Sports in Brief: Ashley Wagner takes U.S. figure skating lead
Ashley Wagner, who trains in Wilmington, is on her way to becoming the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win back-to-back titles in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, having won the short program Thursday night in Omaha, Neb.
Ashley Wagner, who trains in Wilmington, is on her way to becoming the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win back-to-back titles in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, having won the short program Thursday night in Omaha, Neb.
Wagner is more than two points ahead of Agnes Zawadzki going into Saturday's free skate.
In the pairs competition, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir took a big step toward their first pairs title, easily winning the short program. They have a nine-point lead over Felicia Zhang of Plainsboro, N.J., and Nathan Bartholomay of Abington going into Saturday's free skate.
Russian Evgeni Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic gold medalist, fell in the short program and dropped out of the European figure skating championships in Zagreb, Croatia, with a back problem. Florent Amodio of France took the men's lead.
Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia retained the pairs title, ahead of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek of Italy were third.
COLLEGES: New Mexico State football coach DeWayne Walker, who went 10-40 in four seasons, took a job as defensive backs coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Florida State offensive coordinator James Coley is leaving his alma mater for the same job at Miami. Coley, 39, is the sixth Seminoles assistant to leave Jimbo Fisher's staff.
NAIA national champion Marian University hired Mark Henninger as its football coach. Henninger, who is leaving North Carolina Wesleyan of NCAA Division III, succeeds Ted Karras Jr. He took the job at Walsh.
Immaculata hired Bryan Torresani as baseball coach. He had served as a recruitment coordinator at La Salle University. For five years before that, the former Hatboro-Horsham baseball coach was the assistant at Chestnut Hill.
The board of governors of the State System of Higher Education honored Shippensburg junior quarterback Zach Zulli (Perkiomen Valley) for outstanding athletic accomplishments. Zulli broke 25 school records in 2012.
AUTO RACING: Joe Gibbs Racing said that Kyle Busch has signed a long-term extension to continue driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry.
JGR also will field the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota in the Nationwide Series for at least 25 races with Busch as primary driver.
Scott Pruett earned the pole for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
SOCCER: The Football Association's disciplinary body will review a game in which Chelsea winger Eden Hazard was sent off for kicking a 17-year-old ball boy while trying to retrieve the ball near the end of a League Cup semifinal match against Swansea on Wednesday.
The Belgian winger has apologized to the ball boy - and will not face criminal charges - but will get a minimum three-match ban for violent conduct.
Lionel Messi scored on his 15th straight start to seal a 4-2 win for Barcelona at Malaga, sending the defending champions to a Copa del Rey semifinal against Real Madrid.
- Associated Press