Penn State Pole Vaulter Dies at Big Ten Meet

Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare died Saturday after landing on his head during the Big Ten indoor championships at Minneapolis.

After being treated by emergency medical technicians at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse, Dare was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. He never regained consciousness, and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Witnesses said the 19-year-old sophomore tumbled backward, headfirst, onto the metal “box,” the area 8 inches deep that is used to plant the pole. He was attempting a vault of 15 feet 7 inches, well below his personal best.

“He swung upside down and sort of stalled with his jump,” Minnesota assistant coach Mario Sategna said. “It looked like he became disoriented and didn’t know where he was. I believe he thought he had cleared the bar and was on the other side of it.”

Dare’s mother, Terri, and father, Ed, were at the meet. His older brother, Eric, throws the javelin for Penn State during the outdoor season and is a defensive back for the football team.

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Regina Jacobs shattered the indoor world record for three miles, finishing in 14 minutes 44.11 seconds in the Evian Mayor’s Trophy Meet at New York. The previous mark of 14:53.80 for the rarely run race was set by Christine McMiken of New Zealand on Feb. 22, 1985.

Jurisprudence

Acting county prosecutor Steven C. Lember said he could not confirm a television report that former NBA player Jayson Williams had arranged to surrender to authorities and face a manslaughter charge in a shooting death at his New Jersey estate.

New York’s WNBC, citing an unidentified investigator, reported that Williams would be charged with manslaughter during a Monday meeting with authorities in Hunterdon County, N.J.

Costas Christofi, 55, a limousine driver, was found shot to death at Williams’ 65-acre estate Feb. 14. Published reports have quoted unidentified law enforcement sources saying Williams was holding a shotgun when it accidentally went off. Authorities have not said who fired the gun.

Tennis star Andre Agassi has sued the luxury watch manufacturer Rolex for using his name and likeness without consent, his attorney, David Chesnoff, said. Agassi is seeking a minimum of $2 million in damages. No one at Rolex was available for comment Saturday.

ESPN founder William Rasmussen, charged with corruption for a failed golf enterprise, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of felony fraud in a separate case.

He is accused in the new case of bilking three investors out of $50,000 in a stock swindle involving Stadium Naples and the A.S. Goldmen brokerage, special prosecutor Michael Von Zamft said.

Boxing

A bloodied Virgil Hill lost the World Boxing Assn. cruiserweight title to Jean-Marc Mormeck of France after failing to answer the bell for the ninth round at Marseille, France. Mormeck improved to 27-2; Hill dropped to 46-4.

Ray Mercer stopped Troy Weida 28 seconds into the first round in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout at Atlantic City, N.J. Mercer is 30-4-1, Weida is 40-11-2.

Pro Football

The New York Giants plan to release five-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jessie Armstead next week to trim salary cap space, Newsday reported. Other veterans likely to be released include offensive tackle Lomas Brown, safety Sam Garnes, quarterback Jason Garrett and tight end Howard Cross.

Former Carolina Panther receiver Rae Carruth, convicted last year of plotting the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, spent 10 days in solitary confinement after a fight over a pen in Nash Correctional Institution at Nashville, N.C.

Miscellany

Jason Keller steadily pulled his Ford away from the field to win the RBCTerm.com200 NASCAR Busch Series race at North Carolina Speedway at Rockingham.

Keller averaged 115.119 mph in a race slowed by five cautions for 27 laps. He beat runner-up Greg Biffle by 6.208 seconds.

Larry Dixon claimed his 13th career No. 1 qualifying position and first this season for today’s NHRA’s Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals at Chandler, Ariz.

Dixon had a 4.555-second run at 321.50 mph to take the top spot in Top Fuel. John Force led Funny Car qualifying and Ron Krisher led in the Pro Stock.

Ricky Carmichael, the defending 250cc Supercross champion, raced to his fourth victory of the season in front of 69,471 in Atlanta. David Vuillemin of Corona, the season leader by 20 points over Carmichael, finished second. Chad Reed of Australia won his third straight 125cc event.

Andy Roddick beat Xavier Malisse, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, while James Blake upset Jan-Michael Gambill, 6-4, 7-6 (8), in the semifinals of the Kroger St. Jude tournament at Memphis, Tenn. Today they will play only the 11th all-American final on the ATP Tour since 1997. In the women’s final Saturday night, Lisa Raymond beat Alexandra Stevenson, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), for her third career title.... Third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo defeated fellow Frenchwoman Sandrine Testud, 6-4, 7-6 (3), to win the $585,000 Dubai Women’s Open at the United Arab Emirates.... Tim Henman defeated Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5, 6-4, and defending champion Nicolas Escude defeated Sebastien Grosjean, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5, in the semifinals of the ABN Amro indoor tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Matt Bonovich had four of USC’s 26 hits, including a home run, and drove in five runs in a 26-4 rout of UCLA in a nonconference baseball game at UCLA. The Trojans are 4-5, the Bruins 7-8.

The UCLA men’s team finished first and the women’s team was second behind Arizona at the MPSF indoor track and field championships in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Ice Dogs extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Gulls before 7,783 at the Long Beach Arena.

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T.J. Simers has the day off.