Track Star Japheth Cato

Japheth (Jay) Cato is an  Olympic level athlete, who competes in track and field competitions.  He was born in Crete, Illinois, and raised in the South Suburbs of Chicago.  

 When he was finishing at Bloom Township High School, he  received a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, at Madison as a Decathlete on the Track and Field team. 

Throughout his collegiate career he won championships, and broke records on the conference and national level.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a  Bachelors Degree in 2014.

Unfortunately, at the end of his junior year his Achilles tendon ruptured while attempting to break facility record at the University of California.

After 9 months of rehabilitation he came back to win his last indoor Big Ten Championship and break the school's indoor pole vault record however recovery time was still needed.  

He continues to train in hopes of making the next Olympics, and indeed competed last weekend at Albuquerque.  His Palmares is extremely long, indeed way too long to be listed in this space.

While he was healing, and in preparation for the Rio Olympics, Japheth had a go fund me page, which still appears to be active.   

Sport Sunday

Pietro Boselli

France:  It seems as if the world pro cyclists get no break anymore.  From the End of the Vuelta a Espana and the Worlds to the Tour down Under, there are only a couple of months.  Today, pro cycling in France comes alive for 2017 with the annual Paris-Nice stage race.   Contested in 8 stages, from today through next Sunday, it really does represent a challenge to redevelop well rested legs. Today, Stage 1 of the Paris-Nice features a 148.5 km leg through Bois-d'Arcy.

Germany:  Bundesliga Soccer: Bayern Munich is at the head of the standings by seven points, having won yesterday at Cologne. Spain internationals Javi Martinez and Juan Bernat gave Bayern a comfortable two-goal lead before substitute Franck Ribery netted a third on 90 minutes.  This week they travel to Arsenal in Champions League competition. In Bundesliga play today, Eintracht Frankfurt will battle Freiburg. 

France:  France.  Some Frenchmen, at least a few, have no interest in Paris-Nice.  For the rest of us, in French League Soccer action today, Lorient takes on Marseille, Toulouse meets Lille, and AS Monaco contests Nantes.  

Justin Thomas

Mexico:  Final-round play in the $9.75 million WGC-Mexico Championship takes place today in Mexico City.  Adam Scott defeated Bubba Watson by one shot last year in Miami when this tourney was the WGC-Cadillac Championship. With Justin Thomas leading today, major winners like Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Phi Mickelson will be breathing down JT's neck in the final groupings.

USA NCAA Basketball action features, today, a plethora of conference championships and final games before tournament action.  The Purdue Boilermakers take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Chicago today in a Big Ten finale, on the eve of the Big Ten Tournament. Coach Chris Collins' Wildcats have put up a school-record 21 wins as they chase their first-ever NCAA tourney berth. In their previous meeting this year, Conference-champ Purdue rode Caleb Swanigan's 24 points to an 80-59 win.

Japheth Cato The USA Indoor Track Championships are taking place through tomorrow in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  On Saturday, Noah Lyles, a teenager from Alexandria, Virginia, ran the 300 meters faster than anyone else ever has: 31.87 seconds, a new World record. Lyles, with his younger brother Josephus, also a sprinter, turned pro last year rather than enter the college ranks.  Japheth Cato has been trying to win the men’s indoor heptathlon at a major competition for several years. Saturday, he succeeded.  Sunday's action will see finals in men's competitions, including the 2 mile racewalk, pole vault, high jump, shot put, 300 metre, 2 mile, 1 mile, weight throw, and the Master Men's mile.

The  2017 World Baseball Classic play begins tomorrow in Seoul, South Korea.  The tournament includes international MLB stars, playing for their home countries, as well as hot prospects from many countries, hoping to show their stuff to scouts, and some MLB free agents.  The debut game in Seoul features hometown heroes Korea facing off against Israel.  Two-time champion Japan plays the next day against Cuba at the Tokyo Dome. The United States begins play on March 10 in Miami against Colombia. The first round is a round-robin format, with the top two teams at each site advancing to the second round, which will be played at the Tokyo Dome and San Diego's Petco Park from March 12-16.  The winners and runners-up then advance to the finals in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium from March 20-22.  Other teams playing include Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, Australia, China, Italy, Canada, defending champions Dominican Republic and Porto Rico.