RODS, SCREWS PLACED INTO DRIVER’S SPINE
PA.» IndyCar driver Robert ALLENTOWN, Wickens had titanium rods and screws placed in his spine to stabilize a fracture associated with a spinal cord injury suffered in a weekend crash at Pocono Raceway.
IndyCar said in a statement Tuesday the severity of the spinal cord injury was unknown.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports later said it would not field the No. 6, the car Wickens’ drives, at this weekend’s race in St. Louis. James Hinchcliffe, who injured his hands in the wreck in Pocono, has been cleared to compete and will race at Gateway.
Wickens is expected to undergo more surgeries to treat fractures in his lower extremities and right forearm. He remains in stable condition.
His car sailed into the fence at Pocono when he and Ryan Hunter-Reay made slight contact on Sunday. Hunter-Reay’s car spun and Wickens’ car launched over it and into the fence. A large hole was torn into the fence. The race was delayed two hours to repair the damage.
Stewart is WNBA player of year.
YORK» Breanna Stewart was
NEW named The Associated Press WNBA player of the year. The award was chosen by the 14-member media panel that votes for the weekly poll.
Stewart averaged 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and shot 52.9 percent from the field this season to help the Seattle Storm earn a bye until the semifinals of the playoffs. She received 12 of the 14 votes with Liz Cambage earning the other two. Also on the all-WNBA first team were Elena Delle Donne, Diana Taurasi and Tiffany Hayes. The second team was Candace Parker, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Sylvia Fowles and Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Atlanta’s Nicki Collen was chosen as the AP’s coach of the year, receiving 13 of the 14 votes. And Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson was the unanimous choice as rookie of the year. She averaged 20.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks to help the Aces to 14 wins this season.
Mack to play right away for Miami.
FLA.» Miami Hurricanes CORAL GABLES, transfer Anthony Mack was granted a waiver by the NCAA and will be eligible to compete during the 2018-19 season.
A 6-foot-6 shooting guard, Mack was a freshman at Wyoming last season and didn’t play in any official games because of an injury. He will have four years of eligibility left.
Clarke, Leonard lead CU women.
ITALY» Freshman COSTA MASNAGA, guard Emma Clarke scored a gamehigh 25 points and senior guard Kennedy Leonard added 13 points and eight assists to lead the University of Colorado women’s basketball team to a 105-44 win over Basket Costa.
CU finished its Italian tour with a 3-0 record.
Ohio State trustees to meet Wednesday.
Approval for funding an outside firm’s two-week investigation of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer will wait until after university trustees meet privately Wednesday to discuss the findings.
The investigation focuses on how Meyer handled years-old domestic violence allegations against a recently fired assistant coach. What to do with Meyer will be university president Michael Drake’s decision, and no timetable has been announced.
China’s Liu sets world record.
INDONESIA» China’s Liu Xiang JAKARTA, set her first world record in an event she was only doing for a bit of fun.
Liu set her mark in the 50-meter backstroke in 26.98 seconds to take 0.08 off the previous record of 27.06, which was set by China’s Zhao Jing at the 2009 world championships in Rome when swimmers were aided by the now-banned buoyant suits.
Liu, 21, prefers freestyle sprinting. The 50 backstroke is not on the Olympic schedule and Liu still has the 50 freestyle to come Friday.