All eyes will be on Patrick in her IndyCar return

COLLEGES: The University of Minnesota paid nearly $300,000 to settle sexual harassment complaints related to former athletic director Norwood Teague, documents show. Teague resigned in 2015 after two high-ranking administrators said he sexually harassed them . ... Colgate gave men’s basketball coach Matt Langel a five-year contract extension after he earned Patriot League coach of the year honors last season, the Raiders’ first winning season (19-14) since 2007-08.

HORSE RACING: Monomoy Girl is the early 2-1 favorite for the Kentucky Oaks but will have to come from far outside to win the marquee race for 3-year-old fillies. Monomoy Girl drew the No. 14 post for Friday’s $1 million race at Churchill Downs. Midnight Bisou is the 5-2 second choice and will start from the No. 10 post.

NFL: The Vikings re-signed CB Terence Newman, bringing the NFL’s oldest active defensive player back for a 16th season that will begin five days after he turns 40. Newman, who has played the last three seasons with the Vikings, has 42 career interceptions to lead all active players . ... The ex-girlfriend of 49ers LB Reuben Foster submitted a video to prosecutors to support her statement that she lied when she told authorities Foster had hit her. However, Santa Clara County prosecutor Jim Dermertzis said the district attorney’s office will continue to prosecute a domestic violence case against Foster even if the ex-girlfriend, Elissa Ennis, does not cooperate with the investigation . ... The Steelers released veteran DB J.J. Wilcox just days after selecting a pair of safeties in the NFL draft. NHL: Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello will not return to the role next season. Leafs President Brendan Shanahan said he will stick to a plan that called for the 75-year-old Lamoriello to serve as GM for three years and then transition to senior adviser for four years. The Leafs set franchise records for points (105) and wins (49) in the regular season . ... The Hurricanes terminated the contract of demoted GM and Hall of Fame player Ron Francis. The team announced the move nearly two months after Francis was reassigned to president of hockey operations.

SOCCER: President Donald Trump called on African countries to get behind a joint North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup. Trump made the appeal during a Rose Garden news conference with President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. The U.S. is joining with Canada and Mexico in the bid. Trump’s comments came in the context of highlighting American assistance to Nigeria and follow a veiled threat to withhold U.S. support from countries opposing the bid.

ALSO: Calgary, Alberta, is looking for a leadership team for a possible bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The city hosted the games in 1988. With the deadline to submit bids to the IOC nine months away, Calgary’s city council hasn’t decided if it will proceed. ... A Brazilian surfer rode a monster wave off Portugal to set a world record. The World Surf League said its judges determined that a wave Rodrigo Koxa surfed at Nazare, Portugal, on Nov. 8 reached a height of 80 feet. The previous mark of 78 feet was by American Garrett McNamara in 2011.

Sebastien Bourdais was back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday. So was Helio Castroneves, who returned to his home away from home to re-acclimate to an Indy car.

But the show really begins today when Danica Patrick’s farewell tour returns to her biggest stage. The world’s most famous female race car driver returns to IndyCar for the first time since 2011 to prepare for her final drive around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the in advance of the Indianapolis 500. Her preparations will help kick off IndyCar’s beloved “Month of May” — and Patrick is sure to own the headlines.

“I imagine I’ll probably pop up into the seat fully kitted up once before I get in, just to make sure everything is good, and go over things like, ‘How the hell do I start this thing?’ ” Patrick said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

And by that, Patrick literally meant how she starts the car and begins her final drive.

She’s been chasing her dreams since she was a little girl in Illinois, and two decades later, she’s ready to call it a career. Her farewell began with NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500, where Patrick was collected in a crash and finished 35th.

But the “Danica Double” was always about bringing her career full circle and walking away at Indy, the place that made her a household name. Patrick led 19 laps and finished fourth as a rookie in 2005 and she was a career-best third in 2009. She’s always thrived on Indy’s main stage, and she doesn’t anticipate that changing this year.

Patrick, who spent last week at boyfriend Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay, Wisconsin, home “watching the snow melt,” was already shifting into race mode and talked confidently about her next hurdle. Yes, it’s been more than six years since she’s been in an Indy car and it has had two body modifications during her absence.

She’s approaching today much like she did her very first Indy test, in 2004.

“When I first drove an Indy car back in the day at Kentucky when no one was watching, now they are going to be watching,” she said. “I’ve got a feeling that if it’s comfortable, it could come back to me really quick. I have to remember the very first time I ever drove an Indy car, having never driven one before, it went fine. So I’ve got to trust that everything will be fine.”

Like it or not, Patrick has earned her spot on the central stage for the final month of her racing career.

With Patrick back at Indy for the May 27 race, everything she does in her GoDaddy-sponsored Chevrolet will be scrutinized. Even Monday, the first day the track opened for testing, had a buzz about Patrick’s presence and she wasn’t even on the track.

Patrick’s return was originally scheduled for late March but was postponed because of a cold and rainy weather. She’s used to attention, she thrives under pressure, and she’s ready for the cameras when she gets back into the car.

There are 35 entries for this year’s race, which means two drivers won’t qualify for the 500. Patrick will be in a Chevrolet fielded by Ed Carpenter Racing, a team that is traditionally strong at Indy, and hasn’t thought at all about potentially missing her retirement race.

“Why would I?” she said. “I’m thinking about going to win the race.”