In Brief

UNLV

Women's golfers tied for fifth
in Vegas Collegiate Showdown

The UNLV women's golf team, hosting the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, shot 8-over 296 Monday and was tied for fifth after the first round at Boulder Creek Golf Club.

The Rebels are just two shots behind second-place Washington in the 17-team tournament, with Arkansas well ahead after an 11-under 277 effort.

Kristen Schelling paced UNLV, shooting 1-under 71 to stand tied for eighth. Arkansas' Emily Tubert led after firing a course-record 63, five shots clear of the rest of the field. Therese Koelbaek and Bethany Glassford both shot 73 for UNLV and were tied for 14th.

The event continues today and Wednesday.

Also: The UNLV men's golf team was in third place after the first day of the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M., finishing two rounds with a 9-over 577 total.

The Rebels were just three shots behind leader and host New Mexico State in the 15-team field, with Washington State second at 575. Blake Biddle paced UNLV at 1-under 141, tied for fourth, and Derek Ernst was tied for sixth at 142.

New Mexico State's Timothy Madigan led at 6-under 136. The final round is today.

HOCKEY

Thrashers goalie Pavelec ready
to return after collapsing on ice

The Atlanta Thrashers activated goalie Ondrej Pavelec, less than three weeks after he collapsed in the season opener.

The 23-year-old Pavelec returned to practice last week after recovering from a concussion and was activated from injured reserve Monday.

Extensive testing determined that Pavelec's initial problem was merely a common type of fainting spell. He collapsed just 2:25 into the Oct. 8 opener against Washington, falling backward onto the ice and striking his head.

Also: Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk is expected to miss four weeks with a broken arm.

Boychuk suffered a slight fracture of the bone in his left forearm in the first period of the Bruins 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

MISCELLANEOUS

Sprint Cup standout Gordon
to add anti-hunger sponsor

Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will be sponsored next season by an anti-hunger campaign coordinated through the AARP Foundation.

The multiyear deal will be announced Wednesday by Hendrick Motorsports.

The campaign will be the first cause-related sponsorship of its kind in NASCAR, which has struggled to attract new business since the economic downturn began late in 2008.

Sponsor dollars have been dramatically reduced, and many teams, Hendrick included, had to let go of employees while adjusting to smaller budgets.

Also: USA Swimming says it will open its own investigation into the death of open-water swimmer Fran Crippen at a World Cup event in the United Arab Emirates.

The governing body of swimming in the U.S. said it will examine exactly what happened to Crippen, why it happened and what can be learned to prevent such a death from happening again.

USA Swimming says its investigation will be conducted independently of FINA, the sport's world governing body that is looking into Crippen's death.

Crippen, a 26-year-old from suburban Philadelphia, died Saturday during a 10-kilometer race. He failed to finish and was found in the water two hours later, about 400 meters from the finish, organizers said.

FIFA widened its probe into alleged World Cup bidding corruption after a former leading administrator reportedly claimed two candidates have colluded to trade votes.

FIFA said it has "immediately requested to receive all ... potential evidence" from Britain's Sunday Times newspaper regarding its reporting of comments from Michel Zen-Ruffinen, who was general-secretary of soccer's world governing body ending in 2002.

Zen-Ruffinen was secretly filmed saying Qatar and the joint Spain-Portugal bid have struck a deal giving each seven votes from the 24-man FIFA executive committee that is choosing World Cup hosts in December. Spain-Portugal wants to host in 2018, and Qatar is a 2022 candidate. Both need 13 votes to earn a victory under existing rules.

David Beckham plans to play out the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011 while continuing to hope he'll play for England again.

The IOC said it needs more time to review women's ski jumping and other events before deciding whether to include them in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The International Olympic Committee said it looks "favorably" on the proposed events, but a final decision will not be made until after their world championships in 2011.

Vince Banonis, who was a center for the Detroit Lions championship teams in 1952-53, has died at the age of 89.