CU’S OREJEL GETS CALL TO PLAY FOR MEXICO
BOULDER» The University of Colorado’s Joss Orejel has been named to the Mexico women’s national soccer team.
She will be on the roster for friendlies against the United States on April 5 in Jacksonville, Fla., and April 8 in Houston.
Orejel, a defender who completed her senior season with the Buffs last fall, is getting her first call-up to the full national team after being a part of Mexico’s youth national program.
She is the second Buffs player to earn her way to a national team during the last year.
Marty Puketapu, a freshman, competed against the United States last September for New Zealand.
Orejel is a native of Tustin, Calif., but her parents were born in Mexico and have dual citizenship.
Isner earns spot in Miami Open final.
KEY BISCAYNE,
FLA.» After John Isner clinched his berth in the Miami Open final, he came over the top one last time, throwing a celebratory punch at a speed to match his thunderous serve.
The towering American moved one big step closer to the most prestigious title of his 14-year career by beating a weary Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 7-6 (2) in a semifinal.
“I’m playing the best tennis I’ve played in a very, very long time,” said Isner, 32. “And I’m so happy to be doing it here.”
Del Potro, seeded No. 5, was the fan favorite thanks to South Florida’s large Latin population, and a flagwaving, ole-singing, near-capacity crowd tried to inspire a rally from the Argentine after he fell behind.
Seeded No. 14, Isner is 0-3 in ATP Masters 1000 finals. His opponent Sunday will be No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Another American, reigning U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, will play No. 6-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Saturday for the final women’s title.
Firm monitored accounts.
The public relations firm hired by Michigan State amid the scandal surrounding disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar said it monitored social media accounts, including those of Nassar’s victims, but its contract was to provide crisis communications.
The statement issued Thursday night by Weber Shandwick responded to a Lansing State Journal story Wednesday saying the New Yorkbased firm billed the Big Ten university roughly $500,000 for work in January tracking media coverage and social media activity.
Weber Shandwick said its work mainly “involved crisis counsel” from late December to early March. The firm added that it wasn’t hired to track accounts, but it shared media coverage and social media with Michigan State officials. That included posts by women who say they were sexually assaulted by Nassar.
The firm said Nassar’s victims are “the most important voices in the conversation.”
Nassar is serving a decades-long prison sentence for molesting patients and possessing child pornography.
Footnotes.
Duke is bringing back Chris Carrawell as an assistant coach in men’s basketball. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Carrawell will fill the opening created when assistant Jeff Capel was hired as Pittsburgh’s head coach. Carrawell played for Duke from 1996-2000, was Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year as a senior and spent the past four seasons on Steve Wojciechowski’s staff at Marquette. … Temple’s Fran Dunphy will coach one more season and then step aside for assistant and former Philadelphia 76ers star Aaron McKie to succeed him in 2019, a person familiar with the succession plan said Friday. Dunphy took over for retired Hall of Fame coach John Chaney in 2006 and has led the Owls to seven NCAA Tournaments.