winph 777
2025-01-09
Barclays PLC Has $1.81 Million Stock Holdings in Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)BE Semiconductor Industries (OTCMKTS:BESIY) Short Interest Up 2,300.0% in Decemberwinph 777
。
What 14 Analyst Ratings Have To Say About AppleDelhi BJP flags off 14 video vans to collect manifesto suggestions
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Jim Larrañaga insists he still loves the University of Miami, still loves the game of basketball, still loves mentoring players, still loves coaching. He doesn't love what college basketball has become. And with that, he's leaving. The 75-year-old Larrañaga stepped down Thursday, effective immediately, and will be replaced by associate head coach Bill Courtney — one of his best friends for the past three decades — for the remainder of the season. “I'm exhausted,” Larrañaga said. “I've tried every which way to keep this going.” Larrañaga joins a long line of prominent college basketball coaches — Virginia's Tony Bennett and Villanova's Jay Wright among them — who have left their jobs in recent years citing the changes in the game and the challenge of coaching in the name, image and likeness era of college sports. For Larrañaga, those changes began presenting themselves when he had eight players — all of whom said they were happy at Miami — enter the transfer portal after the Hurricanes went to the Final Four in 2023. “The opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself as a coach what is this all about,” Larrañaga said. “And the answer is it's become professional.” The decision by Larrañaga ends a 14-year run as coach of the Hurricanes — and, presumably, a 41-year college head-coaching career that saw him win 744 games at Miami, American International, George Mason and Bowling Green. He took Miami to the Final Four in 2023 and took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006. “Jim Larrañaga is a tremendous man who has left a mark as not only the most accomplished coach in Miami basketball history, but as one of the premier coaches in ACC history,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. “His coaching record speaks for itself with over 700 career wins, but he always has led his program with the utmost integrity and class.” The Hurricanes are 4-8 this season and only 5-19 in their last 24 games, a stunning freefall for a program that went to the Final Four just two seasons ago. Injuries and roster turnover have taken a clear toll, and Larrañaga is one of many coaches who has expressed some level of frustration with the lack of regulation and transparency that comes with NIL. “They’re a great group of kids,” Larrañaga said. "It’s not their problem. It’s the system or the lack of a system. I didn’t know how to navigate through this.” Larrañaga was under contract into 2027 and had some school officials try to get him to rethink the decision in recent days. Larrañaga said he came to the decision over the weekend, reconsidered at the school's request, and finalized the decision Monday. “It seems clear to me that coaching in 2024 is a much different profession than it was just a few short years ago," Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said. Larrañaga is the second prominent coach to step down unexpectedly this season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bennett did the same at Virginia back in October, less than three weeks before the Cavaliers played their season-opener. Bennett, when he stepped down, said NIL has simply changed the game for coaches and not in a good way. “College athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not,” Bennett said in October. “And there needs to be change. It’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way — that’s who I am and that’s how it was.” Larrañaga's decision to step aside makes him the latest big-name veteran coach to leave the ACC in recent seasons, following the departures of some other giants within the sport — North Carolina’s Roy Williams in spring 2021, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski a year later and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim to end a 47-year tenure in 2023, and Bennett earlier this year. “I owe my professional career to him,” said George Washington coach Chris Caputo, a longtime Miami assistant under Larrañaga. “I learned so much and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without him and his family. As it relates to Miami, with all respect to the people there before him, he took what was essentially an irrelevant program and turned it into a Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four program. At Miami, that was unheard of. He raised the bar for basketball at the University of Miami from here on out.” It’s also the second sudden retirement for Miami’s basketball programs in 2024: women’s coach Katie Meier surprised many around the Hurricanes when she stepped away this past spring after 19 seasons in Coral Gables. Meier has remained at the school as a special advisor to Radakovich and as a professor. Larrañaga will be offered a role within the university in the coming weeks, Radakovich said. “It's still all about The U,” Larrañaga said. Officially, Larrañaga's first coaching job was in 1977 at American International. Unofficially, it was when he was a freshman at Archbishop Malloy High School in New York. Larrañaga was on an undefeated freshman team there and the coach quit at Christmas — so Jack Curran, the varsity coach there, named Larrañaga one of the student coaches for the rest of the season. More than 60 years later, it was Larrañaga stepping down at Christmastime. He played college basketball at Providence, has coached more than two dozen college players who went on to the NBA, made 20 postseason appearances — 11 NCAA, eight NIT and one CIT berth — as a coach, was the AP national coach of the year in 2013 and was announced earlier this month as a candidate again for enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Coach Larrañaga is a friend of mine,” Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. “I think so highly of him. The way that he’s able to build a program that has a sense of community and we all rallied around the basketball program. I live in Coral Gables, so I’ve been part of this movement. You could just feel it the last several years. It’s been a lot of fun. He wins wherever he goes, but he does it in a way that it’s a fun brand of basketball.” Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Singapore lose 2-0 to Vietnam after VAR mayhem
BOISE, Idaho — Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards and a touchdown and No. 10 Boise State earned a College Football Playoff spot, beating No. 19 UNLV 21-7 on Friday night for its second straight Mountain West title. Boise State (12-1, No. 10 CFP) is all but assured of a first-round bye in the playoffs if it maintains its ranking ahead of the Big 12 winner and finishes as one of the four highest-ranked conference champs. “In January when they were playing tug of war on the field with their shirts off, they talked about what they wanted to do this season,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “They wanted to win a conference championship and make it to the college playoffs, and they worked for that.” Jeanty, who had the spotlight to himself to state his Heisman case, didn’t disappoint, ripping off an electrifying 75-yard touchdown run. It was his fifth TD run of 70 yards or more this season, tying LaDainian Tomlinson’s FBS season record. Jeanty also surpassed 1981 Heisman winner Marcus Allen of Southern California to move into fourth place on the FBS season rushing list and needs 132 more to pass record-holder Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State. Maddux Madsen threw a touchdown pass and rushed for another score for the Broncos. Related Story: UNLV’s Offensive Struggles UNLV (10-3, No. 20 CFP), which entered the game seventh nationally in scoring offense averaging 38.7 points, hadn’t been held below 23 this season. “I have been in championship games before and come up on the wrong end of them,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said. “But you continue to learn from them and move your organization forward and find a way to get back to a game like this and win it.” However, Odom didn’t mince words when describing how he felt about Boise State, which handed his team two of their three losses. “Good luck to anyone who comes here and thinks they’re going to win the game,” Odom said. “I think they’re one of the best teams in college football right now. And I think they’ll do a great job representing this conference. They’re built to make a run.” Related Story: Broncos’ Dominant First Half With UNLV loading the box with eight or nine defenders early in the game, Boise State leaned heavily on Madsen in the first quarter. And he delivered, completing six of his first seven passes, including a 22-yard scoring strike to Latrell Caples for a 7-0 lead. Madsen used his legs to put the Broncos ahead 14-0, scrambling for a 14-yard TD run with 2:40 left in the first half. After a quick stop, Boise State got the ball back and let Jeanty work his magic. Two plays later, he raced through the teeth of the defense and sprinted to the end zone for a 75-yard TD run, giving the Broncos a 21-0 lead with 29 seconds left in the half. UNLV had a chance to claw back into it late in the third quarter when Kylin James raced 86 yards before Seyi Oladipo ran him down at the Boise State 5. But the Rebels lost 4 yards on the next four plays and failed to score. The Rebels finally got into the end zone with 9:06 left on a Greg Burrell 31-yard run. Hajj-Malik Williams led UNLV offensively with 110 yards passing and 56 yards rushing. Related Story: Takeaways UNLV: Odom, who guided the Rebels to their first 10-win season in 40 years, has the program headed in the right direction after UNLV had just seven wins in the three seasons before his arrival. If he continues to recruit well and build through the transfer portal like he did this season, the Rebels should contend for the Mountain West title. Boise State: First-year coach Spencer Danielson delivered what the program’s fan base has been starving for since it made waves in the college football world in 2006 by going undefeated and beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. But now this team has a chance to take it one step further and take down one of the sport’s blue bloods in the playoffs. Up Next Boise State awaits the selection show Sunday to find out who and when it will play in the College Football Playoff.Cannae Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNNE) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC
John Elway: remorse over bypassing Josh Allen in draft mitigated by watching Broncos rookie Bo Nix
Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) Trading 6.1% Higher – Should You Buy?Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US
The journalists from the al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda Hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, when their broadcasting van was hit by an Israeli air strike, Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif reported early on Thursday morning.] Footage from the scene circulating on social media shows a vehicle engulfed in flames. A screenshot taken from a video of the white-coloured van shows the word“press” in large red lettering across the back of the vehicle. The deceased journalists have been named as Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi. Al Jazeera's al-Sharif said that Ayman al-Jadi had been waiting for his wife in front of the hospital while she was in labour to give birth to their first child. Civil defence teams retrieved the bodies of the victims and extinguished a fire at the scene, the Quds News Network said. Israel's military said it had carried out a“targeted” attack against a vehicle carrying members of Islamic Jihad and that it would continue to take action against“terrorist organisations” in Gaza. “Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information,” the military said in a post on X. Israel, which has not allowed foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip except on military embeds, has been condemned by several press freedom organisations, which now rate the Strip as the most dangerous part of the world for reporting. Earlier this month, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said more than 145 journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023, condemning the high death toll as an“unprecedented massacre”. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said this month that at least 141 journalists have been killed in Gaza, calling on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media. CPJ said on Thursday that it was“devastated” by reports of the five journalists killed inside their broadcasting vehicle.“Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” it said on X. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate last week reported a higher death toll, stating that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of Israel's war on Gaza. The syndicate condemned the“heinous attack” and called for“international protection” for journalists in Gaza. Israel also banned Al Jazeera from its territory and accused six of its Gaza reporters of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The network vehemently condemned the“unfounded allegations” and said Israel had used“fabricated accusations ... to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide”. Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group : Join Now Be Part of Quality Journalism Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. CLICK FOR DETAILS MENAFN26122024000215011059ID1109033647 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
NoneFinancial giants have made a conspicuous bullish move on General Motors. Our analysis of options history for General Motors GM revealed 10 unusual trades. Delving into the details, we found 50% of traders were bullish, while 20% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 2 were puts, with a value of $354,833, and 8 were calls, valued at $252,002. What's The Price Target? Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $25.0 to $65.0 for General Motors over the recent three months. Volume & Open Interest Trends Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for General Motors's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across General Motors's significant trades, within a strike price range of $25.0 to $65.0, over the past month. General Motors Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Significant Options Trades Detected: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume GM PUT SWEEP BEARISH 06/20/25 $12.05 $11.95 $12.05 $65.00 $322.9K 129 269 GM CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/16/26 $12.2 $12.05 $12.2 $47.00 $37.8K 1.0K 31 GM CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 03/21/25 $6.95 $6.85 $6.9 $49.00 $34.5K 2.3K 142 GM CALL SWEEP BULLISH 03/21/25 $6.95 $6.9 $6.94 $49.00 $33.9K 2.3K 281 GM PUT TRADE BEARISH 03/21/25 $1.68 $1.68 $1.68 $50.00 $31.9K 3.3K 309 About General Motors General Motors Co. emerged from the bankruptcy of General Motors Corp. (old GM) in July 2009. GM has eight brands and operates under four segments: GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial. The United States now has four brands instead of eight under old GM. The company regained its us market share leader crown in 2022, after losing it to Toyota due to the chip shortage in 2021. 2023's share was 16.5%. GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle arm has previously done driverless geofenced AV robotaxi services in San Francisco and other cities but after a 2023 accident GM decided in December 2024 that it will focus on AVs in personal vehicles. GM should own 100% of Cruise by 2025. GM Financial became the company's captive finance arm in October 2010 via the purchase of AmeriCredit. After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding General Motors, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance. Where Is General Motors Standing Right Now? With a trading volume of 3,279,564, the price of GM is up by 1.35%, reaching $54.23. Current RSI values indicate that the stock is is currently neutral between overbought and oversold. Next earnings report is scheduled for 33 days from now. What Analysts Are Saying About General Motors 3 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $50.333333333333336. Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days? 20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access .* An analyst from Wells Fargo persists with their Underweight rating on General Motors, maintaining a target price of $35. * An analyst from Morgan Stanley has elevated its stance to Equal-Weight, setting a new price target at $54. * An analyst from Mizuho has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on General Motors, which currently sits at a price target of $62. Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest General Motors options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro . © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty Media”) (Nasdaq: FWONA, FWONK, LLYVA, LLYVK) today announced the appointment of Chase Carey to the board of directors of Liberty Media (the “Board”) effective January 1, 2025. Mr. Carey most recently served as Chairman of Formula 1 from 2016 to 2022 and as its Chief Executive Officer from 2017 to 2021. He will serve on the Executive Committee of the Liberty Media Board. “Chase has been an excellent partner to Liberty for many years, from our investment in DIRECTV in 2008 to Liberty’s purchase of Formula 1 in 2017 where his role as CEO was key to securing the acquisition. He was instrumental in building a successful foundation at F1 from which the business has grown materially,” said John Malone, Liberty Media Chairman. “Chase’s knowledge and expertise across media, entertainment, sports, business and more will be valuable to the board as our companies execute on their next chapters of growth and value creation.” “Liberty is at an exciting point in its storied evolution, with a more focused asset base centered around high-quality, premium sporting assets that I know well. I look forward to contributing to Liberty as a director in partnership with John, Liberty management and the portfolio company leadership teams,” said Mr. Carey. Prior to joining Formula 1, Mr. Carey served in a number of roles at 21st Century Fox, including as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to 2015 and as a Director since 1996. Mr. Carey served as a Director, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of DIRECTV, Inc. from 2003 to 2009, where he led the operations and strategic direction of the DIRECTV, Inc. companies, including DIRECTV, Inc. in the United States and DIRECTV Latin America. Mr. Carey is a graduate of Colgate University and Harvard Business School. He is also a Trustee Emeritus at Colgate University. About Liberty Media Corporation Liberty Media Corporation operates and owns interests in a broad range of media, communications, sports and entertainment businesses. Those businesses are attributed to two tracking stock groups: the Formula One Group and the Liberty Live Group. The businesses and assets attributed to the Formula One Group (NASDAQ: FWONA, FWONK) include Liberty Media’s subsidiaries Formula 1 and Quint, and other minority investments. The businesses and assets attributed to the Liberty Live Group (NASDAQ: LLYVA, LLYVK) include Liberty Media’s interest in Live Nation and other minority investments. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205627234/en/ CONTACT: Liberty Media Corporation Shane Kleinstein, 720-875-5432 KEYWORD: COLORADO UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SPORTS OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TV AND RADIO MUSIC COMMUNICATIONS GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT MOTOR SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT SOURCE: Liberty Media Corporation Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 05:10 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 05:08 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205627234/en
From the Farm: Boyne Family Resort’s history now includes a Michigan SkyBridge
SFA’s volleyball season came to an end Friday night when it lost at home to Arkansas State in the second round of the NIVC in five sets with scores of 25-19, 17-25, 16-25, 25-16, 15-12 “I’m very pleased with the growth that occurred this season,” Ladyjacks head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys said. “From where we started to where we are now, there’s no comparison. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity and just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and doing good things. We were just shorthanded tonight.” The Ladyjacks’ season ends with a final record of 25-9 while Arkansas State advances to 28-5. The first point of the match went to SFA and the Ladyjacks continued to add to their lead. Harley Krause slammed it down for a kill to make the score 7-1 and forced Arkansas State to call the game’s first timeout. The Red Wolves claimed their second point before Kyanna Creecy added a kill. SFA extended its run to 7-0 and its lead to 11-2. A kill from Jordan Henderson was followed by a point by Arkansas State. That led to the Red Wolves cutting their deficit to 14-10, forcing SFA to call timeout. SFA scored the first two points coming out of the timeout, one of which came on a kill from Jones. Moments later, a block at the net by Arkansas State’s Daedrianna Cail made it a four-point game yet again. Katherine Holtman and Jones each added a point to give SFA a 20-14 lead as the Red Wolves called timeout. Haley Glunz scored Arkansas State’s second straight point after the timeout. Henderson responded by sending the ball over to the Red Wolves’ side of the net for a point but Arkansas State brought SFA’s lead down to three. Henderson and Jones each added a point before Arkansas State hit the ball out of bounds, putting the Ladyjacks just one point away from claiming the first set before coming away with the final point to take the 25-19 win in the opening set. Creecy slammed it down for a kill to give SFA a 1-0 lead in the second set. Arkansas State tied it up before the Ladyjacks jumped back on top with a 4-1 lead. The Red Wolves, however, found themselves tied with the Ladyjacks at 4. A block from Caroline Kahle broke the tie. That was followed by a pair of aces from Cambry Saul. Moments later, the same thing happened on the other end when Sarah Martinez recorded an ace, making the score 10-8. Devyn Lewis recorded a kill to put Arkansas State within one point. The Ladyjacks were unable to send the ball back over on an attempt that led to an 11-11 tie and an SFA timeout. A block at the net from Abby Harris gave the Red Wolves a 12-11 lead before SFA tied it back up. Krause threw it down to give the lead back to the Ladyjacks. The two teams went back and forth, exchanging points as neither team was able to gain a lead larger than two points until Arkansas State jumped out on top 19-16. That lead turned into 21-16 as SFA called a timeout. A hit went out of bounds in favor of SFA but the Red Wolves put it on cruise control and sealed up the 25-17 win in set two. The two teams were sending the back and forth in set three, keeping it off the ground before Holtman slammed down a kill to tie it up at 4-4. The Red Wolves jumped back into the driver’s seat and increased the distance between them and the Ladyjacks. SFA chipped away at Arkansas State’s lead but was unable to cut it down to under four. A kill from Henderson made the score 20-15. The score was 24-16 before Cail scored the final point of the set to help her team win 25-16 in the third set and jump out to a 2-1 lead in the match. Arkansas State started off set four with a seven that sailed out of bounds to give SFA the first point of the night. The Red Wolves tied it at 1-1 before Creecy’s kill put the Ladyjacks back on top. SFA extended its lead to 5-2 but Arkansas State soon tied it up at 5-5. A block by Creecy and an ace from Natalie Guerrero spread SFA’s lead to 13-9 and forced Arkansas State to call a timeout. The Ladyjacks’ momentum continued after the timeout. Another ace from Guerrero gave the Ladyjacks a 17-9 lead. Krause served another ace to make the score 19-12. The Red Wolves called a timeout after falling behind 21-13. Moments later, Jones’ point put SFA just one point away from forcing a fifth set. Arkansas State scored the next point but a battle at the net was won by the Ladyjacks who won set four to force set five. The Ladyjacks claimed the first point of set five and took an early 2-1 lead. A block from Cail tied it up and led the Red Wolves taking a 3-2 lead. Holtman tied it back up at 3-3 and Cail slammed it down for another kill. Arkansas State jumped to a 6-3 lead and forced SFA to call a timeout. Arkansas State extended its lead to 9-4 but SFA scored the next two points to cut its deficit to 9-6. Creecy’s block at the net cut SFA’s deficit to 11-10. Seconds later, Arkansas State hit the ball out of bounds and the game was knotted up at 11. The next two points went to Arkansas State as SFA called timeout trailing 13-11. The next point put Arkansas one point away from winning the match but a serve into the net made the score 14-12. The ball bounced on SFA’s side of the net, ending the Ladyjacks’ season with a 15-12 loss in the fifth set. Jones led SFA in kills with 14. Krause and Kahle were next with nine apiece and each had six digs. Creecy had eight kills and Henderson had seven. Holtman had five kills. Kahle also had 12 digs. Jayden Flynn led the team in assists with 26 and added 10 digs while Saul 16 assists to go along with five digs. Guerrero had a team-high 16 digs. Cail led Arkansas State with 14 digs while Whitlock had 11 to go along with 19 digs. Martinez led her team in digs with 20. Erin Madigan recorded 33 assists. “Arkansas State is a very, very good team,” Humphreys said. “I’m looking at the stat sheet for the first time and it’s a wash with what the two of us accomplished. We blocked the same number of balls. We hit about the same. Our service errors got a little out of control and that’s really the difference in the match.” Friday’s loss was in the second round as the Ladyjacks defeated Jackson State in the opening round in a three-game sweep with scores of 25-18, 25-12, 25-14.NBA Joins NFL, Issues Warning Over String of High-Profile BurglariesPitt hands Virginia Tech 6th straight defeatCOPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — For a pair of lower-level downhill events, this sure had plenty of Olympic medal-capturing and World Cup-winning ski racers. The stage belonged to Lindsey Vonn, the 40-year-old who took another step on her comeback trail Saturday with her first races in nearly six years. Vonn wasn't particularly speedy and finished in the middle of the pack on a cold but sunny day at Copper Mountain. Times and places weren't the mission, though, as much as getting used to the speed again and gaining the necessary points to compete on the World Cup circuit this season. Vonn accomplished both, finishing 24th in the first downhill race of the day and 27th in the second. She posted on social media after the FIS races that she had enough points to enter World Cup events. The timing couldn't be more perfect — the next stop on the women's circuit is Beaver Creek, Colorado, in a week. Vonn, who used to own a home in nearby Vail, hasn't committed to any sort of timetable for a World Cup return. People are also reading... Paige Hubl, former Nebraska volleyball player and Lincoln Southeast coach, dies at age 34 Man found dead in north Lincoln, police say Lincoln Southwest vs. East boys basketball game briefly suspended due to 'unsafe environment' 'It could be very special': Why signs point to strong match between Nebraska, Pinstripe Bowl Andi's Ascent: She didn't want to play volleyball. Now Andi Jackson is the sport's next best thing Wisconsin officer grabbing Donovan Raiola's arm a 'misunderstanding,' UW police say 'Straight up theft': Lincoln craft fair organizer under fire after canceling event Nebraska defensive lineman announces he’ll return for 2025 season Tony White leaves Nebraska for Florida State defensive coordinator job 140 layoffs hit Lincoln immigration services center; more likely Taco restaurant started by brothers in Grand Island expands to Lincoln Lincoln Public Schools chief Gausman announces plans to retire Matt Rhule, Luke Fickell both downplay postgame encounter between Fickell, Donovan Raiola 'Not what we want to do': Nebraska's Matt Rhule talks pregame handshake snub with Iowa Nebraska volleyball aces first test, sweeps Florida A&M in first round of NCAA Tournament “Today was a solid start and I had a blast being in start with my teammates again!” Vonn wrote on X. “While I’m sure people will speculate and say I’m not in top form because of the results, I disagree. This was training for me. I’m still testing equipment and getting back in the groove.” Her competition — a veritable who's who of high-profile ski racers — applauded her efforts. “I don't expect her to come back and win — just that she comes back and she has fun,” said Federica Brignone of Italy, a former overall World Cup champion and three-time Olympic medalist. “She's having fun, and she’s doing what she loves. That’s the best thing that she could do.” In the first race on a frigid morning, Vonn wound up 1.44 seconds behind the winning time of 1 minute, 5.79 seconds posted by Mirjam Puchner of Austria. In her second race through the course later in the morning, Vonn was 1.53 seconds behind Cornelia Huetter of Austria, who finished in 1:05.99. Huetter is the reigning season-long World Cup downhill champion. “It’s really nice to compare with her again, and nice to have her (racing) again,” Huetter said. “For sure, for the skiing World Cup, we have a lot of more attention. It's generally good for all racers because everyone is looking.” Also in the field were Nadia Delago of Italy, who won a bronze medal in downhill at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and Puchner, the Olympic silver winner in super-G in Beijing. In addition, there was Marta Bassino of Italy, a winner of the super-G at the 2023 world championships, and two-time Olympic champion Michelle Gisin of Switzerland. “For me, it was really a training, but it was fun to have a World Cup race level right here,” Gisin said. “It was a crazy race.” Vonn remains a popular figure and took the time after each run to sign autographs for young fans along with posing for photos. When she left the sport, Vonn had 82 World Cup race victories, which stood as the record for a woman and within reach of the all-time Alpine record of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s mark held by Vonn was surpassed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 wins — more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport. Shiffrin is currently sidelined after a crash in a giant slalom event in Killington, Vermont, last weekend. Vonn’s last major race was in February 2019, when she finished third in a downhill during the world championships in Sweden. The three-time Olympic medalist left the circuit still near the top of her game. But all the broken arms and legs, concussions and torn knee ligaments took too big a toll and sent her into retirement. She had a partial knee replacement last April and felt good enough to give racing another shot. “It's very impressive to see all the passion that Lindsey still has,” Gisin said. Also racing Saturday was 45-year-old Sarah Schleper, who once competed for the United States but now represents Mexico. Schleper was the next racer behind Vonn and they got a chance to share a moment between a pair of 40-somethings still racing. “I was like, ‘Give me some tips, Lindsey,’” Schleper said. “She’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a highway tuck, the whole thing.’ Then she’s like, ‘It’s just like the good old days.’"
Related hot word search: