SPORTS digest

Gonda named OAC Swimmer of the Week

Austintown

Mount Union’s swimming and diving student-athletes Sarah Gonda and Brian Regovich were named the Ohio Athletic Conference Swimmers of the Week (12/10).

Gonda, a Boardman graduate, collected first-place finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard backstroke and was a member of the 200-yard medley relay team that clocked a first-place time of 1:56.04. The Purple Raiders beat St. Vincent (Pa.) 142-120 Friday evening.

Regovich recorded first-place victories in the 100-yard and 1000-yard freestyle as the Mount Union men’s swimming and diving squad defeated St. Vincent (Pa.) 152-110.

Kansas State hires NDSU’s Klieman

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Kansas State has hired Chris Klieman of North Dakota State as head football coach, passing the reins from retired Bill Snyder.

Klieman was hired Monday by Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor, and was seen as one of the front-runners for the job ever since Snyder announced his retirement.

Klieman agreed to a six-year contract with a base salary of $2.3 million next season, increasing by $200,000 each subsequent season. The deal includes a number of other incentives. Taylor initially targeted North Texas coach Seth Littrell, but he announced last week that he would remain with the Mean Green. Attention quickly shifted to Klieman, who has the Bison in the FCS semifinals and seeking a fourth title in five seasons.

Warriors named SI’s Sportsperson of Year

The three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors are the fourth team to be honored as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year .

The Warriors join the 1980 U.S. hockey team, the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer squad and the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the other team honorees.

Sports Illustrated announced the winner Monday, and editor-in-chief Chris Stone said they have been thinking of some way to honor the Warriors during their run of three titles in four years. He also acknowledged that there were a couple years where Steph Curry has been in the conversation.

Stone also said that the Warriors’ honor is more about the celebration of the organization doing something unique over an extended period while the other teams were honored for what they did in a certain year.

The Warriors will receive the award during a ceremony in Los Angeles on Tuesday that will air on NBCSN on Thursday.

MLB teams talk deals at winter meetings

LAS VEGAS

Deal the New York Yankees in for the Manny Machado tournament. And J.T. Realmuto? A lot of teams already are sitting at that table.

The baseball winter meetings began in earnest along the Vegas Strip on Monday, and clubs slowly started to show their cards.

Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler are attracting trade interest, the Mets say. Corey Kluber and Madison Bumgarner keep popping up in swap speculation. But still no indication of where hometown slugger Bryce Harper might go.

A couple of moves got done — speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton sprinted to the Kansas City Royals, pitcher Tyson Ross went to Detroit.

Always ramping up the rivalry with the champion Boston Red Sox, the Yankees linked themselves to Machado. General manager Brian Cashman said he’s been talking to the infielder’s agent.

Realmuto, the prized Miami catcher, is highly coveted.

Maybe Realmuto gets traded before the meetings end Thursday, maybe not. In the meantime, don’t expect any movement on contentious MLB-wide issues.

Sure, there’s a lot of discussion about banning or limiting shifts. And plenty of debate about ways to spark offense.

But in a sign that nothing is imminent, Commissioner Rob Manfred isn’t planning to attend the annual gathering.

Staff/wire report