Rules Violation Earns Suspension for ASU’s Kealy

Ryan Kealy, Arizona State’s senior quarterback, was suspended indefinitely Wednesday for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Coach Bruce Snyder would not elaborate on the nature of the violation, but school officials said interim Athletic Director Christine Wilkinson was aware of the suspension and supported Snyder’s decision.

Kealy has passed for 6,274 yards and is 444 away from leapfrogging Danny White and Jeff Van Raaphorst to become the No. 2 passer in school history behind Jake Plummer, who passed for 8,827.

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Two Oregon State wide receivers, including starter Robert Prescott, were suspended indefinitely by Coach Dennis Erickson after they were arrested and charged with assault after a fight at an off-campus party.

Prescott, a senior, and Junior Adams, a sophomore, are listed as the top two players on the depth chart at the slot receiver position. They were charged with third-degree assault after a weekend brawl that left another Oregon State student injured.

A third player, redshirt freshman receiver James Newson, also was charged with third-degree assault, but he was not suspended.

Tennis

Martina Hingis of Switzerland will skip the Sydney Olympics because her schedule is loaded and she is wary of the demands of another hard-court tournament.

Second-seeded Venus Williams began her U.S. Open preparations with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Tatiana Panova of Russia in the Bank of the West Classic at Palo Alto. No. 3 Monica Seles defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-5, 6-3.

Second-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain beat Fernando Gonzales of Chile, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round of the Generali Open at Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Hockey

The Vancouver Canucks signed unrestricted free-agent goalie Bob Essensa. Essensa, 35, finished with a 13-10-3 record in 30 games with the Phoenix Coyotes last season. He had one shutout to go with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage. . . . Free-agent center Derek Plante, who had two goals and two assists in 33 games last season for the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks, signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. . . . Restricted free agent Norm Maracle agreed to a contract with the Atlanta Thrashers, avoiding an Aug. 1 arbitration hearing.

Shawn Burr, a veteran of 13 NHL seasons, announced his retirement.

Burr spent nine seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, two with the Tampa Bay Lightning and two with the San Jose Sharks. He played four games with Tampa Bay last season before being sent to the minors.

Miscellany

The shotput winner at Vietnam’s national youth games will get her gold medal despite the runner-up’s claim that she is really a male. The victory Sunday by Nguyen Thi Phuong Kieu, 19, was held up pending medical examinations. An ultrasound conducted Tuesday determined that while Kieu has male genitalia, she also has ovaries.

Tests for human growth hormone will not be done at the Sydney Olympics.

Michael Knight, president of the Sydney organizers, said he hoped there would be enough time to approve tests for EPO, the hormone erythropoietin.

Track and field’s governing body discredited a British study on the steroid nandrolone that was used to clear one of its athletes accused of drug use.

Mark Richardson, a 400-meter runner, was exonerated by UK Athletics when its research panel concluded dietary supplements combined with exercise can trigger positive results for nandrolone.

However, the International Amateur Athletic Federation dismissed the study and might send Richardson’s case to arbitration.

Spain defeated Greece, 27-25, 25-17, 25-20, at Piraeus, Greece, to finish a men’s volleyball pre-Olympic qualifying tournament undefeated and secure a berth at the Sydney Games. . . . The U.S. women’s indoor volleyball team, ranked 10th in the world, defeated Germany, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19, at Colorado Springs, Colo.

Brazil beat Argentina, 3-1, at Sao Paolo behind Vampeta’s two goals in the soccer powers’ first-ever meeting in a World Cup qualifier. It was the first loss for Argentina (5-1) in qualifying for the 2002 tournament.

In another game, Peru and Uruguay played to a 0-0 tie at Montevideo.

Defender Daniel Hernandez of the New York-New Jersey MetroStars will sit out the rest of the Major League Soccer season because of a knee injury.