The Boston Cannons chose Virginia midfielder Ryan Tucker (Gilman) fourth in the first round of the Major League Lacrosse college draft Friday night. The Denver Outlaws picked Loyola Maryland attackman Nikko Pontrello with the eighth and last selection of the round. Two Johns Hopkins players went in the second round — defenseman Michael Pellegrino to the New York Lizards at No. 10 and attackman Wells Stanwick (Boys' Latin) to the Cannons two picks later. The Chesapeake Bayhawks' first selection was Denver midfielder Erik Adamson at No. 14.
Horse racing
Laurel cancels today's card; Gathagan leaving
For the third time this week, track conditions have forced Laurel Park officials to cancel live racing. Maryland Jockey Club vice president and general manager Sal Sinatra announced Friday night that the track will not conduct its nine-race card today. "Given the questionable surface we have had all week with the freeze and thaw and pending sleet and freezing rain tonight, it is in the best interest to preserve the racetrack," Sinatra said. Live cards were also canceled Monday and Friday for the same reason. Sinatra indicated that the $100,000 Frank Whitely Jr. Stakes and the $100,000 Marshua Stakes will be run next week. Live racing is scheduled to resume Thursday and run through next Sunday.
Media: Mike Gathagan, vice president of communications for the Maryland Jockey Club, is leaving Feb. 2 to become director of communications at the Maryland Catholic Conference. Gathagan spent 14 years with the Jockey Club, coordinating media coverage at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park.
Et cetera
Terps add Payne; Prince picks Alabama
D'Andre Payne, who graduated from H.D. Woodson, said Friday night on Twitter that he will transfer to Maryland after playing his freshman season at Tennessee. Rivals.com ranked Payne as the 18th-best cornerback and the second-best player from Washington in last year's recruiting class. Earlier in the day, Eleanor Roosevelt offensive tackle Isaiah Prince, whom Rivals rates as the top Class of 2015 prospect from Maryland, committed orally to Alabama, a source confirmed. Maryland and Ohio State were other schools in Prince's final three.
—Matt Zenitz, Baltimore Sun Media Group
Sailing: Minneapolis skipper Hap Fauth has won an IRC 1-class championship at the Quantum Key West sailing regatta off the Florida Keys. With two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis calling tactics, Bella Mente won the final two races Friday. Numbers, with Gunter Buerman of Highland Beach, Fla., at the helm, finished two points behind Bella Mente for second place in IRC 1 during the 10-heat, five-day regatta. Shockwave, skippered by George Sakellaris of Framingham, Mass., was third. Italian-flagged Calvi Network, skippered by Carlo Alberini, won the 54-boat J/70 class, the largest contingent of the 114-boat fleet. Swiss boat Armin Strom, steered by Flavio Marazzi, won the Great Cup 32 class featuring foiling catamarans, small replicas of America's Cup racing boats. Bella Mente, began Friday's race with only a slight edge over Numbers. On Wednesday, Bella Mente hit a shipwreck, and Hutchinson successfully argued to the race jury the wreck was not on their chart and avoided a penalty. But early Thursday, the other two crews had the decision reversed, proving the wreck was charted and pointing out an official had cited the obstacle at a pre-race meeting before Monday's first race day. Bella Mente relinquished a sizable lead. "We basically tanked two races and that was hard to overcome, especially against this caliber of competition," Fauth said. "Our plan was to be in a position to win going into the last day and that is what happened." Despite Wednesday's poor performance, Bella Mente won six of 10 races staged during the regatta. "The one constant we had all week was superb starting and tremendous boat-handling," Hutchinson said. "Every member of the crew did a great job."
Major League Soccer: D.C. United forward Eddie Johnson will miss most, if not all, of the preseason for medical reasons. United officials declined to elaborate on Johnson's condition, saying only that he would continue to undergo tests and have to skip training camp in Bradenton, Fla., which starts today, as well as a tournament in Austin, Texas, in mid-February. The inactivity will jeopardize his availability for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, Feb. 26 and March 4, against Costa Rica's Alajuelense. The MLS opener is March 7 against the Montreal Impact. Johnson is United's highest-profile and highest-paid player.
—Steven Goff, The Washington Post
Equestrian: Two youth riding teams that won national championships at the 2014 U.S. Pony Club Championships in Lexington, Ky., received the January Touch of Class Award from the Maryland Horse Industry Board last week at the Horse World Expo in Timonium. The mounted games team, called the Zig Zaggers, included Ethan Riccio, 13, of Woodbine and Laura VanHasselt, 15, of Columbia. The show jumping team included Kelsey Abrecht, 15, of Towson, Daisy Fenwick, 15, of Cockeysville and Brianna Price, 19, of Harford County.
Roller derby: The Charm City Roller Girls will begin their 10th year in Baltimore tonight, when the Junkyard Dolls face the Night Terrors and the Speed Regime takes on the Mobtown Mods at Clarence Du Burns Arena, 3100 Boston St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The first game is at 6:30 p.m. and the second about 8 p.m. General admission tickets cost $15 at the door or $12 at missiontix.com; children ages 5 to 12 get in for $5.