St. Paul girls badminton team seeking 14th state title, Minnesota's MLV team makes first signing

0:01 This week in Women in Sports,

0:03 she's one of the best badminton players in the state.

0:06 Her goal for her senior year and how she hopes to carry on the team legacy.

0:11 Then triple overtime, you heard that right.

0:13 The incredible goal tending performance from Maddie Rooney

0:16 as the Frost plays another marathon playoff game.

0:20 And later, it was a tale of never giving up and a reminder to finish strong.

0:25 Meet the first woman in history to train

0:27 the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby.

0:31 WCCO's Women in Sports sponsored by Frandsen Bank& Trust.

0:38 Thanks for joining us.

0:39 I'm Marielle Mose and here at WCCO,

0:41 we are celebrating the highlights of female athletes

0:44 in this digital segment called Women in Sports.

0:47 We're going to share new stories with you every week right here

0:50 as we do our part to give these athletes the recognition they deserve.

0:54 Well, first up, did you know badminton is

0:55 a high school sanctioned sport here in Minnesota?

0:58 See how a girls team in St.

1:00 Paul is carrying on a legacy of dominance in this unique arena.

1:07 Captain Amanda Herr is trying to prove something her senior year.

1:11 She wants a state championship to wrap up

1:13 her time on the Johnson High School girls badminton team.

1:16 When I saw my captain win state last year,

1:20 um she made she won state champ last year and I thought I was like,

1:23 well, I want that for myself as well, you know?

1:25 She's putting in the work to make it happen and not just in her high school gym.

1:30 So, I went to the wreck and played there where I met like a lot more

1:33 advanced players and I met people who were

1:36 willing to help me learn new skills as well.

1:38 So, this is a year-round sport for you?

1:41 Yeah.

1:41 At least for this year.

1:41 This year I was really committed to becoming better, yeah.

1:44 I feel like when I can see that confidence in a game,

1:48 I can see that in real life as well, you know?

1:50 It's like, oh, I can do anything that I set my mind to.

1:52 Amanda wants to add to the long legacy this team has already built.

1:57 13 total team state championships and 14 individual and doubles champions.

2:03 I think the longest was like nine

2:05 consecutive years that we got state championship.

2:08 Are you a part of any of those?

2:09 Yes, 2018 and 2019 which was my junior and senior year.

2:15 Head coach Nuchi Cha graduated from Johnson

2:17 in 2019 and also played for this team.

2:21 She grew up playing the game in her backyard in St.

2:23 Paul.

2:24 I'm from Thailand and back there my dad

2:27 also played badminton over there too, just for fun.

2:30 So, I think that definitely influenced me.

2:33 Coach Cha's goal is to create the same pride that she

2:36 has in being part of this dominant team with the players today.

2:40 For them to look back and like, oh wow,

2:42 I was part of the Johnson's girls badminton team like like I do now.

2:46 Like I hope that I can have the same influence on the girls.

2:50 And the badminton state tournament starts on Monday

2:52 for teams and individuals compete at state next Thursday.

2:56 The Johnson players tell me that their toughest

2:58 competition will be Harding High and Edina.

3:01 Good luck to them.

3:03 Well, big news for volleyball fans,

3:04 MLV Minnesota has signed its first official player in franchise history

3:09 and it's a name many of you may already know, Stephanie Semeti.

3:13 I'd just like to say how excited I am to be a part

3:15 of this program and that we get to make history here in Minnesota.

3:21 Minnesota has a special special place in my heart and I'm

3:24 excited that we get to bring professional volleyball here and yeah,

3:27 excited to see how it goes this season.

3:31 27-year-old Stephanie Semeti is a former University of Minnesota standout.

3:35 She's joining the team for the 2027 inaugural season.

3:38 She just wrapped up a championship year in Japan's

3:41 SV League finishing as the league's third leading scorer.

3:45 Head coach and general manager Pedro Mendez says Semeti

3:48 is one of the best players in the world.

3:50 She's one of the most decorated Gophers ever,

3:53 a five-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Player of the Year,

3:56 and the first Gopher to reach both 2,000 career kills and 1,500 digs.

4:01 She's also a member of the US Women's National Team

4:04 and is considered a strong contender for the 2028 Olympic roster.

4:08 MLV season begins January 2027.

4:15 [laughter] [screaming] Oh my gosh, the emotion through the screen there.

4:25 I love it.

4:26 Well, this is this is the this is this year's Kentucky Derby Derby

4:30 was a tale of never giving up and a reminder to finish strong.

4:33 After running dead last,

4:35 Golden Temple made a stunning drive to win it all on Saturday.

4:39 The thrilling victory not only put Cherie DeVaux in the winner's circle,

4:44 but also in the history books.

4:46 She's now the first and only woman

4:48 to train the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby.

4:51 Earlier this week, she sat down with CBS Mornings to talk all about it.

4:55 Take a look.

4:56 So, what I love about First of all,

4:58 there's so much I love about your story including your reaction

5:01 as Golden Temple made its way to the finish line.

5:04 But, I I also love that you just started this stable.

5:07 Is that what they call it?

5:08 8 years ago.

5:09 Right.

5:10 Right.

5:10 That's even let's put aside that you're in the history books

5:13 for being the first woman trainer to win a Kentucky Derby.

5:15 Just to me, that seems unprecedented as well.

5:18 So impressive.

5:19 It does.

5:19 It It actually doesn't seem like it has taken I don't want to say that long.

5:23 It The first 3 years were really slow to get started.

5:27 Kind of kind of like Golden Temple and [laughter]

5:30 but we're here and you know, this industry and being a horse trainer,

5:34 it's a lifestyle, not just a job.

5:36 So, it it's a lot and there's a lot of great things.

5:40 There's a lot of not so great things.

5:41 So, we just try to keep that balance.

5:43 And you didn't just win, you also made history, right?

5:46 Only 17 women have trained a Derby horse over the past 151 years.

5:50 That is wild.

5:52 You are the first woman right to do that.

5:54 I mean, how does that feel?

5:56 Um well, I I've always just said I'm a horse trainer that happens to be female.

6:01 Mhm.

6:01 Um and I really tried to think about what that meant

6:06 now uh now that we've won the Kentucky Derby and it's

6:09 an honor uh honestly to just be that that person

6:14 um that other women um young girls can look up to.

6:18 Mhm.

6:19 And um you know, I we're just we are underrepresented in the industry,

6:25 but and I'm not sure why, but hopefully that changes.

6:28 With you, yes.

6:28 Yeah, with you for sure.

6:29 So, can we talk about Golden Temple?

6:31 Yes.

6:32 What kind of a What's his temperament?

6:34 What's he like?

6:35 What does he What does he not like?

6:37 Like, just give us a sense of So, he is like a really cool,

6:40 calm customer, which um three-year-olds two-year-old three-year-old horses,

6:46 colts, they can be very rambunctious.

6:50 It's like a locker room full of young kids, if you can imagine that.

6:53 Teenage boys.

6:54 So, they're a little bit mischievous,

6:56 but he is super He's got such a great personality,

6:58 and I think that's one of his biggest attributes.

7:01 He's obviously an elite athlete, but um his personality is you know,

7:06 kind of takes it all in.

7:07 The hoopla of the Derby,

7:08 there's 150,000 people and fans, and didn't turn a hair.

7:14 And then after the race, he he likes to sleep a lot, so he took a big nap.

7:19 [laughter] And Don't we all?

7:19 Yeah, exactly.

7:20 And so, he was he was happy to greet everyone,

7:23 and some fans came and take took pictures with him,

7:26 and he didn't take anyone's arm off, which can definitely be the case with a lot

7:29 Yeah.

7:29 Right.

7:30 You know, this is such a wild and unpredictable sport in so many ways.

7:33 Were there any parts of this journey for you

7:36 that were surprising that people wouldn't know about?

7:39 Well, I tell people that it took me 11 months to win my first race and I

7:43 was one of the main assistant trainers for um a the top um barn in this country.

7:50 So, I went from having, you know,

7:51 that adrenaline rush and having purpose and then

7:55 it's like 11 months I'm sitting around.

7:56 We were racing, but it's just like second, third,

7:58 second, third and then you finally win the race.

8:01 So, it was just like felt like a weight have had been lifted off.

8:04 So, I mentioned earlier to you maybe during the break that the story of you like

8:09 starting your own stable 8 years ago and then

8:12 winning the Kentucky Derby is is amazingly cool,

8:14 but I didn't also know that you switched careers.

8:17 You went from training, you became a doctor.

8:19 I did not become a I started um my scholastic,

8:23 well, college career um in pre-med.

8:26 I wanted to have a life that afforded horses cuz they're not cheap.

8:30 Um so, I was going to school to be a physical therapist and um my parents,

8:36 we started off in New York and then we moved to Florida

8:39 and then they went back and I followed them and um so,

8:43 this kind of just happened.

8:44 This wasn't a linear journey.

8:45 I started walking horses.

8:48 It's called a hot walker.

8:49 That's the very um Okay, love that.

8:51 Yeah, it's [laughter] awesome.

8:52 I consider myself a bit of a hot walker.

8:55 You put your hot in hot walker.

8:58 [laughter] But uh and then I I have ridden horses my whole

9:00 life and I wanted to learn how to exercise um the horses.

9:04 That's an exercise rider and then that evolved

9:06 into being an assistant trainer and that's a hard job.

9:09 That's Those are the first assistant trainers and the grooms are

9:12 the first ones in the barn and the last ones to leave.

9:15 And I did I did that for quite some time and I met my husband and I

9:18 wanted a bit more out of life and uh he really talked me into being a trainer.

9:23 Wow, way to make history, Sheree.

9:25 Congrats again.

9:26 The Minnesota Frost are back-to-back Walter Cup champions and their current

9:29 playoff run is off to an exciting start already.

9:32 The Frost had a series lead in Montreal, but it's gone now after game two.

9:37 Another marathon game ended in heartbreak Tuesday.

9:40 It's just what the Frost do with seven straight

9:42 playoff games going to overtime dating back to last season.

9:47 Unlike game one with the Montreal Victoire,

9:49 which had eight which would had nine goals, this game only had one.

9:53 A defensive and goaltending battle for five plus periods.

9:57 Frost goalie Maddie Rooney, Minnesota native,

10:00 stopped 51 shots in more than 100 minutes of ice time during the game.

10:04 In the end, it was Montreal's captain Marie-Philip

10:07 Poulin who got the game winner in triple overtime.

10:10 Final score one to nothing.

10:13 After the game, Frost coach Ken Klee talked about

10:15 the contrast in the two playoff games so far.

10:19 And obviously night and day from the other day as far as goals

10:22 were going in pretty quick the other day and today it was,

10:25 you know, both goalies played well.

10:26 I thought both teams played really hard.

10:28 Um certainly proud of our our group and how hard they battled,

10:31 you know, to play almost, you know, two and a half or two games.

10:34 Like I said, you know, six periods of hockey's a lot.

10:38 It's worth noting that the team took the ice

10:40 without one of their top players, Brita Curl Salem.

10:43 She was suspended for a game after an illegal

10:45 check to the head during game one against the Victoire.

10:48 Curl Salem was also fined $250 for quote sending her opponent

10:53 to the ice with a degree of violence that warrants supplemental discipline.

10:58 This isn't her first time facing suspension.

11:00 She was suspended once during last year's playoffs and twice before that.

11:05 And speaking of women's hockey, the PWHL is expanding.

11:08 Here's a look at how they introduced the latest team.

11:14 Woo!

11:17 Woo!

11:18 [music] Woo!

11:28 [music] Woo!

11:32 Woo!

11:36 That's right.

11:37 The Motor City is getting hyped for a hockey

11:39 team and we're not just talking about the Red Wings.

11:42 On Wednesday, the league announced that Detroit will be the first

11:46 of potentially four expansion markets for the next PWHL season.

11:50 Detroit hosted the league's first neutral site

11:52 game during its inaugural season in 2024.

11:55 Little Caesars Arena, which will serve as the new team's home,

11:59 attracted over 53,000 fans in the league's first national TV broadcast.

12:05 The PWHL also announced Detroit will host the draft

12:08 and award ceremony in mid-June and the draft

12:11 will feature highly anticipated prospects including Olympians Caroline

12:14 Harvey and Layla Edwards from the University of Wisconsin.

12:18 That event is set for June 17th.

12:21 Well, the Lynx open the regular 2026 season on Saturday

12:24 and they'll be doing it without annual MVP candidate Napheesa Collier,

12:29 who won't resume basketball activities until at least June.

12:32 She's been riding the bike at practice and trying to bond

12:35 with this year's team that has a lot of new faces.

12:39 Only five returning members to their roster this year.

12:42 Remember, Collier is coming back from surgeries on both ankles.

12:46 It's been a process.

12:48 It was tough.

12:48 I mean, I hurt my first one in August, which was so long ago.

12:53 So, it just feels like I've been doing this process for a long time.

12:56 Um, and then of course it ended up hurting my second

12:58 one our last game my last game of the season.

13:01 Um, and so just trying to see first of all like get that one

13:04 to calm down so I couldn't even really evaluate my right one and then,

13:08 you know, neither of them started getting better and so I kind of knew

13:11 in the back of my head like I'm usually a pretty fast healer.

13:14 Um, and but tried anyway, tried to do the rehab and it wasn't getting better.

13:18 So, finally saw a surgeon and he's like,

13:20 "It's not going to get better." I was like,

13:22 "That makes sense." Um, and so yeah, I mean,

13:25 my first goal was to to get ready for the Unrivaled season.

13:28 So, that's why I was doing the rehab.

13:30 Um and nothing was broken, so he felt like,

13:32 you know, again, just try to see what happens.

13:34 But, of course, it didn't end up working out that way.

13:37 And so, once I knew I had to have the surgeries,

13:40 I just switched my mindset to trying to attack the rehab,

13:43 uh trying to get back healthy and back on the court for the W season.

13:46 I think sitting out kind of gives you like a bird's-eye view.

13:48 You get to see stuff that you don't necessarily see when you're in practice.

13:51 So, just trying to use my voice in that way.

13:53 Um obviously, this is, you know, my eighth season here.

13:56 So, I also know what the coaches are looking for.

13:58 We have a lot of new faces.

13:59 So, being kind of the bridge in that to interpret, um you know,

14:03 what the coaches are asking for, trying

14:05 to say to them like what my perspective is,

14:06 what has helped me, what I'm seeing, um just trying to be vocal in that way.

14:11 I'm assuming this season feels different for you

14:13 emotionally knowing everything y'all went through during the offseason.

14:16 How does that feel coming to a league now where you

14:18 know girls are being paid way more than what they were?

14:22 It feels amazing.

14:23 Um especially because we had to work so hard for it.

14:26 It just makes it that much sweeter.

14:27 You know, we were in negotiations for like a year and a half.

14:30 And so, to see that come to fruition and especially

14:33 with such a fight at the end, like, you know,

14:35 it was just I feel like a lot of high drama where the season's coming fast,

14:39 are we going to get it done?

14:39 So, it was like ended um on such a high

14:42 note cuz we ended up really happy with where it ended.

14:45 And then to see people getting paid and to see that it was all worth it,

14:48 um it's just really gratifying.

14:51 And based on the preseason, you can expect number two overall pick Aliyah

14:54 Miles to begin this year in the starting lineup.

14:57 She's a fast, energetic player,

14:59 and so far Cheryl Reeve has been impressed with her transition to the pro game.

15:03 I think she's really kind of grabbed a hold of the moment and and really wants,

15:07 um you know, to be great for this franchise.

15:09 And and so, that's been that's been fun.

15:11 So, she's got a real uh great curiosity to her.

15:15 Um she's been great energy-wise.

15:18 Uh her pace, you know,

15:19 like she's she's She's a lot to her game that we're excited about.

15:23 And speaking of coach Cheryl Reeve, she has four WNBA championships,

15:26 a gold Olympic medal, and she's been named four-time coach of the year.

15:31 I had a chance to sit down with her ahead of her 17th

15:34 home opener on Saturday to have her share some insight into her success.

15:40 Cheryl Reeve's coaching bug was born

15:43 as a youth basketball camp counselor during college.

15:46 I always say it was my aha moment.

15:47 I didn't necessarily know then how much of an aha moment that it was,

15:51 but I felt something.

15:53 And I knew I didn't want to be done with basketball.

15:56 Her first job in the WNBA came in 2001, making only $5,000.

16:01 I said, "Let's go.

16:02 I'm in.

16:03 I'm in." You know, they gave me an apartment.

16:05 You know, I really made it.

16:07 10 seasons bouncing around the W at the assistant level,

16:10 working for teams that folded, but she never gave up.

16:13 If it was going to go down, I was going to go down with the ship.

16:16 And I believe that that strongly and and uh you know,

16:19 thankfully, it's worked out pretty well.

16:22 That shift in fortune happened in 2009 when she landed her first head coaching

16:26 role with the Minnesota Lynx and decided

16:28 she would do something unique at the time,

16:31 lay roots, staying in Minnesota year-round.

16:34 Cuz you get to learn so much about

16:35 a community and the ways you can connect with it.

16:37 A community that became her and the team's well-known loyal supporters.

16:42 I'm proud of who our fan fan base is today

16:45 and and what people think of the Minnesota Lynx and its fan base.

16:49 I'm super proud of that.

16:50 And and I think, you know, we've kind of done this together.

16:52 Her 17th season at the helm of the Lynx and her 25th in the W is a special one,

16:58 witnessing the largest growth in player salaries and equity in league history.

17:02 We were told so many times that our worth wasn't that great.

17:07 And this generation is not accepting that.

17:11 And their courage and the way that they're showing up.

17:13 With more power in the hands of the players,

17:15 several standout links made big moves to other teams,

17:19 leaving just five returners.

17:21 The challenge that I've always enjoyed, um, when it when you're faced with it,

17:26 is to figure out this new iteration of success.

17:30 I just know we're going to work really hard to try to make that happen.

17:33 Catch that and more of our conversation

17:35 on this week's episode of the Women in Sports podcast.

17:38 You can find it now wherever you get your podcast.

17:41 Well, thanks for watching this week's Women in Sports.

17:43 I'm Mary Al Mose.

17:45 I won't be back next week cuz I'm going on maternity leave,

17:47 but Amelia Cincinnato will keep you [music]

17:49 updated on all your Women in Sports headlines.

17:52 She'll see you next week.