COLLEGES

UMPI hires Gavin Kane as women’s basketball coach

Gavin Kane, a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Famer, is the new coach of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s women’s basketball program.

Kane won 17 conference championships, 13 Western Maine championships and seven state championships as a high school coach at Rangeley, Dirigo, Spruce Mountain and Mt. Blue, compiling a 522-117 record. He also had three-year stints as an assistant coach for the UMaine’s women’s basketball program and the UMaine-Farmington’s men’s program.

His greatest success was coaching the Dirigo girls, going 263-17 while winning 11 consecutive Western Class C titles from 1995-2005 and six state championships.

WRESTLING

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HALL OF FAME: Deanna (Rix) Betterman will become the first woman inducted into the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame on Saturday at Hyde School in Bath.

Betterman won 100 high school matches, all against boys, and was the Class A runner-up in her weight class as a senior in 2005 at Marshwood High, where she was coached by her father, Matt Rix. Betterman, a mother of two, continues to wrestle nationally and internationally. A three-time U.S. team member, she has twice finished fifth in the world championships.

Also being inducted are Roy Treadwell, a three-time state champ at Sanford High (1968-70), Matt Lindsay, a four-time state champ at Penobscot Valley (1995-98), and former USM coach Joe Pistone.

Other honorees include four-time state champ Bradley Beaulieu of Marshwood as high school wrestler of the year, NCAA Division III champion Daniel Del Gallo of Southern Maine as college wrestler of the year, and Mt. Ararat/Brunswick’s Erick Jensen as coach of the year.

Sanford High’s 1964 and 1967 New England championship teams will also be honored.

TENNIS

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WESTERN & SOUTHERN: Venus Williams fell in the second round to a qualifier, Ashleigh Barty, who rallied for a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 upset in Mason, Ohio.

U.S. OPEN: Kei Nishikori is the latest top player to withdraw because of an injury – a torn tendon in his right wrist.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka and three-time winner Novak Djokovic also are sidelined.

BOXING

MAYWEATHER-MCGREGOR: The Nevada State Athletic Commission granted an exemption allowing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor to use 8-ounce rather than 10-ounce gloves for their Aug. 26 bout.

HOCKEY

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NHL: Six weeks after extending Connor McDavid for eight years and $100 million, the Edmonton Oilers signed 21-year-old Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract with a sizable annual cap hit of $8.5 million. Draisaitl posted a career-best 77 points last season – eighth best in the NHL.

Matt Cullen signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Minnesota Wild that contains $700,000 in potential bonuses. Cullen, who turns 41 in November, played on Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup winners the past two seasons.

AUTO RACING

INDYCAR: Sebastien Bourdais has been cleared to resume racing, nearly three months after crashing during Indianapolis 500 qualifying.

IndyCar medical director Dr. Geoffrey Billows said the 38-year-old Frenchman was evaluated by IndyCar orthopedic consultant Dr. Kevin Scheid on Tuesday.


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