SPORTS digest

YSU’s Elliott named track athlete of the year

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State junior Jaliyah Elliott was named the Alfreeda Goff Horizon League Female Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year for the 2019 outdoor season, the league announced on Thursday.

Because of a tie in the voting, Oakland’s Maggie Schneider was also awarded with the honors.

After dominating the indoor season, Elliott carried that momentum in the outdoor season which was highlighted by a first place finish in the 100m dash at 125th running of the Penn Relays last weekend. She has the league’s top in time in the event after finishing in 11.53 seconds at the Clyde Little Field Texas Relays. Elliott also owns league’s fastest time in the 200m dash after finishing in 23.94 seconds at the same meet.

Elliott is also the anchor on the Penguins’ 4x100m relay team which ran the league’s quickest time at 46.62 seconds on April 4 at the Northeast Ohio Quad.

Detroit Mercy’s Ben Kendell received the Men’s Alfreeda Goff Athlete of the Year honors.

McIlroy shares lead at Quail Hollow

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Rory McIlroy got out of trouble and made enough key putts to keep moving in the right direction at the Wells Fargo Championship. His only bogey came after a drive that bounced into a creek, and there’s no recovering when a ball is in 4 feet of water.

Dahmen kept bogeys off his card and holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 66.

They were a shot ahead of a group that included Patrick Reed, who is having the opposite year of McIlroy. The former Masters champion has yet to finish in the top 10, and he hopes a bogey-free round like Thursday morning will be a signal that his work on his swing is done and it’s time to start hitting shots.

Defending champion Jason Day led a large pack at 68.

Correction

The Division II high school tennis district tournament will be Wednesday at 9 a.m. Singles will compete at Boardman High School and doubles at Struthers High School. Finals are set for May 11 at 9 a.m. Incorrect dates, times and locations were published in a story in Thursday’s edition.

Hockey Hall of Famer Red Kelly, 91, dies

TORONTO

Hockey Hall of Famer Red Kelly died Thursday in Toronto at age 91. He spent time as both an elite defenseman and center.

Kelly won eight Stanley Cups during a stellar 20-season playing career, moonlighting as a member of Parliament as he won NHL championships with Toronto in the mid-1960s after starring in Detroit. He then took up coaching, making headlines in 1976 for “Pyramid Power” with the Maple Leafs.

The flying redhead spent nearly 13 seasons with the Red Wings as a defenseman before he was traded to the Maple Leafs and became a forward.

Kelly finished with 281 goals and 542 assists in 1,316 regular-season games, to go along with 33 goals and 59 assists in 164 playoff games.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969, with the mandatory waiting period waived.

Kelly went into coaching after his retirement, first with the expansion Los Angeles Kings in 1967 and then in 1969 with Pittsburgh. After being fired by the Penguins midway through the 1972-73 season, he got a job offer from Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard.

Celtics’ Danny Ainge has mild heart attack

BOSTON

Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge has had a mild heart attack and is expected to make a full recovery.

The team said in a statement Thursday the 60-year-old executive received immediate medical attention Tuesday night in Milwaukee, where the Celtics were facing the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. Ainge is returning to Boston.

He also had a mild heart attack in 2009.

Staff/wire report