All Scores

Cross country phenom Natalie Cook has running in her DNA

Natalie Cook receives the Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year trophy on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Gatorade)

Running is deeply embedded in Natalie Cook’s DNA.

Cook’s mother, Melissa Gulli-Cook and her father, Andrew Cook, were All-American distance runners at Texas A&M in the early 2000s. The apple, as the cliché goes, didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Cook, of Flower Mound High School in Flower Mound, Texas, was named the 2021-22 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year on Wednesday. Cook joins an impressive group of former award winners who have combined for eight NCAA national championships and five bronze medals.

“I’m in total shock right now. I had no clue I was going to win this amazing award,” Cook said after receiving the trophy. “This is so crazy, it’s insane. It’s such an honor to receive this award, especially considering all the amazing athletes that have won it in the past.”

Cook only needed to look across her dining room table to find her inspiration for running.

Her mother was a champion distance runner for the Aggies, winning four Big 12 conference titles and finishing runner-up in the NCAA 5,000-meter finals in 2001 and 2002. Gulli-Cook qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials in 2004 in the 5,000 -and 10,000-meter races, finishing sixth in the 6.2-mile event.

“My mom is amazing. She’s run professionally for New Balance,” Cook said.

Cook’s father is no slouch either. After earning All-American honors in cross country for Texas A&M, he now serves as Natalie’s cross country coach.

The 5-foot-5 senior won two national titles this season, capturing the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships and the Eastbay Cross Country Championships in back-to-back weekends.

Cook’s winning time of 16:03.93 for the 3.1-mile course at RunningLane championships was 19 seconds faster than that of her nearest competitor and was the second-fastest 5,000-meter time in the event’s history. The Oklahoma State signee became the first prep school girl’s runner to win the two culminating national championship races in a single cross country season.

“At the season’s start, Natalie Cook was a top-20 competitor nationally,” said Doug Binder, Dyestat.com Editor-in-Chief. “By December, she was the most dominant prep runner in the country. Her progress through the season propelled her to some amazing achievements. She scorched the RunningLane championships course and then beat the strongest field of the year at the national Eastbay Cross Country Championships, which left no doubt about who was the top gun in 2021.”

Cook also won the Texas Class 6A individual state championship in 16:32.4, leading the Jaguars to their second state title in as many years. She added victories at the Eastbay South Regional championships, the Region 1 championships and the District 6 championships, while placing third at the Woodbridge Classic earlier in the season.

“I think the race at the Woodbridge Classic really gave me a lot of confidence,” Cook said. “The final mile at the Eastbay nationals was so tough, so challenging. It wasn’t my best day. My dad really motivated me during the last mile. He was like ‘Come on, Cook. You got this.’ And that really inspired me.”

img
(Courtesy of Gatorade)

As a kid, Cook was more of a sprinter than a distance runner. It wasn’t until she reached middle school that she began to show off her distance running chops. As an eighth grader, Cook ran a sub 5-minute mile, and as a freshman, she finished fifth overall at the Texas state cross country championships with a time of 17:03.

“I think after I ran my first competitive mile, my parents realized that maybe I was better suited for distance running,” Cook said with a chuckle.

Cook suffered through a slew of leg injuries during her sophomore and junior seasons, including a broken foot, which made running on uneven surfaces especially painful.

As a result, Cook had to cut down on her training regimen. Unlike other elite runners, who run as many as 60 miles per week, Cook was limited to around 20 miles of training a week. She supplemented her runs with daily cardio workouts on an elliptical machine.

“She doesn’t practice on the grass because she broke her foot,” Andrew Cook said. “She does a lot of her work on the track and on the road. The big thing was just to keep her healthy this season, so we had to under-train and focus on some cardio.”

Healthy for the first time in two years, Cook is looking forward to a productive senior track season. She’s aiming to improve on her personal record mile time of 4:43 this spring.

“I prefer track season to cross country because I feel like I do better on the track,” Cook said. “I’m excited to see what I can do this season if I can stay healthy.”

Andrew Miller has covered high school sports since 1982. Before joining The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier in 1989, he graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in journalism.

12th Straight Win Shoots Las Vegas Aces to No. 2 in the WNBA Standings

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson and guard Chelsea Gray high-five during a 2025 WNBA game.
A 12th straight win launched the Las Vegas Aces to No. 2 in the 2025 WNBA standings. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Las Vegas Aces are silencing the competition, shooting to No. 2 in the WNBA standings following an 81-75 take-down of the now-No. 3 Atlanta Dream on Wednesday night.

Defending WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson led Las Vegas with 34 points, while guard Jackie Young posted a triple-double.

The Aces have now won 12 straight games, claiming a meteoric rise from No. 8 to No. 2 in under a month as Wilson sits Top-5 league-wide in points, rebounds, and blocks per game.

"Don't call me 'Curry,'" Wilson joked, referencing all-time NBA three-point leader Steph Curry after tying her season-high of two made-threes in Wednesday's matchup.

Las Vegas's unbeaten streak dates back to August 2nd's 53-point blowout loss to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, with Wednesday's statement win over a fellow postseason favorite cementing the 2023 WNBA champions' newfound effectiveness.

"This is our eighth game in 15 days. I was very concerned with our legs coming into this game," said Aces head coach Becky Hammon. "When you talk about gears and that ability to kick it up an extra notch, we really have been able to do that on the defensive end — and it's winning us games."

While Las Vegas already clinched a playoff berth, the path to a third franchise title won't be easy, as the Aces will look to avenge their 0-3 head-to-head record against the Lynx in the pair's final 2025 regular-season meeting next week.

How to watch the Las Vegas Aces in this week's WNBA slate

After a successful but jam-packed August, the No. 2 Aces are now on an eight-day rest, returning to the court to tangle with the No. 1 Lynx next Thursday, September 4th.

The top-table clash will tip off at 10 PM ET, with live coverage airing on Prime.

US Open Heats Up as Top WTA Stars Face Stiff 1st Round Competition

US tennis star Coco Gauff celebrates a point against Australia's Ajla Tomljanović during the first round of the 2025 US Open.
World No. 3 Coco Gauff advanced to the second round of the 2025 US Open with a three-set win over No. 79 Ajla Tomljanović. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

The 2025 US Open is putting the WTA's best to the test, with some top-ranked players battling in three-set epics in the annual Grand Slam's first round.

World No. 6 Madison Keys suffered the first major upset of the tournament on Monday, committing 89 unforced errors across three hours and 10 minutes of play to fall to Mexico's No. 82 Renata Zarazúa 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5.

No. 3 Coco Gauff also found herself locked in a three-set battle, narrowly defeating Australia's No. 79 Ajla Tomljanović 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 in her own three-hour endurance trial on Tuesday.

"This is the match that I needed," Gauff said afterwards. "I don't think it can get any more stressful than this."

Meanwhile, other top talents have seen smoother rides, with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Świątek, and No. 4 Jessica Pegula all dispatching their opponents with relative ease.

Fan favorite No. 24 Naomi Osaka also cruised through her first-round matchup against No. 106 Greet Minnen, downing the Belgian in straight sets on Tuesday to meet US star No. 47 Hailey Baptiste on Thursday's second-round court.

A dramatic finish in Wednesday's second-round play also dominated headlines, as popular US contender No. 139 Taylor Townsend — the current world No. 1 doubles player — served Latvia's No. 26 Jeļena Ostapenko a 7-5, 6-1 upset loss in singles play, with the pair's heated post-match exchange causing a stir.

"[Ostapenko] told me I have no class and no education and to see what happens when we get outside the US," Townsend relayed in her on-court interview.

How to watch the 2025 US Open

The US Open's second-round play concludes on Thursday before the third round kicks off on Friday.

Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam airs across ESPN platforms.

Women’s Sports Stars Azzi Fudd, Suni Lee Headline Travis Kelce American Eagle Campaign

Athletes Anna Frey, Azzi Fudd, Drew Allar, Jeremiah Smith, Kiyan Anthony, Suni Lee, and Travis Kelce pose wearing the AE x Tru Kolors by Travis Kelce collection.
Alongside other NCAA athletes, women’s sports standouts Azzi Fudd and Suni Lee starred in Travis Kelce and American Eagle's Tru Kolors launch this week. (American Eagle Outfitters)

UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd, Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, and more college talents struck a pose this week, teaming up with Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and newly minted fiancé — Travis Kelce to launch his new "Tru Kolors" American Eagle collection on Wednesday.

The Tru Kolors campaign highlights rising, current, and former NCAA athletes, with Fudd and Lee joined by UNC tennis commit Anna Frey as well as a trio of standouts in men's basketball and football.

"I'm inspired by where I come from and the people around me. That's why we chose six incredible athletes — Anna, Azzi, Drew, Kiyan, Suni, and Jeremiah — who stay true to themselves while changing the game," Kelce said in Wednesday's press release.

"Each athlete shares Travis's beliefs of staying true and living life beyond boundaries," the statement continues, describing reigning national champion Fudd as one of "college basketball's most resilient and dynamic players."

Lee is the only former collegiate icon featured in the campaign, with the Auburn alum departing NCAA competition to add three more medals to her six Olympic hardware total at the 2024 Paris Games.

College phenoms like Fudd and Lee have been able to funnel their athletic success into increasingly high-profile NIL deals.

Fudd has had a particularly lucrative year off the court, with this latest venture closely following a collab with Meta earlier this month.

How to buy the Travis Kelce American Eagle collection

Items from the initial Tru Kolors run hit shelves on Wednesday, with the rest of the 90-piece collection dropping on September 24th.

All pieces will be available to buy online at American Eagle.

NWSL Updates Controversial Policy After Kansas City Match Heat Delay

Kansas City Current goalkeeper Lorena splashes water on her face during a 2025 NWSL match.
The NWSL updated their 2025 Competition Rules and Regulations after this month's rift-causing heat delay in Kansas City. (Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The NWSL quietly updated its heat delay policy this week, after extreme temperatures delayed the August 16th match between the Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride — causing ongoing controversy.

According to The Guardian, the league's rules and regulations now omit a previously instated clause allowing on-site staff the discretion to stop the match when temperatures rise to one degree below the official delay threshold of 92.3°F.

The NWSL Players Association later stated that the NWSL did not seek approval or even make the athletes union aware of the rule change.

The specific discretionary scenario occurred amid the many delays in Kansas City on August 16th, with staff attributing a brief temperature dip below the official threshold to a cloud passing overhead.

Minutes later, the temperature reading rose more than three degrees above the 92.3°F barrier — justifying the on-site officials' call to wait for a second reading instead of immediately calling for the match to begin.

Calling it a break in protocol, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman reportedly threatened to fine the Current after that decision process caused the teams to miss their national CBS broadcast slot.

Player safety concerns lie at the heart of the rift, with the heat delay saga becoming just the latest in a series of NWSL protocol issues dating back to the handling of Angel City defender Savy King's mid-match medical event in May.

"It was too hot to play… and there's a lot of confusion and lack of communication as well on what the next steps were," Orlando head coach Sebastian Hines said after the 0-0 draw. "It's brutal, three o'clock, sun's beaming. We have to have the best interest for everyone who's involved here at the stadium."

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.