LOCAL
LOCAL
Mount Unionmen's game tonight
ALLIANCE -- Wilmington College will play a men's basketball game at Mount Union College today at 7:30 p.m.
The game was postponed from Monday night.
In another schedule change, the Purple Raiders will play at Marietta Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and not Wednesday.
Invitations forbowling tournament
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Invitations have been extended to regional PBA members and officials for the "Mickey" Michalojko scratch bowling tournament, Feb. 23 at Colonial Lanes.
Those seeking top-level competition are also invited to the event in memory of Michalojko, a longtime proprietor and well-regarded competitor who averaged in the high 190s when a 200 was almost unheard of.
Youngstown's Chris Judd won last year's event when he averaged 237 for four games of qualifying and 213 for his match play. In the final match, Judd beat PBA national tour bowler Ross Zeigler.
There will be a first-prize minimum payout of $1,200 and a first-place trophy. Call Colonial at (724) 654-5000.
Mercer CountyHOF banquet
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- The Mercer County Bowling Association Hall of Fame banquet is Feb. 22 at the Radisson-Sharon.
Five individuals will be inducted including one posthumously.
Scheduled for induction are: David Reagle, Deborah L. Bashor, John "Jock" Whalen, Lucretia Lee Richards and the late Clarence Boozell.
The evening's speaker is Pennsylvania native Kris Zahn, now national director for high school Bowling USA.
The banquet starts with a social hour at 5 p.m.
REGION
Miami baseballplayer suspended
OXFORD -- A Miami University baseball player was suspended from the team after he was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, the university said.
William Lester, 21, of Nicholasville, Ky., was arrested Sunday in Oxford. Lester also was charged with obstructing official business and disorderly conduct, police said.
Mike Harris, Miami's athletic media relations director, announced Lester's suspension Monday.
Oxford police said Lester threw officer Shelly Sikora to the ground when officers approached him after he was seen holding a can off beer and arguing outside a bar. He then fled but was captured a short time later in an alley.
Sikora was treated for minor hand injuries.
The assault and obstruction charges are fourth-degree felonies that each carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison.
NATION
McKie out
PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia 76ers guard Aaron McKie is out indefinitely with a separated left shoulder he injured in a game last Friday.
WORLD
Tennis roundup
* MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Fourth-seeded Wayne Ferreira was eliminated in his opening match of the Kroger St. Jude tournament, losing 7-5, 6-4 to Jeff Morrison.
Also seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko sprained his wrist in the first set and retired against Magnus Norman, and eighth-seeded Kenneth Carlsen lost to qualifier Eric Taino.
* ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- Seventh-seeded Alex Corretja lost in the ABN Amro first round 6-4, 6-0 by Jarkko Nieminen.
* DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Francesca Schiavone defeated ninth-seeded Tatiana Panova 6-4, 6-0 in the Dubai Open first round.
Skiers suspendedafter blood test
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy -- Two cross-country skiers received five-day suspensions Tuesday from the world Nordic championships after a high level of hemoglobin was found in their blood.
Ski officials said Kaisa Varis of Finland and Svetlana Nagejkina of Belarus were not suspended for doping, but for their own health following pre-race blood tests.
"It's not considered doping, it's for the protection of the athletes," International Ski Federation (FIS) spokesman Toni Noetzli said. "It's the first time this winter.
"The Finns told me that Varis was training in an alpine room to simulate high altitude, and that may have affected her levels," Noetzli said. "It's a common practice and it's not against the rules."
Both skiers missed the 15-kilometer classical race Tuesday, and will also have to sit out the 10-kilometer freestyle event Thursday.
On Monday, FIS officials here unveiled their drug testing plans for the championships in a sport that has been blighted by several high-profile positive tests in recent years.
Officials seemed confident as they described an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to have an international team of eight doping experts on hand to observe the usual pre- and post-race blood and urine tests during the two-week championships.
Sweden's Bengt Saltin, one of the leading scientists involved in the fight against doping and a member of WADA, said the system would be more effective than the one used at the Olympics last year, where three cross-country skiers were stripped of their medals due to positive tests.
During the last world championships in 2001, six top Finnish skiers failed drugs tests on home snow in Lahti.
Vindicator staff/wire reports