Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Sports briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2001

Another football star says no to Penn State

Kevin Jones, ranked the nation's No. 1 recruit by the St. Petersburg Times, said Wednesday he will attend Virginia Tech next season -- the second time in two days Penn State missed out on a star high school football player. The 6-foot, 200-pound Jones, a running back at Cardinal O'Hara Prep in suburban Philadelphia, said he felt more comfortable with Virginia Tech's coaching staff, school, strength program and the Big East schedule, which he believes would be less exhausting than the Big Ten schedule. He rushed for 5,730 yards and 84 touchdowns in his high school career. Aliquippa High All-Stater Bernard "Josh" Lay (6-2, 190) told Penn State coach Joe Paterno on Monday that he would play for the Nittany Lions, but after visits from assistant coaches at Pitt, the defensive back said Tuesday he changed his mind and would play for Pitt.

MORE FOOTBALL: Defensive tackle Torran Williams (6-4, 290) of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College committed to Florida over LSU. Williams went to Miramar High. ... Spruce Creek linebacker Doug Justice, spurned by Michigan after committing on Dec. 31, has committed to North Carolina. Justice was ranked 12th in the Orlando Sentinel's list of the top 100 players in the state. ... Clemson coach Tommy Bowden might not get to face his former Tulane team after all. The school said that Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson called to see about getting out of the Oct. 6 game because his team did not want to play the Tigers. RUNNING: Marion Jones, the first woman to win five track and field medals at an Olympics, won the Jesse Owens International Trophy Award for the second straight year. Jones received 42 points to beat swimmer Ian Thorpe (23 points) of Australia in balloting by a worldwide panel. The award is given to athletes who promote "understanding among people of all nations."

FIGURE SKATING: Russians Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze overcame a missed combination to reclaim the European title stripped from them last year when they were disqualified after Berezhnaya tested positive for a banned substance. Their charming long program drawing on Charlie Chaplin's goofy grace put them ahead of the Russian pair of Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, and France's Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis. In individual qualifying at Bratislava, Slovakia, defending European champion Irina Slutskaya easily finished at the top of her group.

SOCCER: Mexico, the opening opponent for the United States in the final round of World Cup qualifying, lost to Bulgaria 2-0 in an exhibition game at Morelos, Mexico. It was Mexico's third consecutive loss, including a 2-0 defeat by the United States, which plays Mexico on Feb. 28 at Columbus, Ohio. ... Host Liverpool advanced to the final of England's League Cup, routing Crystal Palace 5-0 behind two goals from Danny Murphy. Liverpool plays Birmingham or Ipswich in the final on Feb. 25 at Cardiff, Wales.

AUTOS: Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton has become a car owner in the Indy Racing League and is seeking sponsorship. He did not reveal who he might hire as a driver. BOWLING: Defending champion Ryan Shafer was 6-2 in the second round of match play to take a 101-pin lead in the PBA Tour's Orleans Casino Open at Las Vegas. The Elmira, N.Y., bowler averaged 232 and had a 34-game total pinfall of 7,783. Michael Haugen Jr. was second.

WINTER SPORTS: Swiss snowboarders Gilles Jaquet and Ursula Bruhin won parallel giant-slalom titles at the World Championships in Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy. ... Martin Schmitt of Germany won for the fourth time this season, capturing the first of the week's three World Cup ski jumping events at Hakuba, Japan.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright