YSU

YSU
Men's team, Pattonnationally ranked
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team ranks 13th in Division I in free throw percentage, making 75.6 percent from the line, while senior guard Ryan Patton is 21st in the nation in assists per game, averaging six per outing.
The Penguins have made 269-of-356 from the line. Patton is tied for 21st with Duke's Chris Duhon and Luke Walton at 6.0 per game.
Perugini amongrebounding leaders
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State freshman Jen Perugini remains among the nation's rebounding elite.
Perugini, who leads the Horizon League in rebounding, ranks 13th in the nation with 10.6 per game.
The 6-foot-2 forward is averaging a double-double with 11.8 points per game and is shooting 48.3 percent from the field.
Football recruit
LOUISVILLE -- St. Thomas Aquinas High senior Joe Bishop announced he will attend Youngstown State where he will play football.
A place kicker, Bishop kicked a school-record 54-yard field goal last season and 80 percent of his kickoffs went into or out of the end zone.
He punted for an average of 45 yards.
Howland's Petroskyto Grove City
WARREN -- Howland High linebacker Anthony Petrosky will attend Grove City College where he will play on the football team.
A 6-foot 180-pound senior, he won three letters and played on the first Howland team to reach the playoffs in 18 years.
Petrosky collected 40 tackles, a fumble recovery, three sacks, four pass knockdowns and an interception. He has a 3.0 grade point average.
Columbiana coachnominated
COLUMBIANA -- Larry Baughman, an assistant football coach at Columbiana High, has been nominated for the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
The program is administered by Scholastic Coach & amp; Athletic Director magazine, which will select up to 500 male and female winners in all sports from those nominated.
The winners will be announced on May 1.
NATION
Rangers signpitcher Zimmerman
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jeff Zimmerman got a $10 million, three-year contract from the Texas Rangers, the only team that responded to his faxed resume four years ago.
The Rangers avoided salary arbitration with Zimmerman, who had 28 saves last season after taking over the closer role from injured Tim Crabtree.
Enron keepsup payments
HOUSTON -- Several Houston corporations have contacted Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. about putting their name on what now is Enron Field.
McLane, however, said he's telling those companies that beleaguered Enron is current on its payments for the 30-year, $100 million naming rights agreement with the Astros.
Eagles' Douglasfined for hit
NEW YORK -- Philadelphia defensive end Hugh Douglas was fined $35,000 by the NFL for the hit that knocked Chicago quarterback Jim Miller out of last weekend's playoff game.
Gene Washington, the NFL's director of football operations, said Douglas violated a rule that prohibits a defender from contacting a quarterback until he becomes an active pursuer on a turnover.
Douglas plans to appeal the penalty.
Redskins hire Joe Mendes
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Redskins, having given up trying to find a general manager, officially split the job in two with the hiring of Joe Mendes as vice president of football operations.
The Redskins will now hire a director of player personnel, with Vinny Cerrato the favorite to return in that role.
Sale approved
ATLANTA -- The NFL finance committee voted unanimously to recommend the $545 million sale of the Atlanta Falcons to Arthur Blank.
The committee's decision moved Blank one step closer to becoming the second owner in the Falcons' 36-year history.
Blank, co-founder and former chairman of The Home Depot, is not expected to have difficulty getting at least 24 votes in his favor.
Griffith to retire
DENVER -- Outstanding blocking fullback Howard Griffith has told the Denver Broncos he's retiring because of a neck injury that forced him to miss the 2001 season.
Griffith, spent 11 years in the NFL and played on Denver's Super Bowl championship teams in 1997 and 1998.
WORLD
U.S. women lose
SHANGHAI, China -- Unni Lehn scored in the fifth minute as Norway defeated the United States 1-0 in the first round of a four-nation women's soccer tournament.
Vindicator staff/wire reports