Angel reliever Mark Leiter was named winner...

Angel reliever Mark Leiter was named winner of the Tony Conigliaro Award for overcoming adversity. Leiter’s 9-month-old son, Ryan, died last April of spinal muscular atrophy, a child’s form of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. . . . Charley Smith, a former major league infielder once traded to the New York Yankees for Roger Maris, died in Reno after having had knee surgery. He was 56. . . . Organizers of a proposed Continental League said they will start an eight-team league in 1997, with each team having a top payroll of $7 million.

Jurisprudence

The wife of embattled King President Bruce McNall filed for divorce. Jane Merriam Cody cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

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A police officer involved in a confrontation with Deion Sanders at Riverfront Stadium had no reason to arrest the Cincinnati Red outfielder, Sanders’ attorney said. Herb Kohus said he was injured when Sanders ignored an order not to drive his motor scooter through a pedestrian gate after a game Aug. 8.

Nevada basketball Coach Pat Foster and an assistant said they were unaware that star forward Jimmy Moore had been accused of date rape while attending junior college in Utah. Moore was recently arrested in Reno for allegedly punching two women outside a nightclub.

College Football

Warren Sapp, a junior defensive end at Miami, became the first member of the Hurricanes to win the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman. . . . Rashaan Salaam of Colorado won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back.

Ohio State Coach John Cooper, who interviewed for the Louisiana State job, agreed to a tentative five-year contract extension with the Buckeyes, a radio station reported.

Golf

Nick Price, whose six titles in 1994 included victories in the British Open and the PGA Championship, was voted player of the year by the Golf Writers Assn. of America. Laura Davies was voted player of the year on the LPGA tour and Dave Stockton won the honor on the senior tour. . . . JoAnne Carner and Jim Albus were one of three teams tied for the lead after the first round of the J.C. Penney Classic at Tarpon Springs, Fla., a mixed-team event that pairs LPGA pros with PGA Tour or Senior PGA Tour players.

Miscellany

The NCAA has chosen San Antonio as the site for the 1998 Final Four in men’s basketball.

Kerri Strug, the youngest U.S. Olympian in Barcelona at 14, has signed a letter of intent to compete in collegiate gymnastics at UCLA after the 1996 Olympics.

Azusa Pacific reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA women’s volleyball tournament at Chattanooga, Tenn., by defeating St. Francis of Illinois and Hastings of Nebraska in pool play.

The United States won a medal for the first time in a Nordic combined sprint relay, finishing third behind Norway and Japan at Steamboat Springs, Colo.