Sports in Brief: Jones' coach convicted on one of three counts

A San Francisco jury yesterday convicted track coach

Trevor Graham

on one count of lying to federal investigators about his relationship to an admitted steroids dealer but deadlocked on two other charges when at least one juror had doubts about the credibility of the prosecution's star witness.

Graham was charged with three counts of lying to federal agents.

This marked the first significant setback at trial for the federal government in its nearly five-year investigation stemming from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative doping scandal.

Graham, who coached former star sprinters

Marion Jones

and

Tim Montgomery,

is the second person from the Balco scandal to be convicted at trial. Former elite cyclist

Tammy Thomas

was found guilty in April of lying to a federal grand jury when she denied taking steroids.

Eight others, including Jones and Balco founder

Victor Conte,

have pleaded guilty to charges that stemmed from the September 2003 raid on Balco headquarters in Burlingame, Calif.

The raid came shortly after Graham anonymously sent the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency a vial of "the clear," a then-undetectable steroid.

Rutgers gave basketball coach

Fred Hill

a two-year contract extension that did not include a salary increase. The contract will run through 2012-13. In March 2006, Hill received a five-year contract worth $500,000 a year, counting base salary and other considerations.

Ashley Brignac

(31-6) struck out a career-high 15 and

Holly Tankersley

hit a bases-empty home run to center field off

Stacey Nelson

in the eighth inning as Louisiana-Lafayette upset top-seeded Florida, 3-2, in the NCAA Softball World Series in Oklahoma City.

Elsewhere:

Former Illinois linebacker

Erique Robertson

will spend 43 days in jail after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful use of a firearm in Champaign County, Ill. . . . Former Minnesota cornerback

Dominic Jones

was sentenced to a year in the Hennepin County workhouse after being convicted of criminal sexual conduct. . . . West Virginia University's $4 million lawsuit against former football coach

Rich Rodriguez

is headed for mediation. The university contends Rodriguez owes $4 million under the contract in place when he resigned in December to take the Michigan job.

Olympic gold medalist

Paul Hamm

already is ahead of schedule in his recovery, his surgeon said. The gymnast was able to make a fist when his bandages were removed, just two days after surgery to repair the broken bone in his right hand.

Police in Irvine, Calif., said 15-year-old

Dylan Bradshaw

apparently had a fatal asthma attack during football practice Wednesday at Northwood High School. A trainer took Bradshaw to the locker room, where he went into cardiac arrest.

Elsewhere:

Coach

Roberto Mancini

was fired by Inter Milan. . . . Soccer's governing body lifted its international ban on Iraq to allow the team to pursue World Cup qualifying. . . .

Trena Peel

and

Kellie Wilkerson

stroked third-inning home runs to lead the Philadelphia Force to a 6-4 victory over the visiting Netherlands national softball team at ECTB Stadium in Allentown. . . . The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, said it would release its verdict June 6 on Olympic 100-meter champion

Justin Gatlin's

doping-ban appeal.