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November 19, 2022

Women’s Basketball Heads to Minnesota for First Road Tests

CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women’s basketball team hits the road for the first time during the 2022-23 season on Saturday night as the Blue Hose battle St. Thomas with tip set for 8 p.m. on Tommie All-Access. The weekend wraps up on Sunday at 3 p.m. with a matchup against Minnesota on Big Ten Plus from Minneapolis.

Matchup: Presbyterian (2-1) at St. Thomas (1-2)

Date: Saturday, November 19

Time: 8 pm

Site: Schoenecker Arena (St. Paul, Minn.)

Live Video: Tommie All-Access

Live Stats: Sidearm Stats

Twitter: @bluehosewbb

Matchup: Presbyterian at Minnesota (2-1)

Date: Sunday, November 20

Time: 3 pm

Site: Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Live Video: Big Ten Plus ($)

Live Stats: Sidearm Stats

Twitter: @bluehosewbb

Notes

Opening Tip

– The Blue Hose hit the road for the first time during the 2022-23 season with a trip to Minnesota beginning on Saturday night against St. Thomas. PC comes in at 2-1 following Tuesday’s dramatic comeback win over WCU, while the Tommies sit with a 1-2 mark after dropping a 71-56 result on Tuesday to Illinois State. PC looks to continue its winning ways over the Tommies after defeating UST 82-62 in Clinton last season. The roadtrip concludes on Sunday at 3 p.m. with a visit to Minnesota to battle the Gophers. It will be the first all-time meeting against the Gophers in the DI era.

Scouting the Tommies

– St. Thomas comes into play with a 1-2 record following a setback on Tuesday against Illinois State. The Tommies defeated S.C. State and fell to Northern Iowa to begin the 22-23 season. UST is led by Jade Hill who’s averaging 12.7 ppg thus far in the season as she’s scored 12 or 14 points in all three games. Maggoe Negaard is averaging 9.0 points/game while Sammy Opichka has posted an 8.0 ppg clip. Jordyn Lamker leads St. Thomas with 5.0 rebounds/game. Hill leads the Tommies with 12 assists thus far and also has a team-high seven steals.

Scouting the Gophers

– Minnesota comes into Sunday’s tilt with a 2-1 record following a 71-65 setback against North Dakota State on Thursday night. The Gophers tallied wins to begin the season against Western Illinois and Lehigh. Mara Braun leads the Gophers with 27.5 points/game with a game-high 34 against Lehigh including a game-winning three. Kate Borowicz has added 13 ppg with 10 steals thus far, while Amaya Battle has averaged 12.7 points/game. Alanna Micheaux leads Minnesota with 9.0 rebounds/game with 12 ppg. Battle ranks inside the top 20 with a 5.0 assist/turnover ratio.

Head-to-Head against Tommies & Gophers

– The Blue Hose battle St. Thomas for the second time on Saturday in the school’s DI history as PC defeated the Tommies 82-62 in Clinton last season. In last year’s matchup, PC shot 50.0{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} led by Jade Compton’s 25 points en route to a 20-point win over UST. The weekend concludes on Sunday with a battle against Minnesota as the two teams meet for the first time in PC’s DI era. It’s the first time PC has faced a Big 10 opponent since 2019-20 season when the Blue Hose battled Illinois.

Blue Hose with Minnesota Ties

– The Blue Hose feature a pair of players heading home to play this weekend as sophomore guard Paige Kindseth and head coach Alaura Sharp both have ties to The North Star State. Prior to coming to PC, Kindseth averaged 13.5 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists/game while at Farmington High School. She was a three-time all-conference selection and was a 2018-19 All-State Honorable Mention honoree. She also helped Famrington to a pair of South Suburban Conference Championships, a 1AAAA Section championship and a Minnesota 4A State Tournament Final appearance. Sharp’s ties to the Gopher State date back to her pre-coaching days as she graduated magna cum laude from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2006. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a sports management concentration and minor in coaching. Sharp earned her AA degree from Fort Scott Community College, where she was a two-year letterwinner. She was named to the KJCCC Second Team All-Conference while averaging 14.0 points and 12.0 rebounds. She also earned NJCAA Academic All-American honors.

Late Game Dramatics

– The Blue Hose didn’t let a 10-point deficit with 2:40 to go sway them as PC battled back with three-pointers from Aubrie Kierscht and Ashley Carrillo along with a pair of late game layups from Bryanna Brady to push PC past the Catamounts 68-67 on Tuesday inside the Templeton Center.

Second Quarter Dominance

– PC has controlled the scoreboard in the second quarter throughout the opening three games of the season as the Blue Hose have outscored their opponents 55-15 in the quarter. PC has been led by Bryanna Brady with 13 points in that frame and Mara Neira has added 10 in the second among the first three contests. On the defensive end, PC held Furman to just three points and Western Carolina to five points in the second quarter of its respective games with those two SoCon foes.

Blue Hose in the Ranks

– Mara Neira sits third in the league averaging 16.0 points/game while Bryanna Brady sits eighth in the league with 13.3 ppg… Brady is tied for the league lead with 8.3 rebounds per game as she also leads the conference with 11 offensive rebounds… Brady also sits atop the Big South shooting at a 64.3{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} clip while Neira is fourth with a 45.5{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf}… Freshman Aubrie Kierscht is tied for fifth in the league with seven three pointers while Neira is tied for seventh in the conference with six threes… Tilda Sjökvist leads the Blue Hose with 13 assists as she sits fourth in the conference, while ranking second in the league is assists/game at 4.3 clip… Brady sits in a tie for third with six blocks…

Red Hot Season Debut

– Sophomore guard Mara Neira made her Blue Hose debut count on Monday as she tallied a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. The Galicia, Spain native caught fire down the stretch in the third quarter connecting on three straight shots from beyond the arc over the final 96 seconds of the third quarter that propelled her to a game-high 23 points. Neira was one of four players in the Big South to total 20+ points in their 2022-23 season debuts joining Shy Tuelle (Campbell), Catherine Alben (CSU) and Rachel LaLonde (Radford).

On Tap

– PC is scheduled to play 29 contests under the direction of fifth year head coach Alaura Sharp during the 2022-23 season including 18 league games which begin on December 29th at Campbell. The Blue Hose are slated to make trips to St. Thomas, Minnesota, Morehead State, UNCG, Florida and Florida State in non-conference play while welcoming Carolina University, Furman, WCU, Jacksonville and Bluefield to Clinton. Presbyterian will play nine home-homes with the league in 2022 beginning with Campbell on Dec. 29.

New Faces Enter the Equation

– The Blue Hose enter the 2022-23 season with a lot of fresh faces in 2022 as 11 new players join the squad. The Blue Hose freshman class includes guards Aubrie Kierscht (Salina, Kan.) , Ashley Carrillo (Liberal, Kan.) , Tilda Sjokvist (Huskvarna, Sweden) , Natalie Herrin (Patterson, Ga.) and forward Dennaye Hinds (Bridgeport, Conn.). In addition to the five freshman, PC also added a host of upperclassmen in 2022 to round out the roster. Coach Sharp welcomes Christina Kline (La Salle), Mara Neira (Eastern Wyoming), Sonia Sato (McCook CC), Dagne Apsite (UTEP), Nuria Cunill (Eastern Washington) and Laila Grant (Vincennes).

September 24, 2022

The Space Force is scrapping annual fitness tests for wearable trackers : Shots

Air Force service members run a timed 1.5 miles during their annual physical fitness test at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois in June. The U.S. Space Force intends to do away with once-a-year assessments in favor of wearable technology.

Eric Schmid/St. Louis Public Radio

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Eric Schmid/St. Louis Public Radio

Annual physical fitness tests are a cornerstone of military life. Each service has its own take on the once-a-year assessment required by the Department of Defense.

But the country’s newest military branch is ditching that model.

Members of the Space Force, called Guardians, won’t have an annual test. Instead, they will get smart rings or other wearable fitness devices to keep track of their physical activity throughout the year. The devices also will be programmed to give feedback about mental health, balanced eating and sleep.

U.S. Space Force leadership says the approach will prioritize the general wellness of service members beyond just one physical assessment each year. The annual tests have spurred eating disorder symptoms and other unhealthy behaviors in some military members.

“This program will promote not just physical fitness; it will pair fitness with robust education on diet, sleep hygiene and other physiological factors to promote social, mental and spiritual health as well,” wrote Patricia Mulcahy, the Space Force deputy chief of space operations for personnel, in a memo.

The change is still taking shape and won’t be fully implemented until 2023. Until then, Guardians still have to complete one more Air Force fitness test — a timed 1.5 mile run and one minute each of pushups and situps.

The overall fitness expectations won’t change much, said Chief Master Sgt. James Seballes, the senior enlisted leader for the Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command.

“We’re still using the Air Force PT standards. The difference is in our approach,” he said.

The Space Force has been testing Garmin watches and Oura rings for its program. It also plans a digital community where Guardians can see data from their own fitness trackers and compare it to their peers.

Austin-based FitRankings is building that online platform, which will allow Guardians to get credit for activities they normally do, rather than assessing them on specific exercises during the annual test.

“Maybe you’re not good at running, maybe you’re not good at pullups,” said FitRankings CEO Patrick Hitchins. “There is some amount of dimensionality to these tests that favors one activity form over another.”

That was a key frustration Hitchins said he heard from military members about fitness tests. FitRankings seeks to alleviate it by converting any physical activity into a MET minute, a measure of energy expenditure.

“Guardians could do any type of activity,” Hitchins said. “We could convert it into this metric and then create a culture-building, community-engaging challenge around that data.”

Some in the Space Force expect Guardians to use the data to take more ownership of their overall health, said Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, commander of Space Training and Readiness Command, who has been testing fitness tracking rings.

A member of the Air Force 18th Component Maintenance Squadron wears a Garmin watch and an Oura ring as part of a 2021 study. The Space Force is evaluating wearable devices from both manufacturers to monitor troops’ health.

Demond Mcghee/U.S. Air Force

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Demond Mcghee/U.S. Air Force

“There’s increased responsibility on me, not just once a year to take a fitness test, for example, but maybe to exercise 90 minutes a week,” Bratton said. “The ring helps me keep track of that as well as my sleep patterns.”

Bratton said leaders want to emphasize health beyond physical activity so that Guardians are prepared to execute what their service requires.

“Many times fitness is used as a ‘go, no-go’ kind of thing — either you have it or you don’t,” Seballes said. “I know folks who can do all of their PT aspects and run a really fast mile and a half, and yet their eating habits are poor, their sleeping habits are poor. They’re not healthy.”

The traditional style of fitness testing has also pushed some military members to make dangerous decisions. Researchers have found some military members engage in eating disorders in the months before their fitness assessments. Other studies suggest military members have a generally increased risk of eating disorder symptoms compared with their civilian counterparts.

“This heightened focus on fitness or weight and shape at one time period may be associated with increases in body dissatisfaction,” said Lindsay Bodell, an assistant professor of psychology at Western University in Ontario. “People may be more aware of their bodies and their performance at that time.”

Bodell, whose research focuses on the causes of eating disorders, stressed the need for more studies before she and other researchers can confidently say the two are linked. It doesn’t help that passing an annual fitness test can be tied to career advancement and other military opportunities, she said.

“Having these consequences of not meeting the standard may lead people to engage in pretty extreme behaviors to meet those standards,” she said.

But Bodell added that fitness monitors won’t necessarily solve the problem. The Pentagon still requires each military service to measure body composition through body fat calculations, waist-to-height ratios and other methods.

“If the emphasis continues to be on specific weight standards or weight regulation, we may still end up having similar consequences,” Bodell said, noting that many studies have found a connection between fitness tracker use and eating disorder symptoms.

The military might be creating 'a perfect storm' for eating disorders

“These types of constant monitoring and tracking of fitness could contribute to pressures to mold one’s body to unrealistic ideals,” she said.

Elizabeth Eikey’s research touches on that topic. An assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego’s Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, she studies how technology, like fitness trackers and apps, affects mental health and well-being.

“For a long time the idea was more engagement with these tools — the more consistent you are, the longer that you use them — the more healthy you will be,” Eikey said. “But what we’re finding is that’s not necessarily true.”

Having more data on your health or fitness can undermine the kind of self-reflection that leads to healthier lifestyles, Eikey said, especially with higher-stakes goals.

That doesn’t mean she’s against the Space Force reevaluating how it measures fitness, though.

“Questioning the kinds of standards around fitness is very important,” Eikey said. “That’s an admirable thing to do. Are these technologies really the right way to do it?”

This story comes to us from St. Louis Public Radio and was produced by North Carolina Public Radio’s American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.