Denver Grand Jury Hears Escort Service Employee

A grand jury convened Friday in Denver to hear evidence in the Colorado football recruiting scandal, hearing closed-door testimony from a former escort service employee who says a Colorado recruiting aide handed over $2,000 to her agency.

It is the first indication criminal charges may be filed in a case that has led to sweeping changes in the football program and could cost some university officials their jobs.

The panel met for about 2 1/2 hours to hear testimony about the allegations.

The university has been embroiled in recent months in allegations that football players used sex, alcohol and drugs to lure recruits to the school.

Among the witnesses appearing before the grand jury was Pasha Cowan, former manager of an escort service. She said women from her agency were hired to go to the hotel where football recruits were often housed during campus visits.

Golf

Justin Leonard appeared on his way to another record round at the Colonial in Fort Worth, then stumbled and had to settle for a share of the lead with J.L. Lewis.

Leonard, who had a closing 61 in last year’s tournament, had a six-under-par 64 and finished the second round at six-under 134. Lewis shot a 66. First-round leader Craig Perks overcame a four-over start through five holes and was within one stroke of the lead after shooting 71.

Becky Morgan showed her usual driving accuracy in shooting a seven-under 64 that gave her an 11-under 131 total, four shots better than Grace Park (66), Young-A Yang (69) and Amy Hung (67) halfway through the Sybase Classic in New Rochelle, N.Y. Morgan led the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy last year at 83.4% and is second this year at 85.5%.

D.A. Weibring shot a six-under 65 for a two-stroke lead in the first round of the Champions Tour Allianz Championship in West Des Moines, Iowa. A 40-foot putt for birdie on No. 10 and 30-footers on Nos. 3 and 12 highlighted his bogey-free round.

Tennis

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated three-time defending champion Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, 6-2, 6-0, in the semifinals of the Strasbourg Open in France. She will play Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg for the title today in the clay-court tuneup for the French Open. Schaul beat fourth-seeded Emilie Loit of France, 6-4, 6-1.... Top-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia beat Julien Benneteau of France, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the final of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco. Hrbaty will play Santiago Ventura of Spain, who beat Christophe Rochus of Belgium, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

Motor Racing

Rusty Wallace qualified first for tonight’s NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. He finished three laps and a pit stop with an average speed of 130.647 mph in a Dodge. ... In NASCAR Craftsman trucks competition at Concord, Dennis Setzer and his Chevrolet held on to win the Infineon 200 by 0.869 of a second over Carl Edwards’ Ford.

Sebastien Bourdais won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Champ Car World Series event at Monterrey, Mexico, turning a fast lap of 1 minute 15.978 seconds. He had a top speed of 99.692 mph in his Lola-Ford on the 2.1-mile road course.

Miscellany

The New York Giants were penalized two days of their off-season program for violating the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement under new Coach Tom Coughlin. After receiving several complaints from players, Harold Henderson, the league’s executive vice president for labor relations, and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw determined that the Giants had violated rules on the length of workouts and the scheduling of classroom sessions in the off-season.... Quarterback Tim Couch has filed a grievance against the Cleveland Browns, who have banned him from working out with them, even though he is still under contract.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has agreed to meet with sprinter Marion Jones, so she can answer questions about possible evidence the agency has against her. She also wants USADA to retest her samples for the designer steroid THG and other banned substances.

Lance Armstrong finished 39th in the third stage of the Languedoc-Roussillon bicycle race in France, a tuneup for his July attempt at a sixth consecutive Tour de France title.