UNE swimming coach steps down

BIDDEFORD — The University of New England Director of Athletics Kim Allen has announced that head swimming coach Kate Roy has resigned to accept an athletics administration position at Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont.

Roy started the women’s swimming program at UNE back in 2004-05 and amassed a record of 80-31 (.721 percentage) in dual and tri-meets over the 10 seasons since. The Nor’easters have posted a winning record in each of the last nine years ”“ Big Blue logged its best mark of 10-2 during the 2011-12 campaign.

Under the guidance of Roy, UNE was successful at the New England Championships, which annually features a field of 20-22 teams. The Nor’easters have placed eighthth or better on seven occasions, with a high of fifth place in 2012-13.

Over the years, Nor’easter swimmers have achieved all-New England status 73 times, including two victories in a particular event. At the 2006 championships, Roy was selected by her peers as NEISDA Women’s Coach of the Year

Biogenisis founder pleads guilty

MIAMI (AP) — The former clinic owner accused of selling performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez has agreed to plead guilty in what prosecutors called a wide-ranging conspiracy to distribute steroids to both major league ballplayers and high school athletes.

The charges filed Tuesday against former Biogenesis of America owner Anthony Bosch and six others marked one of the biggest salvos yet in a case that has dragged on for nearly two years. The case has sparked lawsuits, mudslinging and suspensions against numerous major leaguers, including Rodriguez.

Also charged was Yuri Sucart, 52, a cousin of Rodriguez who the New York Yankees third baseman has said provided him with steroids from 2000 to 2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers.

Sucart and the others are accused of acting as recruiters, setting up meetings between the athletes and Bosch, authorities said. Professional athletes paid up to $12,000 a month for the drugs provided by Biogenesis, while high schoolers paid up to $600 a month. All the clients were promised that the substances wouldn’t be found through drug testing, prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer said Bosch didn’t have a medical license, making what happened all the more dangerous.

Major League Baseball wasn’t part of the criminal investigation and declined comment. No athletes were charged nor named in court documents, and it is unclear how many may have been involved. Authorities said Bosch admitted to providing performance-enhancing drugs to 18 high schoolers.

Venus advances at Rogers Cup

MONTREAL (AP) — Venus Williams rebounded from a shaky second set to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.

Elena Vesnina stepped in as a replacement for the ailing Andrea Petkovic and earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Camila Giorgi.

The afternoon matches saw scoreboards go dark due to a long power outage that affected 200,000 customers in the area. But play went on despite the lack of electricity.

Generators provided lighting when Shelby Rogers scored a 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 victory over crowd favorite Eugenie Bouchard. Rogers, a qualifier ranked 113th in the world, moved into the third round of the hard-court event.

Williams is on the same side of the draw as her sister, top-seeded Serena Williams, who begins play Wednesday. They can’t meet before the semifinals.

Serena Williams will next face Samantha Stosur, who beat qualifier Monica Puig 6-2, 6-2.

Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 11th, ousted Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-1.

In other matches, No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-4, and 14th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-3.