YSU

YSU
Bowling
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University's women's bowling team was ranked 17th in the country, according to the Bowling Writers Association of America.
"It's a great accomplishment our first year," women's coach Su Bachinger said. "I knew we had the talent here, but to get ranked among the top 20 schools in the country really solidifies our goals to become a top-notch program."
YSU had five starters listed in the top players poll. Out of 500 collegiate women bowlers, 168 qualified as top players who competed in 40 games or more. Lauren Bachinger was ranked 46th, Rachel Miller (48th), Grace Sciarra (72nd), Dana Bachinger (82nd) and Samantha Gigax (118th).
Lauren Bachinger also finished 90th in average with a 182.59 and Rachel finished 92nd with 182.34.
YSU was runner-up to Indiana-South Bend University in the American Heartland Intercollegiate Bowling Conference, losing by one point.
In the final rankings, ISBU was ranked 19th, two spots below the YSU women.
LOCAL
SVC banquet
BOARDMAN -- The Steel Valley Conference awards banquet will be March 21 at 7 p.m. at the Georgetown Banquet Hall, 5945 South Avenue.
Reservations are due March 15 by calling Mike Butch at (330) 792-7072.
McDonald's Tondoin All-Ohio game
McDONALD -- McDonald girls basketball player Ashleigh Tondo has been selected to play in the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association's North-South Classic on April 23 at Capital University in Bexley.
The Division III/IV game will be played at noon. Tickets cost $6 and include four games.
Hiram swimmer 4th
MINNEAPOLIS -- Hiram College swimmer Beth Groselle finished fourth in the 200 Individual Medley race at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Thursday.
Williams' Lindsay Payne won the event with a NCAA record time of 2 minutes, 3.14 seconds. Groselle's time was 2:06.18.
NATION
Golf roundup
*PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Billy Mayfair says he's feeling good vibes this week, and it shows. As a standout junior player, Mayfair won at a few venues not far from Mirasol's Sunrise course, site of this week's Honda Classic. He prevailed at PGA National, right across the street, and captured the 1987 U.S. Amateur title a few miles away at Jupiter Hills.
Mayfair shot a bogey-free round of 67 on Friday and finished alone in second place, one shot behind David Toms at the Honda's midway point after another day of fierce winds and fast greens.
"Yeah, we've had some high winds and there's been some tough scores out there and the conditions are tough," Mayfair said. "But for me, I just like playing that way. I like the way the greens are set up here a lot."
Mayfair finished with four birdies in his final five holes, taking advantage of the less-perilous front side of the course to climb the leaderboard.
And the front side continued to be kind to Toms, who made six birdies on that half -- including a run of four straight for the second day in a row. He's got 11 birdies on his two jaunts across the first nine holes.
Toms shot his second straight round of 67 and is at 10-under par. Then there's Mayfair, and three shots behind him is a group of four golfers -- including defending champion Padraig Harrington (67) and Daniel Chopra, who turned in a five-birdie, one-eagle, no-bogey effort for a 65, the week's lowest round so far.
*HUIXQUILUCAN, Mexico -- Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under 67 in her first competitive round of the year Friday to finish tied for the lead with Italy's Silvia Cavalleri in the MasterCard Classic.
The world No. 1 stayed consistent, hitting fairways and reaching greens easily before sinking a 7-foot putt on the par-5 No. 18 for her fifth birdie. Sorenstam, who sat out the first two tournaments of the season in Hawaii last month, also made her 2005 debut here, winning the 54-hole event outside of Mexico City -- the first LPGA tour stop south of the border in three decades.
"I felt, I wouldn't say pressure, but I wanted to perform because I've felt like I've had a good practice session the last two weeks and I felt really good about my game," said the 35-year-old Swede, who has 10 titles to defend this year. "I could not have asked for a better day."
Cavalleri began on the back nine and sunk a nearly 40 foot putt for birdie on No. 17 before going uphill to hole out from 15 feet on the third hole. She had seven birdies, offsetting two bogeys, one of which saw her miss a 4-foot putt.
NASCAR qualifying
LAS VEGAS -- In a city where odds mean everything, you have to like the way things stack up for Roush Racing in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle won the pole Friday with a lap at 172.403 mph, meaning he'll start up front Sunday as he tries to give his team its sixth victory in nine Nextel Cup events at this 1.5-mile track.
Vindicator staff/wire reports