Arizona State’s Wade Arrested in Man’s Death

Arizona State running back Loren Wade was arrested Saturday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a former Sun Devil football player.

Police said Brandon Falkner, 25, of Tempe, Ariz., was shot in the head about 2:30 a.m. Saturday as he sat in his car outside Club CBNC, a nightspot in Scottsdale.

Scottsdale police said Falkner and Wade exchanged words before the shot was fired.

Wade was driving a car with three others inside when he went to the club to pick up his girlfriend, Haley van Blommestein, a former soccer player at Arizona State.

Wade was arrested by Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies who were working as security guards at the club.

Sun Devil football Coach Dirk Koetter canceled the team’s first spring practice in pads.

Practice had been going for about 30 minutes when Koetter learned why Wade was absent. He gathered the players, told them what happened and dismissed the team.

“I think ‘shock’ is the best word,” he said about their reaction.

Falkner, a defensive back, was a three-year letterman who played 26 games for the Sun Devils from 1999 to 2001.

Wade, 21, from Gardena Serra High, started the first three games for Arizona State as a sophomore last season but was suspended for the rest of the season while the school investigated whether he received improper benefits from a university employee.

Wade was cleared to return to the team and participated in three non-pads practices last week.

As a redshirt freshman in 2003, Wade set a school freshman rushing record and finished fifth in the Pacific 10 Conference with 773 yards.

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Washington State running back Kevin McCall, a former Carson High standout, pleaded not guilty to a charge of third-degree rape at his arraignment Friday in Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court.

McCall was listed as Washington State’s No. 2 running back before he was suspended from all football-related activities after a university student accused him of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room March 6.

A trial is scheduled to begin May 23. McCall is free on $10,000 bond.

Motor Racing

Rookie Reed Sorenson raced to his first NASCAR Busch Series victory, beating Kenny Wallace by 14.417 seconds in the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Sorenson, 19, started from the pole in a Dodge after topping qualifying for the first time. It was the 11th start of his Busch career. He led three times for 197 laps in the 225-lap event on the 1.33-mile track.

Wallace, driving a Ford, had his first top-five finish since the 2002 season. Shane Hmiel was third in a Chevrolet.

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Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills won the Auto Club Late Models series race at Irwindale Speedway, beating Johnny White of Covina in the 50-lap feature race by 0.704 seconds.

Steve Stewart of Long Beach won the 25-lap Pick Your Part Figure 8s series race, Lee Hatch of Upland won the 75-lap ASA Speed Truck Challenge series race, and Alex Harris of Simi Valley won the 35-lap USAC Ford Focus Midgets series race.

Tennis

Roger Federer won his 17th match in a row and began a bid for his first Nasdaq-100 Open title by beating Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 6-1, at Key Biscayne, Fla.

In women’s play, top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo overcame a slow start to beat Maria Kirilenko, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

American qualifier Jeff Morrison reached the men’s third round by upsetting 10th-seeded Joachim Johansson, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

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An MRI exam showed that Andy Roddick’s right wrist injury that forced him to retire against Fernando Verdasco in the second set Friday is only a mild sprain, ATP Tour trainer Doug Spreen said.

Miscellany

Chivas USA ended its exhibition season with a 1-0 loss to Osasuna of Spain in front of 10,596 at the Home Depot Center. Valmiro Lopez Rocha scored on a header in the 70th minute. Chivas USA opens Major League Soccer play as an expansion club Saturday against defending champion D.C. United.

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Peter Vagenas scored two goals and Guillermo Gonzalez scored in the Galaxy’s 3-0 exhibition victory over the Fresno Fuego at Clovis, Calif.

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Auburn won its third consecutive NCAA men’s swimming and diving championship, finishing with 491 points at Minneapolis. Stanford was second with 414. USC sophomore Larsen Jensen won the 1,650 freestyle in 14:32.01 -- the fourth-fastest time in U.S. open history.*

Alex Rasmussen of Denmark won the men’s 15-kilometer scratch, Britain won the men’s team pursuit and Kate Mactier of Australia won the women’s individual pursuit in the Track Cycling World Championships at Carson.

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Deena Kastor, Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, won the U.S. women’s 8-kilometer championship at New York in 25 minutes 5 seconds, just short of Lynn Jennings’ record of 25:02 set in 1991.

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Texas softball players Tina Boutelle, Desiree Williams, Amy Bradford and Alexis Garcia suffered ankle sprains and scrapes to their lower legs when part of the team’s dugout collapsed during a game against Kansas at Austin, Texas. The game, which had been delayed by rain, was canceled.

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Defending women’s surfing world champion Sofia Mulanovich of Peru, who was eliminated three weeks ago in the second round of the season’s first World Championship Tour event on Australia’s Gold Coast, won the SPC Fruit Pro at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia. Mulanovich used wave scores of 7.83 and 8.0 to defeat Australian veteran Serena Brooke in the 35-minute final in two- to three-foot surf.