UPI NewsTrack Sports

Groups set for ATP World Tour finals

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse Wednesday filed formal appeals of one-year suspensions for doping rules violations.

Neither player is said to have failed a doping test but both were sanctioned for being in violation of regulations regarding notifying drug-enforcement officials of their whereabouts.

They were informed the suspensions from the Flemish Doping Tribunal Nov. 5, a move that forced Wickmayer to withdraw from the WTA's season-ending Tournament of Champions in Indonesia.

"I knew nothing of the Flemish regulations," Wickmayer said last week at a news conference in Belgium. "Then there were two violations beside my name. I do not understand why they did not try to contact me when they noticed their registered letters were returned because I was not home."

Wickmayer and Malisse have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. Results of the appeal aren't expected for about four months.

Wickmayer, 20, won two tournaments in 2009 and ended the year ranked No. 16, after starting No. 69. She also made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Malisse, 29, played sparingly on the ATP Tour this year, winning four of nine matches.

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Two Tennessee fb players kicked off team

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Coach Lane Kiffin has dismissed two of the three Tennessee football players charged with attempted armed robbery at a Knoxville convenience store last week.

He confirmed at his weekly news conference Tuesday that cornerback Mike Edwards from Cleveland and wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson from Pahokee, Fla., had been kicked off the team.

A third player, safety Janzen Jackson, will not be participate in team activities until Kiffin receives more information about his part in the incident.

"I wanted to make sure we had all the information before we did that," Kiffin, in his first season at the SEC school in Knoxville and former Oakland Raiders coach, told reporters. "It was a very difficult decision. These are two kids that we recruited, sat with their parents and the people around them in their house. This has been very tough on me."

The players, all freshmen, are accused of attempted aggravated robbery and face Class C felony charges.

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Tracy NL manager of the year

NEW YORK, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Colorado's Jim Tracy, who took over a sub-.500 team and guided it into the playoffs, was named the National League manager of the year Wednesday.

Tracy was listed first on 29 of the 32 ballots and totaled 151 points in the voting. St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa got two first-place votes and finished second with 55 points. Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Joe Torre got the other first-place vote and 33 points in ending up third.

Tracy replaced Clint Hurdle as manager May 29 with the Rockies a lethargic 18-28 and the team responded with 17 wins in its next 21 games to get back into playoff contention. Colorado was 74-42 under Tracy over the rest of the season and wound up with a wild-card slot in the playoffs.

The overall 92 victories was a record for the Rockies, who appeared in the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

The award is decided on a vote by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America representing each NL city.

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Report: Kansas football coach probed

LAWRENCE, Kan., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Kansas University football Coach Mark Mangino is being investigated over a confidential personnel matter, the school athletic director says.

"I can confirm that an internal review is under way. This review involves a personnel matter and as a result is confidential. It would be inappropriate for me to provide further information at this time," Athletic Director Lew Perkins said.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported Wednesday the internal review was prompted by the concerns of people with ties to the KU program following an accusation this season by senior linebacker Arist Wright that he was poked in the chest by the eighth-year coach.

Mangino declined to provide details of the investigation as well.

"First of all, I'm really focused on Texas and that's the direction we're going," Mangino said Tuesday about his meeting with Perkins. "I don't really have much to say about it. I don't take it lightly, (and) I'm very comfortable with the way we manage and run the football program here."

Mangino signed a contract extension through 2012 last fall and his record is 50-46 overall since taking over the Jayhawks in 2002. But the Jayhawks have stumbled this season, compiling a 5-5 record (1-5 in Big 12 play) under the 2007 national coach of the year.

KU meets arch-rival Missouri Nov. 28 in its final contest this season.