Local athletes reach Jr. Olympics Nationals

July 21, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

AUSTINTOWN

Seventeen athletes from the Austintown Community Track Club qualified for the USATF Junior Olympics Nationals Championships scheduled Tuesday through Sunday at Humble, Texas.

Following are the qualifying athletes who advanced during action last weekend in the Region 5 meet at Charleston, W.Va.: Girls 11-12 — Mara Kujala, shot put and discus; Girls 12-13 — Emily Kujala, shot put and discus; Sabrina Romano, shot put and discus; Nellie Speare, shot put; Caitlin Neely, discus; Girls 15-16 — Lindsay Baker, discus; Katie Dingman, discus; Girls 17-18 — Morgan Petronelli, long jump; Brandi Shonce, long jump; Boys 17-18 — Jake Dorbish, hammer, shot put and discus; Jonathan Neeley, shot put and discus; Zachary Conley, high jump.

At the regional, Emily Kujala won the discus event in the girls 12-13 division.

Wizards’ Rice MVP of NBA Summer League

LAS VEGAS

Glen Rice Jr. of the Washington Wizards was unanimously named Most Valuable Player of the Samsung NBA Summer League 2014, as selected by a panel of media members. The summer classic will culminate tonight in the championship game between the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings. It will air live on the NBA Network at 9 p.m.

Rice Jr. played in six games in Las Vegas, helping the Wizards advance to the semifinals and secure a 5-1 record at the event. He averaged a league-leading 25 points on .469 shooting, to go along with 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals.

Todd earns his 1st Top Fuel win of the season

MORRISON, Colo.

J.R. Todd earned his first Top Fuel win of the season and first since 2008, by racing to victory Sunday at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Todd outran Brittany Force with a pass of 3.878 seconds at 317.87 mph to the losing pass of Force at 3.968 at 297.35.

Robert Hight (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Drag Racing Series event outside of Denver.

22,000 at celebrity softball game in Seattle

SEATTLE

Not that it should come as a surprise, but Seattle is still crazy about its Super Bowl champion Seahawks. The latest example came Sunday when an announced crowd of 22,000 turned out at Safeco Field for Richard Sherman’s charity softball game. After being played in a minor league baseball park in Tacoma last season, Sherman’s event filled the entire lower bowl of the Seattle Mariners’ home stadium from one foul pole to the other.

Sherman’s event featured a litany of Seahawks teammates, including quarterback Russell Wilson. Also playing was Kobe Bryant, who said he hadn’t swung a bat in 20 years before hitting a solo homer over the temporary fence in the outfield.

Tennis: Wozniacki gets first WTA win of year

ISTANBUL

Caroline Wozniacki overpowered second-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1 Sunday to win the Istanbul Cup final and clinch her first WTA title of the year and 22nd overall. The top-seeded Dane needed only 67 minutes against the 24th-ranked Italian.

In other results on Sunday:

At Hamburg, Germany, Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer upset top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the Hamburg Open to win his first ATP title. The 46th-ranked Mayer saved five of the eight break points he faced to beat the seventh-ranked Spaniard in the clay court tournament.

At Bogota, Colombia, wild card Bernard Tomic denied Ivo Karlovic’s attempt to retain his ATP Claro Open Colombia title, beating the second-seeded Croat 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4).

At Bastad, Sweden, Germany’s Mona Barthel beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-3, 7-6 (3) to win the Swedish Open. It was the third WTA career title for the 24-year-old Barthel, who is currently ranked 61st.

Staff reports/Associated Press