Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation
Ground to be broken for park at Memorial Stadium site
Former Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. and Bill Ripken — co-founders of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation — along with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Hall of Fame Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson and Hall of Fame Colts defensive tackle Art Donovan, will take part in a ceremony Wednesday to break ground for a youth development park at the former site of Memorial Stadium, 900 E. 33rd St. The park, which will be built by the foundation in partnership with the Y of Central Maryland, will be the first constructed as part of the foundation's Swing for the Future campaign. The foundation said its goal is to develop ballparks in Baltimore and take that model across the country. Each park will be designed to meet the needs within the community for those who live and play there, according to the foundation.
Mystics' Langhorne named league Player of the Week
Washington Mystics forward/center Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) was named the WNBA Player of the Week. On Thursday against the Los Angeles Sparks, she set a career high in points scored with 27, which she then topped three days later with 31 points against the Mercury. It is the first time in her WNBA career that Langhorne has been named Player of the Week. She averaged for the week 27.7 points per game, 12.3 rebounds per game and 2.7 steals per game while shooting 69 percent from the field.
Et cetera
Bays Chelsea U-16 team qualifies for national finals
The Baltimore Bays Chelsea under-16 team won its bracket in the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy League playoffs in Greensboro, N.C., last weekend and qualified for the national finals next month at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The finals will have eight teams per age group (under-16 and under-18) in California and will run from July 10 to July 18. The under-16 team qualified by defeating the Kansas City Wizards, 2-1, Chivas USA, 2-1, and the Dallas Texans, 3-0. In addition, the Baltimore Bays Chelsea under-18 team can also qualify for the national finals with a win or tie this morning versus the Chicago Fire. The under-18 team has defeated Westchester (N.Y.), 4-1, and the Texas Soccer Club, 5-2.
Horse racing: Colts and stallions were fatally injured at nearly twice the rate as female racehorses, according to early findings from an industrywide database that also uncovered no immediate proof that synthetic tracks are safer than dirt ones. Tim Parkin, an epidemiologist at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, announced the findings Monday during the Jockey Club's third summit on racehorse welfare and safety. The study, which includes information from most racetracks in the United States and Canada, covers more than 86 percent of all flat-racing starts and all steeplechase races between Nov. 1, 2008, and Oct. 31, 2009. The study showed colts were fatally injured at a rate of 3.18 times out of every 1,000 starts, with an even higher rate (4.06 per 1,000) for older male horses that hadn't been gelded. The rate was much lower for fillies (1.84 fatalities per 1,000 starts) and mares (1.66 per 1,000).
Women's college lacrosse: Tara Singleton, a three-year assistant at Denver, has joined the Johns Hopkins' staff. Singleton will coach the Blue Jays defense as well as assist with recruiting and day-to-day operations.
Men's college basketball: Skidmore named Navy assistant coach Joe Burke its head coach.
Women's college basketball: Courtney Jackson, a 5-foot-8 guard from Tuscarora, was added to Hood's roster.
Men's college track and field: Recent Navy graduate Mark Van Orden, a weight thrower, was one of 16 students nationally named to the ESPN The Magazine men's track & field/cross country Academic All-America first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Coppin State junior runner Dale Dunn was named to the second team and recent UMBC graduate Dominic Devaud (Archbishop Curley), a heptathlete, made the third team.
College football: Lindy's magazine ranks Navy as the 44th best team in the country, better than any of its opponents, including Notre Dame (49th), Air Force (60th), Wake Forest (65th), Central Michigan (69th), Duke (70th), SMU (75th) and Maryland (76th).
Wizards: The team will introduce first-round draft pick Trevor Booker and second-round selection Hamady Ndiaye today at Verizon Center.
—From Sun staff and news services