Mill Creek Par 3 course closed for the season

October 16, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

Youngstown

Mill Creek MetroParks Par 3 golf course, located at the James L. Wick Jr. Recreation Area, is closed for the season. The batting cages are also closed.

The play area, tennis courts and ballfields will be open as long as the weather permits.

Merling finishes fifth at Toledo Rocket Classic

Port Clinton

Youngstown State junior golfer Aislynn Merling finished in fifth place at a highly-competitive Toledo Rocket Classic that concluded on Tuesday at the Catwaba Island Golf Club. In the team standings, the Penguins were ninth with a 956 and finished ahead of three Horizon League foes. Toledo won the event with a three-round 891.

YSU had rounds of 322 and 310 on Monday and fired a 324 on Tuesday. Merling had rounds of 80, 72 and 77 to finish with a three-round total of 229. She tied Oakland’s Kassandra Komma as the Horizon League’s top finisher. Sophomore Emily Rohanna was 26th with a 237 (78-78-81), Allison Mitzel finished 37th with a 242 (79-78-85), Mia Barchetti was 63rd with a 252 (85-86-81) and Angela Molaskey was 72nd with a three-round 258 (86-82-90).

The Penguins are set to close out the fall portion of their schedule next week at the Dayton Fall Invitational.

Two top-10 finishes spur Penguins in finale

Kettering

Youngstown State golfers Brandon Pluchinsky and Bill Gaffney tied for ninth place as the Penguins placed sixth at the Dayton Fall Invitational which concluded on Tuesday. Pluchinsky and Gaffney had two-round totals of 144. Pluchinsky had a pair of 72s while Gaffney carded a 71 on Tuesday following a round of 73 on Monday.

The Penguins finished with a two-round total of 584 with a 293 on Monday and a 291 on Tuesday. Western Kentucky won with a 566 while Cleveland State was second, Evansville and Robert Morris tied for third and Bradley was fifth.

Bryan Yeo was 20th with a 146 (74-72), Mark Olbrych finished 48th (74-76) and D.J. Holub was 55th (151). Thomas Lydic was 48th as an individual with a two-round 150 (72-78). This was the final tournament of the fall for the Penguins.

Minnesota moves forward with Kill away

MINNEAPOLIS

In his first full press conference as acting head coach at Minnesota, Tracy Claeys was quick to point out that he doesn’t see himself as the head coach at all. The defensive coordinator is filling in while Jerry Kill undergoes further treatment for epileptic seizures that caused him to miss the second half of a game against Western Illinois in September and the entire game at Michigan on Oct. 5. Kill took a leave of absence last week to meet with doctors to try and get a better handle on his condition.

“I really don’t look at it as (being the) head coach,” Claeys said on Tuesday. “It’s Jerry Kill’s program. It will always be his program.”

There is no timetable for Kill’s return to the sideline, but Claeys did say that he does not expect him to be there when the Gophers (4-2, 0-2 Big Ten) play at Northwestern (4-2, 0-2) on Saturday.

Claeys said he spoke to Kill on the phone on Monday night for the first time since he left the team to seek more in-depth help on dealing with his seizures.

Mexico makes playoff with help of USA

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica

Mexico will play New Zealand for a spot in next year’s World Cup despite losing 2-1 at Costa Rica on Tuesday night.

The Mexicans advanced to the home-and-home series when the United States rallied with two late goals to win at Panama, 3-2.

That kept Mexico in fourth place at the conclusion of the CONCACAF final qualifying round with only 11 points, three ahead of Panama, which would have advanced by holding off the Americans. Mexico and New Zealand will play next month.

Staff reports/Associated Press