In Brief

COLLEGES

Meyer dismisses two players
from Ohio State football team

New Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer dismissed two players for off-the-field problems.

Ohio State spokesman Jerry Emig confirmed Sunday that defensive backs Dominic Clarke and DerJuan Gambrell have been released from their scholarships.

Clarke, a redshirt sophomore from Frederick, Md., was charged with drunken driving and also had been arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct after allegedly discharging a BB gun on campus. No one was hurt in the latter incident.

Gambrell, a freshman from Toledo, was also discharged for a "violation of team rules," but Ohio State did not specify what that violation was.

Also: There was no announcement after the presidents from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA met Sunday in Dallas to discuss a merger.

"All I can say is we're continuing to have discussions," said UNLV president Neal Smatresk, also the chairman of the Mountain West board of directors.

Smatresk didn't comment when asked about any future meetings.

Ohio State and Michigan took their heated rivalry to the ice, playing the first outdoor college hockey game in Ohio before 25,864 fans who downed hot chocolate and other beverages to combat plunging temperatures at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.

Derek DeBlois and David Wohlberg scored 28 seconds apart in the second period to lead the No. 15 Wolverines to a 4-1 win over the No. 2 Buckeyes, who were the home team despite being a two-hour drive from campus and were outplayed for three periods by their nemesis from the north.

SWIMMING

40-year-old Evans qualifies
for U.S. trials in second event

Janet Evans qualified for the Olympic swimming trials in the 800-meter freestyle , her second qualifying time in three days in her comeback bid.

The 40-year-old Evans finished in 8 minutes, 49.05 seconds at the Austin Grand Prix. Evans, who still owns the American record set in 1989, won the race by more than 14 seconds.

The mother of two also posted an trials qualifying time in the 400 freestyle on Friday.

Michael Phelps finished the meet with his third victory of the week, winning the 200 individual medley in 1:58.82.

Missy Franklin, 16, won the women's 100 backstroke in 59.92 after winning the 200 backstroke Saturday.

MISCELLANEOUS

Gorman, Findlay basketball
to play in tourney on ESPNU

Bishop Gorman and Findlay Prep will both be on national television today as they play in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.

Gorman takes on DeMatha (Md.) at 10 a.m., and Findlay Prep plays Simeon (Ill.) at noon.

Both games are on ESPNU (320).

DeMatha is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Today, and Simeon is No. 2.

Findlay Prep is ranked No. 8.

Also: Reneesgotzip raced to her first graded stakes victory, taking an early lead and pulling away in a blowout win over five other 3-year-old fillies in the $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

The even-money favorite making just her second start, Reneesgotzip and jockey Corey Nakatani led by less than a length in the early going. The filly stretched the lead to four lengths on the turn and won the Grade 2 sprint by a whopping 7¾ lengths, covering 6½ furlongs in 1 minute, 15.25 seconds.

Lindsey Vonn ended a five-week winless streak with an emphatic victory in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, in a World Cup super-G that moved her into sole possession of third place on the career wins list.

The American clocked 1 minute, 26.16 seconds down the Olympia delle Tofane course, finishing a massive 0.61 seconds in front of German rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch, with Tina Maze of Slovenia third.

Vonn captured her 47th career victory and moved ahead of retired Austrian great Renate Goetschl. Only Austria's Annemarie Moser-Proell (62) and Switzerland's Vreni Schneider (55) have more.

Las Vegan Rob MacCachren bounced back from a flat tire in Saturday's race to win the overall and Trophy Truck titles on the second day of the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.

MacCachren covered eight laps on the 6.25-mile desert course in 54 minutes, 16 seconds. Fellow Las Vegan Brendan Gaughan, a NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series driver, took fourth overall and in Trophy Truck.

Frenchmen Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres won the Dakar Rally, completing the final stage into Lima, Peru, two weeks after the race began in Argentina.

Peterhansel won Dakar for a record-10th time, and Despres added his fourth title.