Et cetera
Baltimore Belle rallies to win Laurel's Geisha
Baltimore Belle ran by Love's Blush deep in the stretch to capture the $75,000 Geisha Stakes for Maryland-bred fillies and mares, the Saturday feature at Laurel Park. Now a three-time stakes winner in 2011 for trainer Mike Trombetta, Baltimore Belle carried Julian Pimentel to a 1 1/4-length victory in 1 minute, 37.72 seconds for the mile distance. The 4-year-old filly won the Dahlia Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in April and took the Lady Baltimore Stakes on the Laurel turf course in her previous start. "She likes to run," said Tana Aubrey-Verge, Trombetta's Laurel Park-based assistant. "She is so versatile. We can do a lot with her. I like to try her on the synthetic surface next year." Love's Blush finished second with front-runner Access To Charlie holding on for third. Baltimore Belle paid $8 as the second choice in the wagering. "She's really a nice filly," said Pimentel, who has been aboard the daughter of Bowman's Band seven times in nine starts this year. "I really see a lot of improvement. She was very eager and it was just a matter of finding a way out because I had a ton of horse the whole way around." The win was the 50th of the Laurel Park fall meet for Pimentel, who is tied with Sheldon Russell atop the rider standings for the stand with one week remaining. Jamie Ness leads Dane Kobiskie for the fall training title. Ness has 31 victories from 100 starters, while Kobiskie has won 29 times in 92 starts. Ness has entered runners in 10 of the 27 races on the Tuesday through Thursday cards, while Kobiskie counters with six chances.
NBA: The Washington Wizards assisted the New York Knicks in their efforts to acquire center Tyson Chandler by using their available salary-cap space to take on Ronny Turiaf in a three-team deal that involved the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks needed to clear room to sign Chandler and dumped Turiaf's $4.2 million salary on the Wizards. To sweeten the deal, they added a 2013 second-round draft pick and cash considerations. A Washington Post source with knowledge of the transaction said the Wizards received $3 million from the Knicks. Because Turiaf's prorated, 66-game salary will actually be closer to $3.4 million, the Wizards will essentially rent the veteran big man for free. The Wizards also received a 2012 second-round pick from Dallas in exchange for a 2012 protected second-round pick. The Knicks received Chandler and the rights to Ahmad Nivins and Giorgos Printezis from Dallas, while the Mavericks got Andy Rautins from the Knicks. … The Wizards also signed Larry Owens, a 6-foot-7 forward who finished last season with Washington, averaging 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in five games.
College football: Maryland defensive tackle Andre Monroe, who ranks second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in sacks among freshmen (0.56 per game), was selected to the College Football News Freshman All-America second team. Defensive end Keith Bowers and linebacker Lorne Goree were named honorable mention.
Men's college soccer: Maryland senior forward Casey Townsend was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division I All-America second team. Terps junior midfielder John Stertzer made the third team. … UMBC senior midfielder Andrew Bulls (McDonogh) and sophomore fullback Daniel Welsh were named to the NSCAA Division I All-Northeast Region third team.
Women's college soccer: Penn State junior midfielder Christine Nairn (Archbishop Spalding) was named to the NSCAA Division I All-America second team. … Navy sophomore midfielder Ashlynn Soellner was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic second team; teammate Kate Herren, a senior defender, made the third team. … Messiah junior midfielder Alexandra Brandt, who lives in Annapolis, made the NSCAA Division III All-America first team, and Johns Hopkins senior midfielder Erica Suter (River Hill) made the second team. Suter and Blue Jays senior defender Jessica Hnatiuk (John Carroll) were named to the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic first team. Hopkins senior goalkeeper Kristen Redsun and freshman forward Hannah Kronick were named to the second team, and sophomore midfielder Pamela Vranis made the third team. Catholic senior defender Erin Saia (Severna Park) made the second team. … Frostburg State was honored as an NSCAA College Team Academic Award winner. The award is handed out to a team with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The Bobcats surpassed that mark by earning a 3.52 GPA, the 39th-highest GPA of any women's soccer team in the nation.
Women's college volleyball: UMBC senior Iman Kennedy was named to the America East All-Academic team and had the highest GPA, 3.88, of all the students honored. She will attend the North Carolina School of Dentistry.
From Sun staff and news services