U.S./World Sports category, Page 344

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Michael Annett stretched the Speedweeks streak of first-time winners to three with a victory Saturday in the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Annett won for the first time at NASCAR’s national level, a career that spans 345 races in three series. He gave...

ARE, Sweden — An unprecedented victory for Mikaela Shiffrin. And easily the most dramatic. Skiing through illness, the American barely had the energy to celebrate becoming the first ski racer — male or female — to win the same event at four straight world championships. The 23-year-old Shiffrin won the...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Hill blocked his way to his first career Truck Series victory in a crash-marred season-opener Friday night at Daytona International Speedway. With only nine of the 32 trucks still running in the second overtime, Hill had to block Grant Enfinger for most of the final...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch had been sprayed with champagne and hoisted his winner’s trophy last July at Pocono Raceway when fans sitting high above the stage shouted his name so they could snap a quick photo. Busch craned his neck to oblige the requests, and the signage on...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano won the Daytona 500 qualifying races in a pair of Ford sweeps that have the new Mustang positioned for a strong showing in “The Great American Race.” Harvick won the first of the 150-mile qualifying races Thursday night that set the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Jockey Craig Perret, trainers Mark Casse, Christophe Clement and the late David Whiteley, and five thoroughbreds are contemporary finalists for the National Museum of Racing’s 2019 Hall of Fame ballot. The racehorses are Blind Luck, Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace, Rags to Riches and Royal...

It can be argued that the New York Knicks are the worst organization in all of sports. But Wednesday night, rookie Kevin Knox provided possibly the best play of the NBA season. The small forward caught a pass as he was cutting into the lane and hammered a monstrous dunk...

The Alliance of American Football was a ratings winner in its inaugural weekend, but founder Charlie Ebersol realizes it is a small sample size. “We feel really good about them and that our theory that Americans want more football tends to be true,” Ebersol said. “However, we still have to...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jim France is running NASCAR the same way he lives his life: quietly, in the background, away from the spotlight he never craved. The youngest son of NASCAR’s founder carved his own path in the family business and left the leadership roles to his father, Bill...

LOS ANGELES — Sergio Garcia apologized in a statement and in person to the players in his group when he damaged five greens at the Saudi International. He apologized in a social media post and in an interview at his locker Wednesday at Riviera. That has been the easy part....

ATLANTIC CITY — Almost no one knows the players and there’s virtually no history to look back on. But that’s not stopping gamblers from making — and bookmakers from taking — bets on America’s newest professional football league, the Alliance of American Football (AAF). With one weekend of games under...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says he has “no knowledge” of a woman’s allegation that she was sexually assaulted by a former Blue Devils basketball player and he believes the school should and will investigate. Lawyer Nancy Erika Smith has said her client, Meredith Watson, was raped by...

CLEVELAND — Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will sit out the final game before the All-Star break to get further rest following foot surgery. Love has not suffered any setbacks since returning last week to play for the first time since having the operation in November. The five-time All-Star has played...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cam Reddish made a tying 3-pointer with 1 minute, 28 seconds left and the go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds remaining, helping No. 2 Duke overcome a 23-point second-half deficit to beat No. 16 Louisville, 71-69, on Tuesday night. After making 2 of 17 shots to open...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brendan Gaughan is the son of a casino magnate and long has grasped the allure of throwing down a few bucks to wager on a sporting event. Heck, Gaughan once bet on himself in Las Vegas to win the 2004 Daytona 500. Gaughan got a stern...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Rick Hendrick was telling the truth when he insisted this year was going to be much improved from last season, the worst in team history. He moved personnel and split up seven-time NASCAR Cup champions Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. He had a Navy SEAL deliver...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Houston Texans star J.J. Watt will serve as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, making him the first NFL player to give the command for drivers to starts their engines before NASCAR’s most famous race. Daytona International Speedway made the announcement Monday, six days before...

The NCAA Division I Basketball Committee slated Duke as the No. 1 overall seed in its initial tournament rankings over the weekend. Voters in the AP Top 25 stuck with Tennessee as their top team. The Vols received 40 of 64 first-place votes from a media panel in the poll...

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson is closing in on three decades on the PGA Tour and a half-century on Earth, and he still feels his best golf is good enough. He was at his best at Pebble Beach, and no one had a chance. A Monday finish brought on...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NBA players once again will be sharing personal stories this weekend during All-Star festivities — and using basketball shoes as a platform to get their message out. When Kevin Durant takes the floor on Sunday he’ll be wearing pink Nike KD 11 Aunt Pearls shoes bearing the...

NEW YORK — Dogs from affenpinschers to Yorkshire terriers are rounding the rings at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Breed judging began Monday at the illustrious show in New York. More than 2,800 dogs in 203 breeds and varieties are signed up to compete over two days, leading up...

NEW YORK — Thirty-four years after hitting the longest shot in college basketball history, Bruce Morris is still amazed at what he accomplished. Morris was Marshall’s point guard when he hit the historic basket from 89 feet, 10 inches just before halftime against Appalachian State on Feb. 7, 1985. He...

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson put himself on the brink of a fifth victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am by turning a three-shot deficit into a three-shot lead when a wild day of weather kept him from finishing Sunday. Mickelson was bogey-free with six birdies, and he made...

The journey began in Bethany, W.Va., with a simple congratulatory text. The road led to the other side of the world. Former Saint Vincent standouts Isaac Turner (Class of 2014) and Taylor Mathers (’15) are living their own version of love and basketball. Both first-team all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference selections as...