Auto Racing
IndyCar doubles its points for the 500-mile jewels
INDIANAPOLIS – IndyCar will award double points for the three “Triple Crown” races and award points based on qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
The three “Triple Crown” races are the only 500-mile events on the schedule: The Indianapolis 500, the July race at Pocono and the season finale at Fontana.
A win in those races now will be worth 100 points instead of 50, with second worth 80 instead of 40, all the way down to positions 25th on. Those drivers now will receive 10 points instead of five.
Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 will award 33 points to the pole-winner, with each position on down earning one fewer point.
College Hockey
Hobey Baker candidates announced Thursday
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota sophomore goalie Adam Wilcox is among the 10 candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.
The list was announced Thursday.
Three finalists will be declared April 2. The winner will be introduced April 11 in Philadelphia during the Frozen Four.
Also among the top 10: Nebraska-Omaha junior forward Josh Archibald, St. Lawrence senior forward Greg Carey, St. Cloud State senior Nic Dowd, Ohio State junior forward Ryan Dzingel, Boston College junior forward Johnny Gaudreau, Union junior defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, Boston College senior forward Kevin Hayes, Ferris State junior goalie C.J. Motte, and Wisconsin junior goalie Joel Rumpel.
Ski Racing
Shiffrin wins the giant slalom at U.S. championships
SQUAW VALLEY, Calif. – Olympic slalom gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin won the giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships by nearly 2 seconds Thursday.
The 19-year-old Shiffrin, who is based in Eagle-Vail, won her third U.S. title overall, after slalom championships in 2011 and 2012.
She completed Thursday’s two runs in 2 minutes, 30.93 seconds. The race was open to women from other countries, and Marie-Michelle Gagnon of Canada finished second, 1.88 seconds behind. Julia Mancuso, a four-time Olympic medalist who lives in Squaw Valley, was third.
Shiffrin became the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history last month at the Sochi Games, then returned to the World Cup circuit to wrap up a second consecutive slalom season title.
Hoefl-Riesch, 29, retires after a 13-year career
MUNICH – Three-time Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany is retiring from Alpine skiing.
The 29-year-old German, the 2011 overall World Cup champion, won the super-combined at last month’s Sochi Olympics and also took gold in the super-combined and slalom at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Hoefl-Riesch fell in the season’s last downhill last week in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, but still won the World Cup discipline title in the event.
In a career spanning 13 years, Hoefl-Riesch was Germany’s most successful Alpine Olympic skier. She also took silver in the super-G in Sochi. She is a two-time world champion, taking the slalom title in 2009 and the combined in 2013, and had four bronze medals in various disciplines.
On the World Cup circuit, Hoefl-Riesch had 27 wins and 81 podium finishes. Apart from the 2011 overall title and this year’s downhill crown, the versatile skier also won season titles in super-G, super-combined and twice in slalom. Her crash in Lenzerheide probably stopped her form winning the overall title again.
Soccer
MLS referee lockout ends with a 5-year pact
NEW YORK – Major League Soccer’s referee lockout ended after an agreement on a five-year labor contract.
Replacements had been used for the first two weekends of MLS games.
The agreement will run until Jan. 15, 2019.
Associated Press
