Vanderbilt tight end dies
Vanderbilt tight end Turner Cockrell died Thursday at home after battling cancer for more than a year. He was 21.
Cockrell was surrounded by family in Acworth, Georgia, when he died.
The tight end noticed two lumps on the right side of his neck last fall and was diagnosed with melanoma in November. He had surgery in December to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his neck and later had radiation therapy. After a full-body scan showed unusual growths in Cockrell’s lungs, doctors said in July that his cancer had spread.
He received treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Cockrell watched Vanderbilt’s season-ending 35-7 victory over Middle Tennessee last week from the coach’s suite in the press box. He received the game ball afterward.
VOLLEYBALL
Molly Haggerty had 10 kills and Wisconsin downed UW-Green Bay, 25-9, 27-25, 25-15, in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night at the UW Field House.
Alexandra Zakutney had 13 kills for the Phoenix (20-11).
The Badgers (23-6) will play Pepperdine at 7 p.m. on Friday. Shannon Scully had 22 kills as the Waves (21-8) beat Northern Iowa, 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 2025, 15-13, to advance.
GOLF
Patrick Reed birdied three of his last five holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with late-entry Patrick Cantlay after the first round of the Hero World Challenge in Nassau, Bahamas.
Cantlay was added to the field when Webb Simpson withdrew.
Tiger Woods was never under par at any point and opened with a 73, eight shots behind, tied for 16th in an 18-man field.
BASKETBALL
The U.S. will have to wait at least a few more days before clinching a berth in the 2019 Basketball World Cup.
Nicolas Laprovittola scored 17 points, Lucio Redivo added 14 and host Argentina shook off a slow start to beat the U.S. 80-63 in a World Cup qualifying game. The win put Argentina (8-1) atop Group E qualifying in the Americas region, one game up on the U.S. (7-2) with three contests remaining for both teams.
The top three teams in the division are assured of a spot in the World Cup, and the Americans can clinch with a win on Sunday at Uruguay.
Ex-MU player dies: Grant Wittberger, a standout basketball player at Marquette for two seasons in the 1950s, has died, the school announced.
The 6-foot-8 Wittberger only played one season of basketball at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee before graduating in 1948. He initially attended Macalester (Minn.) College before moving on to Marquette.
Wittberger led the then-Hilltoppers in scoring and rebounding in the 1950-’51 season, averaging 12.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
SLED DOG RACING
Officials announced that the race’s Qualifying Review Board has denied musher Hugh Neff’s application to compete in the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Yukon Quest officials banned the two-time champion from competing in the 2019 race after his dog Boppy died this year near the race’s halfway point between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon.
A necropsy found the dog died from aspiration pneumonia caused by inhaling vomited stomach contents.
Race veterinarians said the dog also had other health problems believed to be preventable, including stomach ulcers, a whipworm infestation and severe weight loss.