GRIM ADVANCES TO DISTRICT

BOARDMAN — Heartland Christian junior Cooper Grim cruised into the Div. II district tournament by winning two matches on Wednesday at the Boardman sectional tennis tournament

In the second round Grim beat Struthers’ Zachariah Halverstadt 6-0, 6-0 and Mooney’s Michael Frangos 6-0, 6-0 in the sectional semifinal.

Grim, a two-time state qualifier, will meet Mooney’s Maximus Marino, the fourth seed, in the semifinal on Friday.

The district tournament is set for May 22-23 at Springside Athletic Club in Akron. Four singles and four doubles players from that tournament will qualify for the state tennis tournament which is set for May 28-29 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. The professional tennis facility hosted the state tournament from 2014 to 2022.

MOUNT UNION GOLFERS AT NATIONALS

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — Mount Union’s men’s golf team did not make the cut Wednesday the NCAA Division III Championship at Mission Resort and Club.

The Purple Raiders tied for 34th a +48 through two round.

Illinois Wesleyan leads the team standings at -5, three strokes ahead of Washington & Lee.

Mount Union freshman Jase Libb, a West Branch High School graduate, shot +13 in both rounds and is in 216th place. Fellow freshman Austin Wilhout was Mount Union’s top golfer in a tie for 61st at +5.

Oglethorpe University junior Ryan Dunn leads at 6-under-par.

Forty-three teams and 225 golfers are competing in the tournament.

PURPLE RAIDERS ARE ALL-OAC

ALLIANCE – Mount Union senior Sydney Mercer and sophomore Allison Jones were named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference women’s softball first team.

Mercer, a West Branch High School graduate, started in all 35 games for Mount Union this season, finishing with a .391 batting average with 45 hits, 10 doubles, three triples, one home run, 23 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. She also broke the school records for career runs, RBIs, hits and doubles.

Jones, a Western Reserve High School graduate, also played in all 35 games and started 34. She led the team in batting average with a .417, recording 35 hits with one double, five triples, 13 RBIs and nine stolen bases.

Senior Lydia Brunner, a Minerva High School graduate, received honorable mention. She started in all 35 games, finishing with a .326 batting average with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs, 20 RBIs and four stolen bases.

Head coach Meghan Simons, another Minerva High School graduate, and assistant coaches Jillia Cook and Erika Warren were also named the Donna J. Newbury OAC Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Purple Raiders to a 29-6 record overall and going 15-1 in OAC play, winning their third OAC regular sason Championship in four seasons.

FIRST STATE FLAG FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT SET

CANTON – Following the conclusion of the regional tournaments hosted by the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, eight schools have punched their ticket to the Inaugural Ohio High School Athletic Association Girls Flag Football State Tournament this Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

Hamilton Badin won the Bengals regional tournament, while Madison won the Browns regional tournament. The top four schools from both regionals qualify for the state tournament.

Spectrum will have live coverage of the state tournament. The state championship game will be televised live on Spectrum News 1. All seven games will be streamed live at SpectrumNewsApp.com and OHSAA.tv.

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Quarterfinals (start at noon): No. 1 NE Madison vs. No. 4 SW Cin. Mount Notre Dame; No. 2 NE Grafton Midview vs. No. 3 SW Cin. Princeton; No 3 NE Burton Berkshire vs. No. 2 SW Cin. St. Ursula; No. 4 NE Macedonia Nordonia vs. No. 1 SW Hamilton Badin

Semifinals – 1 p.m.

Championship – 2:30 p.m.

STEELERS LOCK UP BOSWELL

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers and longtime kicker Chris Boswell have agreed to a new five-year contract that will make him one of the highest-paid players at his position.

The deal, announced on Wednesday, averages $7 million a season over the final four years. That ties Boswell with Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey for the largest contract awarded to a kicker.

The 35-year-old Boswell has spent all 11 seasons of his career with Pittsburgh after signing with the Steelers in October 2015.

One of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, the two-time Pro Bowler has connected on 299 of 341 field goal attempts (88%), and 353 of 369 extra point attempts (96%) while also converting all 19 of his postseason field goals.

Boswell’s 1,250 career points rank second in franchise history behind Gary Anderson (1,343). Boswell made 27 of 32 field goal attempts (84.4%) last season, including a career-long 60-yarder in a Week 1 win over the New York Jets. He was 42 of 43 on extra point attempts (97.7%) and finished with 123 points.

NCAA SPLITS MEN’S SOCCER SEASON

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Division I men’s soccer season will be split between the fall and spring with the national tournament moving to the spring starting in 2027-28, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

The sport’s oversight committee adopted the legislation, which is subject to review by the Division I Cabinet in June.

Teams will be allowed to play 18 matches from late August until the Saturday before Thanksgiving and up to 10 matches from mid-February until the start of the NCAA Tournament. Specific dates for the postseason will be determined later.

There is no movement afoot to restructure the women’s season.

The men’s oversight committee introduced its new model in January with the rationale focusing on student-athlete welfare.

The committee said the fall-spring schedule would, among other things, reduce time demands and give athletes a more balanced academic and athletic experience; the potential for fewer midweek games would result in less missed class time; and more recovery time between matches would be provided.

500 WILL LIKELY BE A SELLOUT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The world’s largest single-day sporting event will be run in front of another full house, and central Indiana residents will be able to watch the telecast of the Indianapolis 500 live.

Race organizers announced Wednesday that reserved seating for this year’s race would be sold out by the end of the day and that the local blackout would be lifted.

Official attendance figures for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” are not announced, but there are an estimated 275,000 grandstand seats around the 2.5-mile oval and the total crowd, which includes general admission tickets on the infield, reaches an estimated 350,000.

“Anticipation for race day is approaching an all-time high right here in central Indiana and across the globe,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said in a statement. “We can’t thank the world’s greatest and most loyal fans enough. The stars of the IndyCar Series are ready for an unparalleled showcase of speed, bravery and competition in front of a historic and massive crowd.”

LEGGE GOES FOR DOUBLE

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Katherine Legge hopes to become the first woman to attempt “The Double” in racing — even if she’s reluctant to claim the title.

She’s not terribly interested in being the first non-American to try it, either.

Just hours after her NASCAR team, BRANDed Management, announced that the 45-year-old British driver had added the Coca-Cola 600 to a May 24 schedule that already included the Indianapolis 500, Legge told reporters she welcomed the opportunity more than the milestone.

“I don’t want to be like the first woman because at the end of the day, I always say I just want to be a race car driver,” she said. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m Black, white, female, male, whatever it may be. I think I’m probably getting the opportunity to do this because I’m female, so that does not escape me and I’m very grateful for it. I think being the first to do anything is cool. Being one of the very few who gets to attempt to race at Indy and at Charlotte and then do both on the same day, like looking back in 10, 20 years, like yeah.”

Legge’s feat also comes on the 50th anniversary of Janet Guthrie making her first appearance on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s historic 2.5-mile oval.

Guthrie did not make Indy’s starting grid in 1976 but still traveled to North Carolina and made her NASCAR Cup Series debut by starting the World 600 in Charlotte. That was the previous version of today’s Coca-Cola 600.

Now, like then, A.J. Foyt is playing a role in this gender-breaking attempt.

In 1976, Foyt let Guthrie use a backup car in her attempt to make the field. This weekend, Legge will be one of 33 drivers trying to qualify for the 500, and she’ll driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing. In 1977, Guthrie returned to Indy, becoming the first woman to start the 500 on the same day that Foyt became the first four-time race winner.