YSU

YSU
Football
CLEVELAND -- Senior center Ryan Jewell and junior quarterback Tom Zetts were among 54 Division I-AA athletes named to the FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.
Jewell was named All-America by the Walter Camp Foundation and was a first-team selection by the Sports Network. He was also a second-team Associated Press pick. Zetts, a three-year starter who was named to the All-Star Team in 2005, is second in career touchdown passes (44), third in attempts (817), third in completions (481), fourth in total offensive yards and fourth in passing yards (5,788).
Each nominee was required to have a minimum grade-point average of 3.20 in undergraduate study and have been a starter or key contributor with legitimate athletics credentials.
LOCAL
Prep hockey
BOARDMAN -- The Ursuline-Mooney hockey team will play a team of alumni from the program Friday at 7:45 at the Ice Zone.
Miller judges 41sttitle bout
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Tom Miller of Mineral Ridge was a judge Monday night as Juan Guzman of Brooklyn defeated Antonio Davis of Atlanta for the WBO junior lightweight championship.
It was the 41st title bout for Miller, who is sanctioned by the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, NABF, USBA and US Amateur.
His next assignment is an IBO world title bout in January.
Salinas champ inSilver Gloves event
YOUNGSTOWN -- Alejandizo "Popo" Salinas, a member of the Southside Boxing Club, won the 75-pound division championship in the three-day Silver Gloves state boxing tournament held last weekend in Cleveland.
Salinas scored three wins in the tourney, including a victory over Devonta Taylor of Cleveland in the final.
Salinas opened the meet with a second-round TKO over Gregory Truman of Cincinnati, before defeating Able Flores of Toledo in a semifinal.
By winning the state title, Salinas qualified for the Regional Silver Gloves championship in Philadelphia.
The winners of the Philadelphia tournament will advance to the national championships in Kansas City.
Other area boxers who competed in the Cleveland meet were Juan Salinas, Richard Chacon and Miguel Palicios.
Name the team
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The selection of a name for the newly created Slippery Rock Professional Baseball Team is down to four finalists -- and the public is being asked to make the final selection.
The team is the newest member of the Frontier League and will be playing its home games at Jack Critchfield Park this summer.
The team is holding a name-the-team contest and the choice has been narrowed down to the Slippery Rock Boulders, Slippery Rock Rockets, Slippery Rock Sliders and the Slippery Rock Sluggers.
Fans have until Dec. 31 to cast a ballot. Votes can be submitted online at www.insidebutlercounty.com or mailed or faxed to the ball club. Mail ballots should be sent to: Baseball, P.O. Box 501, Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057-0501. The fax is (724) 738-4974.
Akron track
AKRON -- The University of Akron has added javelin thrower Nick Erdesky from Hickory High.
Erdesky was the District 10 champion with a personal best, school and district record throw of 192 feet, 10 inches.
Correction
BERLIN CENTER -- The name of A.J. Ondrey in the scoring summary of Western Reserve's 55-40 win over South Range incorrectly listed the South Range player's name as A.J. Andre.
Ondrey is a junior point guard.
NATION
Baseball salaryaverage up 9 percent
NEW YORK (AP) -- Baseball salaries were booming even before the free-agent escalation that began more than a month ago.
The average salary shot up 9 percent this year to 2,699,292, according to final figures released Wednesday by the Major League Baseball Players Association. The increase was the highest since a 12.8 percent rise in 2001 and makes it likely the 3 million mark will be broken next year or in 2008.
Baseball salaries are soaring, with Alfonso Soriano ( 136 million), Vernon Wells ( 126 million) and Carlos Lee ( 100 million) agreeing to nine-figure deals since the end of the season, boosting baseball's total of 100 million contracts to 11.
Still, no one has approached Alex Rodriguez's record 252 million, 10-year contract, agreed to after the 2000 season.
The New York Yankees had the highest average salary for the eighth consecutive season, but their average dropped to 6.95 million from a record 7.39 million the previous year.
Vindicator staff/wire reports