SPORT

Earlier, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beats Cristina Bucsa to advance – despite joking she did not like her early morning wake-up call.

The 18-year-old was first on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Tuesday morning, stepping out at 11:00 local time in Paris.

Playing her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed, Andreeva recovered from a double break deficit in the first set to win 6-4 6-3.

“Honestly, it was very difficult,” Andreeva said.

“I’m not really happy because I don’t like to wake up early.”

Men’s world number 11 Daniil Medvedev has also complained about early starts and joked he may “boycott” morning matches.

However he did not fare as well as Andreeva, losing his morning match to Britain’s Cameron Norrie in a five-set epic.

Andreeva added: “I had to wake up at 6.40 and then I had 35 mins to pack my bags and do everything.

“Then 25 minutes to have breakfast, 30 minutes to come here and then I spent 11 minutes in the locker room and then we did the warm-up and went on court.

“It is very well planned.”

Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, will face Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands next.

Surprise! The Times of Troy is back by popular demand in your inbox, here to help ease you back into your week after what we hope was a relaxing holiday weekend.

I was honored and humbled to hear your thoughts — most of them very kind — about the newsletter’s debut season. So much so that we’ve decided to bring it back before our scheduled return in July.

We’ve got some new ideas in the works for Season 2. But between now and July, when we turn our full attention to previewing the upcoming Trojans football season, we’ll land in your inbox periodically as the moment calls for it.

Now feels like one of those moments.

One of college football’s most storied rivalries is at a crossroads. A century after it was played for the first time, the historic series between USC and Notre Dame is at serious risk of ending. A lot of fans, former players and college football purists are upset about it. Most of them are pointing fingers at USC — and at Lincoln Riley especially.

I think there’s a little more to the situation than that. But the reason USC’s coach finds himself at the center of that frustration stems from comments he first made last summer during Big Ten media day, comments that explain quite transparently where USC stands right now, almost a year later.

USC and Mississippi had just canceled a home-and-home series, and rumors were swirling that Riley had pushed administrators to pull out of last September’s matchup with Louisiana State too. When he was asked what led to those changes, Riley didn’t hide his feelings about how scheduling should be handled. Why would any power conference school schedule marquee nonconference games in the future, he wondered aloud, unless there were “more guaranteed [College Football Playoff] spots in some of these conferences.” Otherwise, he predicted, those games would happen “less and less.”

“Our schedules are already going to be so good,” Riley said. “At some point, you’re like, alright, is the juice worth the squeeze in terms of playing these games?”

Before we address how that logic applies to Notre Dame — and before you start screaming “COWARD!” at your phone/computer screen — let’s acknowledge the fact that Riley has a point. (Ducks.) He is paid — more than all but a few coaches in the sport — to get USC to the College Football Playoff. Period. And as the playoff is currently constructed, there is no real incentive, on paper, for a coach such as Riley to want an extra marquee nonconference game on the schedule. Remove 95 years of context with the Irish and, to his point, the juice probably isn’t worth the squeeze.

This issue runs far deeper than just Notre Dame and USC, but let’s address the golden-domed elephant in the room, since Notre Dame’s athletic director has the college football world worked into a lather.

This is what Riley said about the rivalry last summer:

“If you get in a position where you’ve got to make a decision on what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship versus keeping that, shoot, then you gotta look at it. I mean, listen, we’re not the first example of that. Look all across the country — there’s been a lot of other teams [that] sacrifice rivalry games. I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen, but you know, as we get into this playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we’re in this new conference, we’re going to learn something about this as we go.”

And boy did USC learn something on the road in its Big Ten debut. The Trojans unraveled on all four of their conference road trips. They realized how hard it would be to mix in an October trip to South Bend during that annual gantlet. No other Big Ten teams have that challenge on the Trojans’ particular timeline. Not to mention there’s a possible Southeastern Conference-Big Ten crossover matchup to consider in the future.

Automatic qualifiers to the College Football Playoff are the quickest way to solve this problem, as far as USC is concerned. It would give teams such as USC comfort that a loss to a nonconference opponent in September wouldn’t keep them out of the playoff. However, it would also mean rendering games such as USC-Notre Dame mostly meaningless as far as playoff resumes go.

USC is choosing to take the cold, calculated route when it comes to this quandary. And I understand why. Why should the Trojans be expected to carry the water for the soul of college football at the cost of their own playoff odds, while the rest of the sport’s leaders, USC’s own included, have made clear just how much tradition actually means to them?

Don’t get me wrong. USC isn’t being brave with its stance. It’s openly acknowledging that it is choosing the route of least resistance, no matter how its fans may feel about it. That’s not exactly valiant. And by calling them out for holding up negotiations, Notre Dame’s athletic director has already won the PR battle. If the rivalry ends after this season, the narrative will forever be that USC killed it with cowardice.

I do think that narrative would ignore some key points. Notably that USC hasn’t said it wants to end the game. Only that it doesn’t want a long-term contract before it understands the parameters of the playoff. Nor was Notre Dame interested at all in having a conversation about any concessions to USC’s situation, such as an early season date for the game, to help get a deal over the finish line. If these negotiations were simply about maintaining the rivalry, Notre Dame would have agreed to play next season already. This isn’t a one-sided stalemate.

I know that USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen would prefer to continue the rivalry with Notre Dame. I know she understands how much equity she could lose if it doesn’t continue.

I also have no doubt that she will take the heat, if necessary, for its demise, if it means putting USC on a better path to the College Football Playoff.

Is that hope of a playoff worth losing a storied rivalry? I’d understand if you said no. But USC leaders have made abundantly clear how they feel about that question. Let’s hope they never have to answer it.

USC-Notre Dame poll

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced in the next Times of Troy.

Will Saint Thomas walk onto the court with the Trojans next season?

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

—USC basketball still has two roster spots available for the 2025-26 season. One is currently being held for Saint Thomas. But it’s not clear how much longer Eric Musselman and his staff are willing to wait on Thomas’ appeal to the NCAA. The sentiment within the program was that Thomas had a compelling case for a mental health waiver, but the gears of justice grind slowly with the NCAA, and Thomas is running out of time. Summer practice kicks off on June 9. If he isn’t granted an extra year, expect USC to fill that spot with a low-major, all-conference-type point guard who could initiate the offense when called upon.

—Six-foot-10 sophomore forward Jacob Cofie is one to watch this summer. USC’s staff is very bullish on the young big man. One person with close knowledge of the program told The Times that they expect Cofie to be on draft boards by the start of Big Ten season. Along with Utah transfer Ezra Ausar — who stands 6-8, 242 pounds — Cofie should give USC much more of a physical presence in the paint, something it sorely lacked last season.

—Leaders from the Power Four conferences are floating a binding document that would force schools to fall in line with the new NIL enforcement entity … or else. It won’t work. I, for one, would love to see the Big Ten try to kick USC or Michigan or Ohio State out of the conference for not bending the knee to the new College Sports Commission. But more critically here, there’s no way that such an agreement would pass legal muster. College sports can’t supersede state law, no matter what some galaxy-brained commissioners might think.

—The College Football Playoff field will no longer give the four highest-rated conference champions an automatic first-round bye. That change to “straight seeding” was unanimously approved last week by CFP leaders, after the initial format last season was received poorly pretty much everywhere outside of Tempe, Ariz. In the new format, the committee’s top-four rated teams will be ranked one through four and get that coveted bye, no matter if they won their conference or not. That might sound like a tedious change. But this is better for everybody.

—Former USC point guard Kayleigh Heckel finally has a transfer destination. Heckel is joining Connecticut months after losing to the Huskies in the Elite Eight in her last game at USC. No one would’ve anticipated that turn in the immediate aftermath of that loss in Spokane. But hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, I guess.

In case you missed it

Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons to join USC a year early

College Football Playoff shifts to straight seeding for upcoming season

USC baseball program looks to continue breakthrough season

USC pushes for one-year renewal of Notre Dame series until CFP bids are clarified

Lincoln Riley made more than twice what USC’s president did in 2023

What I’m watching this week

Tony Reali on the set of “Around the Horn.”

(Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)

When I was a kid, still just dreaming up the possibility of writing about sports, I would flip on ESPN every afternoon after school to try and catch Bill Plaschke or Woody Paige or Jackie MacMullan on “Around the Horn.” It was the show that taught me, in my ways, how to talk about sports.

That feels more and more like a lost art these days. And maybe that’s why ESPN unfortunately saw it fit to end “Around the Horn’s” run after nearly 5,000 shows. But I will always hold the show near and dear and forever respect its host, Tony Reali, for reminding the world all these years that sports talk can still have a soul.

Until next time….

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. Whether you’ve been paying attention or not, high school football is changing. Let’s discuss.

Dealing with changes

Corona Centennial football coach Matt Logan.

(Jeremiah Soifer )

Rolling your eyes has been the theme if you follow college football and high school football. Changes keep happening because rules are in flux regarding name, image and likeness. Transfer numbers keep growing. Agents are picking up clients who are teenagers. Parents are examining options. Coaches are adjusting on the fly.

It’s the best of times and the worst of times. Many believe things will settle when court cases are finalized. Others believe amateur football has been changed forever.

Here’s a look at some of the issues, good and bad, that are affecting the high school football world.

Baseball

El Camino Real pitcher Devin Gonor celebrates after completing three-hit shutout over Venice on Saturday in a 2-0 win in the City Section Open Division final at Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston)

Devin Gonor of El Camino Real proved Saturday at Dodger Stadium that trusting the process still works. He played on the freshman team, then the junior varsity team for two years. He waited his turn, made his varsity debut last season as a junior and this season is 11-1 and pitched a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Venice to give El Camino Real its 10th City Section Open Division title. Here’s a look at how the Royals did it.

Carson players celebrate after a 3-1 win over Banning in the City Section Division I final at Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston)

Carson won its first ever City Section title in baseball by taking the Division I crown with a 3-1 comeback win over rival Banning at Dodger Stadium. Here’s the report.

Crespi players launch a victory celebration in the ninth inning of a 3-2 win over Mira Costa.

(Craig Weston)

The final week of the Southern Section season begins Tuesday with semifinals in Division 1 featuring Corona at St. John Bosco and Crespi at Santa Margarita. Here’s a report on the quarterfinals that saw four close games.

Seth Hernandez of Corona celebrates after hitting the first of his two three-run home runs.

(Nick Koza)

It also was the week Seth Hernandez of Corona hit two three-run home runs and struck out 10 in an impressive playoff performance. He’ll pitch Tuesday. Here’s a report. And Venice’s Canon King went five for five in a semifinal win over Sylmar. Here’s the report.

Here’s the complete Tuesday schedule.

Softball

El Modena players greet Kaitlyn Galasso after her first-inning home run against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

It will be El Modena playing Norco for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship this weekend in Irvine.

El Modena came through earlier in the week with a comeback semifinal win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Here’s the report.

On Saturday, Norco defeated Ayala and El Modena knocked off Temescal Canyon to reach the final in a season where hitters have had the advantage over pitchers. Here’s the report.

The City Section has its semifinals Wednesday with Granada Hills hosting Venice and San Pedro hosting Carson. The championship game will be played Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

Track

Birmingham’s Antrell Harris (center) runs stride for stride with Granada Hills’ Justin Hart, left, in the boys 200-meter final at the City Section Track and Field Championships.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Birmingham football standout Antrell Harris was one of the stars at the City Section track and field championships, winning the 100 and 200. He’s headed this weekend to compete in the state championships at Buchanan High in Clovis. The weather report is for temperatures in the triple digits.

Here’s a report from the City championships.

The Southern Section held its Masters Meet, and RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga was the top qualifier in the 200 and has one more week of high school competition left before he heads off to play football at USC. Here’s the report.

Golf

Joseph Wong of Granada Hills won the City Section individual golf title.

(Steve Galluzzo)

Joseph Wong of Granada Hills won the City Section golf championship. Here’s the report.

Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf championship with a 66 for a one-stroke victory. Here’s a roundup of Southern Section team champions. Here’s a look at Leary.

Volleyball

Mira Costa has qualified from Southern California to compete in the first state championship in boys volleyball Saturday at Fresno City College. The Mustangs will face Archbishop Mitty from San Jose.

Here’s the compete schedule of state championship matchups and results from regional finals.

Notes . . .

Catcher Trent Grindlinger of Huntington Beach has changed his commitment from Mississippi State to Tennessee. . . .

Former Bishop Amat football coach Steve Hagerty will become athletic director at West Covina. . . .

Ethan Damato is leaving Laguna Beach to become girls water polo coach at JSerra. . . .

Connor Ohl, a junior at Newport Harbor, has committed to Stanford for water polo. . . .

Oliver Muller is the new boys soccer coach at Oaks Christian. . . .

YULA and Shalhevet, two schools that pulled out of the Southern Section baseball playoffs to participate in a Jewish tournament in Ohio, have been placed on probation and banned from next year’s playoffs for violating Southern Section rules about outside participation during the season. Here’s an opinion piece on how the decision by the two schools will hurt coaches and athletes. . . .

Former Chatsworth football coach Marvin Street has accepted a teaching position at El Camino Real and will become the junior varsity head coach. . . .

Loyola running back Sean Morris has committed to Northwestern. . . .

Kevin Reynolds, the basketball coach at Villa Park for 30 years, died Friday morning, the school announced. He was 59. He had been diagnosed with cancer. His teams won 634 games in his coaching career. . . .

John Quick, who was a longtime basketball coach in the South Bay, has died. . . .

Loyola’s James Dell’Amico has committed to Pepperdine baseball. . . .

Former Tesoro football coach Matt Poston is the new athletic director at San Clemente. . . .

The CIF state championships in tennis will be held Saturday in Fresno. Irvine University has qualified. …

Darius Spates is the new athletic director at Verbum Dei. He’s a 2012 graduate.

From the archives: Pete Crow-Armstrong

Drew Bowser (left) won the home run derby and MVP honors at the Perfect Game All-American Classic and Harvard-Westlake teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong also played in the game.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Harvard-Westlake has produced some outstanding pitchers who went on to the major leagues, but Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs is the Wolverines’ first breakthrough every day player. As a center fielder with electric speed, he has come into his own this season to become an All-Star candidate.

He used to be a teammate of Drew Bowser, who went to Stanford instead of signing out of high school and is now working his way up in the minors.

Crow-Armstrong entered last week hitting .290 with 12 home runs. He hit a two-run home run Friday against former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Hunter Greene of the Reds.

His senior year got cut short in 2020 because of the pandemic. Here’s an interview with Crow-Armtrong from that year and how he kept his focus on the future.

Here’s a story from 2019 on how he had become a hitting machine.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on what a rowing coxswain does.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff, a Simi Valley High graduate.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the new Compton High campus opening this fall with fantastic athletic facilities.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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England and Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole will retire at the end of season.

The 38-year-old is the second most capped men’s player in England history, having made 118 appearances for his country.

Cole, who also twice toured with the British and Irish Lions, came through Leicester’s academy and has played 340 senior games and won four Premiership titles with his boyhood club.

Cole said his decision to retire had been influenced by Ben Youngs, his long-time team-mate for club and country, who recently announced he would be hanging up his boots.

“As you get older, physically, it’s definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that’s challenging as well,” Cole said.

“I don’t want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long.”

The last time Bruce Arena and Dave Sarachan stood together on the sidelines at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Galaxy were beating the Colorado Rapids in the MLS Western Conference semifinals. That was 2016 and the win was the pair’s 18th playoff victory in eight seasons with the Galaxy.

It was also the last game they coached together in Carson.

They’ll be back on Wednesday, only this time Arena and Sarachan will be in the opposite technical area, standing in front of the San José Earthquakes’ bench. And in some ways it’s a bittersweet return. Because while both men have mostly fond memories of their time with the Galaxy, they return with the home team hungry and winless through 15 games, the longest drought in franchise history.

That makes the homecoming both welcome and challenging.

“I have nothing but good memories of my time in L.A. with the Galaxy. So it’s nice to go back,” Arena said.

“I like watching them and they’ve had tough times. But they’re better than their record indicates. We’re the next team up, which will be in some ways very, very challenging because you know they’re due to have success.”

The Galaxy (0-11-4) have led in each of their last three games, only to lose two of them on goals deep in stoppage time. So Wednesday’s game could be a dangerous one for the Earthquakes (5-6-4), who are unbeaten in their last five.

“It’s almost amazing that they haven’t gotten a win,” Sarachan said. “It’s a double-edged sword because there’s a certain fragility to it. But at the same time, they’re looking to get out of this funk. They’re in a tough situation so we just have to be ready.”

Arena and Sarachan, his top assistant with both the Galaxy and men’s national team, are arguably the most successful coaching duo in U.S. Soccer history, having taken the national team to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup before winning three MLS Cups and two Supporters’ Shields in five seasons with the Galaxy.

It was the most successful five-year stretch by any team in MLS history. But the Galaxy didn’t win another MLS Cup until last season, ending the team’s longest trophy drought.

Less than two years after leaving the Galaxy to return to the national team, Arena and Sarachan went their separate ways after failing to qualify the U.S. for the 2018 World Cup. They reunited this winter in San José, where they took over a team that had tied the MLS record for losses (25) and broke the record for goals allowed (78) in 2024, guiding it into playoff position after 15 games this year.

“Our goal is to get through the first half of the season where we have a good feel for our team and understand where we need to go in the second half,” Arena said. “At the end of next week we’ll be at the midway point in the season and we have a better feel for where we are.

“We’re improving. Maybe not as quick as I’d like but I think we have a chance to be a good team in the season half.”

Arena’s blueprint for turning the Quakes around is the same one he used to rescue the Galaxy team he took over midway through the 2008 season. In L.A., he remade the roster by shipping out more than 20 players that winter. In San José, he brought in 16 new ones, including former Galaxy defender Dave Romney, who leads the team in minutes played, and former LAFC striker Cristian Arango, who is third in the league with nine goals.

But while Arena celebrates his team’s success, he takes no joy from the Galaxy’s struggles.

“Listen, I did my spell there and it was time to move on, like anything else,” Arena said. “You stay in one place too long, they eventually want you to move on.

“I have the greatest respect for that organization. There are better times ahead for them. The second half of the season is going to be much improved.”

Sarachan agreed. But he’d just as soon the Galaxy hold off on that improvement until the Quakes have left town.

“Yeah,” he said, confessing to harboring no hard feelings. “I’d like to see them 0-12-4. And we can move on from that.”

England goalkeeper Mary Earps has announced her shock retirement from international football – just five weeks before the Lionesses begin their European Championship defence in Switzerland.

The 32-year-old made 53 senior appearances over eight years for England, playing a significant role in the Lionesses winning Euro 2022 and reaching the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

She recently lost her international starting place to Hannah Hampton and will now not take part in Euro 2025, despite England manager Sarina Wiegman wanting her as part of her squad.

“This is the right time for me to step aside and give the younger generation an opportunity to thrive,” Earps said.

“Winning the Euros in 2022 was the best day of my life, and I’m rooting for the girls to do it again this summer.”

She also wrote on social media: “It has been the greatest honour and privilege of my life, to wear this badge and represent my country.

“I wish I could do it forever, but sadly all good things must come to an end.

Earps won the Best Fifa Goalkeeper award in 2022 and 2023.

Welcome to the Riley Tiernan Revenge Tour.

Oh, sure, the Angel City forward is far too nice to call it that, but that’s what her first NWSL season has become.

“Everybody loves an underdog story,” she said. “It kind of added fuel to my fire. When people doubt you, it makes you want to prove it that much more.”

Tiernan was definitely being doubted about six months ago when she finished her college career at Rutgers as the school’s all-time leader in assists, yet didn’t get a call from 12 of the 14 NWSL teams. In the first winter without a league draft, every player was a free agent, available to the highest bidder. Only no one bid on Tiernan.

So she accepted an invitation to training camp with Angel City and now she’s showing the others what they missed, with her five goals leading all NWSL rookies and ranking second in the league overall heading into Saturday night’s home match with Racing Louisville.

“A fair shot,” said the 22-year-old. “All I wanted, literally, was just a chance to prove myself. Without the draft it was kind of like you get what you get and you’ve got to hope for the best.

“Once I got this invitation it was ‘let’s go big or go home.’ I got to show out. And pretty much did.”

Four of her five goals have given her team a lead; two were game-winners. Without her, Angel City (4-3-2) would not be in playoff position a third of the way into the season.

If Tiernan gets credit for passing her preseason test with the team, then technical director Mark Wilson and the rest of Angel City’s staff deserve praise for doing their homework. They identified Tiernan as a player worth watching last summer and nothing they saw — even the lack of interest from other clubs — swayed their thinking.

“We decided Riley was a top, top target once we’d kind of curated all of her stuff,” Wilson said. “You have to trust your process.”

So in November, Wilson had a Zoom call with Tiernan and found that he liked the person even better than he liked the player.

“That was the final piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We believed she had a big ceiling after watching her and we wanted to at least invite Riley in to spend some time with us.

“We really liked her character after the interview.”

Angel City forward Riley Tiernan heads the ball downfield during a game against the Washington Spirit on May 2.

(Roger Wimmer/ ISI Photos via Getty Images)

Tiernan said the only other offer she received came from Gotham FC, which trains 35 miles from Rutgers. But after spending her entire life in South Jersey, she felt Southern California offered a different sort of challenge.

“It just felt like it was time for me to spread my wings and step out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I had nothing to lose. After the first couple of training sessions, I started feeling comfortable and I started feeling like it was a place that I should be, an environment where I belonged.”

She’s certainly fit in, starting all nine Angel City matches and ranking second among outfield players in minutes played. Plus her five goals are just two shy of the franchise single-season record with 17 games left.

“She’s a big presence, but she turns on a sixpence,” Wilson said. “She has the ability to send players into the stands with a little check and her balance and mobility for a big presence is deceiving.

“She exhibited all of those qualities and more in all the work we did.”

She’s continued to prove she belongs despite playing as an attacker on a team that has seven forwards with World Cup experience.

“Isn’t it funny how that worked out?” Wilson said with a wry grin. “While we had quality attacking players, we want you looking over your shoulder. When you’re looking over your shoulder, you’re not comfortable. When you’re not comfortable, you’re pushing yourself. That level of competition for places drives standards and performance.

“Riley exhibited that from Day 1 and it hasn’t stopped. I don’t see her ever taking her foot off the gas.”

At least not until she’s finished proving herself to all those who doubted her. If she was once unwanted she’s now in high demand, having earned her first callup to the U-23 national team earlier this week. She’ll leave after Saturday’s game for Europe and two games against Germany, which constitute another new challenge.

“I think it’s good to have a sense of humbleness and be intimidated by such a high level in a new environment,” she said. “But I also think it’s important to turn that intimidation into motivation.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Tiernan has used others’ opinion of her to fuel her fire.

“I love this game because it does reward talent that works hard,” Wilson said. “Riley’s a talent, she is working hard, and eventually that value will be recognized.”

“It’ll be a long road, but I’m ready to work hard,” said Great Britain long jumper Jazmin Sawyers when sharing the painful news, external of her Achilles rupture last April.

The injury, which ruled her out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, came just over a year after her best moment in the sport to-date.

Her ecstatic celebrations produced memorable images as she won the 2023 European Indoor title, jumping a UK indoor record of 7.00 metres in the process.

The 31-year-old finally competed again this month after a 20-month absence, leaping to 6.53m at the Loughborough International Athletics Meeting.

“It felt so, so good. I was more nervous than I can remember being for a competition,” Sawyers told BBC Radio Stoke.

“My heart rate was high all day. Since the minute I woke up, I wasn’t able to be calm.

“But, just to get back and still feel like myself, to be jumping a kind of distance that I have opened with in any other normal season, I’m so pleased,” she added.

Sawyers, a finalist at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, did make it to a third Olympics, last summer – but as a television commentator for the BBC.

While her enthusiasm and expertise alongside regular contributors like Steve Backley and Jeanette Kwakye won high praise, it was certainly not her first-choice role.

She wrote on her Instagram after the Games: “I’m certain I won’t be joining them again in Los Angeles in four years time. I actually have something else I’d like to do.”

One of the top prospects in USC’s top-ranked 2026 recruiting class has decided not to wait another year to join the Trojans.

Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons, a four-star recruit, plans to reclassify to the 2025 class, leaving high school a year early to enroll this summer at USC.

Sermons, whose father, Rodney, played at USC, should give the Trojans another talented option in a defensive backfield that lost five starters from a season ago. How swiftly he’ll be able to claim a role in that rebuilt secondary remains to be seen.

USC already added two starting-caliber corners through the transfer portal in DJ Harvey and Chasen Johnson, while returners DeCarlos Nicholson, Marcelles Williams, Braylon Conley and Prophet Brown have experience in the Trojans’ scheme. Three other freshmen — Alex Graham, Trestin Castro and James Johnson — also joined the position group in the spring.

Sermons should at least step in with a legitimate claim as the fastest member of USC’s secondary. He currently owns the state’s top times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at 10.30 and 20.88 seconds.

He won’t be the only member of the Trojans’ 2025 class that was supposed to be a senior in high school next season. Five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart reclassified from the 2026 to the 2025 class last season after playing in just 12 high school games. He’s expected to have a role on USC’s defense this fall.

The performance of Mark Daigneault’s side was an impressive response to the 143-101 thrashing they suffered in game three.

“We did a good job of staying in the moment tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“We obviously had a bad taste in our mouth from the last game, and we just wanted to control the things that we could control tonight. I think staying in the moment was the best way to do so.

“We could have been better tonight for sure. Tonight wasn’t perfect, but we gave ourselves a chance… and we got a W.”

The Timberwolves pushed Oklahoma City all the way, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker scoring 23 points off the bench, Jaden McDaniels contributing 22 points, and Donte DiVincenzo finishing with 21.

“Everything is out there,” Alexander-Walker said.

“There’s no secrets. They know how to beat us. We know how to beat them. It’s just about going out there and doing it and who wants it more [and who is] trying to execute it more.

“We showed that at times throughout this game, but consistency, that’s all it has to be.”

Victory in game five in Oklahoma on Wednesday (01:30 BST on Thursday) will secure the Thunder a place in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012, where they would face either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks.

Jack Kochanowicz mowed through his first three innings against the Yankees on Monday night.

The 6-foot-7 sinkerballer was doing all of what manager Ron Washington asked of him before the game: pitch to contact and let his defense do the work.

“Just be Jack,” Washington said. ‘Throw his sinker, change, eye-level, put the ball in play early — which is when he’s at his best. That’s what he does. So that’s all. I’m not looking for him to be nothing more than that, and if he’s that, it’ll be good enough.”

Nine up, and nine down on 28 pitches — Kochanowicz looked “good enough.” He was hurling just as efficiently as he did against the Dodgers on May 16 when he limited the Angels’ crosstown foes to just one run across 6 ⅔ innings. As he jaunted to the mound for the fourth, the crowd woke up, rising in volume; but not for Kochanowicz.

“Let’s go, Yankees,” the fans in the right-field seats of Angel Stadium bellowed, much like the “Bleacher Creatures” would back in the Bronx. First baseman Ben Rice singled, and then center fielder Trent Grisham did too. Following a rousing ovation, designated hitter Aaron Judge — who upped his batting average to a league-high .398 — loaded the bases on an infield single.

As Yankees fans roared louder, Kochanowicz hiccuped. The sophomore starting pitcher walked Cody Bellinger on four pitches to bring in a run, and two batters later, Anthony Volpe hit a bases-clearing double off the center-field wall to power the Yankees (33-20) to a three-run lead. It was more than enough to take down the Angels (25-28), who struggled to string together hits for the third consecutive game in a 5-1 loss to open the series.

“Always just comes down to pitch calling,” Kochanowicz said. “It’s very easy to ask yourself a million questions about every pitch you throw, but I think I just — I came at them hard that inning. I didn’t start anyone off with the breaking ball. So that was probably it.”

Shortstop Zach Neto led off the bottom of the first with a 440-foot solo home run to center field — the longest of his career — but it was all the Angels had to offer at the plate. Before the game, Washington called his offense young and inconsistent.

The Angels offered more of those characteristics against the Yankees and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough.

Outside of a fluke infield single from Jo Adell, Neto’s home run was all the Angels mustered against the funky, sidearm delivery of the New York southpaw through six innings.

“The way we were swinging the bat, I did think that we would have at least three or four guys in that line of constantly clicking,” Washington said after the Angels were limited to five hits. “Miami come up in here and put us away, and then now we fight to try to find it back again.”

Yarbrough easily dispatched Chris Taylor — who started in center field and went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his Angels debut — for a flyout and second baseman Kevin Newman for a strikeout to end the fifth.

“Yarbrough did a good job,” Taylor said. “Shut us down for the most part.”

The sixth inning was no better as the top of the Angels’ lineup went down 1-2-3 and Yarbrough exited with his longest and arguably best start of the season, striking out seven. The Angels struck out 11 times in the game.

“Sustaining that offense that we had,” Washington said when asked before the game about matching the offensive rhythm of the Angels’ eight-game winning streak, “it’s impossible.”

Outside of his four-run, fourth inning, Kochanowicz was in the “midseason form” he described himself in on Sunday. The right-hander pumped his fastball as high as 97.3 mph and averaged 95 on his sinker, both a tick below his season averages. Four of his 6 ⅔ innings concluded in 1-2-3 fashion.

“I thought he was good, really,” Washington said. “Those first three innings, he was dominating. … If we could just take [the fourth inning] back it’d be a different ballgame.”

Kochanowicz struck out five and walked two, giving up just five hits. But the Angels’ offense didn’t back up their pitchers, sending them to a three-game losing streak.

Note: Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe was removed from the game in the eighth inning after being hit in the head on a backswing from Yankees second baseman Jorbit Vivas. O’Hoppe was removed as a precaution, Washington said, and was unavailable for comment after the game. “[O’Hoppe is] telling me he can play [tomorrow], but we’re going to wait and see,” Washington said.

Manchester City move for £55m midfielder, Manchester United and Newcastle eye Premier League forwards and a Bellingham could be off to Germany.

Manchester City are ramping up their pursuit of AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, 26, who, is expected to command a fee of more than £55m. (Mail), external

Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 33, and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho, 20, are among the players Manchester United want to move on as they look to significantly reduce their squad for next season. (Telegraph – subscription required), external

Manchester United have held talks with Brentford and Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo, 25, who is valued at around £50m. (Talksport), external

Newcastle United are holding showdown talks with England Under-21 forward Liam Delap, 22, as they look to convince the Ipswich Town player to join them instead of Everton, Manchester United or Chelsea. (TeamTalk), external

Newcastle also have a serious interest in Brighton’s Brazil forward Joao Pedro, 23. (i Paper – subscription needed), external

Chelsea have discussed a move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s 22-year-old French forward Hugo Ekitike. They also have significant interest in Sporting’s Sweden forward Viktor Gyokeres, 26, and Ipswich’s Delap. (Independent), external

Eintracht Frankfurt value Chelsea-target Ekitike at £84m, albeit with a negotiable payment structure. (Athletic), external

Sunderland’s 19-year-old English midfielder Jobe Bellingham is in Germany for transfer talks with Eintracht Frankfurt – two days after helping his club win promotion. Borussia Dortmund – who brother Jude played for – and Leipzig are also interested. (Sky Sports), external

Manchester United want Wolves and Portugal right-back Nelson Semedo. The 31-year-old will be a free agent this summer. (Football Transfers), external

Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has confirmed Liverpool’s “concrete” interest in 22-year-old Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz. (Sky Sport Germany – in German), external

Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna says they have been working on a deal to sign Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 33, for some time and “can see the finish line”. His contract at Manchester City expires next month. (Rai News – in Italian), external

Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester United have all shown concrete interest in signing AC Milan and Portugal forward Rafael Leao, 25, this summer. (Teamtalk), external

Newcastle have decided against taking up the option to extend 33-year-old former England striker Callum Wilson’s contract but have entered negotiations about a new incentive-based deal. (Athletic – subscription needed), external

Ligue 1 newcomers Paris FC are interested in signing 35-year-old Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye, whose contract at Everton expires next month. (Foot Mercato – in French), external

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will be out at least two weeks with a left quad strain, the team announced Monday.

The Fever did not say when Clark suffered the injury. The team said further updates will be provided after she gets another evaluation.

Clark played 37:52 and had 18 points and 10 assists in a 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.

The Fever are 2-2 this season and could be without Clark for at least the next four games against the Mystics (twice), Sun and Sky. All the opponents sit below the Fever in the Eastern Conference.

Clark is averaging 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds this season.

Witnesses have described the “horrendous” moment a car “rammed” into a crowd of people who were attending Liverpool FC’s victory parade following their Premier League win.

Merseyside Police said a number of pedestrians were hit by the vehicle in Water Street, Liverpool just after 18:00 BST. Dozens were injured, two of them seriously, with 27 treated in hospital.

A 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area was arrested, police said, adding that he is believed to have been the driver.

One eyewitness, BBC reporter Matt Cole, said the car missed him and his family “by literally inches”.

“We had just moments before watched fireworks going off, the celebrations of the Liverpool bus passing us on the Strand,” he said.

He said an ambulance had just made its way through the “dense” crowd he was part of on Water Street, when “there were screams ahead of us and suddenly this dark blue car just came through the crowd”.

“It just wasn’t stopping – I managed to grab my daughter who was with me and jump out of the way.

“It missed myself and my family by literally inches.”

He said the ambulance acted like a “natural barrier… that slowed the car down”, but that it had “no intention – it appeared – of stopping”. He added that the car looked to be travelling at “more than 20 [mph]”, but that he could not be sure it was not 30mph.

“As it passed me, it was being chased by a group of men who were trying to bang on the side of it and throw things at it,” he explained, adding that the rear windshield had been “completely smashed in”.

Having moved to safety down a side street, he saw police “running from all over, ambulances, police vans… more and more ambulances, more and more police vans – at one point then an entire squad of armed police cars stopped and people jumped out with rifles and again big medical packs on and began running towards the scene of the incident.”

He said his initial assumption was that the driver just wanted to “barge through crowds because they didn’t want to wait”.

“But suddenly then, the speed registered and the shouts of the people and the screams of the people registered, and at that point, yeah, adrenaline very much just kicks in”.

Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters when he witnessed the car pull up before it “just rammed into all the people at the side of us”.

He told PA news agency: “It was extremely fast. Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car…. I saw people on lying on the ground, people unconscious.

“It was horrendous. So horrendous.”

Off-duty BBC reporter Dan Ogunshakin, who was in the city for the parade, said “suddenly a lot of people started to surround” a car, which was front of an ambulance that was moving through the crowd.

He said he and his friend then noticed “people were hitting the car and shaking the car and we wondered why this was suddenly happening”.

The car then reversed and knocked people away from it, he explained, then “it suddenly accelerated forwards” straight towards the crowd of people. “People scattered like bowling pins.”

“What had once been an atmosphere of celebration and joy and happiness suddenly turned into fear and terror and disbelief,” he said, adding it become “hell on Earth”.

Matthew O’Carroll, 28, from Runcorn said he had approached the top of Water Street when the car “came past a parked police van at a decent speed”.

“People managed to get out of the way as he was beeping as he went through but as he went past, people were obviously very angry and so started running after the car.

“The back window of the car was already smashed.

“I thought that once it went past us, it was just someone that was trying to get away from something and would slow down when he got to more people.”

Another witness, Mike Maddra, was walking with a group of friends, when he saw a car “speeding up” and hitting pedestrians.

He said the “car turned left, mounted pavement, come towards us and runs towards the buildings”.

He added that he thought he saw two people being hit, and that “it looked deliberate”.

“It has just ruined the day really,” he said.

CLEVELAND — It had been a while since the Dodgers’ last stress-free win.

Over their previous nine games entering Monday, the team had won just three times — and needed extra-innings after blown ninth-inning saves in two of them, and a late-game go-ahead home run from Teoscar Hernández in the other.

Such theatrics underscored the club’s underwhelming play in recent weeks, with manager Dave Roberts bemoaning everything from poor fundamentals, to continued pitching injuries, to a lineup that had most of all gotten back out of sync.

“We’ve got to kind of lock in our hitting zone,” Roberts said Monday afternoon, “and continue to take good swings.”

In a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Memorial Day, the Dodgers finally did.

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto cruised through a six-inning, two-run start, the club’s lineup waking from a recent lull that had seen them fail to top five runs (excluding extra innings) in each of their last seven games.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, left, runs the bases after leading off the game with a home run against the Cleveland Guardians on May 26.

(David Dermer / Associated Press)

Shohei Ohtani provided an early spark, hitting a leadoff home run for the second-straight game to take the MLB lead with 19 long balls. Andy Pages added an RBI single in the second inning, before the Dodgers mounted two extended rallies in the fifth and sixth, scoring two runs in each inning.

The bullpen was shakier, Alex Vesia having to strand two runners in the seventh before Tanner Scott — coming off two blown saves in his previous three outings — worked around José Ramírez’s second double of the game in the eighth for Cleveland (29-24).

But in the top of the ninth, Will Smith punctuated the night with a home run over the tall left-field wall at Progressive Field to ensure the Dodgers (33-21) got back in the win column.

Martindale’s teams in the Premiership were renowned for being awful to play against. Physical. Aggressive. In your face.

Coupled with an ageing plastic pitch, watching silky soccer wasn’t a Saturday staple for the Livi support.

However, since dropping down to the Championship, he has taken the opportunity to rebuild and rethink. Quality players like Lewis Smith, who scored his side’s fine first in Dingwall, Robbie Muirhead and Stevie May were recruited.

Combined with a solid core in defence, Livingston finished the Championship with the second best goal difference of 28.

“They’ve reinvented themselves, this is what one year in the Championship has allowed them to do,” said former Livingston boss John Robertson on Sportsound.

“Martindale’s recruited really good football players. They play good football which is not something you associate with a Livingston team who’ve had to find a way to stay in the league for six years.”

BBC Scotland pundit Michael Stewart added: “He drives a lot of it, he’s recruited really well, they play good football, they’ve got new investment and you heard it from the man himself the club are in a really good position.”

Former Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor signed a one-year, major league minimum contract with the Angels on Monday.

Taylor will start in center field against the New York Yankees on Monday and bat eighth.

Angels prospect Kyren Paris, who was struggling at the plate in recent weeks — hitting just .190 — was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake City to make room for Taylor on the roster.

“He’s been through the wars,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Taylor, adding that the Angels plan to use him in the outfield and the infield. “He’s a good piece for those young guys to talk to about how to handle a grind. He’s been in a grind over there with L.A., every day, winning, and we want that.”

Released by the Dodgers in the final year of his four-year, $60-million contract last week, Taylor was hitting .200 with seven hits in 35 at-bats before entering free agency.

A career .250 hitter and a one-time All-Star, the 34-year-old Taylor has experience playing in the infield and all three outfield positions, adding versatility and depth to an Angels team waiting for outfielder Mike Trout’s return from the injured list (knee). Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who played alongside Taylor on the Dodgers from 2016 to 2021, learned of Taylor’s signing while on his way to Angel Stadium.

“It’s nice to have him back,” said Jansen, who said he spoke to Angels general manager Perry Minasian about Taylor on Sunday. “I think once he gets more playing time here, I think, you know, it’s going to be great for the organization and help us win ball games.”

When asked about Taylor’s release Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his former longest-tenured position player was looking for an opportunity to play more often rather than accepting a demotion to triple-A.

“He wanted an opportunity, if it wasn’t going to be here to play more, to play somewhere else,” Roberts said. “So that’s kind of the thought behind how it played out, and I respect him for betting on himself and hopefully get an opportunity to play more somewhere else.”

Having saved three early break points in a cagey opener, Sinner was gifted the first set in an error-strewn service game from 75th-ranked Rinderknech, a backhand planted into the net on Sinner’s first set point sending the Italian on his way.

He broke at the second time of asking in the fourth game of the second set and eased through its remainder, dropping just a solitary point on serve.

But his game temporarily crumbled in the third set as Rinderknech, buoyed by a partisan crowd in his home capital, won the opening four games to take a commanding lead.

Normality soon resumed however as Sinner fought back to cancel out Rinderknech’s break points, puncturing the atmosphere on the showcase court.

From there he barely gave his opponent another sniff of a chance. Piling the pressure on the Frenchman’s racquet, Sinner went a break up and sealed the match with a fierce serve Rinderknech, 29, could do little to match.

Sinner will play French veteran Richard Gasquet in the second round.

Former top 10 player Gasquet, 38, is playing the final tournament of his career at Roland Garros and beat compatriot and fellow wildcard Terence Atmane in his opening match.

Sinner won his third major title at the Australian Open in January but has yet to reach the final at Roland Garros, exiting in the semi-finals 12 months ago at the hands of eventual champion Alcaraz.

In February he accepted an immediate three-month ban after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) over his two positive drugs tests last year.

That suspension ended earlier in May, meaning he was able to compete at his home tournament in Rome – where he dropped just one set en-route to the final against Alcaraz – before travelling to Paris for the second major of the year.

LONDON — A 53-year-old British man plowed his minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who had been celebrating the city team’s Premier League championship Monday and was arrested, police said.

There was no immediate word from authorities on how many people were injured. An air ambulance and other emergency vehicles swarmed the scene to respond to reports that multiple pedestrians had been hit.

“It was extremely fast,” said Harry Rashid, who was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters and only several feet away. “Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the situation and thanked police for their quick response.

“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” Starmer said.

Liverpool fans had come out in their tens of thousands to celebrate the team winning the Premier League this season for a record-tying 20th top-flight title.

Liverpool’s last league title came in 2020 but supporters were denied the chance to publicly celebrate that trophy because of restrictions in place at the time during the pandemic.

Dancing, scarf-and-flag-waving fans braved wet weather to line the streets and climb up traffic lights to get a view of Liverpool’s players, who were atop two buses bearing the words “Ours Again.”

The hours-long procession — surrounded by a thick layer of police and security — crawled along a 10-mile route and through a sea of red smoke and rain. Fireworks exploded from the Royal Liver Building in the heart of the city to seemingly signal the end of the parade.

The team issued a short statement saying its thoughts and prayers were with those affected.

Rashid said after the car rammed its initial victims, it came to a halt and the crowd charged the vehicle and began smashing windows.

“But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going,” Rashid said. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”

Rashid said it looked deliberate and he was in shock and disbelief.

“My daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground,” he said. “They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade.”

Melley and Douglas write for the Associated Press.