Lagat breaks 5,000 record

Track and field: Bernard Lagat (Washington State University) broke the American record in the 5,000 meters Friday, finishing third in 12 minutes, 54.12 seconds at Diamond League competition in Oslo, Norway.

The two-time Olympic medalist (pictured above) beat the mark of 12:56.27 set by Dathan Ritzenhein last year.

Also at the meet, Asafa Powell ran a wind-aided 9.72 to win the 100. The Jamaican had the year’s fastest unaided time last week, clocking 9.83 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

With Tyson Gay and injured world-record holder Usain Bolt absent, Powell was never really pushed.

Robertson set for Indians

Baseball: Radio broadcaster Bob Robertson will return to the broadcast booth for the 2010 Spokane Indians baseball season.

Robertson took a leave of absence during the 2009 season to spend time with his wife, Joanne, while she recovered from health issues.

Robertson joined the Spokane Indians in 1999. He has broadcasted Washington State University football for the past 43 years, and was the play-by-play announcer of the Tacoma Rainiers for 16 seasons. Robertson is also a 12-time winner of the Washington State Sportscaster of the year award.

All 76 home and away Indians radio broadcasts can be heard live on 1510-AM KGA.

The Indians open the season against the Tri-City Dust Devils at 6:30 p.m. on June 18 at Avista Stadium.

January out with sprain

WNBA: Briann January, the only Spokane native playing in the WNBA, is out indefinitely with a sprained right MCL.

The Lewis and Clark graduate, who played collegiately at Arizona State, has missed the Indiana Fever’s last two games.

She was a top reserve as a rookie last year when the Fever made it to the WNBA finals for the first time in franchise history.

She was averaging 6.8 points in the first four games for Indiana, now 3-3.