Apology over slurs in broadcast

A Texas school district apologized Friday after a high school football broadcaster repeatedly used a racial slur when referring to African American players on the opposing team.

The Cleburne Independent School District apologized for online audio comments last week in a game between Cleburne High School and Seguin High School in Arlington, said Leslie Johnston, spokeswoman for the Arlington Independent School District. Cleburne is south of Fort Worth.

The game was broadcast by an online site that isn’t affiliated with the school district, school officials said. Cleburne officials said the broadcaster, identified as Mark Banton, will no longer call games, Johnston said.

The broadcaster referred to the Seguin players as the “cougroes,” an apparent mix of the Seguin nickname Cougars and the word negro.

More than a third of the Seguin student body is African American, the Fort Worth StarTelegram reported.

Banton also joked about a Seguin cheerleader, saying: “Jenny Craig has ... a lot of work to do with her.”

Tennis: Caroline Garcia advanced to the semifinals at the WTA Finals in Singapore when top-ranked Simona Halep lost to Elina Svitolina.

Garcia defeated Caroline Wozniacki 0-6, 6-3, 7-5. When Svitolina beat Halep 6-3, 6-4 later, the top-ranked Romanian was eliminated.

In the semifinals, Garcia will play Venus Williams and Wozniacki faces Karolina Pliskova.

Roger Federer beat Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the Swiss Indoors quarterfinals in Basel. Federer will play David Goffin, a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner over Jack Sock, in the semifinals. Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro meet in the other semi.

Dustin Johnson was handed a new putter 15 minutes before he teed off and shot a 9-under-par 63 for a one-shot lead over Brooks Koepka going into the weekend at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

Ryan Armour shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-shot lead over Tyrone Van Aswegen at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.

David Toms had a hole-in-one in his round of 6-under 66, good for a share of the first-round lead with Jeff Maggert at the PGA Tour Champions’ PowerShares QQQ Championship in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County).

Feng Shanshan shot a 6-under 65 to lead by a stroke over Madalene Sagstorm after two rounds of the LPGA Tour’s Sime Darby in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Baseball: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, a cancer survivor, was honored with the Roberto Clemente Award for his foundation’s work in helping families dealing with cancer.

Courts: In Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Tiger Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a deal that will avoid jail as long as he stays out of trouble, resolving charges from an arrest last spring in which he was found passed out in his Mercedes with prescription drugs and marijuana in his system. He will enter a diversion program, spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs.