HIGH SCHOOLS
Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland goalie Manny Guimond was named the third winner of the Becky Schaffer Award, given to the best senior girls’ hockey player in Maine, on Thursday night.
Guimond beat out another goalie, Camree St. Hilaire of Lewiston, as well as defensemen Hannah Woodford of Cheverus/Old Orchard Beach, Leah Walker of Greely and forward Sophia Santamaria of York/Traip/Marshwood.
Courtney Sullivan of Greely (2018) and Avery Lutrzykowski of St. Dom’s (2019) were the previous winners.
FOOTBALL: Deering High graduate John Hardy was hired as his alma mater’s head coach, according to the school’s athletics Twitter account.
Hardy was an All-State wide receiver who played for the University of Maine from 2012-15. He succeeds Rob Susi, who had a 5-13 record in two seasons at Deering.
GOLF
PGA: Tom Lewis and Harris English, who received sponsor exemptions, each shot 4-under 66 at PGA National, sharing the lead after the opening round at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Lee Westwood – also in the field thanks to a sponsor exemption – was a shot back with Zach Johnson, J.T. Poston, Brian Stuard and Cameron Tringale.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Italian golfers Lorenzo Gagli and Edoardo Molinari were under par at the Oman Open before darkness brought an end to their first rounds at Muscat, Oman.
By then, their compatriot, Guido Migliozzi, had shot 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead.
SOCCER
CORONAVIRUS: The Serie A game between Juventus and Inter Milan will take place in an empty stadium because of the virus outbreak in Italy, the league confirmed.
Serie A’s governing body released a statement announcing that Sunday’s Derby d’Italia – one of the biggest games of the season – and four others would be played without any fans allowed in.
The other matches are Udinese vs. Fiorentina on Saturday, AC Milan vs. Genoa, Parma vs. Spal, and Sassuolo vs. Brescia on Sunday.
MLS: Forward Giuseppe Rossi signed with Real Salt Lake, 21 months after his last competitive match.
The 33-year-old from Clifton, New Jersey, had spent his entire professional career in Europe after moving when he was 12 to join Parma’s youth academy. He has been derailed by five major knee injuries.
Rossi played for Manchester United (2004-06), Newcastle (2006), Parma (2007), Villarreal (2007-12), Fiorentina (2013-17), Levante (2016), Celta Vigo (2016-17) and Genoa (2017-18).
NWSL: The marketing executive who branded the U.S. Olympic squad “Team USA” will now try to turn American women’s soccer players into household names more than once every four years.
Lisa Baird, the longtime marketing chief at the U.S. Olympic Committee, was named commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Baird most recently spent more than a year at New York Public Radio after nine years at the USOC. She will now be charged with running a league that is positioned to capture more cash and eyeballs after America’s stirring World Cup victory last summer.
TENNIS
QATAR OPEN: Top-ranked Ash Barty beat former No. 1 Garbine Muguruza, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-2 to reach the semifinals.
Barty broke for a 5-2 lead in the deciding set and clinched the win when Muguruza sent a forehand wide. Barty will next face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who edged past Ons Jabeur 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4).
In the other semifinal, Svetlana Kuznetsova will face ninth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.
DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Novak Djokovic swept aside seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals, ensuring he will keep hold of the No. 1 ranking.
Djokovic improved to 16-0 in 2020 and set up a semifinal against third-seeded Gael Monfils, who beat Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-3.
Second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas had to come from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and will next face Daniel Evans of Britain, who upset No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (9).
INDIAN WELLS: Kim Clijsters has been given a wild card into next month’s BNP Paribas Open, another step in her tennis comeback at age 36.
The four-time major winner won in 2003 and 2005 at Indian Wells before retiring nearly eight years ago. Clijsters hasn’t competed at the tournament in the Southern California desert since 2011.
DOPING
TRACK: Two-time European 800-meter champion Nataliya Krol has been provisionally suspended for a positive doping test.
Krol, 25, tested positive for a diuretic and was served with a notice of the allegation against her, the Athletics Integrity Unit said.
The substance, hydrochlorothiazide, can be used to mask the presence of banned drugs.
Krol faces being banned for up to four years.
SWIMMING: Two-time swimming world champion Filippo Magnini was cleared of doping and had his four-year ban annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Italy’s anti-doping agency banned the retired swimmer in 2018, finding him guilty of using and attempting to use banned substances.
Magnini had been linked to nutritionist Guido Porcellini, who was banned for 30 years for distributing illegal drugs.
However, a CAS panel determined there was “insufficient evidence” in the case.
CYCLING
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: The U.S. women’s pursuit team of Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente, Emma White and Lily Williams roared to the world title at the Berlin Velodrome, easily beating back the reigning Olympic champions from Britain.
Their winning time of 4 minutes, 11.235 seconds stamped them as the team to beat at the Tokyo Games later this summer.
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