Poland sells regional title game tickets today

March 14, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

POLAND

The Poland High School athletic department will sell tickets today from 8 a.m. to noon for the Division II boys basketball regional championship game. The Bulldogs play Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Canton Civic Center.

All pre-sale tickets are $6 apiece, tickets at the door are $8 each.

Penguin golfers third in opening match

Jacksonville, Fla.

The Youngstown State women’s golf team opened it’s spring season with a third-place finish at the Bulldog Florida Invitational hosted by Butler at the Windsor Parke Golf Club.

YSU’s Aislynn Merling placed fourth and Emily Rohanna finished seventh. Merling had the lead after Wednesday’s opening round with a 77. She had an 83 for her second round to finish with a 160 and was four shots back. Rohanna fired a second round 81 following an opening round of 84 and a 165 for the event.

In the team race, YSU was third behind IPFW and Chicago State.Other finishers for the Penguins were Allison Mitzel, 21st, 172 (81-91); Mia Barchetti, 27th, 176 (88-88); and Emily Dixon, 30th, 179. Angela Molaskey had a 185 competing as an individual.

Fitch athletes compete at national meet in NYC

AUSTINTOWN

The Austintown Fitch track & field team has qualified several athletes to compete at the New Balance Indoor National Championships held this weekend at The Armory in New York City.

Gabby Figueroa, who has committed to LSU, will compete in the weight throw where she is currently ranked number one in the nation in the event with a throw of 64-11.

The boys 4-x-200 relay team of Joe Harrington, Gary Gibson, Nathan Bowlen and Darrin Hall is ranked second in the U.S. with a time of 1:28.95.

Also, Sam Ortz will compete in the 60m hurdles and high jump while Logan Kusky will be competing in the weight throw.

Fowler to call Saturday night games on ABC

NEW YORK

Chris Fowler is taking over play-by-play responsibilities for the marquee Saturday night college football game on ABC. ESPN announced Thursday that Fowler had signed a nine-year contract extension through 2023. The network said a day earlier that Brent Musburger was leaving “Saturday Night Football” and doing games for SEC Network.

Fowler called Thursday night games for ESPN from 2006-09, but he said it was hard to juggle that and his “College GameDay” responsibilities. He will continue to host “College GameDay” on Saturday morning, then travel to the site of the prime-time game if it’s in a different location, as analyst Kirk Herbstreit already does.

Li, Pennetta reach Indian Wells semifinals

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.

Li Na beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a rematch of their Australian Open final, moving the Chinese star into the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. Li, who beat Cibulkova to win her second Grand Slam title in January, dropped her first set in four matches while improving to 15-1 this year. Li is playing her first major tournament as the No. 1 seed.

Flavia Pennetta beat Sloane Stephens 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a wildly uneven match affected by swirling winds in the third set from a dust storm outside the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. She advanced to a semifinal against Li.

Staff reports/Associated Press