SPORTS digest

YSU sending eight to NCAA preliminaries

Eight Youngstown State track and field athletes qualified for the 2017 NCAA Track and Field East Preliminaries on May 25-27, at the University of Kentucky.

Qualifying for Youngstown State were junior Ryan Booth, senior Jaynee Corbett, junior Tyler Donati, freshman Jaliyah Elliott, freshman Collin Hardin, senior Taylor McDonald, senior Ryan Roush and sophomore Chad Zallow.

Zallow, a 2016 NCAA East Preliminary qualifier, ranks first in the 110-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 13.37 set at the Pepsi Florida Relays on March 30. Zallow finished 38th at the 2016 preliminaries with a time of 14.42..

Rider takes Game 1 of YSU homestand

NILES

Rider scored in five different innings and beat the Youngstown State baseball team 6-2 on Thursday evening to open a three game series at Eastwood Field.

The Broncs scored the first three runs of the game, and their final three runs all came after Penguins errors.

Anthony Rohan hit his first career home run at Eastwood Field for the Penguins. Nico Padovan had a game-high three hits, and Lorenzo Arcuri registered two.

Youngstown State stranded 10 runners, including two in the first, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

Riley Mihalik had two hits and scored three times to lead Rider. He doubled in Kyle Johnson and later scored on an RBI ground out in the third inning as the Broncs took a 3-0 lead.

Canfield’s Markulin signs with YSU

CANFIELD

Canfield’s cross country and track athlete Raquel Markulin will formally commit to Youngstown State University for track in a ceremony to be held today at noon in the high school’s athletic foyer. All available students, faculty and staff are invited to attend.

While a Cardinal, “Rocky” was a multi-year top finisher in All-American Conference (AAC) Cross Country, an indoor track State meet qualifier in the 800 meters and 4x800 meter relay and was a member of this year’s outdoor track 4x400 meter AAC championship team and 4x800 meter AAC record-setting team. Last night, additionally, she and her teammates won the Division I District 4x800 meter relay.

Currently enrolled in a college prep curriculum, she has a 4.01 GPA and is in the top 10% of her class. She is the daughter of Louis and Tracy Markulin.

Steelers release TE Green, LS Warren

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Steelers released tight end Ladarius Green and long snapper Greg Warren on Thursday after both failed physicals.

Pittsburgh made a rare splurge in free agency when it signed Green to a four-year, $20 million deal in March 2016, pegging him the big red-zone threat the team needed at the position following Heath Miller’s retirement.

Green struggled to get healthy following offseason ankle surgery and spent the first half of last season on the physically unable to perform list. He ended up catching 18 passes for 308 yards and a touchdown before leaving a December victory over Cincinnati with a concussion. He did not dress the rest of the year as the Steelers reached the AFC championship game before falling to New England.

The 35-year-old Warren signed with the Steelers in 2005 as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in 181 regular-season and 15 postseason games with the team while helping the Steelers win two Super Bowls and appear in another.

US eliminated from hockey worlds

COLOGNE, Germany

Finland defeated the United States 2-0 Thursday in the quarterfinals to knock Jeff Blashill’s young roster out of the ice hockey world championship.

Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Kemppainen scored for Finland to end the Americans’ six-game winning run as the Czechs advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

Staff/wire report