LOCAL

LOCAL
Weidenthal picksMalone College
AUSTINTOWN -- Fred Weidenthal of Fitch High School will continue his football career at Malone College in Canton.
The 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound safety was selected first team member all-state, all-district all-Federal League.
Slippery Rock wins
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Matt Kozusko's sacrifice fly drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning as Slippery Rock University edged West Chester 11-10 at Terry Park.
Sophomore Phil Butch, a Lakeview graduate, led the 13-hit Rock (6-0) attack with a double and two singles and he drove in three runs.
Slippery Rock took on Findlay in a doubleheader today at Terry Park with the first game scheduled for 9 a.m.
Thunder Volleyballclaims division title
BUTLER, Pa. -- Thunder Volleyball Club's Thunder 18s won the Gold bracket division championship at Butler County Community College's Junior Olympic tournament.
The team, coached by Cori Harte and T.J. Shouse, included Stephanie Jarvis, Meredith Miles, Ashley Hannay, Ali Sfara, Jessica Evans, Dena New, Rachel Ducay, Kylene Hoch and Caitlin O'Patchen.
Junior tennistriangular
BOARDMAN -- Boardman Tennis Center recently held a junior tennis triangular, with the home team winning both its exhibition matches. BTC trailed early but rallied to a 10.5-8 win over Salem Racquet Club. BTC also outscored Thompson Park (East Liverpool) 9.5-3.5. Salem won against Thompson Park 4.5-2.5.
Boardman was led by Ryan Teckchandani with four wins while Zubin Teckchandani, Kelly Kuppler, and Kevin Duncan all had 3 1/2. Kenny Duncan and Dean Fekete also won three times for the home team.
Salem was led by Amy Toolis and Ross Bagwell, who had 3 wins each. Brittany Withrow, Evan Drake, Kaitlin Kostel, and Mitchell Maroscher all chipped in 2 1/2 wins. Leaders for Thompson Park were Dan Bali and Jordan Beilhart with two wins. Jesse Beilhart helped out with a singles win while Kristen Thomaselli had a pair of ties.
REGION
Softball clinic
AKRON -- The Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch will hold a series of promotional clinics featuring gold-medal winning USA softball players Crysti Bustos, Kelly Kretschman and Jenny Topping.
The Lightning Strikes clinic tour is designed to provide top-flight youth instruction and to share the excitement for the Racers' upcoming season, which is scheduled to begin on or about June 1.
Stops on the Ohio tour include Canfield's McCune field (April 17), Medina, Euclid, Uniontown, Akron and Cincinnati.
The program is designed for players 8-18 years old and offers individual clinics and team camps.
For more information call (330) 376-8188.
NATION
Neuheisel settlescase with NCAA
SEATTLE -- Rick Neuheisel hopes his lawsuit against the NCAA and Washington won't discourage a university from giving him another opportunity to be a head coach -- if he chooses to get back into college football.
"It would be a sad statement that if by challenging the NCAA it means you're precluding yourself from being part of that institution," he said. "I would think that's not a message they'd like to send."
The former Huskies coach settled his case against the NCAA and Washington for $4.5 million on Monday.
Neuheisel is focused on restarting his career as quarterbacks coach of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. He's eager to work with head coach Brian Billick and offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.
"I'm going to learn from two of the NFL's best," he said. "I'm just going to be a blank tablet and learn, learn, learn."
ESPN answers King
MIAMI -- ESPN has returned a legal attack from boxing promoter Don King with a jab of its own.
The cable sports network has asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to declare that King has no legal grounds for a defamation suit he filed against ESPN Inc. in January, according to documents filed Tuesday.
King asked for damages of more than $2.5 billion. The wild-haired boxing promoter alleged he was defamed and cast in a false light by statements made during a half-hour "SportsCentury" segment that aired in May.
His lawsuit objected to claims that he was "a snake oil salesman, a shameless huckster and worse," that he underpaid Muhammad Ali by $1.2 million and that he "killed not once, but twice." King was convicted in a 1967 beating death and acquitted in a 1954 killing.
Most of the material in the program about King had been previously printed or broadcast. In its complaint, ESPN described the segment as "a series of speakers who talk about events in King's life. The speakers consist mainly of former King associates, fighters he has promoted, and journalists who have written about King."
ESPN said the segment "touched on matters of public concern." The network has declined to retract nine statements King contended were defamatory.
Armstrong 72ndin Paris-Nice race
THIERS, France -- Belgium's Tom Boonen won a leg of the Paris-Nice cycling race for the second straight day, capturing Tuesday's shortened stage in which Lance Armstrong finished in the chasing pack.
Armstrong is not placing a priority on winning this race, using it as a warmup for this summer's bid for a seventh straight Tour de France title.
The Texan was 90th on Tuesday, 21 seconds behind. Staff/wire reports