Sports People

Denise Taylor, coach at Northeastern Illinois, was chosen to head up the Utah Starzz of the WNBA. … Carl Stewart, who coached Southern’s basketball team to three Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and its first NCAA Tournament, died of cancer on Friday in Baton Rouge, La. He was 70… Irina Stankina of Russia finished first in the women’s 10,000-meter race and Jefferson Perez of Ecuador won the men’s 20,000-meter at the 18th IAAF World Race Walking Cup at Podebrady, Czech Republic.

Pete Weber opened with seven strikes en route to a 257-208 victory over Parker Bohn III in the final of the PBA’s Comfort Inn Classic at Tampa, Fla…. Bill Egan, who has directed the American men’s downhill ski program to unprecedented success in the 1990s, was selected as head coach of the U.S. Ski Team men’s alpine team. Egan, 48, replaces Tomas Karlsson, a Swede who resigned in a dispute over leadership philosophy.

At Bern, Switzerland, Sandra Schmirler led Canada to the world curling title. The final was a showdown between Schmirler and Denmark’s Dordi Nordby, the only women to ever win two consecutive world titles. The pair have dominated the sport the past few years, with Nordby winning the 1990 and 1991 worlds and Schmirler claiming the crown in 1993 and 1994.