NEWS » aining here at home, Vonn wrote on Facebo

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges was named the Southern Conference offensive player of the year in voting by league coaches and media.The league announced its end of season awards Tuesday.Hodges threw for 3,716 yards and 33 touchdowns. Hes also run for 207 yards and four scores as Samford went 7-4.SoCon coaches voted Chattanooga lineman Keionta Davis defensive player of the year while media gave Citadel defensive back Kailik Williams the honor.Western Carolina quarterback Tyrie Adams was named freshman of the year in both votes. Citadels Brent Thompson also swept the coach of the year awards.Coaches voted Citadel offensive lineman Isaiah Pinson the Jacobs Blocking Award.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Air Max 98 Cheap China . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Air Max 98 Cheap Wholesale . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. http://www.airmax98outlet.com/ . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Wholesale Air Max 98 . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Wholesale Air Max 98 China . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. SOELDEN, Austria -- When Lara Gut starts the defense of her overall Alpine World Cup title on Saturday, she will be the first Swiss skier to do so in more than two decades.Not that it puts pressure on her.I dont think I have to defend something, Gut said on Thursday, two days before the season-opening giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier.The title that I won, is last year. Now we all start at zero points again and its just a matter of winning races again.The previous skier from Switzerland to take the biggest prize in womens skiing was Vreni Schneider in 1995, successfully defending her title from the previous season.Gut downplayed the importance of the first race.My goal is to improve every day, I have to try to be as relaxed as possible, Gut said. There is always a lot of talk ahead of Soelden but this race is also worth just 100 points.She will be the only racer on Saturday who has won an overall title. Anna Veith, Tina Maze and Lindsey Vonn are all absent, for various reasons.Guts predecessor in 2014 and 2015, Veith, needs more time to recover from the knee injury that kept the Austrian away from the slopes last season.Known under her maiden name Fenninger until she got married in April, Veith returned on skis in June but has still been lacking muscle power for the World Cup.I felt that I dont have enough strength to put enough pressure on the skis, said Veith, adding she would spend next month mainly in the gym before returning to skiing in December.The 2013 champion also wont be a threat to Guts ambition as Tina Maze announced her retirement on Thursday. The Slovenian took a break from racing last season and said she will do only one last race -- on home soil in Maribor -- before quitting the sport.ddddddddddddSo, will Vonn again become Guts main challenger?The American, hunting her fifth overall title but first since 2012, was in a neck-and-neck race with Gut until damaging her left knee in a super-G crash in February, ending her season.Though fit and ready to race, Vonn declined the trip to the Austrian Alps as she planned to concentrate more on speed races and refrain from GS, like she also dropped the slalom from her schedule years ago.Ill be back on skis soon and training here at home, Vonn wrote on Facebook recently. Im disappointed I wont be there (in Soelden) but my goals for this season are focused more on downhill and super-g races.However, Gut might face fierce competition from Vonns American teammate, Mikaela Shiffrin, who agreed.Its the first season that I think its really possible, said Shiffrin, who has dominated slaloms in recent years and vastly improved in GS. Now she will add more speed events, not just super-G but even some downhills.We have to wait to get a good grasp where I stand, Shiffrin said. If I am skiing well in slalom and GS and have some good results in speed, it looks like I am a good contender.Calling it a huge dream, Shiffrin was quick to acknowledge many rivals have the same ambition.I want to keep everything in perspective, she said. There are a lot of girls that have that dream. There are probably 20 racers out there who have the potential to win the overall globe. ' ' '