Marciulionis Hurt, Could Miss NBA Season

Sarunas Marciulionis, Golden State Warrior guard, suffered a torn knee ligament while playing basketball and will probably be sidelined for the entire season.

The team said Tuesday the 29-year-old Lithuanian was playing at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., on Monday when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Surgery will be scheduled once the swelling has gone down, in about two weeks. Marciulionis missed most of last season because of leg injuries.

Hockey

Mario Lemieux skated for the first time since his back surgery July 28, but didn’t say if he felt any pain. Lemieux declined to answer questions after the skate, although he told a Pittsburgh Penguin publicist that he felt fine. He didn’t indicate when he might skate again.

Lemieux has not practiced since the Penguins opened training camp earlier this month. He said he hopes to return by late October.

Baseball

Kansas City Royal catcher Mike Macfarlane and first baseman Wally Joyner will miss the rest of the season because of injuries.

Macfarlane has a partially torn tendon in his right knee suffered near the All-Star break, which still bothers him. Joyner left a game on Sept. 15 with pain in his lower back and has not played since.

The Texas Rangers announced that their new stadium, scheduled to open next spring, will be known as the Ballpark in Arlington.

“We think the name speaks for itself,” Ranger general partner George W. Bush said.

The 48,000-seat stadium, which will replace Arlington Stadium, is 80% complete.

Kansas City Royal Manager Hal McRae agreed to a one-year contract extension for 1994. McRae became manager in May of 1991 when John Wathan was fired.

Miscellany

The California Horse Racing Board issued a complaint against trainer Gary Jones, whose 3-year-old colt, Capel, tested positive twice for a prohibited painkiller after running fifth in a $36,000 race at Del Mar last month.

The racing board identified the drug as dezocine. The board has referred the case to the stewards at Fairplex Park and a hearing is expected to be held for Jones, who ranks eighth nationally in purses this year with $3.3 million.

Jones has been out of the country and unavailable for comment. Allen Paulson, the owner of Capel, said Sunday that he believes Jones and his veterinarian, Steven Allday, are not responsible for the use of the drug.

The top-ranked Long Beach State women’s volleyball team (10-0) will play host to eighth-ranked USC (8-2) in a nonconference match tonight at 7:30. The 49ers are led by 6-foot-2 middle blocker Danielle Scott, a two-time All-American who leads the nation with a .527 hitting percentage.

Names in the News

A funeral Mass for John Pennel, former world-record pole vaulter, will be said at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Westlake Village. Pennel, the first to clear 17 feet, died of cancer Sunday at 53.

Running back Eric Bieniemy of the San Diego Chargers failed to appear in court in Boulder, Colo., on an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license. Judge Thomas Reed ordered the district attorney’s office to find another court date.

Alexi Lalas signed a contract that will keep him in training full time with the U.S. national soccer team through the World Cup next year. Lalas has been under a part-time contract.

Larry Holmes, making the most of a strong right hand against a clumsy opponent, scored a unanimous decision Tuesday night over journeyman Jose Ribalta at Bay St. Louis, Mo.

Holmes, 43, a former heavyweight champion, improved to 59-4 in the 10-round bout. Ribalta is 32-10-1.

Rookie Bobby Hurley of the Sacramento Kings, formerly of Duke, won the Joe Lapchick Trophy as the nation’s top senior college basketball player.

Times sportswriter Julie Cart has won the daily newspaper story category in the Women’s Sports Foundation’s annual journalism contest. Cart’s winning story was about Olympic track star Gail Devers.