LOCAL

LOCAL
PAC honor roll
Thirty three student-athletes from Westminster College and 18 more from Thiel College have been named to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll for the fall 2001 semester.
Westminster's Jim Chaney and Michelle Chovan, both of Hubbard, Shannon Haines of New Castle, Pa., and Bethany Huey of New Wilmington, Pa., are on the list.
Chaney is a freshman football player majoring in history, while Chovan is a sophomore soccer player majoring in elementary education. Haines is a senior tennis player majoring in elementary education, and Huey is a freshman cross country runner majoring in elementary education.
Thiel's Justin Napotnik, a Sharpsville, Pa., native, is on the list. The sophomore is a football player majoring in biology/pre-med.
Bethany had the most student-athletes on the team with 39, followed by Westminster, Grove City (27), Waynesburg (26), Washington & amp; Jefferson (23) and Thiel.
The honor roll features student-athletes who earned a grade-point average of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
300 game by Long
NILES -- Keith Long registered the Mahoning Valley High School Bowling Conference's first 300 game in its two-year existence when the Niles High sophomore bowled against Ursuline at McKinley Lanes on Thursday.
NATION
Juan Gonzalezcompletes physical
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Juan Gonzalez moved a step closer to finalizing his $24 million, two-year contract with the Texas Rangers, completing a physical before returning home to Puerto Rico.
Gonzalez and the Rangers agreed to terms Jan. 8, but the deal is contingent on the two-time AL MVP passing the physical. Gonzalez has had back problems in the past.
Hearing recessed
NEW YORK -- The hearing on the grievance by baseball players to block contraction resumed, then quickly recessed until the week of Feb. 4.
Management labor lawyer Rob Manfred was the only witness on the 11th day of testimony before arbitrator Shyam Das.
The case is likely to drag on well into spring training, which starts Feb. 14.
Davidson asksjudge to rule
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Jen Davidson, replaced on the U.S. women's bobsled team only a week before the Olympic trials, asked an abitration judge to allow her a chance to make the team.
Rockies dispute
DENVER -- A judge in Denver's U.S. Bankruptcy Court will decide on Monday whether to approve the sale of a 23.5 percent interest in the Colorado Rockies to the team's majority owners for $35 million.
In a hearing Thursday, a trustee assigned to the bankruptcy involving Oren Benton testified he did everything he could to get the best price.
The team's managing partners are Jerry McMorris, Dick Monfort and Charlie Monfort.
WORLD
Boxing judge winslibel suit
LONDON -- An American boxing judge won a libel suit today against a British tabloid newspaper, which alleged she may have taken money to score in favor of Evander Holyfield in his heavyweight title bout against Lennox Lewis.
A British trial court awarded Eugenia Williams "substantial damages" from the Mirror Group Newspapers.
The newspaper also apologized to the American and was ordered to pay her costs.
Klug wins spoton Olympic team
KREISCHBERG, Austria -- Chris Klug took a big step in his comeback from a liver transplant when he clinched a spot on the U.S. Olympic snowboard team.
Klug, who had the transplant in July 2000, was the second-fastest American in qualifying for the parallel giant slalom race at the final event before the Olympic team is chosen.
Claim disputed
ATHENS, Greece -- Athens hoteliers denied a claim by the International Olympic Committee that there were not sufficient accommodations for the 2004 Summer Games.
Athens 2004 organizers have so far booked 13,000 hotel rooms and 3,000 rooms on cruise ships to be docked in nearby Piraeus. An additional 2,831 rooms are needed.
The 19,000 rooms represent about 90 percent Athens's hotel space, leaving few rooms for spectators.
Suspension upheld
ROME -- The Italian Athletics Federation upheld a two-year doping suspension of Andrea Longo, rejecting the 800-meter specialist's appeal.
Soccer playerstest positive
MILAN, Italy -- Dutch defender Jaap Stam, who plays for Lazio of Rome, was suspended for five months by the Italian League for testing positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone.
Spanish midfielder Josep Guardiola, who plays for Brescia, was suspended for four months for testing positive for Nandrolone.
Vindicator staff/wire reports