GRIM REPEATS AS SECTIONAL CHAMP

AKRON — Heartland Christian junior Cooper Grim won his second straight Divivision II district tennis singles title on Saturday at the Springside Athletic Club. 

In the semifinal, Grim beat 2025 state third-place finisher Ilya Shcherbakov of Pepper Pike Orange 7-5, 6-0. 

He faced another Orange player, Vivaan Moghekar, in the final and won 7-6, 6-4. 

The state tennis tournament will be held May 28-29 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. 

CLIPPERS, BULLDOGS PLAY TODAY

A pair of Division VI sectional baseball games postponed by rain on Friday will be played at 5 p.m. today.

The 17th-seeded Columbiana Clippers will resume their game against 19th-seeded Rootstown at Firestone Park. Rootstown is leading 3-1 entering the sixth inning.

The winner will play at fifth-seeded Jermoesville Hillsdale in the district semifinals Wednesday. Hillsdale escapade from 29th-seeded and two-win Ashland Mapleton for a 3-2 win Saturday.

The 22nd-seeded East Palestine Bulldogs will host 24th-seeded Mogadore at Ace of Diamonds.

The winner travels to top-seeded Lake Center Christian on Wednesday. Lake Center blanked 30th-seeded Campbell Memorial, 19-0, in five innings Thursday.

In a Division IV district semifinal, 19th-seeded West Branch travels to third-seeded Norton at 5 p.m. today.

EAGLES HOST REBELS

HANOVERTON — United and Crestview are meeting on the baseball field for the first time in three years.

The 10th-seeded Rebels (16-10) will travel to ninth-seeded United (17-6) for a Division V district semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Crestview defeated Beachwood, 9-8, on Monday in the completion of a suspended game from Friday.

The last time the teams played, United beat Crestview, 4-1, in sectional play.

CHESTER DROPS SALEM

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Chester Oldtimers baseball team improved to 2-0 by defeating Salem AMVETS, 12-1, Sunday.

Kevin Ferrell picked up the win, allowing one hit in five innings with eight strikeouts.

Nathan Six and Bobby Vaughn led Chester with three hits. Steve Bell contributed two hits.

Chester plays Greenville (Pa.) at Thiel College at 1 p.m. Sunday.

MURRAY CLAIMS RUNNER-UP HONORS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Oak Glen senior Logan Murray led the way for the Golden Bears on Saturday on the second day of the West Virginia state track and field meet at Laidley Field. 

Murray took second in the Class AA long jump with a best leap of 21 feet, 3 inches on his fifth attempt. He fouled on his first and third attempts while also recording jumps of 20-8 1/2, 19-7 3/4 and 21-2 3/4.

Doddridge County’s Tommy Walters-Hickman won with a best leap of 21-10 1/2. Hickman went 21-6 3/4 on his first jump and hit his winning distance on his last jump. 

In the 110-meter hurdles, Murray was once again second in 15.58 seconds. Independence’s Christian Linksweiler won in 15.21. Murray’s time in the final was almost identical to his prelim time of 15.53. Linksweiler’s personal best came in the prelim (15.04). 

Murray also ran in the 400 relay with Mason Kell, Chance Ripley and Charles Oliver. Tthe Golden Bears were seventh in 44.97. Independence won in 43.10, a season’s best for that team. 

In the 1600 relay, Kell, Gavin Geisse, Oliver and Xaiver Sell were 12th in 3:47.82. 

The sophomore Oliver also ran a personal best 22.59 in the 200 dash to finish seventh. 

Oak Glen’s boys finished seventh as a team in Class AA with 30 points. Doddridge won the team championship by a wide margin with 142 points. 

In girls action, junior Lacey Cameron took fourth in the 1600 run (5:29.13). She came in with the eighth best time at regionals. Frankfort’s Bailey Ferguson won in 5:11.21. 

In relay events, the Golden Bears’ 1600 team of Emma Everett, Amelia Kampmeyer, Addyson Wells and and Cameron was sixth in 4:27.58. Weir High won the event in 4:16.32. 

In the 400 relay, Kalli Ates, Sophia Mascio, Wells and Everett took 14th in 55.05. In the 800 relay, the same team was also 14th in 1:59.01.  

Oak Glen’s girls finished 15th in Class AA as a team with 16 points. Williamstown was the runaway winner with 115 points. 

RECORD PURSE FOR INDY 500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist earned a record $4.34 million payout after winning his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday — topping Alex Palou’s total from last year by more than $500,000.

The total purse, $30,906,400, was also a race record, organizers announced before Monday night’s formal victory celebration dinner in downtown Indianapolis. That’s a nearly $11 million increase over last year’s previous all-time high.

Rosenqvist made a daring, perfectly timed pass on the outside of David Malukas in the closing yards, beating Malukas across the yard of bricks by 0.0233 seconds in the closest finish in race history. The previous mark came in 1992 when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds.

Malukas finished second for a second straight year on the Brickyard’s 2.5-mile oval.

“The Indianapolis 500 continues to make history, in more ways than one,” track president Doug Boles said in a statement. “The month of May featured a back-to-back grandstand sellout crowd — our largest crowd since the 100th Running in 2016 — and intense on track action with the most lead changes ever in the Indy 500. Felix Rosenqvist added his name to the history books in stellar fashion, with the closest finish in Indy 500 history and now the largest purse. There’s no better end to a memorable month.”

The average payout nearly doubled, hitting $936,500 compared with last year’s record of $596,500.

Mick Schumacher collected a $50,000 bonus for being named the race’s Rookie of the Year. The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher pocketed $218,800.