Female wrestler, Marlee Smith, competes in nationals

Marlee taking down her opponent in the nationals.

By Alexis Tarrazi – Straus News

WANTAGE — From as far back as she can remember, Marlee Smith of Wantage has been involved in sports. It wasn’t until second grade that she began to play with the boys.

“She was cheering as a cheerleader and my husband was coaching football. He was one kid short, so he turned to me and said, ‘I’m putting her in,'” said Crissy Smith, Marlee’s mother. “She was this little thing but a tough kid, so we threw football pads on her and she went out there and that was the end of cheerleading.”

Football was the transition Marlee needed to explore another predominantly boys sport, wrestling.

Q&A with UFC Fighter and Sparta native Jim Miller

By Alexis Tarrazi – Straus News

Photo by Al Bello/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Pictured from left: Jim Miller punches Kamal Shalorus during their lightweight bout at UFC 128 at the Prudential Center on March 19, 2011 in Newark.

SPARTA — Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter and Sparta native, Jim Miller is returning to the local area to take on former Strikeforce number one lightweight contender Pat Healy.

With a record of 22 wins, 4 losses and zero draws, Miller is ready to claim one more victory this weekend at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday, April 27.

Originally from Sparta and still living in Sussex County, Miller, 29, trains twice a day, five to six days a week at four to six hour sessions, out of Whippany and Fair Lawn with wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, live sparring and more to prepare for fights.

Sparta native stopped less than a mile from Boston Marathon finish line

By Alexis Tarrazi – Straus News

Matthew Carlson, a native of Sparta, takes one last photo a mile shy of the finish line at Boston Marathon moments before he was stopped from completing the race due to two bomb explosions that killed three people and injured at least 176 on Monday, April 15 in Massachusetts.

 SPARTA — For Matthew Carlson, a graduate and former runner of Pope John XXIII High School, running the Boston Marathon in Massachusetts on Monday, April 15 was his first marathon ever and one he will never forget.

With less than a mile to go to complete his first ever marathon, two bombs ignited at the finish line causing Carlson and the rest of the runners to have to stop running. The tragedy killed three people and injured at least 176.

Female wrestler competes with the boys

Sierra Blasone is the only female wrestler on Sparta High School’s male wrestling team.

BY ALEXIS TARRAZI – Straus News

SPARTA — Women and wrestling? Not exactly what comes to mind when thinking of the sport. Yet females across the country are making headlines.

Danielle Coughlin, a teen girl in Massachusetts, became the first female wrestler to win the state championship last week. A mixed martial arts competition with nuances of wrestling — the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — also brought women to the limelight when it held its first female match on Saturday.

Making headlines in Sparta, Sierra “Sissy” Blasone, a sophomore at Sparta High School, is the only female wrestler on the varsity team.

This is the third and final installment in a series of articles that featured women playing in men’s sports.

Female hockey players take over Vernon ice

Megan Graham and Rachel Colvin play on the boys Vernon High School Hockey team.

BY ALEXIS TARRAZI – Straus News

VERNON — A love for a sport can start with the thrill of attending a professional game or following older siblings’ footsteps, either way it has nothing to do with gender.

Hockey, typically a male’s sport, was a passion for both Megan Graham and Rachel Colvin. And the lack of women’s leagues never deterred either of them from signing up for the Vernon Boys High School Hockey Team. Graham as Goalie and Colvin as Forward.

This is the second in a series of articles that will run featuring women playing in men’s sports.

Graham’s love for the sport hit her at an early age.

“The first time I went to a professional game, I sat there and fell in love with (hockey) and ever since then I always wanted to play,” says Graham, 16, now a sophomore at VTHS.

First female Globetrotter in 20 years: TNT Maddox to serve as role model for young women

TNT Maddox.

BY ALEXIS TARRAZI – Straus News

NEWARK — It has been 20 years since a woman graced the basketball court along side her male teammates as part of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.

TNT Maddox is the ninth woman overall to play for the team in its 87 year history. She will hit the courts in Newark and East Rutherford this coming weekend.

“I am really honored to be here,” Maddox said in a phone interview. “It’s been a really fun ride so far.”

This is the first in a series of articles that will run featuring women playing in men’s sports.

U.S. Wins Gold Medal in Harry Potter’s Quidditch

Michael Parada of Montvale, part of the United States Quidditch Team, scoring against the United Kingdom in the Quidditch Summer Games 2012 held in Oxford, England to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympics Games in London.

BY ALEXIS TARRAZI

STAFF WRITER

The Olympics haven’t begun yet and the United States has already won gold — in Quidditch.

The U.S. team won the Quidditch Summer Games 2012, held July 8 and 9 in Oxford, England, to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, which begin Friday.

“It’s a lot more intense than people would think, as it is full speed and full contact,” said Michael Parada of Montvale, who played on the U.S. Quidditch team. “No one can grasp how intense it is until they watch. Originally, I didn’t want to play because I thought it was a nerdier sport, but once I played I had to keep playing.”

Check out the full article in The Record Newspaper today.

Trampoline Helps Launch Athletes Dream of Competing for Olympics

Do you have Olympic fever? Want to know everything and anything that revolve around the world games?

Taking a unique perspective into the summer games, each reporter at The Record Newspaper covered a specific sport to give you a snap shot and to offer you places for you to try the sport yourself!

My sport: The Trampoline.

One bounce off the trampoline and the nimble gymnasts take to the air with hopes of one day competing in the Olympic Games.

“Of course we are striving to be in the Olympics,” said Samantha Marion, 13, of Franklin Lakes, who has been competing in gymnastics since she was 3. “It’s a dream.”

Check out the full article in today’s Record Newspaper here.