The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club’s Patriots Day road race for high school runners has been canceled, race director Owen McCullough announced in an email on Tuesday.
The annual race was scheduled to take place on Monday, April 20. It is a 2.2-mile race open to local high school students.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR HALL OF FAME: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards were among the new nominees for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame class announced Tuesday under a revamped voting protocol.
Voters for 11 years elected five members per class first from a list of 25 candidates; it was trimmed to 20 beginning with the 2015 class.
The new process starting this year splits the nominees into three ballots; Modern candidates, Pioneer candidates and Landmark candidates. Two entries from the 10 Modern candidates will be elected, along with one entry apiece from the five-candidate Pioneer and Landmark categories.
Janet Guthrie, the first woman to run in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, returns as a nominee to the Landmark category after a one year absence. She was dropped in 2019 from the category, which has existed as an award for contribution to the sport, and her absence sparked a backlash toward the nominating committee.
SOCCER
GERMAN LEAGUE: Thomas Müller signed a two-year contract extension with Bayern Munich.
The 30-year-old attacking midfielder’s contract had been due to expire at the end of next season but he is now tied to the team until 2023.
Müller has been with Bayern for 20 years, winning eight German titles and the 2013 Champions League, and marked his 500th senior game for the club in November.
OBIT: Former Atlético Madrid coach Radomir Antic, who led the club to the Spanish league and Copa del Rey titles in 1996, has died. He was 71.
The club did not provide a cause of death for Antic, who also briefly coached Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The former Serbian player managed Atlético over five seasons in 189 official matches, the fourth most in club history.
COLLEGES
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Ohio State assistant Carrie Banks has been hired as the new women’s basketball coach at Omaha, athletic director Trev Alberts announced Tuesday.
Banks was an assistant and recruiting coordinator for four seasons with the Buckeyes. She replaces Brittany Lange, who was fired last month after seven seasons.
“Carrie rose to the top of our applicant pool because of her depth of experience as a coach and recruiter,” Alberts said. “She has done a terrific job as an assistant coach at Ohio State, and she is ready to lead her own team.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Obi Toppin of Dayton won the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s outstanding college basketball player.
Toppin, along with Saddiq Bey of Villanova, Luka Garza of Iowa, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Peyton Pritchard of Oregon, also won positional awards from the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Maryland forward Jalen Smith intends to enter the 2020 NBA draft and forgo his remaining two years of eligibility.
Smith averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds as a sophomore, helping the Terrapins to a 24-7 finish and a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. He ranked first in the conference and third nationally with 21 double-doubles.
The 6-foot-10 star announced his plans to leave on Tuesday, saying, “The time is right for me to move forward to the next phase in my basketball career.”
• Arizona point guard Nico Mannion has joined fellow freshman teammate Zeke Nnaji in declaring for the NBA draft.
“I have decided to declare for the 2020 NBA draft,” Mannion posted Tuesday on Twitter. “I want to thank everyone who has truly helped me throughout my journey, you know who you are, including coach (Sean) Miller for giving me the opportunity to play in front of the best fans in the country.”
Mannion arrived in Tucson as the highest-rated recruit in a class that included Nnaji and Josh Green.
• Duke freshman Cassius Stanley is entering the NBA draft.
Stanley announced his decision Tuesday after averaging 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Blue Devils, highlighted by his high-flying athleticism. He had a season-high 24 points in a January loss to Louisville, while he finished strong with 19 points and six rebounds against rival North Carolina in what turned out to be the Blue Devils’ final game once the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of postseason tournaments.
TENNIS
HALEP RECOVERING: Two-time major champion Simona Halep’s injured foot is well enough that she has started running on it without pain.
Halep said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday that she still is not healed to the point that she can play tennis.
The injury dates to February and caused her to withdraw from the hard-court tournament in Indian Wells, California, that eventually was called off because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The spread of the illness has forced all professional tennis tournaments to be postponed or canceled until at least mid-July.
That includes the cancellation of Wimbledon, where Halep would have been the defending champion this year.
BASEBALL
COURT: Former All-Star first baseman Todd Helton pleaded guilty to driving under the influence as a first offense and has served 48 hours in jail as part of his sentence.
Helton crashed his vehicle on March 18, 2019, in Knox County and required emergency medical care. No other cars were involved and one else was hurt. Helton was given a misdemeanor citation for DUI.
Knox County assistant district attorney Sean F. McDermott confirmed to The Associated Press that Helton also received unsupervised probation for 11 months, 29 days, with his license suspended for a year. Helton also had to pay a $350 fine and attend a Victim Impact Panel.
FOOTBALL
LABOR DEAL: Ron Mix likes what he has seen and read regarding the new labor agreement between the NFL and its players.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer, a board member with the Pro Football Retired Players Association and a retired attorney, believes players from every generation will benefit from the deal struck last month that runs through the 2030 season. Mix retired after the 1971 season.
“Ten years ago, the CBA helped correct the low pension benefits for retired players,” Mix says. “A baseball player who played the same time as me and the same number of years and inducted into the Hall of Fame receives a pension of $100,000 a year. My pension is $20,000. The current players and owners should really be applauded for making sure the new CBA addressed the pensions and the needs of the thousands of players who left with broken bodies and minds.
“The new benefits are significant, improve players’ benefits by doubling in many instances. Aside from approved benefits, the new formula calls for $550 a month per vested season. This increases the pension benefits significantly for all players.”
Recently, the labor agreement’s validity has been challenged by attorneys for safety Eric Reid, and questioned by others. They believe language changed from the deal the players voted on to the one now in force should void the agreement.
Mix prefers to concentrate on the positive aspects of the CBA that narrowly was approved by the NFL Players Association membership, 1,019-959.
OBIT: Timmy Brown, a running back and kick returner who won an NFL championship with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960, has died. He was 82.
The Eagles announced Tuesday that Brown passed away on Saturday.
Brown is sixth on the franchise’s all-time list for touchdowns (62), seventh in total yards from scrimmage (7,049), eighth in rushing (3,703 yards) and seventh in TDs rushing (29).
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