In Brief

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA won't cite Ohio State for lack of institutional control

The NCAA has told Ohio State that it won't face the most severe charges possible in the memorabilia-for-cash and tattoos scandal that cost football coach Jim Tressel his job.

Investigators said they found no evidence that Ohio State failed to properly monitor its football program or any evidence of a lack of institutional control, according to a letter sent to the university and released Friday.

NCAA investigators also said they have not found any new violations.

"Considering the institution's rules education and monitoring efforts, the enforcement staff did not believe a failure-to-monitor charge was appropriate in this case," the NCAA said in the letter sent Thursday.

The notice clearing Ohio State of the most serious of institutional breaches is a big break for the university, which will meet with the NCAA's committee on infractions Aug. 12. That committee could accept penalties Ohio State already placed on itself or could pile on recruiting restrictions, bowl bans and other, stiffer sanctions.

Also: Tennessee has self-imposed a two-year probation on its athletics department as part of its response to alleged NCAA recruiting violations, the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel reported.

The probation and other smaller penalties are outlined in the university's 191-page official response to the NCAA allegations, which was filed in May and inspected by the newspaper.

The NCAA made the 12 charges of recruiting violations against Tennessee in February after nearly two years of investigating basketball coach Bruce Pearl, football coach Lane Kiffin and their coaching staffs. Kiffin already had left Tennessee for Southern California, and Pearl was fired in March.

GOLF

Thompson, ex-Rebel Campbell tied for Canadian Open lead

Michael Thompson followed up his even-par first round with a 4-under 66 to move into a tie with former UNLV standout Chad Campbell after the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Campbell shot 67 in cloudy morning conditions, and Thompson bettered it on a sunny afternoon, finishing with a birdie on the tough 472-yard, par-4 18th to reach 4-under 136.

Paul Goydos (69) and Lee Janzen (68) had a share of the lead before bogeys on their final hole dropped them to 137.

Also: Americans Mark Calcavecchia and Lee Rinker shared a two-shot lead with Canada's Ron Spittle after the second round of the Senior British Open in Walton on the Hill, England.

Calcavecchia, one of three overnight leaders, made six birdies in his 3-under 69. Rinker and Spittle, who each shot 67 at Walton Heath, joined Calcavecchia at 7-under 137.

Australian Peter Fowler was two shots back after a 68, with Americans John Cook (67) and Mike Goodes (70) tied at 4 under.

Miki Saiki of Japan took a one-stroke lead at the Evian Masters in Evian-les-Bains, France, shooting a 5-under 67 in the second round to move to 9-under 135 as the drenched course started to dry.

Saiki leads Americans Angela Stanford, whose 66 included seven birdies, and Kraft Nabisco winner Stacy Lewis (67). Also challenging at 8 under are former Evian champion Ai Miyazato, who finished with a 68, co-overnight leader Maria Hjorth (69) and Ahn Shin-ae (69).

Sweden's Alexander Noren shot a 6-under 66 to take a three-stroke lead over India's Shiv Kapur after the second round of the Nordea Masters in Stockholm.

Noren had shared the overnight lead with amateur Robert Karlsson and Jaco Van Zyl of South Africa. He left them behind with a round that featured six birdies and no bogeys and finished at 11-under 133. Kapur also shot a 66.

Jordan Spieth of Dallas beat Adam Ball of Richmond, Va., 7 and 5 to move into today's 36-hole final of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Bremerton, Wash.

Spieth, who won in 2009, moved one win from joining Tiger Woods as the only multiple winners of the event. Woods won the tournament three straight years, 1991 through 1993.

Spieth will face Chelso Barrett of Keene, N.H. He beat Colombia's Nicolas Echavarria in 19 holes in their semifinal match.

MOTOR SPORTS

Dillon races past points leader Sauter to capture truck race

Austin Dillon passed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader Johnny Sauter on lap 127 and cruised to his first win of the season at the Lucas Deep Clean 200 at Nashville Superspeedway in Bladeville, Tenn.

Dillon, the grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, passed Sauter with 23 laps to go and didn't look back.

Dillon, who was the pole-sitter, took two tires on the last pit stop while Sauter took four.

Timothy Peters finished third, Nelson Piquet Jr. was the highest-finishing rookie in fourth place, and fellow rookie Parker Kligerman was fifth.

Also: NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Michael Annett pleaded guilty to driving while impaired.

Annett entered his plea in North Carolina District Court in Mooresville, N.C. He was given a suspended jail sentence of 120 days and sentenced to two years unsupervised probation.

Annett was arrested Feb. 6 after he ran into another car stopped at a light in Mooresville. Charges of resisting arrest, failure to reduce speed and unlawful use of a mobile phone were dismissed.

Cruz Pedregon was the top provisional qualifier in the Funny Car division at the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals in Morrison, Colo.

He covered the 1,000-foot run at Bandimere Speedway in 4.095 seconds in his Toyota Camry, reaching 307.51 mph and setting a Funny Car record at the track. Del Worsham (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) topped their divisions.

MISCELLANEOUS

Voelker downs Bowling again in Strikeforce Challengers bout

Bobby Voelker won the rubber match of a welterweight mixed martial arts trilogy, knocking out Roger Bowling for the second straight time on a Strikeforce Challengers card at the Palms.

Voelker landed a right knee to set up the knockout. He also stopped Voelker in October after dropping the first meeting in May 2010 by technical decision.

Former women's welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman won a unanimous decision over Liz Carmouche, and former University of Tennessee football player Ovince St. Preux continued his rise in the Strikeforce light heavyweight division by winning his eighth straight fight, forcing Joe Cason to tap after a barrage of punches in the first round.

Heavyweight Devin Cole won a unanimous decision over last-minute replacement Shawn Jordan.

Also: NHL enforcer Derek Boogaard had been out of drug rehabilitation for one day before his younger brother gave him an unprescribed narcotic pain pill at the start of an evening of night-clubbing, drug-taking and heavy drinking that resulted in his death, prosecutors alleged.

A complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis said Aaron Boogaard, 24, told police he gave his brother a single oxycodone the night before he found Derek Boogaard dead in their Minneapolis apartment May 13. Derek Boogaard, 28, died of what was ruled a toxic mix of alcohol and drugs.

The younger Boogaard was charged with unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, a felony that also applies when narcotics are given away for free. He also was charged with interfering with the scene of a death for allegedly flushing the rest of his brother's drug stash -- a mix of oxycodone and related drugs -- down a toilet before police arrived, the complaint alleged.

Portland assistant Bernie Bickerstaff interviewed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and former Houston coach Rick Adelman was scheduled to come in today as the team searches for a coach.

Bickerstaff is the father of former Timberwolves assistant J.B. Bickerstaff. Wolves president David Kahn is considering hiring Bernie Bickerstaff and grooming J.B. as his successor.

Former Wolves executive and coach Kevin McHale replaced Adelman in Houston. Adelman has a .605 winning percentage in 20 seasons with Portland, Golden State, Sacramento and Houston.

Basketball-related income and total player compensation each increased by 4.8 percent in the NBA last season.

The league said that, with the union, it had completed the 2010-11 season audit. Players currently are locked out after the two sides failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the issues is what percentage of basketball-related income players should be guaranteed.

Basketball-related income increased from $3.643 billion in 2009-10 to $3.817 billion. Total player compensation increased from $2.076 billion to $2.176 billion.

The increase was 1 percent the previous year and 2.5 percent two years ago.

Valerie Arioto tripled home the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, lifting the United States to a 5-2 victory over Australia at the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City.

Australia, the bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Cup runner-up, rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score before giving up three unearned runs.

Usain Bolt won the 100 meters in 9.88 seconds at the Monaco Diamond League meet in a tuneup for next month's world championships.

The Jamaican improved his personal-best time this season by 0.03 seconds but was well short of his world mark of 9.58 seconds. Nesta Carter of Jamaica was second in 9.90 seconds. Michael Rodgers of the U.S. was third in 9.96.

Uncle Mo completed his first workout since missing the Kentucky Derby because of a liver ailment, breezing three furlongs at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher looking on. Pletcher called the workout "perfect."