Iannacchione to replace Cochran at YSU

Iannacchione to replace Cochran at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

Ben Iannacchione will replace Mike Cochran as the strength and conditioning coordinator at Youngstown State.

Cochran, a Girard High graduate and a member of Youngstown State’s athletic hall of fame, has been YSU’s strength coach since 2011 after stints at Akron (2010), Marshall (2005-2009) and Ohio State (2001-2005). Cochran was also YSU’s strength coach from 1996-2000 and an assistant coach/training specialist from 1990-95.

Iannacchione was an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at LSU for the past five years.

YSU’s Califano earns first team HL

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State junior outfielder Frank Califano was named first team all-Horizon League.

Califano, who is in his first season as a Penguin after transferring from Golden West College, tied for the Horizon League lead with 74 hits, and he was six points shy of winning the batting title with a .365 average.

He also ranked second in the conference with 19 stolen bases, which is the most by a Penguin since 2001 when the program was still competing in the Mid-Continent Conference. Califano hit safely in each of YSU’s final 24 Horizon League contests, and that helped the Alpine, Calif., native post the top batting average in conference play at .383.

Califano and the Penguins will play Valparaiso in the first game of the Horizon League tournament at 1 p.m. today.

Lordstown’s Leamer 24th at NJCAA meet

HUTCHINSON, Kan.

Lordstown High graduate Sara Leamer, a freshman at Cuyahoga Community College, placed 24th in the 400-meter hurdles at last week’s National Junior College Association of America outdoor track and field championships.

She finished with a time of 1:12.76.

Notre Dame QB headed to FSU

SOUTH BEND, IND.

Everett Golson came oh-so close to beating Florida State with Notre Dame last year.

Now, he has another chance for victory at Doak Campbell Stadium — only this time, he’ll be playing for the home team.

Golson is transferring to Florida State, where he will have the chance to replace Jameis Winston as the Seminoles’ starting quarterback.

Florida State said Tuesday that Golson had signed a grant-in-aid, ending his search for a new school less than two weeks after he announced he was leaving the Fighting Irish.

Golson graduated from Notre Dame on Sunday and will be immediately eligible to play under NCAA graduate transfer rules that many college sports leaders are looking to change.

LA stadium deal moves forward

LOS ANGELES

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders moved a step closer Tuesday to building a new stadium near Los Angeles after a complex land deal was finalized on a site that could become the home of a shared $1.7 billion venue.

The transaction involving about 170 acres in Carson, a city of 93,000 people, came a day after the teams hired former San Francisco 49ers President Carmen Policy to spearhead the next stages of their push to relocate to the nation’s second-largest media market.

The pace of activity in Carson underscored an increasing divide between the Chargers and San Diego, where local officials on Monday announced a financing plan for a replacement stadium even as the team a day later moved ahead on the Carson site.

The Raiders and Chargers are planning a shared stadium if both fail to secure new stadiums in their current hometowns.

With the Carson land deal in place and the hiring of the former 49ers executive “a Carson option is even more probable than ever before,” said Chicago-based sports finance consultant Marc Ganis, who has worked on relocations, financing and other projects for NFL teams.

Staff/wire report