In Brief

BASEBALL/SOFTBALL

Brewers second baseman sets
deadline to finalize extension

Rickie Weeks wants to continue talking with the Milwaukee Brewers about a long-term extension, but only until spring training begins.

The second baseman said Sunday he'll tell agent Greg Genske to stop negotiating a new contract once he reports for spring training to focus on baseball and the upcoming season.

Weeks, who made $2.85 million last year, requested $7.2 million when he swapped figures with the team. The Brewers offered $4.85 million. He hit .269 with 29 homers and 83 RBIs in 2010, the best power numbers of his career.

Also: Free agent right-hander Dave Bush agreed to a minor league deal with the American League champion Texas Rangers that includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Bush spent the last five seasons with Milwaukee. He was 8-13 with a 4.54 ERA in 32 games last year.

Jordan Stewart delivered three doubles as the College of Southern Nevada baseball team beat Arizona Western 5-4 to close out the Coyote Border Battle at Morse Stadium in Henderson.

John Putsay had a bases-loaded triple for the Coyotes (2-2) in an 11-10 loss to Cochise College of Arizona in the day's first game.

The CSN softball team lost two of three games to close out the Coyote Kickoff Classic in Henderson.

The Coyotes (4-5) upset No. 5-ranked Chipola (Fla.) Community College 7-5 but then lost to Pima College of Tucson 4-1 and to Chattanooga (Tenn.) State Community College, 8-0.

WINTER SPORTS

Bradley's return to ice results
in first U.S. figure skating title

A few months after plotting out his retirement, Ryan Bradley won his first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Charlotte, N.C.

It was hardly a convincing victory for the guy who was lured back by a fan campaign on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, however. A conservative performance left Bradley fourth in the free skate, but his lead from the short program -- and some meltdowns from the guys who'd been right behind him -- was enough to claim the title.

The 27-year-old finished with 231.90 points, edging out up-and-comers Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner.

Two-time defending champion Jeremy Abbott finished fourth.

Also: The ECHL Western Conference-leading Wranglers came up short in their bid for a three-game road sweep of the Victoria Salmon Kings, losing 4-2 in Victoria, British Columbia.

Tyler Mosienko and Blair Riley scored for Las Vegas (27-12-3).

Shaun White captured his fourth straight superpipe crown at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., holding off Scotty Lago by performing his signature trick -- the Double McTwist 1260 in which he launches himself high above the pipe, then does two head-over-heels flips and three rotations.

That was good enough for the two-time Olympic gold medalist to overtake Lago, who led after the first run despite competing with a broken jaw.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia erased a massive deficit in the slalom leg to win a World Cup super combined race in Chamonix, France, clinching the discipline title with his seventh victory this month.

Kostelic earned his 18th career victory by finishing in a combined time of 2 minutes, 57.12 seconds.

MISCELLANEOUS

Faith Lutheran football player
gives oral commitment to Navy

Faith Lutheran High School senior receiver and linebacker Don Pearson made an oral commitment to Navy, Crusaders coach Jacob Kothe said.

Pearson chose the Midshipmen over a scholarship offer to play linebacker at UNLV.

In other prep recruiting news, Bishop Gorman senior defensive end Bryson Mook recently said he committed to Northern Arizona over an offer from Texas-El Paso.

Also: The last two of the hospitalized Iowa football players have been released.

The 13 student-athletes checked into the hospital Jan. 24 after complaining of discolored urine and extreme soreness. They were diagnosed with a muscle disorder that can be caused by extreme physical exertion. The students all had participated in intense offseason workouts that started the previous week after the players returned from winter break.

Former Connecticut women's basketball standout Diana Taurasi told The Associated Press that she has never taken performance-enhancing drugs.

The denial was made during her first interview since testing positive in December for the stimulant modafinil. Taurasi and her lawyer blamed the Turkish lab where the sample was tested.

Taurasi said she intends to return to the WNBA when the season begins in June and plans to play for the U.S. team in the 2012 Olympics.

Defending Grand-Am Series champion Scott Pruett drove the last leg in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and held off Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon on the final restart.

America's longest endurance race came down to a one-lap sprint.

The victory fills the hole created last season when owner Chip Ganassi's primary car finished second in the twice-around-the-clock endurance race in Daytona Beach, Fla. That failure became glaring after Ganassi drivers won the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

Ganassi now is the only car owner to win the four biggest races in the United States during a 12-month period.

England's Paul Casey sank a 5-foot par putt on the last hole to win the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions in Riffa, Bahrain, for his first title in 20 months.

Casey needed the putt at No. 18 to secure the victory after playing partner and co-leader Peter Hanson of Sweden missed an up-and-down from the greenside bunker.

Casey closed with a 4-under 68 to finish at 20-under 268. Hanson fell into a tie for second with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez at 269.

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson successfully defended their Champions Skins Game title in Kaanapali, Hawaii, finishing with seven skins and $310,000 to edge Mark O'Meara and Bernhard Langer by $10,000.

Nicklaus and Watson took five skins and $250,000 on the par-3 17th. The 71-year-old Nicklaus hit a 6-iron from 136 yards to 12 feet, and Watson made the birdie putt in the alternate-shot event.

Dialed In overcame a 15-length deficit and beat Sweet Ducky by 1½ lengths in the $400,000 Holy Bull for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Ridden by Julien Leparoux and trained by Nick Zito, Dialed In won the Kentucky Derby prep for his second victory in two career starts, running a mile in 1 minute, 35.19 seconds.

Overwhelming favorite Switch romped to a 3½-length victory in the $250,000 Santa Monica Stakes in Arcadia, Calif., for her second Grade 1 win of the young Santa Anita season.

The 4-year-old filly, ridden by Joel Rosario, was barely challenged by the other five older females in the field as she covered seven furlongs in 1:20.70.

Hall of Fame horse trainer J. Elliott Burch, who won the Belmont Stakes with Sword Dancer, Quadrangle, and Arts and Letters, died Saturday in Newport, R.I., after complications from pneumonia. He was 86.

Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., beat Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 237-215 to win the PBA Tour's Earl Anthony Memorial in Dublin, Calif.

It was the first Tour victory for the top-seeded Ciminelli, whose previous best finishes were a pair of seconds in 2009.