College Football
Mount Union quarterback wins D-III Gagliardi Trophy
SALEM, Va. – Mount Union junior quarterback Kevin Burke won the Gagliardi Trophy on Wednesday night as the top all-around player in NCAA Division III.
Burke led Mount Union (14-0) to a spot in the national championship game against Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday night in Salem. He’s 29-0 as the Purple Raiders’ starting quarterback, including a 15-0 mark last season en route to the school’s record 11th Division III title.
Burke has completed 212-of-337 passes for 3,514 yards and 44 touchdowns this season. He also has run for 1,035 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Burke is the record sixth Mount Union player to win the award, after quarterback Jim Ballard in 1993, quarterback Bill Borchert in 1997, running back Chuck Moore in 2001, running back Dan Pugh in 2002 and quarterback Greg Micheli in 2008.
skiing
Neck air bag is being tested in World Cup training
VAL GARDENA, Italy – An air bag worn around the neck for improved safety while skiing is being tested on the World Cup circuit for the first time this week.
Werner Heel of Italy and Jan Hudec of Canada wore the air bags in downhill training on Thursday.
Working with the International Ski Federation, the Italian manufacturer Dainese has been collecting information from skiers for four years. They’re trying to determine the point in a fall where a racer can no longer regain control, which then activates the bag to inflate.
Up to six skiers will wear the air bags in downhill training sessions for the rest of this season. The air bags have not been approved for races.
cycling
USA Cycling announces sites for ’15 and ’16 championships
COLORADO SPRINGS – USA Cycling announced the locations for several of championships for 2015 and 2016, which includes taking the cross country mountain bike nationals to Bend, Ore.
Dates have not been announced, but the mountain bike nationals likely will have an impact on the selection of the U.S. team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Along with the cross country nationals, Bend will host the Enduro National Championships on Mount Bachelor. Enduro events will be replacing the Super D competition.
The professional criterium nationals will be in Greenville, S.C.; amateur and para-cycling road nationals will be in North Lake Tahoe, Calif.; marathon mountain bike nationals will be in Columbia County, Ga.; gravity mountain bike nationals will be at Mammoth Mountain in California; and the collegiate mountain bike nationals will be at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.
olympics
Former gold medal skater Boitano comes out as gay
Two days after being named to the U.S. delegation for Sochi, Olympic figure skating champion Brian Boitano announced he is gay.
But the 1988 gold medalist said Thursday in a statement that “being gay is just one part of who I am. ... I hope we can remain focused on the Olympic spirit which celebrates achievement in sport by peoples of all nations.”
Boitano joined Billie Jean King and Caitlin Cahow as openly gay athletes in the U.S. delegation for the opening and closing ceremonies. Including them widely is seen as a message from the White House to Russia about its treatment of gays and lesbians. President Barack Obama will not attend the Sochi Olympics, nor will First Lady Michelle Obama or Vice President Joe Biden.
This year’s group is led by former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and others in the delegation include U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, deputy Secretary of State William Burns and presidential adviser Rob Nabors.
Associated Press
