LOCAL

LOCAL
Libeccos winnational titles
WARREN -- Warren Harding High graduates Jim and Christina Libecco made history when they won national champion titles in their respective classes at the 2005 Tire Rack Sports Club of America Solo National Championship at Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas.
It was the first time in more than 60 years of SCCA history that a brother and sister won national titles in the same championship race.
Both drivers race the number 97 Formula Modified.
Jim, 29, faced off against 30 competitors. In a sport measured in thousandths of seconds, he won first place in his class by 3.2 seconds. He's a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
Christina, 26, faced seven women in the formula modified ladies class, including two former national champions. She won class by 0.6 seconds to take the title for the fourth straight year.
A Youngstown State University graduate, she currently lives in Champion and is employed as a web developer.
Ironman triathlon
BOARDMAN -- Joe Sliman of Boardman finished 182 out of 2,076 participants in the Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon in Madison.
The event consisted of a 2.1 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. He placed fifth in the 50-54 age group with a total time of 11 hours, 43 minutes, 32 seconds.
Mark Sorrentino, 52, of Austintown finished 1,272nd with a time of 15:09.1.
Open skate
BOARDMAN -- The Ice Zone will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday. Admission and skate rental is free.
Skating instructors and members of the Mahoning Valley Phantoms hockey team will offer free skating lessons. The Phantoms will also hold instructional hockey sessions.
For details, call 330-965-1423.
Correction
AUSTINTOWN -- Amanda Vestal scored a goal on Kara Cooper's assist for the Youngstown Christian girls soccer team in its 8-5 loss to Badger Tuesday. The goal and assist were omitted and the final score was incorrect in Wednesday's paper.
REGION
Blue Jackets lose
DETROIT -- Robert Lang scored twice in a 3:08 stretch in the first period, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 9-0 Wednesday night.
Nicklas Lidstrom and Kyle Quincey also scored in the first period to give the Red Wings (4-2-1) a 4-0 lead.
Columbus goalie Marc Denis was pulled midway through the second period after surrendering six goals on 26 shots.
Dan Cleary continued Detroit's offensive dominance just 1:10 in the second period before Rem Murray and Mathieu Schneider helped extend the Red Wings' advantage to 7-0.
Rookie Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom had third-period goals.
Detroit goalie Manny Legace stopped all 18 shots from the Blue Jackets (2-5-0) to give the Red Wings their first shutout of the preseason.
NATION
White Sox win coin flip
NEW YORK -- The White Sox won coin flips Wednesday and would host the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees if Chicago finishes with the same record as the AL East second-place team and a tiebreaker playoff is needed to determine the wild-card winner.
Baseball conducted other coin flips Sept. 12 and last Friday, and added the White Sox to the wild-card possibilities as Cleveland drew closer to Chicago in the AL Central.
NCAA rejectsNorth Dakota appeal
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The North Dakota Fighting Sioux will remain on the list of college nicknames the NCAA doesn't want used in postseason play.
The university's appeal was rejected by an NCAA review committee because it did not have the support of the three federally recognized Sioux tribes of North Dakota, the association said Wednesday.
"Although the University of North Dakota maintained that its logo and nickname are used with consummate respect, the position of the namesake tribes and those affected by the hostile or abusive environment that the nickname and logo create take precedence," NCAA vice president Bernard Franklin said.
North Dakota President Charles Kupchella will appeal the decision to the NCAA's executive committee.
Vindicator staff/wire reports