UPI NewsTrack Sports

NASCAR owner Roush hospitalized

OSHKOSH, Wis., July 28 (UPI) -- NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was hospitalized with injuries after his business jet crashed while landing in Oshkosh, Wis., a spokesman said.

Roush, 68, and an assistant were flying into town for the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture show when his plane left the runway at Wittman Regional Airport, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

AirVenture spokesman Dick Knapinski said after departing the runway the Beechcraft Premier came back down and then skidded to a stop.

Photos taken at the time of the crash Tuesday evening show Roush being helped from the damaged aircraft with apparent facial injuries, the Journal-Sentinel said.

A statement from the Experimental Aircraft Association said Roush was hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

His assistant Brenda Strickland was hospitalized with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

An aviation buff, Roush owns several planes.

He miraculously survived a crash in April 2002 with a serious head injury, a shattered leg and broken ribs.

Contador may leave Astana Cycle team

MADRID, July 28 (UPI) -- Alberto Contador, who has ridden to the last two Tour de France championships as a member of the Astana Cycling Team, may be leaving Astana.

Contador, 28, from Spain, issued a statement saying he was going to "explore all possibilities" following a request for a decision regarding a contract extension offered by Astana.

Contador was a member of the Discovery Channel team when he won the 2007 Tour de France. He joined Astana in 2008 and won the Tour de France in 2009 and 2010.

He wrapped up the 2010 tour title Sunday, finishing 39 seconds ahead of Andy Schleck in the overall standings.

Other important race victories have come in the 2008 Vuelta a Espana and the 2008 Giro d'Italia. He is a three-time (2007-09) winner of the Velo d'Or award given by Velo magazine to the year's top rider.

Women's basketball program investigated

INDIANAPOLIS, July 28 (UPI) -- A committee has been named to investigate complaints that women's basketball coach at an Indiana University branch emotionally abused players.

Charles Bantz, chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, announced the investigation Tuesday, the Indianapolis Star reported. Sue Shields, a retired federal magistrate, is to head the investigation, backed up by the dean of the University of Indiana School of Law-Indianapolis and IUPUI's associate athletic director.

The newspaper reported complaints from 11 former players that the head coach, Shann Hart, berated them and inappropriately questioned their personal lives. One said Hart inquired about her sexual orientation.

Both Hart and her associate head coach, Chanel Spriggs, have been accused of inappropriate conduct.

The women's basketball program has had high turnover, with 28 players and assistant coaches, including 19 players on basketball scholarships, leaving in four years.

"Something is very definitely wrong there," Mechelle Voepel, a reporter for ESPN, told the newspaper, describing the turnover on the team as "extremely high."

Kickboxer dies after blow to head

ORLANDO, Fla., July 28 (UPI) -- A woman kickboxer died in Florida a day after taking a strong blow to the head during a match, authorities said.

Adrienne Simmons, 34, of Atlanta died Monday at Orlando Regional Medical Center where she had been transported after the bout at the city's Marriott World Center resort, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Simmons had been fighting Lindsay Scheer in a Muay Thai match where fighters use feet, elbows, hands and knees to land blows on their opponents, the newspaper said.

After Simmons fell, the bout was stopped and ringside doctors attended to her.

When she sat up and spoke, medical personnel escorted her from the ring.

She collapsed shortly thereafter and was airlifted to the hospital, authorities said.

Scheer's coach, Eric Haycraft, posted on his Facebook page that Sunday's fight "seemed like a normal bout."