SPORTS DIGEST || Salem man qualifies for US Senior Olympics

Salem man qualifies for US Senior Olympics

charleston, w.va.

Salem’s Randy Strader competed on July 9 at the West Virginia Senior Olympics and did well enough to qualify for the United States Senior Olympics.

Strader finished third in the shot put, third in the discus and fourth in the javelin.

The United States Senior Olympics will be held in Birhingham, Ala. in June of 2017.

Strader has been a member of the US Masters Track and Field team since 1984 and this will be his ninth national competition.

YSU women’s soccer adds two transfers

youngstown

Youngstown State women’s soccer head coach Fabio Boateng has added two transfers — Ernestina Abambila and Shani Jefferson — for the 2016 season.

Abambila will have two years of eligibility remaining while Jefferson has three years left.

Abambila and Jefferson both played for Boateng at Mississippi Valley State last season and helped guide the Delta Devils to the 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championship.

Last season, Abambila scored 14 goals with nine assists for 37 total points and was part of the nation’s top-scoring offense at MVSU. A first-team all-conference performer in 2015, Abambila had three game-winning goals, posted a hat trick with three goals against Alabama State on Oct. 18 and scored goals in 11 different matches.

Two locals make cut at Ohio Amateur

Findlay

Blake Prince of East Liverpool and Brandon Pluchinsky of North Lima were the two local golfers who made the cut at the Ohio Amateur Championship at Findlay Country Club.

Prince is tied for seventh at one over par while Pluchinsky is tied for eighth at two over.

Those failing to make the cut include Youngstown’s Steven Sveda (+10), Warren’s Ryan Fowler (+13), Girard’s Evan Standohar (+19), Newton Falls’ Jacob Harrah (+23) and Canfield’s Cole Christman, who withdrew.

Dale Jr. drops out with concussion symptoms

loudon, N.H.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has dropped out of the Sprint Cup race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway because of symptoms of a concussion.

Earnhardt was evaluated in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week and doctors did not clear him to race. Hendrick Motorsports said Thursday it had no timetable for his return.

Alex Bowman will drive in his place.

NASCAR’s most popular driver, Earnhardt was involved in a 22-car wreck in Daytona this month and also wrecked last month at Michigan International Speedway. He says he was feeling fine last week and thought the problem was allergies. When that didn’t help, he met with a neurologist.

Earlier this year, Earnhardt pledged his brain to researchers looking into the connection between concussions and traumatic brain injuries.

College Football Playoff may avoid NYE games

The College Football Playoff is considering moving future semifinals off New Year’s Eve after television ratings for last season’s games plunged.

Executive director Bill Hancock told reporters at Southeastern Conference Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, that the conference commissioners who make up the playoff management committee are open to changing future schedules, starting in 2019 when the semifinals are scheduled for New Year’s Eve, and are exploring options.

“Our goal is to find the best day when the most people can watch the games,” Hancock said Wednesday.

Last year was the first of a scheduled eight times during a 12-year contract with ESPN that the semifinals were to be played on New Year’s Eve, which fell on a Thursday.

The playoff semifinals are on New Year’s Eve again this season, but Dec. 31, 2016, falls on a Saturday.

Staff/Wire reports