rowers what is happening around them in terms of where they sit in comparison to competitors and how many meters remain. Her volunteer experience as an EMT and firefighter require that same type of focus — Bavin must be ready to delegate tasks when running head on into an emergency, whether that involves rushing to fight a fire or helping a patient going through cardiac arrest. 

“You may not have always worked with the people you get put on a [firefighting] crew with but you’re trusting the training they have received and that they can do the job,” Bavin said. “Rowing is like that too — sometimes lineups change, and you have to adapt and trust that everyone is rowing the same stroke even though you may not have rowed with them before. The coxswain facilitates that faith.”

Trust and culture go hand-in-hand at Station 8, where the team-oriented environment mirrors what Bavin values on the water. Charlie Murphy, a second-year College student who started volunteering at Station 8 last spring, said that this dynamic is central to what makes firefighting — and Bavin — so impactful. 

“[Bavin] has absolutely stepped in and embraced the family-like culture of the station,” Murphy said. “Which is extremely impressive given that she’s balancing this whole other life that a lot of us don’t have.”

Bavin strives to be the best she can be, both for herself and those relying on her, in every situation she puts herself in. She makes sure to give it her all so that, in time, the people around her will trust her — and in return, the effort she puts in allows her to trust her support systems.

Bavin’s story is not defined by any one role she plays, but by the extraordinary way she plays all of them — with intention, resilience and a deep commitment to supporting those around her.

Jimmer Fredette is hanging up his sneakers.

After a winding basketball career that featured National Player of the Year honors at BYU and ended in the Olympics, Fredette is retiring from basketball. Fredette announced his decision on Instagram Wednesday. He’s 36 years old.

“Ever since I was young, I was obsessed with basketball,” Fredette wrote. “Seeing the basketball go in was magical. I wanted to play it every day. …

“Basketball has taken me all around the world: from Glen Falls, NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece and even Team USA at the Olympics! This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am grateful. …

“It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now.”

Jimmermania takes over NCAA

Fredette burst onto the national basketball scene during a four-year NCAA career at BYU from 2007-11. A 6-foot-2 guard, Fredette joined the Cougars as a three-star recruit and played 35 games off the bench as a freshman. He secured a starting role as a sophomore, then led the Mountain West in scoring as a junior and senior.

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An electric scorer, Fredette was the consensus National Player of the Year as a senior while averaging 28.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals and shooting 39.6% on 8.5 3-point attempts per game. He broke Danny Ainge’s all-time BYU scoring record.

The Cougars made the NCAA tournament in each of Fredette’s four seasons. They earned a No. 3 seed in 2011 and advanced to the Sweet 16. Fredette was a national sensation.

Winding pro career from NBA to overseas

Fredette rode that momentum into the NBA draft lottery. The Sacramento Kings swung a draft-night trade to acquire Fredette from the Milwaukee Bucks, who selected him with No. 10 pick in the 2011 draft, one pick after the Charlotte Hornets selected another undersized scoring guard in UConn All-American Kemba Walker.

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While Walker developed into a four-time All-Star, Fredette struggled to find his footing in the NBA. Fredette shot 38.6% from the field while averaging 7.6 points as a rookie in Sacramento. That turned out to be his NBA career high.

Fredette went on to play the next five NBA seasons with the Kings, Bulls, Pelicans and Knicks. But he spent most of his career deep on NBA benches while playing anywhere from 2.5 to 14 minutes per game after his rookie season.

In 2016, Fredette turned the page on the NBA and joined the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he immediately rediscovered his footing. Fredette was named the CBA’s 2016-17 International MVP after averaging 37.6 points in 41 games. He put up single-game point totals of 51 and 73 points during his MVP season.

After two seasons in the CBA, Fredette made a brief return to the NBA in 2018-19 that lasted six games with the Phoenix Suns. From there, his career took him to Greece and back to Shanghai in 2020. But the COVID-19 pandemic ended Fredette’s CBA career by 2021, and he returned home to the U.S.

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Fredette’s reinvention as 3×3 player

In 2022, USA Basketball recruited Fredette to play for its 3×3 team ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. USA Basketball missed the cut for the sport’s 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo, an embarrassing development for the world’s long-established basketball power.

Fredette was eager to play in the format that could highlight his scoring prowess and helped lead USA to a silver medal at the 2023 World Cup ahead of Paris. By the time the Olympics rolled around in 2024, Fredette was the No. 1 ranked player in the World in FIBA 3×3. He made his Olympics debut in Paris at 35 years old.

Unfortunately for Fredette, he suffered torn adductor ligaments in USA’s second game of pool play and wasn’t able to complete his Olympic experience. But he made the journey and played as an Olympian. And now he’s moving on to the next phase of his life.