Sports Briefs
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Cyclones and Wildcats will open 2025 season in football game in Ireland
Iowa State and Kansas State will play their 2025 season opener in Ireland at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
The Cyclones and Wildcats will close the 2024 regular season in Ames, Iowa, on Nov. 24, and meet again on Aug. 23, 2025, at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The fourth annual game in Ireland, announced Wednesday, marks the first time ISU and K-State have met in a season opener and third time they’ve squared off at a neutral site. They played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2009 and 2010.
“The opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and fans to visit one of the world’s top travel destinations and to showcase our football program and brand on a global stage was one we could not pass up,” K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said.
Iowa State will be playing outside the United States for the first time. Kansas State played Nebraska in Tokyo in 1992.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the Big 12 Conference to play one of its classic rivalries on a global stage while showcasing our university and its football program,” ISU coach Matt Campbell said. “We are honored that Aer Lingus selected the Cyclones to participate in this prestigious game, which will afford a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our student-athletes to experience international travel while also helping to grow the game of college football outside of the United States.”
Florida State and Georgia Tech will play in the 2024 Classic on Aug. 24. Organizers said they expect more than 21,000 U.S. fans to attend.
Man who shot ex-Saints star Will Smith receives 25-year prison sentence
NEW ORLEANS | The man who fatally shot retired NFL star Will Smith during a confrontation following a car crash in 2016 received a 25-year prison sentence Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom.
It was the second time Cardell Hayes, 36, had faced sentencing in Smith’s death. He was convicted of manslaughter in December 2016 and later sentenced to 25 years. But the jury vote had been 10-2 and the conviction was later tossed after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed such non-unanimous verdicts.
After a new trial, Hayes was convicted by a unanimous jury in January, rejecting defense arguments that Hayes had fired in self-defense, thinking that a drunken and belligerent Smith had retrieved a gun from his SUV.
“This court has struggled with this case since the time I got it,” said state District Judge Camille Buras, who presided in both trials. Before sentencing Hayes, she acknowledged the strong support he received from friends and family, and testimony that he had been a model prisoner. But she noted that both Hayes and a companion were armed when they exited Hayes’ car after the crash. And she said Smith was unarmed as he retreated to his car “perhaps to arm himself, perhaps not.”
Smith was shot eight times — seven times in the back — during the confrontation.
Buras also noted the damaging force with which Hayes’ Hummer rammed Smith’s SUV on the night of the crash. Surveillance video from the night of the shooting showed Smith’s Mercedes SUV possibly bumping Hayes’ Hummer, then driving off. Hayes followed them. He has said he did not intend to ram Smith’s car and the jury acquitted him on a charge related to the ramming at the 2016 trial.
Prosecutors had asked for the 25-year sentence, saying Hayes, while he has expressed sorrow, has never acknowledged wrongdoing. Defense lawyer Sarah Chervinsky didn’t directly ask for a specific sentence but noted strong community and family support for Hayes and, at one point in her argument, said “five years is enough.”
Smith’s daughter Lisa, now a teenager, was among those who spoke in court before the sentencing. She said her mother had to relearn to walk after the shooting and she lamented not having her father around for major life events.
“Mr. Hayes, you ruined my life,” she said. “You took my father away from me.”
In testimony in support of Hayes, his mother, Dawn Mumphrey, expressed sorrow for the loss of Smith. “Our lives are forever changed as well,” she said, her voice shaking. She tearfully looked at the judge. “I ask for your mercy,” she said.
Hayes has long said he fired in self-defense. During his first trial, he testified that he heard a “pop” before he started shooting and that he did not shoot at Smith’s wife, Racquel, who was hit in the legs.
Evidence showed Smith was intoxicated at the time of the confrontation. But there was no witness or forensic evidence to back up Hayes’ claim that Smith had wielded or fired a weapon. At the January retrial, defense attorney John Fuller did not call Hayes to testify, but insisted prosecutors had failed to prove Hayes didn’t fire in self-defense.
Hayes was released on bond in 2021 after having served more than four years of the original sentence. He was out of prison during multiple retrial delays, some due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But he was taken back into custody following the unanimous Jan. 27 verdict and had been awaiting sentencing at the New Orleans jail.
The overturned verdicts from the 2016 jury also included an attempted manslaughter conviction in the wounding of Racquel Smith. Hayes was acquitted of that charge at January’s second trial.
Hayes has already served more than four years in prison, for which he will receive credit. He has also been subject to strict supervision and home confinement. It was not immediately clear whether and how that would count toward his sentence. Buras said she would discuss that with prison officials.
Before Thursday’s sentencing, about two dozen of Hayes’ family and friends formed a circle and prayed in the wide courthouse hallway.
Smith, a 34-year-old father of three, was a defensive leader on the Saints team that lifted spirits in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. He helped carry the team to a winning season in 2006 and a Super Bowl victory in 2010. Smith attended Ohio State University and helped the Buckeyes win the 2002 national championship.
Hayes, who owned a tow truck business, once played semi-pro football and is the father of a teenager and a 2-year-old child.
USA Track & Field expands its maternity policy to give athletes more time
U.S. Olympic hurdler Christina Clemons sent numerous emails to those in the track community raising concerns over a gap in health care insurance coverage for new mothers who still wanted to compete.
Those baby steps turned into big strides as USA Track & Field unveiled a program Thursday that expands an existing maternity support system to give athletes more time to work their way back. It’s one less hurdle for women in the sport who want to start a family in the middle of their careers.
For Clemons, it’s a way to help carry the baton and follow in the footsteps of Allyson Felix and others who have been advocating for equality for mothers on and off the track.
“There is a huge lack of support in sports in general when it comes to mothers, which is crazy to me,” said the 33-year-old Clemons, who gave birth to her son, Kylo, on Feb. 4, 2023, and is trying to make the U.S. team for the Paris Games this summer. “This program (by USATF) really is filling a gap and coming in and saving the day. You don’t feel so pressured to perform at a time when no matter what you do, you really can’t — not a year after pregnancy.”
Under the current system, a Team USA athlete can gain assistance through the Elite Athlete Health Insurance set up by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. It provides insurance for one year after the end of a pregnancy, with the caveat that an athlete still expects to compete. There’s also an athlete stipend.
USATF’s new plan increases the time frame to give an athlete more of an opportunity to recover and more chances to requalify for their funding, which is based on results and rankings through a tiered system that need to be achieved by a certain date. To qualify for tier status, an athlete must meet certain criteria such as being a medalist or finalist in the most recent major meet (Olympics or world championships) or finish in the top 15 in the world rankings. There are other levels, too, based on performance.
This season, USATF’s expanded policy includes six athletes, with funding part of the organization’s overall budget. It reimburses for COBRA health care premiums, along with providing additional support through the USATF’s high-performance programs.
“For us, it’s a pretty simple fix — and an important fix,” said Renee Chube Washington, the chief operating officer for USATF. “It’s stressful being a new mom or dad. … If we can help ease a little bit of that stress, we can and we will.”
For so long, women in track and field encountered the same sort of message — get pregnant and face barriers. Through the actions over the years of some of the sport’s top runners like Felix, Kara Goucher and Alysia Montano, more light is being cast on the subject. They successfully lobbied for more protections over endorsement-contract terms.
Clemons wants to help pave the way, too.
“It’s extremely important because these changes that us mothers are making will change the outlook women have on becoming mothers while still competing,” said Clemons, a silver medalist in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2018 world indoor championships. “Many women wait until after they finish their careers to become mothers because of the fear of not being supported. We shouldn’t have to put our lives on hold when men don’t have to.”
In addition, USATF is exploring ways to provide child care options at big events for athletes who are parents.
“It’s all a part of a holistic approach to help our athletes,” Washington said. “It’s part of the secret sauce that makes the difference to get us on the podium, which is where we want to be.”
For Clemons, the new health insurance policy became a game changer.
Clemons competed until she was 2 1/2 months pregnant, with her last race at the 2022 U.S. outdoor championships that June. She didn’t officially return to training until last October, which didn’t give her a chance to requalify for tier benefits by the September deadline. She sent email after email to officials to voice her concerns.
The new program grants her a grace period to obtain tier status. Clemons made the U.S. squad for the world indoor championships last month, advancing to the semifinals in the hurdles. But it wasn’t until a race two weeks ago when she truly felt back, matching a personal-best time.
“What USATF did to correct this (gap) is huge for mothers,” said Clemons, who is preparing for U.S. Olympic trials in June in an effort to earn a ticket to Paris. “I’m very appreciative.
“I have the support that I need behind me. I really, truly feel like I’ll make this team and I’ll come home with a medal.”
Massive policing for Paris Olympics to include security checks
PARIS | Special anti-terrorism measures being put in place to safeguard the unprecedented opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on the River Seine will also apply to all buildings along the route, meaning people who work and live there and their guests will be subjected to background security checks, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said Thursday.
Those affected will be cross-checked against security services’ databases, to see whether they have previously been flagged as suspected Islamist extremists or for other radicalism, Nunez said.
The wildly ambitious July 26 ceremony is proving to be a gargantuan security challenge. Athletes will be paraded through the heart of the French capital on 94 boats along a nearly 4-mile stretch of the Seine, from east to west. They’ll be accompanied by 87 other boats for security, media and other people.
All of the parade route will be inside a high-security zone that Nunez described as an “anti-terrorism perimeter.” He said it will include the first row of buildings along the route.
“We wanted to include in the perimeter all of the buildings that have a view on the parade,” Nunez said.
The zone will be put in place from July 18 and be extended even further along both banks of the river on July 26, in the final hours before the evening ceremony.
Anyone who wants to enter the zone in the eight days before the ceremony and on July 26 itself will need to pre-register online and will “systematically” be subjected to the background security checks known in France as an “administrative investigation,” Nunez said.
Those affected will include people who work and live inside the perimeter, as well as their guests, and people going to hotels or restaurants inside the zone, he said.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said about 20,000 people live and work inside the perimeter. In the days before the ceremony, there will be places to cross the river and ways to visit the Louvre and other museums along the river without having to enter the security zone.
Nunez said the security check for those affected won’t include searching through their communications. “It’s not as intrusive as that,” he said.
“We verify if the person is known in a certain number of intelligence files,” he said.
Anyone flagged by the checks could be barred from the zone. “It will obviously be case by case,” Nunez said.
Ticket-holders for the ceremony won’t need to pre-register on the online platform that will open May 10. But Nunez said French intelligence services can do checks on them, too.
Separately, the top administrative official for the Paris region, Prefect Marc Guillaume, pledged that tests on the water quality in the Seine will be made public, without specifying when or how regularly.
Marathon swimmers and Olympic and Paralympic triathletes are scheduled to race in the river, which is being cleaned up for the Games. From July 1, samples will be collected from 36 spots on the river and its tributary, the Marne, Guillaume said.
“We will be totally transparent about our results,” he said.
Triple Crown winner Justify, jockey Joel Rosario highlight horse racing’s Hall of Fame
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. | Triple Crown winner Justify, 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner and jockey Joel Rosario have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.
They were elected this week in the contemporary category.
Jockey Abe Hawkins, Aristides, winner of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, and Lecomte were selected by the Pre-1900 Historic Review Committee. The late Harry F. Guggenheim, the late Clement L. Hirsch and the late turf writer Joe Hirsch were selected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.
The enshrinement ceremony will be Aug. 2 in Saratoga Springs.
Rosario has won more than 3,600 races in his career, which began in 2003. He won the 2013 Kentucky Derby with Orb and the Belmont Stakes in 2014 with Tonalist and in 2019 with Sir Winston. The 39-year-old native of the Dominican Republic also has won 15 Breeders’ Cup races.
Gun Runner competed from 2015-18, with 12 wins in 19 starts and earnings of more than $15 million, second-most all-time among North American-based horses. He was trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.
Justify swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner. He was named Horse of the Year in 2018. He was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
Hawkins was the first Black jockey to gain national prominence, rising from being enslaved on a plantation in Louisiana to winning 25 documented races from 1864-66 and countless other undocumented events during his career. After the Civil War, Hawkins moved north and achieved success riding at Saratoga and Jerome Park, which first hosted the Belmont Stakes.
Aristides won the Kentucky Derby and finished second in the Belmont Stakes in 1875, when he was considered the 3-year-old male horse of that year. He has a race named for him at Churchill Downs, where a life-sized bronze statue of him stands.
Lecomte had 11 wins in 17 career starts.
Guggenheim was a leading figure in the fields of publishing, mining, government service, aeronautics and philanthropy. He won 540 races as an owner and bred the winners of 1,230 races. Among his top horses were 1953 Kentucky Derby winner Dark Star and Hall of Famer Ack Ack.
Hirsch was the founder of Kal Kan Foods for pets and Stagg Foods, a major producer of canned chili. He was a co-founder and president of the Oak Tree Racing Association, which hosted a fall meet at Santa Anita in California.
Joe Hirsch, who was no relation to Clement L. Hirsch, covered the sport for the Daily Racing Form from 1954-2003. He was highly influential and played a role in the creation of the Arlington Million in 1981.
—From AP reports
