Athletics

Ella Messner set a time of 5:04.35 for the 1600-meter race — a personal record by 17 seconds — at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis this spring. It cemented her status as one of the fastest 8th grade runners in the country.

A $2.8 billion settlement involving the NCAA sent shockwaves throughout the college sports world last week, paving the way for colleges around the country to pay student-athletes directly for the first time.

Ivan McClellan's new photobook, “Eight Seconds,” documents the Black riders, ropers and rodeo queens encountered in dusty arenas around the United States. McClellan's love for the sport and subculture led him to start his own rodeo in Portland, Oregon, where he lives.

The 20-year-old Grain Valley native, who trained in Blue Springs, said on social media last week that a toxic coaching environment at the University of Utah negatively affected her mental health. “The abuse often happened in individual coach-athlete meetings," she wrote.

Neither the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education nor the Missouri State High School Activities Association could say how they will enforce the state's restrictions on transgender athletes — one of the most controversial new laws approved by Missouri legislators this year.

A MidAmerica Nazarene University football lineman died from what his family calls "heat-related injuries." He was just 19 years old. In just the past few years, several Kansas college football players have died from heat stroke following summer practices.

The Kansas Supreme Court will allow the Republican-drawn redistricting map to stand, even though its opponents said it was racially and politically gerrymandered. Plus, after generations of protecting their amateur status, college athletes are now cashing in on endorsements.

A small Kansas community college has been sued for allegedly trying to reduce the number of its Black student-athletes. The lawsuit comes after disclosures that the president of the school compared a Black football player to Hitler, whom she praised as “a great leader.”

After winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, track star Courtney Frerichs returns to the University of Missouri - Kansas City on December 19 to address the graduating class.

U.S. Supreme Court rules the NCAA's restrictions on athletes violate the Sherman Antitrust Act

The different ways of expressing the love of one's country and the changes for student athletes as the NCAA drops restrictions on players benefitting from the use of their name, image and likeness.

Football is incredibly popular in the United States. Kids want to play it, but parents worry about head injuries.