During my interview with University of Washington cross country recruit Megan Goethals (linked above) she mentioned her previous aspiration to play college basketball.

"I was convinced that I was going to play college to play basketball," said Goethals on Wednesday after the Gatorade Athlete of the Year Luncheon in LA. "I played for my freshman team at school and going into it, I was like, 'I'm going to be so good at basketball'. But I wasn't."

But even though she didn't end up playing basketball, she still finds Lisa Leslie to be an inspiring figure.

"She's still inspiring," said Goethals. "She's an amazing athlete. Everyone knows who Lisa Leslie is. It was cool - I got to sit next to her at lunch."

There are a number of reasons to increase and improve coverage of women's sports, ranging from health benefits to potential sponsorship dollars to breaking down sexist images of women in the media. But the unquantifiable reason will always remain that you never know who a sport might inspire to do what.