In brief

Preseason baseball poll has Florida ranked 2nd

By wire services
Published December 25, 2005

Florida was ranked second in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 preseason poll.

Defending national champion Texas topped the publication's top five, followed by the Gators, Oregon State, Nebraska and Rice.

Eight of the 12 SEC programs are listed among the top 40, including LSU (15th), South Carolina (17th), Tennessee (19th), Ole Miss (20th), Arkansas (33rd), Mississippi State (34th) and Georgia (39th). Three other schools from the league, Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt, received votes.

Miami was ranked 11th, and Florida Atlantic 18th.

Stetson University is ranked 37th. It is Stetson's sixth consecutive preseason national ranking. The defending Atlantic Sun Conference champions, the Hatters went 35-28 in 2005 and qualified for their fifth NCAA Regional in the past six years.

Top-ranked Annika Sorenstam was chosen as Player of the Year in her native Sweden for a record ninth time.

"I'm very proud," Sorenstam told the crowd at a Swedish PGA and Swedish Golf Tour's awards dinner from her home in Orlando. "Although I've lived in the United States for so many years, Sweden is still the country closest to my heart. It's a pity that I couldn't be home to receive the award."

Last week, the 35-year-old Sorenstam won the European Golf Writers' Trophy for the second time in three years, becoming the first woman to claim the award more than once.

Sorenstam, who grew up and honed her game on a course just north of Stockholm, captured two of the four year's majors and won 11 of 21 tournaments this season, including 10 on the U.S. LPGA Tour. She didn't miss a single cut and had 16 top-10 finishes.

She finished atop the money list for the fifth straight year and claimed her eighth U.S. women's tour Player of the Year award.

Veterans Kasey Keller and Kristine Lilly won U.S. Soccer's awards for players of the year.

Keller, the men's national goalie, won it for the third time, the first player to do so. He also was honored in 1997 and 1999.

Lilly is also a repeat winner, having won the award in 1993. In the 12 years between awards, Lilly appeared for the United States 235 times and scored 85 goals. She has played in 299 national games for the U.S. team, the most international appearances for any player, male or female.

REAL MADRID: Alfredo di Stefano, the Real Madrid soccer great who was voted European player of the year in the 1957 and 1959, had a heart attack but was conscious and in stable condition.

U.S. junior pairs champions Mariel Miller and Rockne Brubaker ended their partnership, citing a growth spurt by Miller of nearly 4 inches in just more than two years.

"It was something that we didn't really want to do, but there was no other choice," Miller said. "The main issue was our height difference - the fact that there isn't much of one. It was causing some injuries, and based on those injuries, things were snowballing.

Miller plans to take some time off before beginning a career as a singles skater. Brubaker is looking for a new pairs partner and plans to stay in Colorado Springs.

A horse stabled at Turfway Park in Louisville, Ky., was euthanized and a barn was quarantined after the filly tested positive for the equine herpes virus. The barn has been under quarantine since Wednesday, track president Bob Elliston said. The stable has about 50 horses.

CALDER: Prospect of Love broke through a crowded turn and ran to victory in the $50,000 Georgia TOBA Debutante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the grass at Calder Race Course in Miami.

[Last modified December 24, 2005, 23:43:13]