LOCAL

LOCAL
Swimming
CANTON -- Boardman sophomore Conner O'Halloran placed first in the 50-yard freestyle (22.29) at the C.T. Branin Natatorium Christmas Invitational swimming meet.
Sophomore Eric Davis of Canfield won the 100 freestyle in 48.82 seconds, with O'Halloran placing fourth (49.99).
Boardman's Mike Barringer, Chad DeAngelo, Brian Worhatch and O'Halloran placed second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.97).
Davis finished third in the 200 freestyle (47.71) and Barringer, DeAngelo, Worhatch and O'Halloran were fifth in 200 medley relay (1:43.96). Margaret Matavich of Canfield finished sixth in the 50 freestyle (25.53) and the 100 freestyle (56.51).
Ryan King of Canfield placed sixth in the 100 backstroke (57.87).
Junior Phantoms win
BOARDMAN -- The Youngstown Jr. Phantom Pee Wee hockey team scored three first period goals against the Columbus Capitals and held on for a 3-2 victory Saturday at the Ice Zone.
Mike Gorgacz and Ryan Demyen led the early surge with a goal and an assist each with Jared Taylor scoring the other Phantom goal. Zach Jones added an assist while Crawford Warrwick and Joel Mathews played strong defensive games in front of goaltender Brennan Allen, who stopped 19 of 21 shots.
The Jr. Phantoms are 5-1-1.
REGION
Browns' Faine out
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Cleveland Browns center Jeff Faine probably will miss the rest of the season after injuring a muscle in his right arm in the first half against the Raiders on Sunday.
Faine, who started all 14 games for Cleveland this season, was expected to have an MRI exam today after the Browns returned to Cleveland following their 9-7 victory over Oakland.
"I think he may be out," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "I think it might be a pulled or torn muscle."
Faine, a first-round pick from Notre Dame in 2003, has started 36 games in his three NFL seasons. He is Cleveland's only first-round pick still starting for the team since the Browns rejoined the NFL in 1999.
Versatile backup Mike Pucillo replaced Faine.
"If Jeff can't go, we'll keep together and keep going ahead," Pucillo said. "That's what we've been doing all year."
NATION
Garciaparra headedto Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES -- Five-time All-Star Nomar Garciaparra agreed to a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Team spokesman Josh Rawitch said Sunday that Garciaparra passed a physical and will be introduced today at a Dodger Stadium news conference.
Garciaparra also considered the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros. He spent several hours with Dodgers executives Thursday and Friday -- the first day with agent Arn Tellem, the second with his wife, former soccer star Mia Hamm. Garciaparra and Hamm live in suburban Manhattan Beach.
The 32-year-old Garciaparra was considered one of baseball's best shortstops for several years while playing with the Boston Red Sox, and won the AL batting title in 1997. But his playing time was limited during the past two years because of injuries.
He hit .283 with nine homers and 30 RBIs in 62 games for the Chicago Cubs last season, when he earned $8.25 million. He tore his left groin running out of the batter's box in St. Louis on April 20 and didn't return until Aug. 5.
Garciaparra most likely will play first base or the outfield with the Dodgers. He played mostly third base after returning to the Cubs last August.
Brand: Most schoolsshow improvement
RICHMOND, Va. -- NCAA President Myles Brand said the release of new Graduation Success Rate numbers for Division I schools today will be "eye-opening," showing improvement for most schools because of a better way of measuring success.
The key, he said, is that schools are no longer penalized for having students transfer to other schools the way they were under a flawed federal measurement.
"It turns out, in America today, 60 percent of the student population transfers, and according to the Department of Education, those people don't count," Brand said this weekend in Salem, Va., where he attended the Division III football championship.
Under federal guidelines, graduation rates were measured based on the number of students that enrolled in a school and the number that got degrees within six years.
At North Carolina, for example, where four underclassmen left for the NBA after winning the national championship last season, the school would have been penalized under the federal way of measuring success if the players didn't also get degrees.
The NCAA formula factors in the numbers of students who transfer into and out of schools into the mix, he said, and whether they were doing well while in school.
"These GSR numbers that are going to come out [today] are going to be eye openers because once you start counting the transfer students, you get a very different picture of what's going on academically in Division I," Brand said, adding that because the Tar Heels players were in good standing academically, they actually helped the school.
Vindicator staff/wire reports