Sports Shorts
Golf Battaglia champion
Laurel Highlands’ Maria Battaglia was crowned champion Wednesday at the Kings Pepsi Tri-State PGA Junior Golf Tournament at Mt. Odin Golf Course. Battaglia won the girls 15-16 division with a low round of 83.
Locals do well at UCC
Laurel Highlands took first and second place in the Boys 16-18 Oakmont and Pine Valley Divisions as a host of local golfers participated in the North East Junior Golf Tour on Monday at Uniontown Country Club.
Santino Marchitello edged past Laurel Highlands teammate Chris Bonchosky in a playoff hole in the Boys 16-18 Oakmont Division. Both shot rounds of 76.
Connellsville’s Jon Luczka and LH’s Jeremy Boskovitch finished tied for fifth with rounds of 85 while Connellsville’s Cody Boors placed seventh with an 87.
The Mustangs also finished one-two in the Pine Valley Division as Matt Hoover (75) and Matt McCabe (81) led the field, while Albert Gallatin’s Kevin Uglik (89) and Connellsville’s Shane Cali (99) finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
In Boys 14-15 action, Fred David of Uniontown claimed second place with a round of 85. In the Girls 12-18 division, Laurel Highlands’ Maria Battaglia won by 16 strokes, posting a low round of 65 for 14 holes.
Learjet not responsible
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Learjet should not be held responsible for the 1999 plane accident that killed golfer Payne Stewart, jurors said Wednesday.
The six-woman jury deliberated for more than six hours after listening to more than a month of testimony.
Stewart won the U.S. Open, his third major victory, just months before his death.
His widow, Tracey, and their two children sued Learjet, claiming a cracked adapter caused an outflow valve to pull away from the plane’s frame, resulting in a decompression and the escape of cabin air as the plane climbed to its flight altitude after leaving Orlando on Oct. 25, 1999. All communication with the plane was lost soon afterward and it flew on for hours, all aboard presumably unconscious, until it crashed in South Dakota. The family sought $200 million.
Attorneys for Learjet told the jury that the plane lost pressure in another way and that damage to the valve was caused by the crash.
They also said the plane was poorly maintained by Sunjet, the now-defunct central Florida company that operated the Learjet.