Latest news with #Lohmann
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Brave Bombers fightback falls short in Lions' den
Brisbane have held off an undermanned Essendon to avoid another Gabba meltdown in an 18-point AFL win. The Lions led by 32 points and were humming before the Bombers, behind an immense third quarter from Jye Caldwell, surged back to lead in the final term. Defending champions Brisbane avoided a repeat of their shock loss to Melbourne at the venue a fortnight ago though, escaping 13.12 (90) to 11.6 (72) on Thursday night. It improved them to 9-2-1, Hugh McCluggage (career-high 41 disposals, 12 score involvements) starring again as Kai Lohmann (three goals) had his best game of an injury-marred season. The Bombers came without injured trio Ben McKay, Zach Reid and Kyle Langford, debutant Zak Johnson and youngsters Archer Day-Wicks and Elijah Tsatas filling the void. Nic Martin (29 disposals) kicked two brilliant goals while Caldwell (30 touches) had 18 disposals, seven clearances, one goal and a goal assist in the third quarter alone. Lohmann launches from the centre square 💥#AFLLionsDons — AFL (@AFL) May 29, 2025 As they did against Melbourne a fortnight ago, the Lions started fluidly and tore through the middle of the Gabba at their leisure. A 6.3 first term was built on punishment of every Bombers turnover as the Lions queued for goals. Six consecutive behinds followed in the second term though, the hosts butchering chances that gave the Bombers life just as it did the Demons in their shock comeback win earlier this month. Peter Wright kicked the first two of the quarter before Sam Durham, back on the ground after a nasty-looking ankle roll, added another. Logan Morris stopped the rot for the Lions with a 45-metre snap but the Bombers kept coming in a show-stopping third term. Nate Caddy was influential in the air at both ends, his goal followed by a Caldwell major out of a stoppage a part of his prolific term. Caddy should have had another but missed when he played on, Martin then nailing a second goal from the same pocket to make it a five-point game. Scores were level when Caddy snapped a brilliant goal back over his head, before a pair of Lions majors gave them a 12-point buffer at the final break. NATE CADDY KICKED IT OVER HIS HEAD 🤯#AFLLionsDons — AFL (@AFL) May 29, 2025 That was eroded inside three minutes though, Jade Gresham snapping truly and Todd Goldstein finding space from a clever squaring assist. They hit the front for the first time with a behind before Morris put Brisbane back in front and Lohmann skipped through another from 50 metres into an open goal. Noah Answerth was the unlikely match-sealer, the defender's long-range goal with three minutes remaining icing the contest.
Dominion Post
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Dominion Post
Trinity Christian softball to make first state tournament appearance in program history
MORGANTOWN – When the Trinity Christian High School softball team takes the field on Wednesday morning in Game 1 of the 2025 WVSSAC Class A state softball tournament, they will do so with confidence and with pride. The Warriors enter the week as the Region I champion and will face off against top-ranked Pendleton County (29-2) at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday to begin play. 'For the players to have reached this point to be among the final four teams is remarkable,' TCS assistant coach Dan Lohmann said, who will act as head coach at the state tournament due to scheduling conflicts with head coach Bryan Phillips. 'There has been a steady build of the program, and I'm not sure we thought this would be possible in our fourth year since the program restarted. That just speaks to the player's belief in themselves and their teammates.' The Warriors are making their inaugural appearance in the state tournament, marking a significant milestone for a program that was reestablished just four years ago. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Trinity Christian School (TCS) secured only a single victory. Before the current season, the program's most recent sectional championship occurred in 2010. Trinity concluded the regular season ranked ninth in the MetroNews Coaches Poll. 'We want our girls to have the same approach of being resilient and to stick together when things aren't going our way,' Lohmann said. 'They have been able to come back from some type of deficit in all five games this postseason. Sometimes when the stage is bigger, we feel like we have to do more, but we want them to have the mindset of doing the same things that got us here.' Pendleton County enters the tournament as the Region II champion. The Wildcats have held the top spot in the MetroNews Coaches Poll for the final three weeks of the regular season and lead the state with 29 victories. Their only two losses have come against state tournament qualifiers from higher classifications. The Wildcats have outscored their postseason opponents by a combined margin of 57-4 over four games. 'Pendleton County is an excellent team,' Lohmann said. 'We need to be able to play sound defense, communicate clearly, and take advantage of any opportunities we may have at the plate.' TCS finished regular-season play with an 8-10 record and was in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Despite this, the Warriors have demonstrated a remarkable turnaround, compiling a perfect 5-0 record in sectional and regional competition. In their regional championship victory over Magnolia, Trinity overcame a three-run deficit in the seventh inning to secure a 9-8 win. The Warriors are currently averaging 8.6 runs per game. Josalyn Phillips leads the team offensively with a batting average of .479, along with a team-high eight home runs and 33 runs batted in. Pitcher Paige Hopkins enters the state tournament with a 3.64 earned run average. While some may say the Warriors will be happy just to be making an appearance, Lohmann knows his players have a fire in them to win games, and the state tournament does nothing but stoke the flames. 'I think these girls have enjoyed proving something to themselves and being able to stand tall with other top-notch programs,' he said. 'We have asked them to take steps in overcoming challenges throughout the entire year, and to watch that grow in these players and the team has been incredibly rewarding.'
Japan Today
02-05-2025
- Health
- Japan Today
Ace your finals – healthwise, at least
By Michael Merschel, American Heart Association News Even without final exams looming, Andrea Rivera is all too familiar with stress. Rivera, a 23-year-old journalism major, is taking classes at not one but two schools: San Joaquin Delta College in her hometown of Stockton, California, and an hour away at Sacramento State. She's paying her way by working full time as a restaurant manager. Finals make everything more hectic. "My stress just goes completely up," she said, tallying her end-of-semester workload that includes a group project for Spanish, a social media package for journalism and a five-part project for geology. The pressure of finals is familiar to anyone who's been to high school or college, said Dr. Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, a licensed counselor in Cary, North Carolina. "It's a time when all of a sudden everything is coming down the pipeline at once," said Lohmann, who also is an associate professor at the University of Mount Olive and spent 20 years working as a school counselor. In high school, she noted, many courses include state-mandated exams that can affect teachers, "so students may feel that pressure coming from the educators." Finals stress has many layers, said Dr. Leslie Ralph, a licensed clinical psychologist who is coordinator of communications for Counseling and Psych Services at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The most obvious one for many students is that "the final exam can make or break their grade" when a lot of hopes might be pinned on the results. Being cut off from social support or relaxing hobbies during finals only adds to the stress. In general, stress can affect both physical and mental health. Although short-term stress can help you stay alert while you study, long-term stress has been linked to problems such as the risk for developing high blood pressure or having a heart attack or stroke. Stress, which Ralph defined loosely as feeling you have too many demands to keep up with, can also lead people to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as substance abuse. It also can lead to anxiety, where people are consumed by worry and overthinking even when a stressful period is over. That can lead to headaches, sleep difficulties, an upset stomach and more. Here's advice on how to cope with finals stress in a healthy way. Come to terms with procrastination Procrastination isn't always negative, Lohmann said. "Sometimes we're procrastinating because we don't have the pieces we need to solve the problem yet." But close to finals, "procrastination is not your friend." Looking at the big picture of everything that lies ahead can make the challenges seem overwhelming. Her advice is to not see the forest but individual trees – that is, small, achievable tasks that can get you toward your goal. Start by looking at what you need to do for each class, Lohmann said. "You're going to realize that some of the courses that you're taking aren't as difficult as other courses." Figure out which ones need the most work, then divide your time accordingly. "Start with the course that you dislike," she advised, "because that's the one we want to procrastinate on, and that's the one that needs to be at the front of the line." Take care of the basics Include time for your own well-being by making sure you're getting enough sleep and eating healthy food, Ralph said. "Basic self-care is really important," she said, "because we know that when we're stressed, we don't learn or perform optimally, and we can get into a vicious cycle," where the more stressed you are, the worse you perform, and the worse you perform, the more stressed you are. Sleep, Ralph pointed out, is when our brains process memories and consolidate learning. (Sufficient sleep also happens to be essential to heart health.) Lohmann advises carrying healthy snacks to study sessions. Otherwise, you're going to be tempted by fast food, which is hardly the best fuel for your brain as you try to learn. Steer clear of excessive caffeine and energy drinks, she said. Stress can feel like a stimulant, and energy drinks can exacerbate the symptoms of anxiety. And don't skimp on exercise, she said. "Go for a walk, go for a run, do something just to get some fresh air and get that heart rate up." Physical activity can help you learn, problem-solve and improve memory, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stay connected Ralph said a sense of community is an important barrier against stress, but many students end up feeling lonely in intense academic situations. So studying with friends can help. Lohmann said it can be validating to be around other people who share in your struggles. "You'll hear that you're not alone, that many of them are feeling the same thing that you're feeling." But choose your study groups carefully, Lohmann said. If you're someone who needs help focusing, you don't want to be surrounded by people with the same problem. "You're going to want some of those that are really self-disciplined." Get help High school counselors and college wellness centers can help with problems such as test anxiety, a condition that can cause someone to forget what they've studied under the pressure of an exam. "There are definitely resources available to help you learn to cope with those levels of stress, especially if it's beginning to affect your daily functioning," Lohmann said. Pace yourself Ralph likens finals preparation to training for a marathon. Ideally, you've been "slowly and steadily working toward that end goal" instead of using "big bursts of stressed-out energy, followed by a collapse." But if you find yourself in that latter category, you can still pause to make a plan that makes the best of whatever time you have now. "The last thing we want to do is get very anxious and stressed and procrastinate, and then try to pull an all-nighter or cram right before," Ralph said. "That's like if you were to run a marathon the day before you ran your marathon. It doesn't work that well." Your plan should leave out using drugs or alcohol to cope with stress. You also should avoid beating yourself up if you're in a tough situation. But your plan should include breaks, Ralph said. "It can be scary to say, 'I need to take a break from studying,'" she said, but treating yourself "like a robot" and ignoring warning signs isn't healthy. Keep perspective Students can help themselves by stepping back and looking realistically at the expectations they've put on themselves, Ralph said. Otherwise, they can enter a spiral of "'if I don't pass this final, then I don't get into my major. And if I don't get into my major, then I won't get into graduate school. If I don't get into graduate school, I will never get a job.' And it can just spin on and on." That kind of tunnel vision isn't necessarily accurate, Lohmann said. "I mean, if you've gotten good grades throughout the duration of the semester, this one exam isn't going to break you. But if you are a perfectionist, or you put a lot of pressure on yourself to succeed, you begin to feel that way." She tells students to "keep your eyes on the end goal. Know that this is just a moment in time, and within two or three hours, it's going to be over." And once you pass this course, "you're done with it forever." Rivera, who recently wrote about student stress in the Delta College news publication, acknowledged that she's fallen into some of the traps, getting help from caffeine while sleeping about four hours a night. But she makes time to find a balance by reading, watching TV or talking to someone she knows is watching out for her, such as her dad, whom she describes as her "go-to guy." After her finals end, Rivera plans to take a day off, maybe head to the beach, acknowledge the work she's done – and get ready for the summer class she's taking. But she's indeed focusing on the end goal – in her case, graduating from college debt-free and the life that happens after that. "I'm looking forward to the payoff." © Copyright 2025 American Heart Association News
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LGBTQ people find confidence and community in self-defense classes
Self-defense classes geared toward LGBTQ people can be found sprinkled across the United States, and instructors and students say the skills these classes provide are giving attendees a boost of confidence and a sense of community in a fraught political environment. 'Pretend someone's coming for you. How would you kick them if you were fighting for your life?' an instructor at Queer Fight Club in St. Louis asked attendees during a recent self-defense class. Tori Lohmann, who is nonbinary, was among the nine students in the class. Lohmann said they never imagined joining a self-defense group but found themselves drawn to Queer Fight Club six months ago because of a lack of self-confidence stemming from the current political climate. 'I just felt so angry all the time about the state of the world,' Lohmann, 26, told NBC News. Lohmann's concerns come at a time when heated rhetoric, federal policies and state legislation targeting the LGBTQ community — and particularly transgender and gender-nonconforming people — are on the rise. The American Civil Liberties Union has tracked 569 anti-LGBTQ state bills in 2025 so far, and since coming into office in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders aimed at the trans and nonbinary community, including one that proclaims the U.S. government will only recognize two unchangeable sexes, male and female. Since attending Queer Fight Club twice a month starting in January and learning skills like a two-punch combo, various kicks and how to block hits, Lohmann said they 'feel so much more confident in myself.' 'Not just my ability to protect myself, but also to protect my community members,' they added. Mixed martial artist Mad Green, who founded Queer Fight Club in 2023, said they were inspired to create a self-defense group specifically tailored to LGBTQ people after observing a lack of self-defense skills in the community. They wanted to share their knowledge and prepare other queer people for potential altercations. 'A lot of people, if they haven't been in a physical altercation, don't necessarily think it's going to happen,' Green said, adding that it might be more likely than many people want to believe. 'You need to be prepared for it.' According to crime data published by the FBI last year, violent crime in the U.S. decreased by an estimated 3% from 2022 to 2023, while hate crime offenses increased by about 3.7% during the same period. Sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most common bias motivations in 2023, after race/ethnicity and religion. Queer Fight Club has a 'pay what you can' policy, but Green said they ask those who can afford it to pay $15 a class to help pay for equipment and the cost of renting out a gym space. For the first year, Green said, there were about 20 people taking their biweekly self-defense classes. Since the November election, however, there's been increased interest in self-defense from the local queer community due to a 'refreshed fear' around personal safety, and they've had about 300 new people join at least one of their classes, Green said. 'My favorite thing about fight club is seeing someone come in for the first time, and then they throw a punch, and they're like, 'I didn't know I could do that,'' Green said. 'Just letting people know that they can is really empowering by itself.' Andrew Degar and his wife, Sarah, founded the nonprofit Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu in Houston in 2019 after noticing a need for a more inclusive mixed martial arts space. 'We were both coaching at an MMA gym and just hated the toxicity of the culture, and we wanted to open a space for everyone to feel welcomed and included,' Degar said. The couple has been providing free self-defense classes to those in the Houston area since they first started their organization. They added classes specifically geared toward the LGBTQ community in August 2023, and Degar said they now have queer people from around the state who travel to take them. 'People are looking for a safe space,' Degar said. 'They're looking for trustworthy people, and we are recognized as a resource in the queer community in Texas.' Degar said Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu incorporates various scenarios during self-defense classes that focus on de-escalating conflicts while ensuring readiness in a variety of situations. 'We go into how you may be feeling unsafe from someone you don't know, then we will even go as far as someone who's trying to harm you. Here's how we can attack back,' he said. Even in a state like New York, which is known to be among the most progressive when it comes to LGBTQ rights, reported hate crimes have surged in recent years. A report published by the Office of the New York State Comptroller last year found reported hate crimes increased nearly 70% from 2019 to 2023, with anti-LGBTQ crimes among the most common. Groups like Fearless Queers, which has been organizing self-defense pop-up classes throughout New York City since 2022, want LGBTQ people — and particularly trans people, who are more likely to be victims of violent crime — to feel less vulnerable in this environment. Co-founder Chrissy Rose said she also wants those who attend a Fearless Queers session 'to see capable queer and trans fighters leading their class.' 'I want them to see the possibility that they can defend themselves and above all that they are worth that fight,' she said. Rose and her co-founder, Tara Bankoff, who are both experienced in martial arts, said they've seen demand for their classes rise this year, and they now serve hundreds of New Yorkers every month. Their main priorities, Rose said, are to ensure their classes are accessible and free, and to encourage attendees to trust themselves. While the group hosts various pop-ups for self-defense fundamentals and open-mat sessions for drills and solo practice, Rose said classes focus heavily on verbal techniques to avoid both victimization and criminalization. 'Trans women are stereotyped as being aggressive, meaning that if they defend themselves, they have a much higher risk of being criminalized or just socially punished for doing so than, say, a cisgender woman does,' Rose explained. 'We deprioritize striking and emphasize grappling and verbal self-defense in our curriculum for that reason.' New York City resident Alexis Gee, who is nonbinary, said she reached out to Fearless Queers in November after feeling afraid and unprotected. 'In communities like ours, we have to be vigilant about protecting ourselves and each other, and I didn't feel like that was something I was equipped to do,' Gee, 32, said. In January, Gee had the courage to attend her first Fearless Queers class and has been going consistently since then. 'We don't have to be alone in our fear, and we don't have to be aggressive and angry in order to feel protected,' Gee said. 'We just need to know who our allies are and how to reach them.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
20-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
LGBTQ people find confidence and community in self-defense classes
Self-defense classes geared toward LGBTQ people can be found sprinkled across the United States, and instructors and students say the skills these classes provide are giving attendees a boost of confidence and a sense of community in a fraught political environment. 'Pretend someone's coming for you. How would you kick them if you were fighting for your life?' an instructor at Queer Fight Club in St. Louis asked attendees during a recent self-defense class. Tori Lohmann, who is nonbinary, was among the nine students in the class. Lohmann said they never imagined joining a self-defense group but found themselves drawn to Queer Fight Club six months ago because of a lack of self-confidence stemming from the current political climate. 'I just felt so angry all the time about the state of the world,' Lohmann, 26, told NBC News. Lohmann's concerns come at a time when heated rhetoric, federal policies and state legislation targeting the LGBTQ community — and particularly transgender and gender-nonconforming people — are on the rise. The American Civil Liberties Union has tracked 569 anti-LGBTQ state bills in 2025 so far, and since coming into office in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders aimed at the trans and nonbinary community, including one that proclaims the U.S. government will only recognize two unchangeable sexes, male and female. Since attending Queer Fight Club twice a month starting in January and learning skills like a two-punch combo, various kicks and how to block hits, Lohmann said they 'feel so much more confident in myself.' 'Not just my ability to protect myself, but also to protect my community members,' they added. 'You need to be prepared' Mixed martial artist Mad Green, who founded Queer Fight Club in 2023, said they were inspired to create a self-defense group specifically tailored to LGBTQ people after observing a lack of self-defense skills in the community. They wanted to share their knowledge and prepare other queer people for potential altercations. 'A lot of people, if they haven't been in a physical altercation, don't necessarily think it's going to happen,' Green said, adding that it might be more likely than many people want to believe. 'You need to be prepared for it.' According to crime data published by the FBI last year, violent crime in the U.S. decreased by an estimated 3% from 2022 to 2023, while hate crime offenses increased by about 3.7% during the same period. Sexual orientation and gender identity were the third and fourth most common bias motivations in 2023, after race/ethnicity and religion. Queer Fight Club has a 'pay what you can' policy, but Green said they ask those who can afford it to pay $15 a class to help pay for equipment and the cost of renting out a gym space. For the first year, Green said, there were about 20 people taking their biweekly self-defense classes. Since the November election, however, there's been increased interest in self-defense from the local queer community due to a 'refreshed fear' around personal safety, and they've had about 300 new people join at least one of their classes, Green said. 'My favorite thing about fight club is seeing someone come in for the first time, and then they throw a punch, and they're like, 'I didn't know I could do that,'' Green said. 'Just letting people know that they can is really empowering by itself.' 'Space for everyone to feel welcomed' Andrew Degar and his wife, Sarah, founded the nonprofit Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu in Houston in 2019 after noticing a need for a more inclusive mixed martial arts space. 'We were both coaching at an MMA gym and just hated the toxicity of the culture, and we wanted to open a space for everyone to feel welcomed and included,' Degar said. The couple has been providing free self-defense classes to those in the Houston area since they first started their organization. They added classes specifically geared toward the LGBTQ community in August 2023, and Degar said they now have queer people from around the state who travel to take them. 'People are looking for a safe space,' Degar said. 'They're looking for trustworthy people, and we are recognized as a resource in the queer community in Texas.' Degar said Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu incorporates various scenarios during self-defense classes that focus on de-escalating conflicts while ensuring readiness in a variety of situations. 'We go into how you may be feeling unsafe from someone you don't know, then we will even go as far as someone who's trying to harm you. Here's how we can attack back,' he said. 'Protecting ourselves and each other' Even in a state like New York, which is known to be among the most progressive when it comes to LGBTQ rights, reported hate crimes have surged in recent years. A report published by the Office of the New York State Comptroller last year found reported hate crimes increased nearly 70% from 2019 to 2023, with anti-LGBTQ crimes among the most common. Groups like Fearless Queers, which has been organizing self-defense pop-up classes throughout New York City since 2022, want LGBTQ people — and particularly trans people, who are more likely to be victims of violent crime — to feel less vulnerable in this environment. Co-founder Chrissy Rose said she also wants those who attend a Fearless Queers session 'to see capable queer and trans fighters leading their class.' 'I want them to see the possibility that they can defend themselves and above all that they are worth that fight,' she said. Rose and her co-founder, Tara Bankoff, who are both experienced in martial arts, said they've seen demand for their classes rise this year, and they now serve hundreds of New Yorkers every month. Their main priorities, Rose said, are to ensure their classes are accessible and free, and to encourage attendees to trust themselves. While the group hosts various pop-ups for self-defense fundamentals and open-mat sessions for drills and solo practice, Rose said classes focus heavily on verbal techniques to avoid both victimization and criminalization. 'Trans women are stereotyped as being aggressive, meaning that if they defend themselves, they have a much higher risk of being criminalized or just socially punished for doing so than, say, a cisgender woman does,' Rose explained. 'We deprioritize striking and emphasize grappling and verbal self-defense in our curriculum for that reason.' New York City resident Alexis Gee, who is nonbinary, said she reached out to Fearless Queers in November after feeling afraid and unprotected. 'In communities like ours, we have to be vigilant about protecting ourselves and each other, and I didn't feel like that was something I was equipped to do,' Gee, 32, said. In January, Gee had the courage to attend her first Fearless Queers class and has been going consistently since then. 'We don't have to be alone in our fear, and we don't have to be aggressive and angry in order to feel protected,' Gee said. 'We just need to know who our allies are and how to reach them.'
