as hard as weve played this year,NEW STARTERSOklahoma State:

There is a story that typifies American sprinter English Gardner, and it happened her freshman year of high school. A teacher gave Gardners class a writing assignment to imagine a realistic goal they saw themselves achieving in 10 years. The other kids detailed the kind of car or house or job they intended to have someday. Gardner handed in a sheet of paper with no words written on it -- just a drawing of the Olympic rings. The teacher reminded her, I said something attainable in 10 years. Gardner, then only 14, shot back, Yeah, I may do it in four.A lot has changed for Gardner since then. But not in any of the respects just mentioned. She is 24 now, and there are far more decorated 100-meter sprinters in the world. But Gardner believes she will prevail in the event at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials (June 30-July 10) in Eugene, Oregon, and then get to the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August and win the gold medal there. She is undaunted that she has never qualified for the Olympics, never owned a world record, and never won an individual medal at the world championships.Gardner has always had the gift of speed. But she is, above all else, a person of unbreakable will. And its been that astonishing will of hers, even more than her legs, that has enabled her to outrun disappointments and outflank the despair or other challenges that have threatened to get in the way of that singular, unchanging goal of hers. I want to become the fastest woman alive, she said at the Prefontaine Classic in late May after running a winning time of 10.81 and beating potential Rio rivals such as Carmelita Jeter and two-time Olympic 100 champ Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, who had been fighting a toe injury. Gardners time was the second best in the world to that point, trailing only fellow American Tori Bowies 10.79.Either Gardner will get what she wants in Rio, or she may nearly break herself trying. And she has always been this way.Thats just how I am, she says. I want to be a greatest of all time. To be a GOAT, youve gotta think like a GOAT.Gardner is the daughter of two pastors who, she says, always taught me you have to speak things into existence. That if I put it out in the world, if I make it plain, its mine. Her passage to adulthood has been a crucible at times, but she has emerged as a straight-talking woman with a formidable intellect and drive, a sneaky sense of humor and a showmans gift for storytelling.Englishs mother, Monica, says she chose such an unusual first name for her second child because I had a feeling she was going to do something spectacular someday and -- here Monica laughs a little -- I wanted her to have a name that would sound good over an intercom.Englishs father, Anthony, was a 110-meter hurdler at Delaware State and later at Pitt. He tried to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials at a last-chance meet in Philadelphia in 1988. But he was so overcome by the moment and the sight of Olympic champ Roger Kingdom in a lane next to him that he was left in the blocks when the starters gun went off and the rest of the field shot away.I was like, You froze? and he said, I froze, English says. Ive never been starstruck like that. The first time I raced against Allyson Felix, I thought, Thats Allyson Felix. But shes not gonna beat me. My dad is everything to me -- my coach, my spiritual advisor, my friend, my punching bag. I always joke with him that he went through hell so I wouldnt have to. Here he is, this big strong man, and yet he has so much humility. He always tells me, English, you want it more than I ever did.Gardners parents run a nondenominational Christian ministry in southern New Jersey, the same part of the world that American sprinting great Carl Lewis comes from.English was 8 when they took her to the Willingboro, New Jersey, club that Lewis mother, Evelyn, started. (Even by then, English was headstrong enough to pull stunts like telling friends she was throwing a birthday party for herself at the Discovery Zone -- unbeknownst to her parents, who didnt find out until the folks of some of the 10 or 15 kids called Monica and chirped, Were on our way!)English was only 14 when her mother was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and was told she should get her affairs in order because she had only about a 30 percent chance to live. It was rough, English says. I remember the look on her face the first time she combed her hair and a clump came out. I remember right when she got diagnosed. I came home and my room was completely different and decorated. Shed placed every single plaque, every single trophy, every single medal and photograph of mine from wall to wall, all around my bed, a complete 360 -- and she came in my room and she looked at me and she said, I love you so much. I may not be here to remind you of how great and special you are. But you will remember every time you walk into this room when Im not here how great you are and why you do this. You were born to do this. In that moment, I realized I couldnt throw this sport away. But I wouldnt have had that epiphany if, as she was having that moment, she hadnt come to me and still said, You can do this.Gardner set a state record in the 100 that year. She won an East regional 100-meter title, too. When she ran an 11.4-second 100 the next year as a high school sophomore, her father sat her down for a serious talk. I said, English, this is a time thats unheard of at your age. You have a chance to do something unprecedented in this sport. This can be your career.But against his better judgment, Anthony let his daughter talk him into allowing her to compete in a school powder puff football game her junior year to raise breast cancer awareness. To this day, English believes one of the reasons her mother successfully fought through chemo and radiation was that she wanted to be here to see me run in the Olympics.Anthony was sitting in the stands when English came racing down the field with the football and had one defender to beat. She decided to try a spin move and collapsed in a heap. She remembers the doctor who ran onto the field gave me a funny look after he saw her leg. Once in the training room, she saw her father pacing with his hands on his head and tears in his eyes.Gardner was only 17, but she had torn her ACL, PCL and meniscus, a devastating injury. But, she says, I looked at my dad right there in that room and just said, Listen. Whatever it is, were going to be OK. Then she kept her word by attacking her post-surgery rehab so hard she was told to cut back. She didnt listen. Shed go to her bedroom at night and prop a chair against the doorknob so no one could stop her from doing extra rehab. And still, many of the colleges whod been aggressively recruiting her stopped completely.Which only saddened her stricken father more.I think he went into his man cave in the basement for two straight months, English says.Anthony was still brooding there one day when he heard a thump, thump, thump. It was English, her leg still immobilized, hopping down the stairs to tell him, Look, its time for us to get it together. I did it. Its torn. But were going to make a comeback. Get yourself together. Come out of the basement. And lets get to work.I was like, Uh, did the roles just switch up here? Anthony says. I felt like I was the kid and she was the parent.English was encouraged when track power LSU, her dream school, flew her to Baton Rouge for a recruiting visit -- only to get there and learn in a meeting with coach Dennis Shaver that LSU wasnt going to offer her a full scholarship, either. Lets go, English said to her parents, rising to leave and thanking Shaver for his time.Once again, she was devastated. But broken? Not at all.When Gardners father entered her in at a low-key comeback race at Seton Hall a few weeks later under an assumed name -- I didnt know what to expect, he admits -- English ran so fast word got out it was her. And LSUs Shaver called back.I told that coach, You missed the opportunity of a lifetime. I didnt even sign on the line with Oregon by then, but I told him anyway, I already signed with Oregon. English says. So then, after that phone call, I hung up and called Oregon and said, Coach Johnson. You sitting down? He said yeah. I said, Im coming to Oregon!I felt so empowered in that moment!Gardner went on to star for the Ducks -- but not before LSUs Shaver called her dad and, referring to how English had reamed him out, said, Ive never had a girl talk to me like that!Pause.It made me want to recruit her even more!English rewarded Oregons loyalty by becoming a three-time All-American and NCAA champ. And every time she saw an LSU uniform, shed run with extra fury, to the point that when she trained later with former LSU sprinter Kimberly Duncan in Los Angeles, English said, I sat her down and told her, I just want you to know none of that was about you, OK? None of it. You were just collateral damage.By her junior year at Oregon, Gardner was the only college sprinter to make the 100-meter final at the 2012 Olympic trials.But Gardner finished fourth, just missing an individual Olympic spot. The step up in competition gave her a taste of what lay just ahead in the notoriously aggressive world of sprinting (she turned pro right after the meet).One of the other girls tapped me on the shoulder and said, Hey kid, its all about the Benjamins [$100 bills] -- youll understand later, Gardner says. It was her way of saying I wasnt ready for this. And she was right. America doesnt see it. But everything is about mind games. Intimidating people on the [start] line.It starts in the back before we get our hip numbers and our lane assignments all the way up to when we get on the line. I mean, theres some runners who will purposely scream and yell and be hyped to psych out the person next to them. A lot of runners will purposely take their time getting in the blocks so that youre sitting down there for a long time. And theres a lot of glares -- I mean, if eyes could kill.Gardner stands only 5-foot-6, and she is slight for a sprinter. She looks like a 1,500-meter runner, right? says John Smith, the venerable coach whose Los Angeles club she began training with after leaving Oregon. He smiles and says, Do you know she can squat [lift] 330 pounds?When Gardner ran a race for Smith not long after joining his training group, which has also included sprint champions Ato Boldon and Jeter, Smith says, One of the guys looked at me and said, Did you see what I saw? And I said, Yes. But we have be careful. Shes so strong-willed, sometimes I look at her and think, I dont want to break this. Because shell just go. Shes special.Today, the Olympic dream Gardner has had since childhood and carries into the U.S. trials isnt just for her anymore.She still talks in terms of when I win the gold medal in Rio -- not if -- and it is entirely conceivable that she will get to Brazil and it will be yet another thing she has spoken into existence. And when she does it -- not if -- she admits she probably wont follow through on her joke about becoming the first Olympic athlete to take champagne onto the medal podium and spray everyone in sight once she hears the national anthem.English Gardner figures she may just sit down next to her folks and allow herself a good, long cry. Cheap Air Max . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Fake Air Max . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Air Max From China . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Replica Air Max . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. TULSA, Okla. -- Freshman Lindy Waters made the game-winning basket as Oklahoma State edged in-state rival Tulsa 71-67 Saturday, but both Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood and Tulsas Frank Haith saw different keys to what both agreed was an unsightly affair.Underwood pointed to the toughness and resourcefulness of freshman guard Brandon Averette, who stepped in for leading scorer Jawun Evans and scored a career-high 17 points with three assists and three steals, helping the young Cowboys, now 7-2, snap a six-game losing streak in true road games.I love our freshmen, theyre fearless, Underwood said. Ive seen veteran teams get punched in the mouth like they did in the second half and fold, but they hung in there. Theyve got great heart and swagger. Im proud of what they did.Haith was left to rue his teams 18 turnovers and 41-30 rebounding deficit.Thats where we lost the game, he said. Its very difficult to win when you give up 17 offensive rebounds and have 18 turnovers. They are going to be aggressive on the ball and you cant give in to the pressure.Waters, one of four freshmen on the floor for OSU throughout many of the key late moments, hit the basket with the shot clock nearing zero and despite tight defense from Tulsas Pat Birt. Tulsa had a chance to tie, but Sterling Taplin missed a layup attempt and OSU (7-2) secured the rebound. Fellow freshman Thomas Dziagwa, who made three big second-half 3-pointers, made two free throws to secure the win with less than a second remaining.Jeffrey Carroll had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for OSU. Dziagwa scored 11 points.Taplin had 16 points and Jaleel Wheeler 15 for Tulsa (4-4). Wheelers third 3-pointer of the second half, all from the left corner, gave Tulsa a 60-57 lead with 4:57 to play, its first lead since 15-14. The Cowboys clawed back on a pull-up by Averette, and 3-pointers by Leyton Hammonds and Dziagwa to lead 65-60.Taplin scored on two drives and made one of two free throws to pull Tulsa to 67-65, then Junior Etou tied the score at 69 on a rebound basket before Waters game-winner.Averette played 37 minutes after playing just eight in a one-point loss to Maryland.It was different, but I go against the best point guard in America every day in practice, so that prepared me for it, Averette saiid.ddddddddddddAhead 17-16, the Cowboys took command with a 12-0 run triggered by a Phil Forte 3-pointer and fueled by seven free throws, pushing the lead to 29-16. The Cowboys forced Tulsa into 11 turnovers and had a 13-rebound advantage in leading 38-30 at the break, thanks partly to two late rebound baskets by Mitchell Solomon, including a tip-in at the buzzer.BIG PICTUREBoth coaches saw positives from their young squads still adjusting to each players skills and habits.Tulsa executed with much better flow on offense in the second half, which Underwood credited to adjustments made by Haith.Theyve got an NCAA Tournament team there, Underwood said of Tulsa. Did you see their first game? Not very good, but theyve made tremendous strides. Frank is a very good offensive coach and they did some things in the second half that gave us a lot of trouble.Were developing. Were getting better, Haith said. I think out best basketball is ahead of us.On the other hand, Underwood said his teams first-half defense, which forced 11 Tulsa turnovers, was as good as the Cowboys have played this year.I knew it would be ugly early without Jawun, but I loved our effort, he said. That was as hard as weve played this year,NEW STARTERSOklahoma State: The Cowboys were without leading scorer Evans (23.6 ppg), out with a bruise of the AC joint in his left shoulder suffered in practice Thursday. Guard Phil Forte also did not start due to a bruised hip but entered at the 15:51 mark. Averette and Carroll replaced them in the starting lineup.Tulsa: After a 1-for-10 shooting performance in his last game that dropped his season percentage to 31 percent, Pat Birt, Tulsas leading returning scorer from a year ago, did not start for the first time this season, and was replaced by freshman Lawson Korita. Korita finished with nine points and Birt had four.TRADING TREYS:With 9:20 left, Dziagwa made a 3-pointer to give OSU a 53-45 advantage, starting a string of four possessions in which either he or TUs Wheeler made a 3-pointer. Wheelers second left OSU up 56-51.UP NEXTOklahoma State is back home Wednesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.Tulsa hosts Texas State on Dec. 17. ' ' '