LOCAL
LOCAL
Lavery honored
ALLIANCE -- Mount Union College's men's swimming and diving coach Kathie Lavery was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Swim Coach of the Year.
It was Lavery's sixth OAC coaching award. She also won the award from 1994-97 and again in 1999.
Lavery helped guide the men's team to a 5-5 dual record. The five wins marked the first time since the 2000-01 season (10-3) that the Raiders won at least five dual matches.
The men's swim team (96.5 points) finished in fourth place, while the women (47 points) were fifth in the three-day OAC Swim Championships.
Skating club
YOUNGSTOWN -- A local skating club has a new home and a new name. The Skating Club of Greater Youngstown has formed at the Chevrolet Centre and will provide figure and hockey skating lessons on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. until 7.
The Club has a high qualified coaching staff consisting of ISI certified judges, CFSA gold medalists, and many USFS gold, silver and bronze medalists.
For more information call Maria Korman at (330) 502-7528 or check out the website at www.SkatingYtown.com.
Athletic camp
YOUNGSTOWN -- An athletic boot camp and leadership program begins Saturday at the Buckeye Elks Youth Center on North Ave.
The camp, under the direction of former South High athlete Ray Marrow, opens at 9 a.m. and runs until noon for campers ages 13-17. The session for youth ages 6-12 is 1-4 p.m.
The camp will continue on Saturdays. Cost is $50 for the first month. Campers are asked to bring shoes appropriate for the court floor.
A high school strength and speed program will be conducted in the center, Monday-Friday starting March 6.
Marrow will be assisted by other former South High athletes Tamron Smith and Ken Little.
Prep hockey
KENT -- The Canfield High hockey team fell to Chagrin Falls 3-0 in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs on Wednesday at Kent State University.
Chagrin Falls scored twice in a two-minute span in the third period to snap a scoreless tie Mark Maxwell had 22 saves for the Cards.
Pasta dinner
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ursuline High girls softball team will hold a pasta dinner from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the school cafeteria at 750 Wick Ave. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students. The event will include a Chinese auction. For details, call the school at (330) 744-4563 ext. 125.
Girard's Martinito sing anthem
CLEVELAND -- Gina Martini of Girard will perform the national anthem at the Q Arena on Friday for the 2006 Monster Jam. This is Martini's third appearance at the Q Arena and her fifth for a Cleveland sports event.
REGION
O'Brien wins lawsuit
COLUMBUS -- Ohio State, awaiting a decision on possible penalties for alleged NCAA rules violations under former basketball coach Jim O'Brien, could have to pay him millions of dollars for firing him under a judge's ruling Wednesday.
O'Brien claimed the university improperly fired him in June 2004 for loaning $6,000 of his own money to a recruit.
Ohio Court of Claims Judge Joseph T. Clark ruled O'Brien broke his contract by giving the loan and failing to inform university officials, but the error was not serious enough to warrant firing. The university violated the contract by firing him without compensation, the ruling said.
O'Brien, 55, sued for $3.5 million in lost wages and benefits. The award, which could reach nearly $9.5 million with interest and other damages, will be determined after another hearing.
O'Brien said he was pleased with the decision but disappointed in the way the dispute had to be settled.
"As much as it's a nice outcome for me, I still don't really feel that there are any real winners in this thing," O'Brien said.
The NCAA is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether to penalize the school for violations committed during O'Brien's tenure, including gifts of cash, housing and other benefits to players. Earlier this month, the NCAA found seven violations in the men's basketball program and one each in the football and women's basketball programs.
NATION
Sosa likely to retire
Sammy Sosa probably will retire after rejecting an offer from the Washington Nationals.
"It's more than likely we have seen him in a uniform for the last time," Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, said Wednesday.
The 37-year-old outfielder ranks fifth on the career home run list with 588 but batted .221 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs last year in his only season with the Baltimore Orioles.
Washington offered Sosa a non-guaranteed contract that would have included performance bonus opportunities.
"It wasn't about the money and it wasn't about No. 600," Katz said. "It was a function of Sammy's expectation of his own performance."
Vindicator staff/wire reports