Airman Jamie Walden posted the video invite on YouTube Feb. 5, but it’s starting to pick up steam. CBS4 Sports tweeted Tebow to let him know about the invitation Monday.

In the video Walden says she would be the luckiest and happiest girl if Tebow were to say yes. She got her fellow service members and friends to chime in asking him to please say yes.

Walden’s mother even got into the act.

“Hi Tim, I’m Patty, Jamie’s mom. We approve of this message. Just say yes!,” she implored Tebow.

“So Tim, with that being said, I hope your answer is ‘Yes,’ ” Walden concluded, “And I hope to hear from you soon.”

While the request may have flown under Tebow’s radar for a while, it’s burning up his Twitter feed now but there’s no word yet if Tebow will follow in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and “say yes” to the military invitation.

Two weeks to the day after claiming her first U.S. championship, the 20-year-old from Alexandria, Va., had the best free skate of her career Saturday night to win the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships for her first international title.

Wagner skated an elegant, clean program to finish with a 128.34-point score that left her with a career-high total of 192.41.

That was enough to edge two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan, who settled for second at 188.62 after touching a hand to the ice while attempting to land a triple lutz and having a triple axel downgraded by judges.

It was the first time Wagner has beaten Asada, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist.

“This was a pretty darn good competition for me,” Wagner said. “For me to pull out these scores internationally is huge, not only for my career, but also for people’s understanding of my level of skating. This is a big confidence boost.”

Asada left the event knowing what cost her in the end.

“I’m very happy about succeeding on my triple axel tonight, but I made several other mistakes,” Asada said. “I understand my result. I showed my stronger performance at worlds.”

The Four Continents was the final major tuneup before the 2012 World Championships on March 26-April 1 in Nice, France. Two-time U.S. champion Alissa Czisny will join Wagner on Team USA.

“This gives everyone an idea of what I’m capable of going into worlds,” Wagner said. “This is another competition that went very well that I can put under my belt. Going into worlds, I can go in knowing I’m capable under not ideal situations – such as this competition being the week after nationals and at altitude – of pulling something off like that.”

American Caroline Zhang had a career-best 117.44 points to take the bronze at 176.18. Japan’s Kanako Murakami was fourth at 169.32, and American Agnes Zawadzki fifth at 157.23.

Zhang was all smiles after earning a spot on the medal stand.

“This is definitely the best I’ve done this particular program,” Zhang said. “I’m pretty sure this is the last time I’m doing it, so I’m glad I ended it like this. I’m definitely happy to be getting back on the right track again, and hopefully I can just build on this.”

Earlier, U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dancing short program, and China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong topped the pairs field after the short program.

Canadian star Patrick Chan won the men’s title Friday night.

In ice dancing, Davis and White took a step toward successfully defending their title.

Davis and White, the 2011 world champions and 2010 Olympic silver medalists, finished their program with a mark of 72.15, edging reigning Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, who had 71.60 points.

“We felt really good out there,” White said. “Everyone likes to talk about altitude, but we tried hard to counter, and it helped our performance. The characters were better portrayed. Technically, we need to work on our levels, so we’ll get back to work on that.”

Sui and Han, the two-time and reigning world junior champions, finished more than three points clear of 2012 U.S. Champions Caydee Denney and John Coughlin at 63.35.

“Today, we did our best in the short program,” Cong said through an interpreter. “It’s very amazing and wonderful. We feel so happy, and my partner did very well. Congratulations to the other teams.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

They did just that.

The two-time junior world champions were stellar in the free skate, earning a season-best 135.08 points for a 201.83 total that would not be eclipsed.

“We feel very excited,” Han said. “Maybe tonight we can’t sleep. I think later in the program there were a little nerves, but we feel we adjusted to our program. The throws were successful, and we are very pleased.

“This is our first time to win a senior competition, and we are happy and excited.”

Americans Caydee Denney and John Coughlin – fresh off a title at the 2012 U.S. championships – had a season-best score of their own with 122.07 points, but settled for second at 185.42.

“I felt like we took a step in the right direction toward building for the world championships, and we’re happy with how it all turned out,” Coughlin said.

Denney and Coughlin, who have been a team only since May, will represent the United States from March 26-April 1 in Nice, France.

“Every time you go out there, you learn something,” Denney said. “Especially John and I being such a new pair together, we did learn a lot from this competition. We’re just going to keep pushing to grow and strengthen as a team so that we can put up a bigger score at worlds.”

The American tandem of Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker took bronze with 178.89 points after a season-best 116.47 in the free skate.

“We’ve come a long way over the last year,” Brubaker said. “A year ago, we were last after the short (program) and eighth overall. There are some points out there we know we can get, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

It marked the first time since the 2000 Four Continents event that the United States had two pairs teams on the medal stand.

“I’ve been fourth at this event two years in a row, so it’s nice to crack onto the podium,” Coughlin said. “We have a lot of work to do to be considered teams worthy of being on podiums at championship events, and we’re just going to use this as motivation to go home and really get back to work. It’s exciting to feel like we’re on the right track, and we’re just going to keep pushing that way.”

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The reigning Olympic champions won gold at the Four Continents Championships on Sunday after outdueling Davis and White in the free skate.

Virtue and Moir overcame a .55-point deficit to Davis and White with a score of 111.24 in the free dance, for a total of 182.84. Davis and White, the reigning world champions who had not lost since the 2010 worlds, scored 107.25 in the free dance to earn the silver medal with 179.40.

Davis and White were the last pair to skate and needed 110.70 points to win.

Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were third at 163.26.

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Despite building a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets survived a late, fourth-quarter run by the Pacers to win 113-109 on Saturday night.

Ty Lawson scored 27 points to lead the Nuggets, who snapped their five-game losing streak.

“We won the game because we had more effort and energy,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “Now we can have a good day off and enjoy the stress of a win instead of the stress of losing.”

Danny Granger scored 26 points for the Pacers, who have lost four of five had their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Arron Afflalo had 23 points and five rebounds and Corey Brewer had 19 points and five rebounds in his first game back after missing three straight because of the death of his father.

“His energy was amazing,” Afflalo said. “I think he’s the reason we won tonight. We fed off him all night long. This was a great game for him and a good game for us.”

The Nuggets, who jumped to a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter after never taking more than a six-point lead in the first three quarters, survived a late run by the Pacers.

Indiana got back within a point late in the game and the Nuggets pulled away from the free throw line.

Afflalo was fouled and made two free throws to put the game away with 8.2 seconds left.

The Nuggets had an 87-84 lead to start the fourth and went on an 8-1 run to take a 10-point lead at 95-85 on a dunk with 9:02 left.

The Nuggets led 104-94 and the Pacers scored five straight points to make it 104-99 with 3:48 left in the game.

The Nuggets scored to make it 106-99 and Indiana’s Paul George, who had 15 points, made another 3-pointer to cut the lead.

Darren Collison was fouled on a shot and made the free throw to make it 106-105 with 2:40 left in the game.

That’s the closest the Pacers would get.

“Obviously disappointed in the loss,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “I thought our transition defense was good most of the night, which it has to be against this team. We had too many turnovers. That probably cost us the game.”

The Pacers committed 20 turnovers. The Nuggets had 12.

Kosta Koufos scored and Afflalo made a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 111-105.

David West scored again, but the Pacers were never able to take the lead.

The Pacers went on a 5-0 run to take a nine-point lead midway through the first quarter. Granger hit a 3-pointer and Tyler Hansbrough made two free throws to make it 29-20.

The Pacers jumped to a 35-26 lead by the end of the first quarter, led by Granger’s 18 first-quarter points.

The Pacers extended the lead to 10 at the start of the second quarter, the Nuggets scored and Indiana scored six straight to take a 46-33 lead, their biggest of the night.

The Nuggets eventually took a 56-55 lead when Brewer hit a 3-pointer to make it 55-54 and Afflalo scored the go-ahead layup. But George went to the line and tied the game with a free throw at 56.

The game was tied at 60 at halftime.

The Nuggets jumped to a five-point lead early in the second half, but the Pacers came back to get within a point when Granger and Collison scored.

The Nuggets extended the lead by as much as six points in the third, but could never extend it further until the fourth.

“We’ve lost a few games in a row and now we have to get back on the winning streak,” Brewer said. “We’ve got one. Time to get two or three or more.”

Timofey Mozgov was out again because of a sprained left ankle.

“Timofey is definitely our best big guy,” Karl said. “He protects the paint very well, protects the basket very well, is our best pick-and-roll defender.”

NOTES: Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari was also out with a sprained left ankle. … Pacers C Jeff Foster was out with a sore lower back after making his first appearance in 14 games and had six points and seven rebounds against Memphis on Friday. … Pacers G George Hill was out with a fractured left ankle.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Shore also scored a power-play goal with 1:26 left in the third period to send the game into overtime.

The Pioneers (17-9-4, 12-6-4) won the faceoff in overtime and Joey LaLeggia took a shot from the point that hit traffic in front of the net. Shore swiped the puck around Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson for the series sweep.

Shore finished with an assist for three points and LaLeggia had two assists.

The win left the WCHA race tight at the top. Minnesota leads the pack with 30 points, followed by Minnesota Duluth with 29 and Denver with 28. The Gophers, who lost 5-3 on Friday, went into the weekend with a three-point lead.

Minnesota (19-11-1, 15-7-0) got goals from Nico Sacchetti, Zach Budish and Erik Haula.

Haula and Budish scored the game’s first two goals for a 2-0 lead at 15:17 of the second period.

Chris Knowlton made it a one-goal game late in the second period and Luke Salazar tied it for Denver on the power play early in the third.

Sacchetti broke the tie at 10:07 but Shore beat the clock on a power play to knot the game 3-3. Minnesota’s Justin Hall was sent off for high sticking with 3:09 left. Shore scored with 18 seconds left in the power play.

Patterson finished with 37 saves for the Gophers, including 12 in the third period.

Denver goalie Sam Brittain had 33 stops.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

David Perron added two goals and an assist, and T.J. Oshie had two assists as the Blues won for the fourth time in five games and improved to 15-0-3 in their last 18 at home.

St. Louis, among the NHL’s best home teams at 23-3-4, has recorded at least one point in a franchise-record 18 straight games.

Shane O’Brien and Erik Johnson scored for the Avalanche, who snapped a two-game winning streak and dropped their sixth in eight games.

Colaiacovo tipped in a shot from Patrik Berglund to help the Blues improve to 5-7 in overtime games.

O’Brien put Colorado ahead 1-0 midway through the first period before Perron scored twice in a span of 4:05 later in first to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. Perron has five goals in his last three games, including a pair in a 3-1 win at Ottawa on Tuesday.

Johnson — the top overall pick by the Blues in the 2006 draft — tied it less than three minutes after Perron’s second tally, breaking a 22-game scoreless skid.

St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott made 17 saves and improved to 18-5-2. He made a big stop on Gabriel Landeskog with 3:45 left in the third period to keep the game tied at 2.

Notes: Colorado RW Milan Hejduk played in his 967th game as a member of the Avalanche franchise, tying him with Adam Foote for second all-time. Joe Sakic leads with 1,378 appearances. … The Avalanche lead the NHL with 18 one-goal wins. … The Blues’ 23 wins at home ties last season’s total and is six short of the franchise record set in 1980-81. … St. Louis is 24-0 when scoring three or more goals. … The Blues are 27-1-3 in their last 30 home games with Perron in the lineup. … St. Louis improved to 27-7-7 under coach Ken Hitchcock.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Andre Roberson and Austin Dufault added 12 points apiece for the Buffaloes (17-8, 9-4 Pac 12), who won their third straight game against the Sun Devils (8-17, 4-9) and have won three of four overall.

Jonathan Gilling scored 11 points and Trent Lockett added 10 for Arizona State, which has lost three of four and eight of its last 11.

Gilling hit a 3-pointer and Ruslan Pateev added a layup as the Sun Devils trimmed a seven-point halftime deficit to 31-26 with 17:34 remaining.

But Dinwiddie hit the second of his three 3-pointers and Nate Tomlinson added a 3-pointer to spark an 8-0 run that gave Colorado a 39-26 lead with 14:45 remaining.

The Buffaloes led by as many as 19 in the second half.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sui and Han, the two-time and reigning world junior champions, had a score of 66.75 points, more than three points clear of 2012 U.S. Champions Caydee Denney and John Coughlin at 63.35.

“Today, we did our best in the short program,” Cong said through an interpreter. “It’s very amazing and wonderful. We feel so happy, and my partner did very well. Congratulations to the other teams.”

The Colorado Springs-based Denney and Coughlin have only been partners since May.

“It felt like I hoped it would skating at home, and I felt the support from our friends and family,” Coughlin said. “It was nice to put out a good performance for them and for ourselves. Our components improved greatly from our last Grand Prix score, so I’m excited about that.”

They felt good about their ability to take their program to an even higher level than nationals.

“Going into this, we felt we could improve on this program and we could improve on this from nationals, and I felt like we did that,” Denney said.

Americans Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker were third with 62.42 points.

“We’re just really happy with our skate today,” Brubaker said. “We were pretty strong on things, and this was definitely a step in the right direction. Between nationals and here, it’s definitely how you want to be skating here.”

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“I remember the day in April very well,” Heckman said Thursday from his office in Denver as he recalled his decision to mostly quit skiing competitively at the end his most successful Nordic combined winter season. “I was having these fears that I wouldn’t be able to flourish when I was done skiing because I just felt like I was behind academically.”

Heckman, who attended The Lowell Whiteman School’s rustic campus north of Steamboat Springs from 1990 to 1993, said his spot on the U.S. Ski Team inevitably drew him away from the classroom for weeks at a time. He estimated that during his three years of high school, he was present only a year. The missed classes, tests and lectures weighed heavily on his decision to stop skiing and enroll at the University of Colorado to study finance.

“On a personal level, I feel that if I had been able to pursue an education while I was skiing, I would have gone to at least one more Olympic games,” said Heckman, now a private equity investor.

Reflecting on his choice to quit skiing, he said it was difficult for him to balance his rigorous athletic career and his education at Whiteman.

But with new classroom technology and a tenacious effort by teachers to accommodate the schedules of their athletic students, much has changed for the Yampa Valley’s aspiring Olympians.

Meg Morse’s Algebra II lesson on Thursday at Whiteman was recorded by a small camera and beamed onto a Vizio flat-screen TV perched at the back of her classroom. Later that day, the recording was uploaded to YouTube.

“I’ll send a link to all of the skiers and snowboarders who were absent,” said Morse, Whiteman’s academic dean. The recording devices also can capture notes written by teachers on an electronic board and are set up in several Whiteman classrooms. They ultimately allow athletes competing with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club to maintain a digital connection with their teachers.

Morse said she utilizes the recordings, her email account and Google Docs, where she uploads assignments and syllabuses, to stay in touch with the students who miss anywhere from 20 to 60 days of class each winter.

Technology is a rapidly evolving tool and a benefit for students at Whiteman, Technology Director Tony Hillier said. By fall, he is hoping the school can use its cameras and televisions to “beam” absent skiers and snowboarders into the classroom.

“Right now, we’re not using the technology we have to its fullest capability,” he said. “We currently have a recording system that is like TiVo for the class, but we’re working on using our videoconferencing equipment to actually bring students who are off competing into the classroom.”

He also said a new content management system at the school would allow teachers to more easily post and receive assignments electronically.

Junior Vreni Lupear, a competitive Alpine skier, estimates she will miss 25 to 30 days of school at Whiteman before her winter season is over. But at school Thursday, she effused confidence as she talked about how she has stayed on top of her assignments and tests even as she trains and competes in places as far away as Austria.

“The only thing I ever get worried about is making up tests, but I work with my teachers when I get back to find a time when I’m prepared to take them,” she said.

She added that the ability to pause and rewind taped lectures, which she can access on a laptop while she’s absent, has helped her better navigate the lesson plans. It’s a challenge to make up for the absences, she said, but she continues to strike a balance between her athletic aspirations and her coursework. Last year, she was named to Whiteman’s dean’s list for her first trimester academic performance.

Student athletes like Lupear must maintain a C or higher in all of their classes at Whiteman to continue competing, and teachers help develop their makeup schedules.

“The students here feel we are sort of their partners in making sure they keep up with their schoolwork,” Morse said. “We’re looking for that balance between strong college prep academics and them achieving their athletic goals.”

In recent years, Whiteman has sent a teacher to the Fall Alpine Ski & Scholastic Training programs in Austria and Summit County to oversee the education of their students. Gina Wither, coordinator of Whiteman’s ski and snowboard program, added that she often meets with students outside class hours to help them get caught up with coursework.

“We do a lot here to make sure the kids do not fall through the cracks,” she said.

And the accommodation of winter athletes is not limited to Steamboat’s private schools.

After she finished mixing barium nitrate and sodium phosphate Monday at Steamboat Springs High School, senior Martha Anderson, an Alpine skier, said her chemistry class is unique because her teacher doesn’t lecture much in person. Instead, he relies on podcasts.

“It took some getting used to, but now I think it’s more convenient, especially because I miss so much class,” she said.

Students do their homework in class and watch and listen to Nat Cooper’s lectures at home via a podcast or a video posted to his website. Cooper this year flipped the classroom in part to accommodate skiers and competitive athletes like Anderson. If they miss a class, students still can keep up with lectures and work on their homework.

“I don’t know that this model is a good fit for all teachers, but I think a lot of them – especially in Steamboat, where we have a number of absences from student athletes – would love it once they started to do it,” Cooper said.

He said he also flipped his classroom in an attempt to improve student achievement and expand the amount of material he can deliver to students.

“With my chemistry class, I will probably teach 1 1/2 times the amount of material I’ve ever taught, and students will do more labs than ever before and feel better about it,” he said.

“I’m using technology to create a more intimate classroom, not a less intimate classroom.”

Former Olympic skiers are well aware of the new tools that strengthen the bond of education and athleticism.

Nearly 17 years after the end of his competitive skiing career, Heckman said an athlete’s best chance to balance competition with education still starts at home.

“There seems to be an ever-increasing number of parents who are pushing their kids to be world-class athletes sooner and potentially at the expense of character, education and other things,” he said. “That’s why eligibility requirements need to start at home. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of school. But there’s an awareness, I think, that as our society has become more dependent on college education, parents and coaches are more focused on making sure education is part of the program.”

He said parents should teach their students early that skiing and snowboarding is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Heckman added that he is encouraged by the strides athletes are able to make academically today with new tools.

“I’m happier for them than they are for themselves because you only realize how important education is when you don’t have one,” he said. “For them to be able to pursue their dreams without sacrificing their futures is really spectacular.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)