Ex-coach is awarded $7.3M
McQueary victorious in defamation suit against Penn State
A jury awarded a former Penn State assistant football coach $7.3 million in damages Thursday, finding the university defamed him after it became public that his testimony helped prosecutors charge Jerry Sandusky with child molestation.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours in Mike McQueary’s defamation and misrepresentation lawsuit.
Judge Thomas Gavin still must decide McQueary’s whistle-blower claim that he was treated unfairly as the school suspended him from coaching duties, placed him on paid administrative leave, barred him from team facilities and then did not renew his contract shortly after he testified at Sandusky’s 2012 trial.
McQueary remained stoic as the verdict was read, and he and his lawyers made no comment as they left the courthouse.
McQueary had been seeking more than $4 million in lost wages and other damages, saying he was defamed by a statement the school president released the day Sandusky was charged, retaliated against for helping with the Sandusky investigation and misled by school administrators.
Jurors awarded him $1.15 million on the defamation claim and $1.15 million on the misrepresentation allegation that two administrators lied to him when they said they took his report of Sandusky seriously and would respond appropriately. They also awarded $5 million in punitive damages.
Sandusky, a former defensive coach at Penn State, was convicted of sexual abuse of 10 boys and is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence. He maintains his innocence.
MLS playoffs
Nelson Valdez scored his first MLS goal in nearly a calendar year on a header in the 88th minute to give the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the knockout round of the MLS Western Conference playoffs. Seattle will face FC Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 1 of the two-leg series is Sunday. ... Matteo Mancosu scored twice and the Montreal Impact beat D.C. United 42 in an MLS Cup Playoffs knockout match. The fifthseeded Impact will host the top-seeded New York Red Bulls on Sunday in the first game of the two-leg Eastern Conference semifinals.
Gymnastics
The latest lawsuit accusing a former USA Gymnastics doctor of sexually abusing a longtime member of the U.S. women’s national team is the first to name renowned husband-and- wife coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi, alleging they turned a blind eye to molestations. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, does not provide specifics about what the Karolyis were allegedly told about the abuse, just that they knew about it and did nothing to stop it. The civil lawsuit, filed by the now 24-year-old former gymnast, claims Dr. Larry Nassar repeatedly sexually abused her when she was on the national team from 2006 to 2011.
College football
One of the nation’s worst secondaries kept daring Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans to throw. So he did. Over. And over. And over. The junior shook off a right ankle injury to throw for a career-high 406 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 25th-ranked Hokies to a 39-36 victory over Pittsburgh. Joey Slye tied the school and Atlantic Coach Conference records by making six field goals to help the Hokies (6-2, 4-1) beat the Panthers (5-3, 2-2) on the road for the first time in 17 years. Three Tech wide receivers topped 100 yards in the same game for the first time in school history.
Maryland coach Mark Turgeon has received a four-year extension on his contract, which now runs through the 2022-23 season. Turgeon enters his sixth season at the school with a 114-59 record.
Tennis
Angelique Kerber helped Dominika Cibulkova reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore. The top-ranked Kerber, who had already advanced from the Red Group, beat Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 to finish 3-0 in the round robin and eliminate her American opponent. Cibulkova beat Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6 (5) earlier, giving her a 1-2 record. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is 2-0 in the White Group, has already qualified for the semifinals. The second semifinal spot from that group will be decided Friday when defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska plays Karolina Pliskova.
Top-seeded Andy Murray overcame a slow start against Gilles Simon of France before winning 46, 6-2, 6-2 and advancing to his 13th quarterfinal of the season at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Cal’s Andre Goransson outlasted pro player Jan Choinski 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 at the Broadway Tennis Center Futures to move into the singles quarterfinals on the indoor courts at the BTC in Burlingame.
College soccer
Dorthe Hoppius scored twice, including the first goal of the game, but the Stanford women’s team lost 3-2 at Fresno State. San Jose State (10-5-4, 7-32 Mountain West) fired 15 shots in the second half.
Simon Lekressner scored his first goal, but the Cal men lost 2-1 in overtime when No. 16 ranked Washington scored with 30 seconds left in the extra period.
Volleyball
San Jose State’s Nandyala Gama had nine kills and five blocks in the Spartans’ 3-0 loss at UNLV.