Briefs

Linebacker picks USF over SEC

By Times wire
Published January 17, 2005

TAMPA - USF picked up its sixth oral commitment when Gene Coleman , a 6-foot, 245-pound middle linebacker from Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, said he'll play for the Bulls in the fall.

Coleman also was recruited by major programs such as LSU, Auburn and Mississippi.

"I never really wanted to go anywhere else," said Coleman, who signed with USF out of Lake Wales High in 2003 but did not post the necessary test scores.

Coleman, whose high school coach was former USF quarterback Chad Barnhardt , had two interceptions in the national junior college championship game, which Pearl River won.

-- GREG AUMAN, Times staff writer

NAVY: Mitchell fullback Spencer Brown , the Times' Pasco County offensive player of the year, said he will play for the Naval Academy. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior also was being recruited by Lafayette and Truman State. "The Naval Academy was the perfect fit," Brown said. "No other school could offer what I wanted in terms of playing and academics."

-- BOB PUTNAM, Times staff writer

SYRACUSE: Five days after taking over as coach, Greg Robinson named former Texas star Major Applewhite quarterbacks coach and placed Steve Russ , a Denver Broncos linebacker from 1995-2000, in charge of linebackers.

U-20 Americans qualify

Chad Barrett and Danny Szetela scored to give the United States a 2-0 win against Costa Rica in the Game 2 of the CONCACAF under-20 qualifying doubleheader in Carson, Calif., for the world youth championship. USA won its group outright for the first time in the tournament's U-20 qualifying. Panama also advanced with a 3-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago.

KEEPER MOVES: U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller left Tottenham of the English Premier League to join a German team. The 35-year-old signed a 11/2-year contract with Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany's top league. Keller, who has played 75 games for the U.S. national team, was the No.1 goalie at Tottenham last season but this year lost his job to Paul Robinson

TIGER CUP: Host Singapore won, beating Indonesia 2-1 on first-half goals. This is the second time Singapore has won the tournament, which features 10 teams from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

MOTORSPORTS

Frenchman repeats

France's Stephane Peterhansel won his second straight Dakar Rally, a 5,566-mile race that began in Spain two weeks ago, covered vast stretches of African desert and left two motorcyclists dead. Peterhansel added another car title to his six victories in the motorcycle division, finishing in 52 hours, 31 minutes, 39 seconds. France's Luc Alphand , a former champion downhill skier, was 27:14 behind in second. There was a moment of silence before the final stage for the motorcyclists who died - Jose Manuel Perez of Spain and Fabrizio Meoni of Italy. Meoni, a two-time winner, had said this Dakar Rally would be his last.

FORMULA ONE: Honda Motor Co. might buy British American Tobacco Plc's remaining 55 percent stake in the BAR team after securing 45 percent last week, the team's chief executive said. BAT, the No.2 cigarette maker, intends to exit the sport by the end of 2006 because of a European Union ban on tobacco advertising starting in August.

IRL AWARD: Indy Racing League champion Tony Kanaan received the 2004 Jerry Titus Award, the top driving award by the American Automobile Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association.

SUPERCROSS: Ricky Carmichael won the 250cc THQ World GP/THQ AMA series race Saturday night in Phoenix.

ET CETERA

HOCKEY: The NHL's Jaromir Jagr scored an overtime winner and Russia's Avangard Omsk came from behind to beat Finnish champion Karpat Oulu 2-1 in the inaugural European Champions Cup final in St. Petersburg, Russia.

HORSES: Crashpad , a 9-year-old gelding, finished more than 5 lengths ahead of 11-year-old Blues Away at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar. Crashpad returned $24.40, $9.60 and $5.20 and finished the 7 furlongs in 1:24.96.

OLYMPICS: Hammer thrower Adrian Annus and discus thrower Robert Fazekas , both stripped of gold medals for doping, received replicas of their Athens medals purchased with fans' donations. The oversized replicas showed the Greek goddess of victory, Nike , but her face was distorted to reflect fans' disgust with the treatment of their idols by Olympic officials, said Gabor Pal , the athletes' spokesman. The flip side included a Hungarian description meaning "golden justice."

WINTER SPORTS: Americans Seth Westcott and Lindsey Jacobellis won their first cross titles at the snowboarding world championships in Whistler, British Columbia. ... Germany's Alois Vogl won the slalom in Wengen, Switzerland. Overall World Cup leader Bode Miller skied out in the second leg. ... American Jeret Peterson won his first World Cup aerials event in Lake Placid, N.Y.

[Last modified January 17, 2005, 01:05:20]