The SIUC Triathlon Club has an indoor triathlon scheduled for Feb. 28 at the Recreation Center.

The triathlon is open to the public, and beginners are welcome. There are entry forms in the Recreation Center or at the Triathlon Club meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Recreation Center.

The triathlon will start at 10:30 a.m. and there will be a pre-race meeting at 10:15 a.m. downstairs at the Recreation Center. The center will open at 9:30 a.m. for early arrivals.

Advertisement

There will be four groups of competitors. The competition will start with a 10-minute swim, followed by 20 minutes of biking on the stationary bikes and finishes with a 15-minute run around the indoor track.

If interested, contact Eduardo Monge at 453-4283 or Karen Tabor at 457-1608.

Free agent Benes agrees to deal with Arizona

Andy Benes, thwarted in his attempt to re-sign with St. Louis, reportedly agreed to a multi-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday.

Benes and Arizona were set to announce the deal Tuesday, a baseball management official said on the condition he not be identified.

The 30-year-old right-hander, who went 10-7 with a 3.10 ERA last season, had agreed to a $30 million, five-year contract with the Cardinals, but management’s Player Relations Committee voided it, concluding the agreement was reached after the Dec. 7 deadline.

Unfortunately, Andy doesn’t get the same deal offered by the Cardinals, and I’m sure he’s going to somewhere that isn’t his first choice, St. Louis general manager Walt Jocketty said. We’re disappointed for the Cardinals. We wish him the best of luck. He was an important player for the club the past two years. We made a very substantial offer, which unfortunately wasn’t able to get completed on time. We can’t look back.

Advertisement*

Benes’ contract is reportedly for three years at about $18 million. However, he has the option to terminate the deal after two years.

Benes becomes the ace of a rotation expected to include Willie Blair, acquired from Detroit; Brian Anderson, picked up from Cleveland; and Jeff Suppan, acquired from Boston.

Benes’ best season was 1996, when he was 18-10 with a 3.83 ERA as St. Louis won the NL Central. He filed for free agency after the 1997 season and wanted to re-sign, but his agent and Jocketty were $5 million apart as the midnight deadline approached Dec. 7.

More than an hour after the deadline, they agreed on a deal that would have guaranteed the pitcher $30 million and included $2.5 million in easily achievable bonuses.

The PRC ruled that because the agreement was reached after midnight, Benes and the Cardinals could not resume negotiations until May 1.

Benes has a career record of 104-94 in nine seasons with San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis.

College Basketball St. Mary’s Big Continent to redshirt

College Hoops Insider confirmed Tuesday St. Mary’s College center Brad Millard will miss the remainder of the season and be redshirted.

Brad discussed it with his family and made the decision not try and comeback this season and risk further injury, said St. Mary’s coach Dave Bollwinkel. We feel it is what is best for Brad, and we’ll look forward to having him back next season.

Millard, who is better known to many as Big Continent, played in only two games this season before breaking his right foot. He had averaged more than 15 points and seven rebounds.

The 7-foot-3, 345-pound Millard averaged 12.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and three blocks for St. Mary’s last season. Millard and the Gaels gained national attention when they won the West Coast conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they met Tim Duncan and Wake Forest University.

Millard, who was tabbed by many publications as the WCC preseason Player of Year, will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Report:Talks Between Cowboys, Donahue Break Down

Former UCLA coach Terry Donahue reportedly returned to California Tuesday morning after an apparent breakdown in talks with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to become head coach of the NFL team.

CNN/SI reported Tuesday that Donahue, rumored to be the front-runner for the job, abruptly ended his third interview and left Dallas for his native California. Donahue reportedly was prepared to stay in Dallas through Wednesday, the day that Jones has targeted to name his new coach. Donahue was then expected to fly to Indianapolis with Cowboys officials for the scouting combine Thursday.

Today’s developments come one day after KAMR-TV in Amarillo, Texas, reported Donahue would be named as the replacement for Barry Switzer, who resigned Jan. 9 following a 6-10 season filled with injuries and sub-par performances.

A Cowboys spokesman said no news conference was imminent.

Jones also has interviewed Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis, former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert and an undisclosed fourth candidate.

The Cowboys failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 and finished the season with five straight losses. With speculation swirling that Switzer would not be retained as coach, he officially tendered his resignation.

Donahue is the winningest coach in UCLA history, compiling a 151-74-8 mark in 20 seasons. But he guided the Bruins to just one New Year’s Day bowl berth this decade, a 21-16 loss to University of Wisconsin in the 1994 Rose Bowl. During his final seven seasons, UCLA lost at least four games six times. Donahue has spent the past two years as a college football analyst with CBS.