Sports
Sondheimer: Venice's Lawrence Kensinger practices patience in shotput
Nick Garcia is like a horse whisperer, but for shotputters. He’s trained 18 Southern Section champions at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High in the shotput and discus. When he speaks, athletes listen.
Lawrence Kensinger, a junior at Venice, started working out with Garcia once a week. He trusts him so much that he adopted his weight-training regimen and shotputting techniques. More challenging was accepting Garcia’s edict that he’d have to wait until the final two weeks of the track season to reach peak form.
That means when others might be throwing top marks, he will have to bite his tongue, be patient and wait for the City Section championships and state championships to do his best.
“It’s for sure something you think about,” Kensinger said of having to wait to see the validation of his workouts. “I’ve focused on enjoying the process and being patient. When the time comes, I will throw far.”
Garcia believes Kensinger has a 60-foot throw coming this season. His best had been 55 feet 5.5 inches going into this weekend. All the training revolves around reaching peak form when it counts.
“That’s the plan,” Garcia said. “And he will. He’s going to have a big throw soon. You can’t throw far every week. If you don’t plan for the end of the season, someone else will. You want to make sure you’re locked in for the end of the season.”
Kensinger comes from a family of achievers. His brother, Thomas, was a star football player at Venice, went to the Air Force Academy, gave up the sport, became a boxer and recently won the academy’s heavyweight title. Sister Daniella is a beach volleyball player at Arizona State after being the City Section player of the year at Venice.
Twins Daniella and Thomas Kensinger were star athletes at Venice High.
(Cliff Kensinger)
Lawrence, 5 feet 11 and 210 pounds, played football his first two years at Venice before dropping the sport last season to focus on the shotput. “I started to love it,” he said.
What’s to love about heaving a 12-pound ball of iron?
It’s the journey to win meets.
“It’s a mix of everything — technique, explosiveness, patience,” Kensinger said. “If you try to do brute force, it’s going going to throw you off.”
Now that his big brother is boxing, will Lawrence test himself?
“I’ve been provoking him a little bit,” he said. “I’ve been telling him to teach me how to box.”
Lawrence still lifts weights with the football team, then heads to the track to train by himself. He’s an A student preparing to be the City Section shotput champion, then maybe surprise people at the state meet in Fresno.
He’s got his shotput Yoda instructing him, so who knows.
Venice has one of its strongest City Section track teams, with distance standout Paul Tranquilla and 400-meter runner Nathaniel Santa Cruz ready to score points in multiple events.
Remember, Kensinger is only a junior and sticking with Plan A.
“It’s all about those two weeks, the City championships and the state meet,” he said.
He’s a 17-year-old committed to the process of preparation and execution while waiting for the big day to happen.
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An internet rumor swirled last week that a longtime NFL reporter had died at the age of 40.
News of Jane Slater’s supposed death on social media, but she was quick to shut it down.
An X user posted a screenshot of a post on Facebook that showed Slater in black and white with the graphic “1980-2025” saying she had died at 40. Slater, 45, was born in 1980, but the years written in the post would mean she died at either age 44 or 45.
NFL Network sideline reporter Jane Slater stands on the sidelines prior to an NFL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field on Dec. 26, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
“A veteran reporter who covered the Dallas Cowboys—having followed the team for over a decade—has passed away at the age of 40 after a tragic domestic violence incident, leaving behind a 5-year-old child. Her years of dedicated work, along with the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding her death, have left loyal fans stunned, devastated, and praying for her and her family,” the post read.
The user asked Slater, “did you pass away??”
Jane Slater speaks with T.Y. Hilton of the Dallas Cowboys after the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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“I don’t think so? But does this mean there is (a) glitch in the matrix? I’m gonna wrap myself in bubble wrap until NYE,” Slater joked.
If there is one thing the Facebook post got correct, it’s that Slater does mainly cover the Cowboys for the NFL Network.
NFL Network reporter Jane Slater on the sideline prior to an NFC Wild Card Playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium on Jan. 16, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
Prior to joining in 2016, Slater worked for ESPN and the Longhorn Network, having attended the University of Texas. She also hosted a radio show in Dallas.
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Tennis legend Venus Williams wed Danish model and actor Andrea Preti over the weekend in Florida, the new bride announced in a shared post.
An Instagram post from Vogue Magazine’s Weddings section announced the nuptials, with the message garnering more than 30,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We all love each other so much,” Williams, 45, said in the Vogue post. “It was just the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day.”
The post was scant on details other than the event took place over five days in and around the couple’s home in Palm Beach Gardens.
An email for comment to representatives for Williams and Preti, 37, was not immediately returned.
The couple met at 2024 Milan Fashion Week and began texting shortly after, according to Vogue.
The couple eventually became engaged on Jan. 31 in Tuscany, according to Vogue. That detail was confirmed in July during what was a historic month for Williams.
The Compton native defeated 23-year-old Peyton Sterns 6-3, 6-4 in the first round action of the D.C. Open after a 16-month hiatus from singles matches.
In victory, Williams became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match, trailing only fellow legend Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she won in 2004.
“Yes, my fiance is here, and he really encouraged me to keep playing,” Williams told the Tennis Channel’s Rennae Stubbs in a post-match interview. “There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. … He encouraged me to get through this, and it’s wonderful [for him] to be here. He’s never seen me play.”
Preti has written, acted and directed in a handful of films, primarily in Italy.
The wedding was the second for the couple, who also held a ceremony in Italy in September.
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As Philip Rivers has shown he could still tear up the NFL at age 44, American Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn has also proven that age is just a number.
Vonn, 41, qualified for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, Team USA announced on Tuesday. It will be the fifth Winter Olympics that she competes in.
United States’ Lindsey Vonn reacts at the finish area of an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Vonn had an impressive run at the World Cup in France over the weekend. She was third in super-G, hitting a high speed of 71 mph. It was her second consecutive podium finish after she was third in downhill. It was the 142nd podium finish in her World Cup career.
“I am honored to be able to represent my country one more time, in my 5th and final Olympics!” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “When I made the decision to return to ski racing, I always had one eye on Cortina because it’s a place that is very, very special to me. Although I can’t guarantee any outcomes, I can guarantee that I will give my absolute best every time l kick out of the starting gate. No matter how these games end up, I feel like I’ve already won.
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United States’ Lindsey Vonn celebrates on the podium after taking third place in an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
“I am grateful for how the season has gone so far, but I am just getting started. See you in Cortina!”
Vonn has already put together an enviable career in skiing.
She won a gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Games and two bronze medals in Pyeongchang in 2018. She’s also taken home two gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the World Championships.
The Minnesota native also has 83 World Cup wins and several International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Crystal Globes.
Notably, she’s back competing for gold after being away from the sport for five years.
Austria’s Cornelia Huetter, left, winner of an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Germany’s Kira Weidle Winkelmann, left, and third-placed United States’ Lindsey Vonn, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
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The Winter Olympics will begin on Feb. 6 and run through Feb. 22.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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