Fast Break

Tennis

Who’s the fastest of them all?

Who hits the ball hardest in women’s tennis? The WTA Tour is introducing a statistic to measure that.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams ranked No. 1 in the new “power index” during last week’s Acura Classic in Carlsbad, Calif., averaging 94.5 mph on her hardest shots.

The index takes into account a player’s fastest groundstroke (forehand or backhand), first serve, second serve, first-serve return, second-serve return and smash or volley.

It uses ball-tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, the company involved in instant replay in tennis, and measures players in center-court matches.

The statistic made its debut at the Acura Classic, with Maria Kirilenko finishing second to Williams at 92.7 mph. Victoria Azarenka was third at 92.3 mph, followed by Maria Sharapova at 90.5 mph.

Track and field

Former Vandals win in Europe

Three former Vandals won national titles last weekend in Europe.

Driss Yousfi took home France’s 800-meter (1:50.60) men’s title, Anders Moller won the Danish triple jump title (53-7) and Joachim Olsen won Denmark’s shot put (67-9 1/2) and discus (180-0) championships.

Yousfi earned a pair of Western Conference Athletic titles in 2006; Olsen, the world’s third-ranked shotter, was a seven-time All-American for the Vandals from 1999-2002; Moeller competed at Idaho in 2000.

Rowing

Flint takes over at Gonzaga

Melissa Flint has been promoted from assistant women’s rowing coach to head coach at Gonzaga University. She replaces Glenn Putyrae who left to become head women’s coach at Georgetown University.

She takes over a program that has won 10 of the 11 West Coast Conference Championships since the sport’s addition to the WCC.

She was the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2006.

Flint was a four-year member of the Oregon State University rowing team from 1998-02.

Football

Team drove them to the bottle

The Tampa, Fla., city council is deciding whether to allow liquor sales throughout Raymond James Stadium during Tampa Bay Buccaneers games, or continue to limit hard liquor to certain areas.

“I understand the way the Bucs have been playing that people want to drink,” said council member John Dingfelder, quoted in the St. Petersburg Times.

Last season’s record: 4-12.