Top 10 US HS Athletic Programs

Pointers on what it takes to go for the gold

(NEWSER) - Before you clear a spot on the mantle for that gold medal, you may need a quick reality check: Forbes runs down the numbers behind the blood, sweat, and tears of an Olympic athlete's training.

1. Training: 4 to 8 years to maximize lung capacity and heart strength
2. Sessions: up to 3 a day, 6 days a week
3. Goal setting: beyond annual benchmarks, some athletes plan 4 years out

Newsweek 's new criteria value APs over grades

(NEWSER) - Rather than GPAs or graduation rates, new research suggests, participation in AP and IB programs is the best indicator of academic success in college, even if the student does not do well in the advanced classes. In light of that, Newsweek presents the nation’s 100 best public high schools, measured by dividing the number of AP tests students take by the number of graduating seniors. More»

Younger women are intimidated to behave like athletes

(NEWSER) - When it comes to men, most women just don’t try—try, that is, to be as good as them in sports. After examining several running competitions, the New York Times discovered that while men slow as they age, older women were seemingly doing laps around their younger counterparts. One expert says younger women can be embarrassed to act like athletes. More»

It apparently gives athletes an unfair advantage

(NEWSER) - The newest suspicions of cheating in sports come not from the use of performance enhancing drugs but from the wearing of special underwear. Professional skiers who will compete in the upcoming World Cup in Switzerland were bluntly told by officials they cannot don a "full-bodied, plastic-neoprene hybrid sheath" worn under their outer racing uniform, reports the New York Times . The suit might shave off a crucial few hundredths of a second, but the undies are banned. More»

He could get eight years in prison

(NEWSER) - An Indiana high school senior is facing up to eight years in prison for the egregious felony of… bringing a blowup doll to school. Tyell Morton planted the doll in the girl’s bathroom as a senior prank, but administrators didn’t think it was funny. All they saw on the security camera was a hooded figure take a package into the bathroom and leave without it. Soon, the Indiana State Police bomb squad had been called in to deal with the raunchy inflatable. More»