COLLEGES
Boston College has hired five-time Olympian Dara Torres as its men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach to help the school rebuild the program after a hazing scandal.
BC suspended the swimming and diving program last fall after allegations that freshmen were coerced into binge drinking and then told to drink their own vomit. Coach Joe Brinkman, diving coach Jack Lewis and two assistants were fired after the school found “a team culture that has failed to meet the expectations Boston College holds for its student-athletes.”
Torres, 57, was a 28-time All-American at Florida and was named the 1988 Southeastern Conference Female Athlete of the Year. She held six world records and 10 American records in a career that spanned Olympics from 1984-2008, where she won four gold medals, four silver and four bronze.
HOCKEY
IIHF: Natalie Spooner’s knee injury hasn’t overshadowed a sensational year in which the Canadian national team forward was voted the International Ice Hockey Federation’s female player of the year.
The 33-year-old Spooner generated a third of the ballots cast by nearly 100 members of the media and IIHF members, the federation said. U.S. national team veteran Alex Carpenter finished second with 14.6% of the votes, followed by Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin (11.5%) and Switzerland’s Alina Muller (9.1%).
The honor is the latest for Spooner, who was named the MVP and top forward following the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s inaugural season. The PWHL Toronto forward led the league with 20 goals – including five game-winners – and 27 points in 24 games.
NHL: The St. Louis Blues on Tuesday signed defenseman Scott Perunovich to a $1.15 million contract for next season.
Perunovich, who turns 26 in August, was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The new deal gives him a sight raise from the $775,000 he was making last season. Drafted in the second round in 2018, Perunovich has 27 points in 96 NHL regular-season and playoff games, averaging nearly 15 minutes of ice time.
He had 17 assists in 54 games last season for St Louis.
OLYMPICS
TRACK AND FIELD: Bob Schul, the only American distance runner to win gold in the 5,000 meters at the Olympics, has died. He was 86.
His death on Sunday was announced by Miami University in Ohio, where Schul shined on the track and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 1973. No cause of death was given.
Schul predicted gold leading into the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and followed through with his promise. On a rainy day in Japan, he finished the final lap in a blistering 54.8 seconds to sprint to the win. His white shorts were covered in mud at the finish.
SOCCER
EURO 2024: Portugal substitute Francisco Conceição scored in stoppage time for a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in their European Championship opening game on Tuesday in Leipzig, Germany.
Conceição, who only made his entrance in the 90th minute, fired the ball home after Robin Hranac’s attempted block fell kindly for the Porto winger.
• Arda Guler enhanced his reputation as one of Europe’s brightest young stars by curling home a brilliant second-half goal to help Turkey to a 3-1 win over Georgia at the European Championship on Tuesday in Dortmund, Germany.
The 19-year-old forward brought a strong end to his first season at Real Madrid to the Euros by cutting in from the right and bending a fierce shot into the top corner in the 65th minute, regaining the lead for Turkey at 2-1 in a Group F match.
• Kylian Mbappé was due to have tests on his broken nose on Wednesday as France tried to assess what part he could play in the European Championship.
The World Cup winner sustained the injury during his team’s 1-0 win against Austria on Monday and will have to wear a face mask if he plays on at the tournament.
AUTO RACING
INDYCAR: Arrow McLaren made yet another driver change when it signed 19-year-old Nolan Siegel to drive the remainder of the IndyCar season. He will be the third driver to race the No. 6 this year.
Siegel will replace F2 champion Theo Pourchaire beginning this weekend at Laguna Seca in California. Pourchaire on Monday posted on social media: “Man I can’t believe I’m gonna race on the legendary Laguna Seca this weekend.”
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