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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Take a bow, Marley
Queenstowner Marley King Smith was part of the winning University of Washington heavyweight coxed four at the recent US intercollegiate university champs. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY A Queenstown rower who's competed for New Zealand in under-19 world champs for the past two years is now also a United States national university champion. Marley King Smith, 19, who's just completed his first year of a four-year rowing scholarship at the University of Washington (UW), in Seattle, was in their winning heavyweight coxed four at the recent Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta on Philadelphia's Cooper River. The four dominated the A final, winning in an IRA record time. Marley's dad, Bas Smith, says his son was among just three of 17 UW rowing freshmen selected for the regatta. Remarkably, he was also competing for the first time in a sweep oar boat, having come from a sculling or two-oar background — he won single sculls golds for Wakatipu High at the national secondary schools Maadi Cup regattas in '22 and '23. "On top of that," Bas says, "the race conditions were incredibly challenging due to the prevailing wind, causing significant swell and chop through the final 750 metres of the course". UW subsequently won three of their four heavyweight races — the others all being eights — to defend their national title. Commenting on Marley's performance, Bas says "we're really stoked for him, and he's doing really well academically as well".
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Multiple protests planned for Saturday in Seattle, one during UW graduation
This story was originally published on Seattle is preparing for two protests this weekend, including one during the University of Washington's (UW) graduation. Two 'No Kings' rallies are planned for Saturday, one at Cal Anderson Park and the other at UW. They are meant to run opposite to President Donald Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C., according to Axios Seattle. 'NO KINGS is a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies,' event coordinators stated. In addition to the demonstrations' goal to end U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids ordered by the Trump administration, in solidarity with the movements in Los Angeles, the protests will also focus on what they claim is rising authoritarianism under the Trump administration. The protest at UW will also rally over the college's specific ties to Boeing and its response to a pro-Palestine campus protest. The Cal Anderson protest is supported in part by Seattle Indivisible, a grassroots and all-volunteer organization working to create and secure progressive policies. 'In his ruthless pursuit of power, Donald Trump has launched an assault on the American people—destroying livelihoods, dismantling democratic institutions, terrorizing communities, and defying the rule of law,' Seattle Indivisble said in a statement ahead of Saturday's rally. 'He has weaponized our government to silence dissent, seeking to dominate Congress, the press, universities, states, cities, and anyone who refuses to submit to his authoritarian agenda. Now, he has ordered the military to crush protesters in Los Angeles and threatens Seattle—and any community that defies him—will be next.' Katie Garrow, the head of MLK Labor, Noah Purcell, Washington Solicitor General, Palmira Figueroa, a long-time immigrant rights advocate, and U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal are expected to speak at Cal Anderson Park. Participants in the Capitol Hill protest are expected to march to the Seattle Center or the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle, while the UW protest is expected to gather in the campus' Red Square, outside Suzzallo Library. According to UW Police, the UW protest could march downtown, potentially meeting and joining the other protest starting in Cal Anderson Park. Both protests are scheduled to start at 12 p.m., and could last anywhere between 3 and 6 p.m. UW's commencement ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., with doors opening at 12 p.m. Law enforcement around Seattle has been preparing for the rallies, especially in light of recent events. Similar protests are scheduled all across the state, including Everett, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, and Spokane. A map tracking all the No Kings protests across the nation can be seen here. There are as many as 50-something protests set to occur in the Puget Sound region from Olympia to Bellingham. Wednesday night, eight protesters were arrested by the Seattle Police Department during an event outside the federal building. The building was tagged with 'Abolish ICE,' and a dumpster fire broke out. Thousands gathered downtown, demanding an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids ordered by the Trump administration. Two Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers were injured during the clash with protesters. Last month, at least eight people were arrested at what police called a 'First Amendment event' outside Seattle City Hall. Chaos steadily escalated as opposing protest groups clashed at the scene. The event was spurred after a Christian group's rally at Cal Anderson Park earlier that week turned violent.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The winningest coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history has died. Jerry Petitgoue was 84
Jerry Petitgoue was a coach's coach. Never too busy to answer a question or too stubborn to ask one, he studied every aspect of basketball, watched the videos and did some of his own. He loved the game and shared the love. Advertisement Greg Gard, who attended Petitgoue's camp long before becoming Wisconsin's head coach, talked a couple of seasons ago about their relationship. 'I'll get texts from him late at night, or I'll see something that he tweeted about basketball,' Gard said at the time, 'and I'm like, 'Coach, were you really watching an instructional video at 1 a.m. that you had to text me a question?'' Jerry Petitgoue retired as head basketball coach at Cuba City in 2023 after 52 seasons with a 1,027-249 record. Asked subsequently, Petitgoue explained: 'I never really thought, hey, you know what? It's about 1 o'clock in the morning.' It was about defense. 'He got back to me the next day.' Now those calls have stopped, and they'll be desperately missed. Advertisement The winningest coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history died June 7 at age 84, his son Mark said via social media. From 2023: A legendary and inspiring Wisconsin high school coach is about to retire. But at 82, Jerry Petitgoue isn't done with basketball yet. Petitgoue coached for 60 years, 52 of those in Cuba City, a small town in farm country in southwest Wisconsin. He retired after 2022-23 with a record of 1,027-249, making him one of only about 20 coaches nationally known to have reached the 1,000-win plateau. Petitgoue's victory total may never be topped by a Wisconsin boys coach, given it leads by more than 300. Advertisement In a statement shared by UW on June 8, Gard called Petitgoue the godfather of basketball in the state. 'No one has had a more impactful and influential career on the growth, popularity and expansion of basketball in Wisconsin than Jerry,' Gard's statement said. 'He was constantly searching for ways to improve the game and create more opportunities for coaches and players across the state.' Petitgoue's teams won 29 conference championships, made 12 WIAA state tournament appearances and won titles in 1981, 1991 and 1998. He was named one of the coaches of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations for 2020, when his team went 25-0 before the season ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although numbers are part of any coach's legacy, Petitgoue said in a 2023 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he didn't want them to define him. Advertisement 'I just would like to be known as he was a good person and tried to help people,' he said, 'because I think that's why we're put on this earth, to help people.' Petitgoue grew up in Galena, Illinois, went to the University of Dubuque in Iowa and had two other brief coaching stints before landing at Cuba City. Jerry Petitgoue's Cuba City teams won 29 conference championships, made 12 state touranments and won three WIAA titles. He came close to leaving two times, Petitgoue said. The first was in 1984, when he interviewed at UW-Platteville, 10 miles up the road. Bo Ryan, now a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member, got the job. The second was in 1997, when Dubuque was looking for a coach and he considered returning to his alma mater. Advertisement 'But that year, I knew I was going to have a good team, a really good team,' Petitgoue said. 'And it proved to be correct. We won the state championship that year, 1998.' Several other times, Petitgoue told people he was going to retire only to change his mind, usually because there were a couple of players coming along he wanted to coach. Oftentimes he'd also coached their fathers in the quaint facility that in 1999 was officially designated Jerry Petitgoue Gymnasium. Although Petitgoue retired from the classroom 20 years before he put down his clipboard, he considered himself a teacher before a coach. He preached 'Petitgoue's P's': Priority, purpose, passion, pride and preparation. Petitgoue was dedicated to his basketball camp and to the Wisconsin State Basketball Coaches Association, for which he served as executive director for decades. He missed the WIAA state championship last season for the first time in decades due to health issues. Advertisement As Petitgoue neared the end of his time on the bench he contemplated his teams' accomplishments, and conceded he had detractors – even former players – who believed Cuba City should have won more state titles. 'Yeah, would I love to go back one more time? We all would,' Petitgoue said. 'But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen and the sun will shine tomorrow and hopefully these kids will have a great experience in basketball. I think that's the key.' This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin high school basketball coaching legend Jerry Petitgoue dies
National Observer
06-06-2025
- Science
- National Observer
Canada's northern wildfires projected to slow global warming — at a high cost
The climate-driven wildfires currently razing Canada's northern forests and darkening skies across the continent may have an unexpected effect: according to a new study, the fires may reduce global warming and sea ice melt in the Arctic. The rising impact of blazes in Canada and Siberia's boreal regions over the next 35 years will slow warming by 12 per cent globally and 38 per cent in the Arctic, according to recent climate modelling research at the University of Washington (UW). But the study's authors warn that while the study may sound positive, it's just one part of a trend that overall spells major trouble for northern ecosystems. Boreal forest fires affect the climate as smoke particles scatter sunlight back into the atmosphere. These particles, or aerosols, also attract water droplets in clouds making them more reflective — reducing warming trends during the summer in northern areas, said lead author Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, a UW research associate professor of atmospheric and climate science. This effect outweighs other factors like the heat the fires themselves release, or the warming that occurs when black soot falls on white ice or snow, absorbing rather than reflecting sunlight, he said. It also outweighs the planet-heating effect of the carbon dioxide released by the fires. Previous climate models haven't accounted for the increasing scale of wildfire events in boreal forests over the last decade in Canada and Siberia, said co-author Dargan Frierson, a UW associate professor of atmospheric and climate science. The team used the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in the study but hope other climate models and scientists will incorporate the new approach to improve accuracy and understanding of boreal fires impacts, Frierson said. However, while the findings show wildfires mitigate global warming it doesn't significantly change the overall trajectory of the climate crisis, the authors said. The rising impact of blazes in Canada and Siberia's boreal regions over the next 35 years will slow warming by 12 per cent globally and 38 per cent in the Arctic, according to recent climate modelling research at the University of Washington (UW). 'It's an oversimplification to call the study a good news story because large boreal fires still have severely negative impacts on human health and on forest biodiversity,' Blanchard-Wrigglesworth said. 'The most significant takeaway of the study is that how boreal forest fires evolve in the next few decades matters for climate, especially in northern regions, and that we need to better understand the process.' If the intensity of boreal fires drops naturally, or due widespread fire suppression or the climate cooling effect would likely fade within a few years, Blanchard-Wrigglesworth said. 'We need to do more research to address this question,' he said. Warming in other regions like the tropics or southern hemisphere where some of the most severe climate change impacts are expected won't be significantly buffered by boreal fires, he added. 'The primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, which remains the primary driver in our new simulations and still drives significant warming,' Blanchard-Wrigglesworth said. Frierson agreed, saying the study results don't reduce the need to slash carbon pollution as fast as possible. The cooling effects of boreal wildfires only slow the runaway truck of climate change, Frierson said, noting wildfires carry huge costs for people and wildlife that aren't captured in the study. The scale of boreal wildfires like those Canada experienced in 2023, when more than 15 million hectares were razed and 200 communities had to be evacuated, bordered on 'apocalyptic,' Frierson said. Smoke from Canadian wildfires this season is already reaching Europe, prompting air quality alerts in the US, and displaced thousands of people in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 'These [boreal fire] impacts that lead to less warming actually happen due to pretty catastrophic situations,' Frierson said. 'We need to take even more rapid action on climate, because that's the only way to get rid of both the fires and much more significant warming.'
USA Today
05-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Wisconsin football's class of 2026 ranks nationally after Jack Janda's commitment
Where Wisconsin football's class of 2026 ranks nationally after Jack Janda's commitment Wisconsin football's class of 2026 rose significantly in the national rankings following tight end Jack Janda's commitment on Wednesday. Janda, who committed to the Badgers following his official visit this past weekend, became the 11th athlete to offer his pledge to Luke Fickell's class of 2026. The pass-catcher's addition elevated Wisconsin's national ranking from No. 34 to No. 27. Notably, Janda is Wisconsin's fifth commitment in his class since Sunday. He joins tight end Jack Sievers, defensive lineman Arthur Scott, linebacker Ben Wenzel and defensive lineman Djidjou Bah as players to commit after the May 30 visit weekend, a strong indication of what could transpire during other visit windows this summer. Prior to the recent string of commitments, Wisconsin's class of 2026 took a hit when defensive lineman Carmelow Reed flipped his commitment to Ole Miss. With Janda, Sievers, Scott, Wenzel and Bah joining the fray, coupled with wide receiver Tayshon Bardo reaffirming his commitment to Fickell's program, UW has officially turned the corner in the 2026 cycle. Wisconsin's next batch of targets includes linebacker McHale Blade, wide receiver Jayden Petit, running back Amari Latimer, offensive tackle Kamari Blair and athlete Jackson Ford, all of whom visited Madison this past weekend alongside Janda. As of June 4, Wisconsin does not boast a blue-chip recruit in its class of 2026. In terms of Janda as an individual prospect, 247Sports lists the three-star prospect as the No. 818 player in the class of 2026, the No. 43 tight end and the No. 12 recruit from his home state of Michigan. He is Wisconsin's fifth-highest-ranked commit in the class. For more on the Badgers' pursuits in the 2026 cycle, bookmark our class of 2026 tracker. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
