Sophie Rylance wins Bemidji State's first individual NSIC champio… — and more

Mar. 2—MANKATO — Bemidji State women's track and field team finished the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in 12th place, headlined by Sophie Rylance's win in the 1000-meter race. This is the first indoor NSIC title for a BSU individual since 2021.

Rylance has made this season her own, setting personal bests, school and facility records. This weekend was no different as the sophomore earned the Beavers' first individual conference event win since 2021. Rylance qualified for the 1000-meter run with a time of 3:03.28, then pushed to the front with a personal-best time of 2:55.85. This was the first time a Beaver has taken the title in the event.

With the win, Rylance also earned All-NSIC honors. Freshman Jada Goeson also ran the 1000-meter, setting a personal best at 3:05.41 and finishing 12th in preliminaries. Maggie McCarthy rounded out the individual track efforts for BSU, finishing 19th in the 3000-meter with a season-best time of 10:31.37.

The Beavers' relay teams also had strong showings in Mankato. BSU's distance medley relay team of Jada Goeson, Amelia Congrove, Rylance and McCarthy finished fourth, grabbing the team four points with a time of 12:30.11. The 4x400-meter relay team of Congrove, Goeson, Rylance and senior Josie Aitken marked a season-best time of 4:07.19, taking 14th.

Trista Bilden led the Beavers' field efforts, finishing 13th in shot put with a distance of 12.41 meters. Redshirt junior Hannah Baker finished 15th with a distance of 15.56 meters in the weight throw. Over on the pole vault runway, Chloe Knott finished in 19th at a height of 3.16 meters.

Adding to the Beavers' accolades, Knott was named the NSIC's Indoor Track and Field Women's Elite 18 Outstanding Senior. The award is given to a senior with the highest cumulative GPA among those competing at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 championships. Knott, who is a senior academically and a sophomore athletically, has a perfect 4.00 GPA while majoring in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology.

Lightning trade rumor lands Steven Stamkos for high-powered reunion originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This would be one of the coolest possible outcomes before Friday's NHL trade deadline.

Steven Stamkos is on a red-hot goal-scoring binge for the Nashville Predators, and he seems to be available. The Tampa Bay Lightning might come calling.

Yes, the Lightning for whom Stamkos built such an incredible legacy.

"Stamkos recently told reporters he wasn’t looking to expedite his way out of Nashville, but The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported there are multiple destinations he might consider attractive enough to waive his no-movement clause: Minnesota, Dallas, New Jersey and Tampa Bay," The Athletic's Chris Johnston wrote in his new trade board article. "A trade involving Stamkos might not materialize until the summer. However, given how he’s turned back the clock and filled the net this season, his name is worthy of a long look in the days ahead, too."

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Early this season, Stamkos looked like he might be washed up.

Lately, he's looked anything but.

"The future Hall of Famer has been on a heater after a slow start and just hit the 30-goal mark for the 10th time in his career," Johnston writes. "That's difficult to ignore."

Stamkos is under contract for two years after this one with an $8 million annual average value, so he's not cheap, and acquiring him means a multi-year commitment.

Given the long tenure of Stamkos with the Lightning, that'd make as much sense as anywhere. 

Stay tuned, because a Stamkos trade, especially to the Lightning, would grab a lot of headlines.

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The NFL should consider adapting Pro Bowl protocols to the Scouting Combine originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Every year since the 1980s, NFL franchises have invited draft prospects to team headquarters or a centralized location for workouts and testing. Over recent history the number of players invited reached over 300 players.

Every year over recent memory, some players have chosen to not perform during the workout portion. Others opt out of certain physical testing. This has never really been an issue if private workouts and pro days exist. That is until this year.

In 2026 the NFL Scouting Combine organizing committee invited 319 players Indianapolis. The vast majority of which participated in the measurements and certain aspects of physical testing. When it came to the actual workout, more than 60% of the invitees opted out of the workout portion. Quarterbacks alone had almost 70% that did not participate.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl has lost more fans than it has retained over time. Many viewers hoping it will return to an actual tackle football game with stakes and others simply want it to go away. The Pro Bowl does something that the Combine should adopt is alternates.

When the Pro Bowl rosters are announced there is always an understanding that any of those players could opt out due to an upcoming Super Bowl appearance, an injury, fear of getting an injury or since they moved it out of Hawaii, some players just don’t want to participate. Those players are replaced with alternates.

This past Pro Bowl included Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders, Tyler Warren, Dalton Kincaid, Tee Higgins, Patrick Ricard, Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson. Each of those names were Pro Bowl alternates.

Even for a flag event, it would not have been much of a game if those 11 players who chose not to participate, showed up and simply didn’t play. Lebron James did this very thing at the most recetn NBA All-Star game and it was not received well. That’s why the league utilizes alternates.

The Combine should introduce invite alternates

The pre-Draft process has been often referred to as the biggest job interview in all of sports. For some, it’s a four-month process that does not let up until the draft occurs. Teams are trying to find weaknesses; players are trying to look as good as possible. The Combine is not a leisurely, take it as it comes situation. It’s chaotic and excessively scheduled.

The Combine is almost required for anyone invited. Not due to the workout, but for the interviews, medical and physical measurements. There are not many agents that would recommend their client avoid the Combine. However, there are many agents who would try to convince their clients not to participate in the workouts.

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The fix should be obvious. Introduce alternates for the workouts. If they were going to invite 319 players to be measured, go through medical and perform in the workouts, what would be the issue with inviting 400 to 450 players to be measured? As well as being available to workout in place of someone choosing not to.

Then when 50+% of the original three hundred and change decline the workout, there are a hundred or more players who were not initially invited that would gladly take their place in those workouts.

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If the NFL Scouting Combine is the largest portion of the largest job interview and there are always players who get left out, why not create a protocol that allows NFL front offices to view more players? There absolutely will be names called during Draft weekend who were not invited to the Combine. Teams scout more names than the Combine list.

If Fernando Mendoza and Rueben Bain Jr want to attend, interview with teams and get their official measurements, that is perfectly fine. However, the league should adopt alternates to make room for players who otherwise would not get an opportunity to compete.  

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