HARTFORD, Conn. — Rebecca Bross started on what looks like an inevitable road to a national title Thursday night, running through four terrific routines to take a big lead heading into the final of the U.S. gymnastics championships.
Bross finished with 60.4 points in the opening round, good for a 2.2-point lead over Mattie Larson.
While Bross was dominating the all-around, Alicia Sacramone kept her comeback on track, scoring 14.85 on beam and landing solidly on both her vaults for a 15.65 and 15.35.
Bross’ biggest competition was supposed to come from Bridget Sloan, the defending national and world champion. But injuries to Sloan’s ankle and shoulder limited her participation to one event — the balance beam, where she fell and scored a 13.15.
She will get another chance Saturday night, as will Bross, who held leads at last year’s nationals and worlds but couldn’t close the deal.
Saban calls for solidarity
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A group of college football coaches joined in a conference call with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the NCAA and others to address problems with unscrupulous agents who have led to investigations at several schools this summer.
Alabama’s Nick Saban, a former Miami Dolphins head coach, said he helped organize the call with coaches he “had a tremendous amount of respect for,” the NFL Players Association and a handful of athletic directors and agents.
Florida coach Urban Meyer, Ohio State’s Jim Tressel and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops also participated.
“We’re all trying to put our heads together to figure out what we can do to level the playing field so that everybody that’s in the agent community — which some of them are very professional — have the same opportunity to recruit players, and that the bootleggers out there are guys that get punished and penalized,” Saban said. “And that the players that deal with them are going to have some of the same consequences.”
The NCAA has been investigating alleged improper agent contact involving players at Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
• Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo dismissed three players — senior running back Chevon Walker, senior defensive end Colin Luczynski and junior offensive lineman Eric Rettke — from the team for unspecified rules violations.
• Georgia selected Florida associate athletic director Greg McGarity to succeed Damon Evans as athletic director.
Footnotes.
Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy will undergo surgery for an arm injury he suffered in Saturday’s match against Toronto FC and is expected to miss the rest of the MLS season.
• This season will be MLS career goal (132) leader Jaime Moreno‘s last with D.C. United.
• California race horse breeder Frank “Scoop” Vessels was killed in a small plane crash in a remote area of Oregon. He was 58.
• NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was released from a Minnesota hospital two weeks after he suffered facial injuries in a Wisconsin plane crash.
The Associated Press
