SPORTS DIGEST || YSU’s Blose finalist for kicking award

YSU’s Blose finalist for kicking award

YOUNGSTOWN

YSU senior Stephen Blose was one of 40 kickers named to the watch list for the Fred Mitchell Award, which honors non-Football Bowl Subdivision kickers for excellence on the field and in the community.

In 2009, Blose made 9 of 16 field goals and 27 of 27 PATs. He was a first-team Academic All-Missouri Valley Football Conference and Academic All-District selection.

Yo. Road Runners Club

youngstown

The Panerathon 10K will be the Youngstown Road Runners Club 10K Championship Race.

The Panerathon will be held on Aug. 29, 2010 at the Covelli Centre at 10 a.m.

This race benefits the Joanie Abdu Breast Cancer Hospital to be built in Youngstown at the St. Elizabeth Campus.

The 5K Cross Country race to be Aug. 16 at the Boardman High School Cross Country course.

Applications can be downloaded from https://public.me.com/danrunz.

Armstrong, governor promise cycling news

DENVER

Lance Armstrong and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter are promising a “major cycling event announcement.”

The two plan a press conference on the West Steps of the Capitol in Denver followed by a bike ride led by the seven-time Tour de France winner.

They’re not giving any details but Armstrong and Ritter have previously talked about reviving the Coors Classic bicycle race.

Colorado had a stage race in the 1970s and 1980s known first as the Red Zinger Classic and later as the Coors Classic. It grew to include two weeks of racing in California, Nevada and Colorado.

Stages in some years were also held in Hawaii and Wyoming.

Lucky Chucky is the 5-2 choice in the Hambo

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

Lucky Chucky has been made the 5-2 favorite for Saturday’s $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Lucky Chucky starts from post No. 2 in a field of 10 for the trotting classic for 3-year-olds. John Campbell drives for trainer Chuck Sylvester, both members of harness racing’s Hall of Fame.

Campbell has won the Hambletonian a record six times. Sylvester has won it four times, one victory shy of the mark held by Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer and Ben White. Lucky Chucky, a winner of 10 of 15 career starts, was the champion 2-year-old trotter last season. Cassis is the 7-2 second choice from the rail, and Pilgrims Taj is the 9-2 third choice from post No. 3.

Pfannberger loses life doping ban appeal

VIENNA

Austrian cyclist Christian Pfannberger has lost his appeal against the lifetime ban he received last year for a second doping offense.

The National Anti-Doping Agency in Austria rejected the appeal Wednesday and defined the suspension as 20 years, effectively ending Pfannberger’s career.

The 30-year-old Pfannberger, who last rode for the Katusha team, was banned after testing positive for EPO before last year’s Giro d’Italia. He had previously been suspended for two years for elevated testosterone levels in 2004.

Demand off at Fasig-Tipton yearling sales

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.

A sharp drop in demand for high-end thoroughbreds offered at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of select yearlings is being attributed to weak a global economy and tight credit markets.

The two-day auction concluded Tuesday.

Gross receipts declined by 38.3 percent and the average price was down 15.6 percent from 2009. The ’09 sale, the first since Fasig-Tipton was acquired by Dubai-based interests, was strongly supported by sales to the Emirate’s leader, Sheik Mohammed.

He returned to Saratoga this year but was a less extravagant buyer. The sales topper was a colt by A.P. Indy that sold for $1.2 million Tuesday to Besilu Stables.

Vindicator staff/wire reports