Prep Coaches Are Fired After Trip

Two high school cross-country coaches in Kansas City, Mo., have been fired from their coaching jobs after it was discovered they took a group of students to California to run in a competition that never occurred.

Jim Hinson, superintendent of the Independence school district in suburban Kansas City, said the two Truman High coaches timed the students during a practice run and represented those times as official meet results, which were reported in the local newspaper.

Boys’ Coach Tom Billington and girls’ Coach Chris Earley were removed from their coaching positions last Thursday after questions arose about the Sept. 17-21 trip to La Jolla. Both have been allowed to keep their teaching jobs for now.

Neither Billington nor Earley immediately returned messages left at the school seeking comment.

La Jolla High Principal Dana Shelburne said his school’s cross-country coach, Chuck Boyer, told him Tuesday that the students participated in a practice run but “they didn’t keep time, they didn’t have a marked course, they didn’t have a start of any sort or a finish line of any sort, that the only thing they did was to do some running together.”

Shelburne said Boyer and the Truman coaches initially discussed a dual meet, but La Jolla High couldn’t find time.

There is no indication that any improprieties or wrongdoing occurred during the trip, Hinson said. Students and parents raised money for the trip but no district money was used, he said.

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Tennis

Top-seeded Rainer Schuettler overpowered defending champion Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the second round of the Lyon Open in France. In other first-round action, fifth-seeded Mardy Fish was knocked off by Cyril Saulnier, 7-5, 6-3, while No. 2 Sebastien Grosjean quit because of a sprained ankle after splitting the first two sets against Nicolas Mahut.

Second-seeded Carlos Moya eliminated Fernando Gonzalez, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1, to reach the second round of the CA Tennis Trophy at Vienna. In other matches, Tim Henman eliminated fourth-seeded Sjeng Schalken, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2; Albert Costa beat Sargis Sargsian, 6-4, 6-4; Nicolas Kiefer defeated Alexander Peya, 7-5, 7-5; and Max Mirnyi ousted Jan-Michael Gambill, 6-4, 6-2.

Eighth-seeded Anastasia Myskina reached the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany, when Alexandra Stevenson quit because of a strained back. Myskina was ahead, 0-6, 6-1, 4-0. Also, fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-6 (4), 6-2; No. 6 Elena Dementieva beat Nadia Petrova, 6-3, 6-3; No. 7 Chanda Rubin got past Vera Zvonareva, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; and Ai Sugiyama ousted Anna Pistolesi, 6-2, 6-1.

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Boxing

Although the numbers are approximate, it seems clear neither side attracted a large number of viewers or spectators for Saturday’s dueling pay-per-view fight cards.

The Evander Holyfield-James Toney event, telecast from Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center on Showtime, drew between 150,000 and 175,000 buys, according to the cable network. A more exact figure may be available by today.

The Erik Morales-Guty Espadas show, telecast from Staples Center on HBO, drew 55,000 buys. A knowledgeable pay-per-view source said, however, that figures for both fights were probably exaggerated by 20%.

The crowd announced at Staples was 12,292. The actual paid attendance, according to the California State Athletic Commission, was 8,815.

The crowd at Mandalay Bay was announced as 7,897. The paid attendance won’t be available for several days.

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Miscellany

Scott Wimmer will replace Ward Burton later this month and keep the ride full time next NASCAR season.

Wimmer, who now drives for Bill Davis Racing in the NASCAR Busch series, will replace Burton starting Oct. 26 in Atlanta and run the final four races of the season in the car.

Burton, who won the Daytona 500 for Davis last season, said in August that he and the car owner had agreed to explore other options.

Joane Somarriba Arrola of Spain relied on her strength as a hill specialist to win the women’s time trial at the World Cycling Championships at Hamilton, Canada.