Every Monday, Nevada Sports Net will post a weekly poll question on its main Twitter account. On Tuesday’s NSN Tonight, we will reveal the final poll results and discuss the topic for a segment. On Wednesday, we will post the results and NSN Daily segment while I offer my vote on the question.
There were a lot of big stories to pick from in 2024 with Nevada basketball making back-to-back NCAA tournaments (and Jarod Lucas’ halfcourt buzzer-beater to top Colorado State); Nevada softball reaching 40 wins for the second time in school history; Wolf Pack golfer Enrique Dimayuga capturing three individual titles in a 13-day period; progress made on a number of facility projects; Nevada volleyball’s boycott of San Jose State, which drew national headlines; several high school teams winning state championships; and the months-long conference realignment drama between the Pac-12 and Mountain West.
But my top Northern Nevada sports story of 2024 was four locals winning medals at the Paris Games, and these were true locals. Sometimes we try and call people locals who have a tenuous link to the Truckee Meadows. That was not the case for the quartet of Olympic medalists this year, who all attended Northern Nevada high schools, including two Reno High and two Reed High alums.
Reno High’s Luke Hobson became the first local to win an individual swimming Olympic medal, claiming bronze in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 4×200 freestyle relay. Reed High’s Perris Benegas bounced back from a disappointing fourth-place finish in the freestyle BMX in the 2021 Tokyo Games to win silver in Paris. Fellow Raider Gabby Williams led Team France to the championship game of the women’s basketball tournament and scored 19 points in a 67-66 loss to the United States, making the All-Olympic team. And Reno’s Stephanie Rovetti was on the U.S.’ bronze-medal winning women’s rugby team, playing a key role in the American’s last-second score in a 14-12 win over Australia.
Having four true locals win Olympic medals this season was my top sports story, although the popular vote went to MW/Pac-12 realignment (43.4 percent) over the Olympic quartet (25.9 percent).
Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.
