Local Sports Digest

AREA
Angelo picksAllegheny
MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Hubbard High School graduate Kristen Angelo has committed to attend Allegheny College.
Angelo, a four-year team captain in track and field, also will compete for the Gator track and field teams, winners of the indoor and outdoor North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in 2006.
The Wendy's High School Heisman nominee placed third at the USATF meet in the hammer throw in 2005.
She has personal bests of 33-feet-1-inch in the shot put, 126-5 in the discus throw and 125-0 in the hammer.
Angelo also was a three-year letterwinner and the captain of the state-qualifying bowling team.
Iacobucciselects YSU
BOARDMAN -- Boardman High graduate Joe Iacobucci will continue his baseball career at Youngstown State University.
Iacobucci, a three-year varsity player, was recently selected as a unanimous first team all-Federal League outfielder. He finished the year with a .391 average, 11 doubles, three homers and 31 RBIs.
Track eventsset in summer
BROOKFIELD -- Two track and field meets are coming up this summer for area boys and girls in age classes from 10-and-younger to 18.
The Lake Erie Association Junior Olympics will be June 24 at West Holmes High School in Millersburg.
The meet is open to anyone in the age classifications from the 22 counties in Northeast Ohio that comprise the Lake Erie Association.
The top six finishers in each event will qualify for the regional meet from July 6-9 at West Holmes, and the top three finishers there will advance to the national meet in Baltimore from July 26-30.
For more information, call Ed Wilson at (330) 448-2632.
Also, the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Region 5 Championships will be July 6-9 at West Holmes High.
The meet will advance competitors to the national meet in Baltimore from July 26-30.
For more information, call Larry Seifert at (440) 842-2142
Rockies draftBoardman grad
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Matt Repec, a Boardman High graduate who recently completed his senior season with the Winthrop University baseball team, has been drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 27th round (798th overall).
Repec, a shortstop who batted .341 (87-for-255) with 67 RBIs, 21 doubles and eight homers this year, signed a contract with the Rockies on Saturday at The Winthrop Ballpark in Rock Hill, N.C.
He will join the Class A Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League, a short-season affiliate of the Rockies, in Pasco, Wash.
Repec made the All-Big South Conference first team this year and as a sophomore, and the second team as a sophomore.
He helped Winthrop to a 46-18 record this year, including 17-7 in the Big South.
Repec was one of four Winthrop players to sign major league contracts this past week.
REGION
Penn State eyes backups
CAMP HILL, Pa. -- There are so many fresh faces to break into the starting lineup this year at Penn State. Unlike last season, though, don't expect those new guys to be freshmen.
A season after Derrick Williams and Justin King burst onto the scene as impact rookies from Week 1, coach Joe Paterno is looking to get last year's inexperienced backups some seasoning to fill the holes left by the departure of 13 starters -- seven on defense and six on offense.
Paterno said he returns "a good solid squad, so the opportunity for freshmen might not be as prevalent."
"That solid squad needs to play," Paterno said before dining with die-hard fans and athletic boosters at a Camp Hill hotel.
Paterno scoffed at the idea that he had changed his tune last year on playing time for freshmen, harking back as far as 1974 and the contributions from wideout Jim Cefalo as proof that he has relied on first-year players in Happy Valley.
But the highly touted Williams and King stepped in right away last year to give the offense a burst of speed and playmaking ability on the outside, a feature that had been sorely lacking in previous seasons. Another freshman, Jordan Norwood, turned into a reliable, sure-handed receiver, and redshirt freshman Deon Butler led the team with nine touchdown catches.
Some analysts have rated this year's freshman class as one of the best in the nation.
NATION
LSU's Carterexcels in track
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Xavier Carter can claim one of the greatest performances in the history of college track, one so good that it rivals none other than Jesse Owens.
The LSU sophomore became the first person to win the 100 and 400 meters at the NCAA track and field championships Saturday, running down the competition in races just 31 minutes apart.
He finished his day as the anchor of the winning 1,600-meter relay team. Combined with the winning 400 relay team the previous night, he had a share of four NCAA event titles.
According to meet officials, Carter is the first to achieve four NCAA victories since Owens won both short sprints, the 220-yard low hurdles and long jump for Ohio State in 1935 and '36.
"It's really not going to hit me until a few weeks later," Carter said. "Jesse Owens, he's a legend. He's the one who started track and field. I feel honored just being put in the same sentence as Jesse Owens."
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound sophomore, who also plays football for the Tigers, had personal bests in both individual events -- a school-record 10.09 seconds in the 100, followed by a 44.53 in the 400.
"I pretty much had a good day," he said.
Carter's magnificent one-man show wasn't enough to prevent deep and talented Florida State from winning its first men's team title with 67 points. LSU was second with 51 -- 40 of them thanks to Carter. Texas was third with 36. Auburn won its first women's crown with 57 points. Southern California was second with 38 1/2 and South Carolina third with 38.
Carter had intended to run the 200 and 400, but changed his plans because of the crowded meet schedule.
Carter burst through over the final 30 meters to beat defending champion Walter Dix of Florida State in the 100. He broke out of the blocks slowly and was well behind Dix halfway through the race, but his late burst gave him the victory. Dix, also a sophomore, was second. Demi Omole of Wisconsin was third in 10.21.
His half-hour break went by in a hurry.
"That was tough," Carter said. "My trainer set up outside of my sign-in tent. I just got rubbed out there, and when it was time for me to go, I jumped off the table and got my hip number and got in the blocks."
In the 400, Carter appeared to be laboring on the final turn, but still had enough left to kick ahead of the competition. Ricardo Chambers of Florida State was second at 44.71.
When he crossed the finish line, Carter crossed his arms in a triumphant "X" for Xavier. Later, he professed equal love for track and football, and said he wasn't ready to give either of them up.
Georgia Techsnaps streak
ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech ended its recent history of upset losses in NCAA Super Regionals by beating College of Charleston 12-3 Saturday, completing a two-game sweep to earn its first College World Series berth since 2002.
Whit Robbins and Jeff Kindel hit two-run homers and Lee Hyde gave up six hits and two earned runs in eight innings as Tech (50-16) earned its third CWS berth, all in 13 seasons under coach Danny Hall.
In Hall's first season in 1994, Tech lost in the CWS championship game.
Joey Friddle hit a home run for Charleston (46-17), but the Cougars didn't have enough power to keep up with the Yellow Jackets.
Tech has hit 10 homers in five NCAA tournament games, including four in the Super Regional. Robbins had three hits and drove in three runs.
Hyde (6-0), a left-hander drafted in the fourth round last week by the Atlanta Braves, retired 11 straight batters before issuing a one-out walk in the seventh.
Of his six hits allowed, three didn't leave the infield.
Vindicator staff/wire reports