RHINE-RUHR, Germany (SMU) – SMU men’s swimmer Kristaps Mikelsons and All-American diver Luke Sitz wrapped up their campaigns at the FISU World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, on Wednesday. Sitz secured two medals for Team UniUSA. 

The sophomore earned a bronze medal in the men’s 3-meter springboard, with a score of 429.75 on July 18. Breaking a 28-year drought, Sitz’s podium finish was the first medal for Team UniUSA on 3-meter springboard since 1997.  

On Wednesday, Sitz picked up another piece of hardware, claiming a silver medal on the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard. The U.S. pair of Sitz and Indiana University’s Joshua David Sollenberger earned a 380.34 total.  

In his final event, Sitz fell just short of medaling in the mixed team (3-meter/10-meter), placing fourth with a 393.50. 

Representing Latvia, Mikelsons also competed in Rhine-Ruhr. Mikelsons participated in four individual events: 100m breast, 200m IM, 200m breast and 50m breast.  

In the 100m breast, Mikelsons posted a time of 1:02.16. After advancing to the 200m IM semifinals, he registered a time of 2:02.43 to place 15th overall. 

The junior touched the wall at 2:16.58 in the 200m breast, leading his heat. Finally, in the 50m breast, Mikelsons recorded a 28.73. 

Mikelsons also took part in two relays, finishing in 3:29.62 in the men’s 4x100m free relay and 4:04.29 in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. 

The conditions were perfect for a big offensive performance Wednesday at Wrigley Field. The heat, paired with a breeze blowing out, could carry would-be long flyouts over the fence.

“It was a day where you were rewarded for putting the ball in the air,” manager Craig Counsell said after the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Royals. “And they did that part of the game certainly better than us.”

Standing in the Cubs’ way was Royals starter Seth Lugo.

It was the kind of pre-trade-deadline matchup that perfectly underlined the push-and-pull of this time of year.

The Cubs’ biggest need, with about a week before the July 31 deadline, is starting pitching. Lugo, who held the Cubs to four hits and two runs in six innings, will be highly sought after by contending teams if the Royals make him available. But their trade-deadline direction is unclear.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nine non-division-leading American League teams were within 4½ games of a wild-card spot, including the Royals (50-53). And while the -National League isn’t quite as tightly packed, it still has bubble teams such as the Cardinals. All that uncertainty of direction has pushed back deadline action.

As soon as one of those gray-area teams loses a few games, its head of baseball operations is sure to hear from organizations looking to pick off its players.

“We’ve all been there,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Friday. “As an example, in ’23, I was really open with everyone: ‘Don’t feel bad. Yes, this is a little bit day-to-day here. We lose two games in a row, we may be selling, and if we win two games in a row, we might be buying.’ Teams are pretty open about that.”

The Royals inched the opposite way at Wrigley Field this week, taking two of three from the Cubs.

On the other side, the Cubs’ loss, paired with a win by the Brewers (61-41) against the Mariners, knocked the Cubs (60-42) out of a tie for the best record in the majors — and the NL Central.

Pitching opposite Lugo, the Cubs had Colin Rea, who has been a regular starter most of the year because of a wave of injuries.

Between Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow injury, Shota Imanaga’s seven-week stay on the injured list for a strained hamstring and Jameson Taillon’s calf strain at the beginning of the month, the Cubs have been without two top starters simultaneously for essentially all but the first six weeks of the season.

Rea, despite allowing six runs (five earned) in five innings against the Royals, has been key in stabilizing the rotation. But the Cubs have used bullpen days to fill the final spot in their rotation this month, further emphasizing their need for starting pitching at the deadline.

Even after surrendering a trio of two-run homers, Rea’s ERA was at a respectable 4.06.

“It’s tough to blame the pitcher,” Counsell said, noting the error that put a runner on base for the first homer and the role the hitter-friendly conditions might have played in the others.

The Cubs’ offense didn’t flash its power until Lugo was gone. Instead, it took advantage of a leadoff walk in the second inning and a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the third.

“He’s got a very expansive pitch mix, and you never really feel like you can sit on anything,” Counsell said. “He pitched well.”

Against the Royals’ bullpen, Cubs rookie Matt Shaw hit a solo homer to extend his post-All-Star-break hot streak, and Pete Crow-Armstrong launched his 27th homer of the season to retake sole ownership of the team lead.

WELLESLEY, Mass. — The Boston Fleet have hired Kris Sparre as the second head coach in the PWHL franchise’s history.

Sparre, a 38-year-old veteran assistant with no experience in the women’s game, replaces Courtney Kessel, who had a 27-19-8 record and a Walter Cup Finals appearance before leaving to take over at Princeton. Her departure leaves only two female head coaches among the PWHL’s eight teams.

“This is a league that has tremendous momentum right now. And to be able to work in a city like Boston, that has such a rich tradition in winning, and building successful teams, is something I don’t take lightly and am tremendously excited about,” Sparre said Wednesday at his introductory news conference. “I want to carry on that tradition. I want to make the Boston Fleet a championship-level program that we can all be proud of.”

A Toronto-area native, Sparre played nine seasons as a forward in the minor leagues and in Germany and coached in the OHL, AHL and Austria’s top league. He was an assistant coach for Red Bull Salzburg from 2019-21 before spending three seasons with the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

Making the move to women’s hockey gave him the chance to deal with the sport’s elite.

“It was important for me that I wanted to work with the highest level of athletes possible,” he said. “They’re motivated people. They want to get better. That’s my skillset; that’s my wheelhouse. That’s where I want to live. And so when this opportunity came up, I didn’t look at it as ‘men’s (vs.) women’s.’ I looked at as the best option to work with the best in the world.”

Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer said Sparre’s experience in the AHL, where coaches need to balance winning with player development, will make him a good fit. Marmer, who spent time in the Boston Bruins player development department, said Sparre’s lack of experience coaching women did not scare her off.

“I don’t have a concern about the fact that he hasn’t coached women’s hockey,” she said. “These are professional athletes. He’s coached professional athletes. He’s coached the best players in the game. Our players want to be treated like pros, and they want to learn from the best. And I think that’s what we’re doing here with bringing Kris in.”

The Fleet have eight players remaining from the roster that reached finals in the PWHL’s inaugural season. But they are looking to replace 36-year-old captain and league MVP finalist Hilary Knight, who was left unprotected in the expansion draft and is moving to Seattle after a season in which she tied for the league lead with 29 points.

“These are the best players in the world — the best women’s hockey players in the world,” said Sparre, who was headed out for lobster rolls after the media session. “We’ve got to be humble. … We can learn a lot from them, too.”

___

AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.

BEREA — The Browns quarterback competition resumed in full on July 23 when the team held its first full-squad workout.

Quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders have been in camp since July 18, when the rookies reported. Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, the experienced due in the four-man race, both came in on July 22 with the rest of the veterans.

The first practice of camp wasn’t an extensive one, as the roughly 70-minute workout had all of the clunkiness of an initial training camp practice. The quarterbacks only had two real practice periods where they went against an actual defense: A modified 7-on-7 period with the Flacco and Pickett on one field and Gabriel and Sanders on the other, and an 11-on-11 team period to end the practice.

Here’s a look at what each of the four quarterbacks did during those group and team periods.

Joe Flacco’s Browns training camp highlights July 23

• Flacco’s only work against a defense came as the first quarterback up on one field in the modified 7-on-7 series against the Browns’ No. 1 back seven.
• The best catch of Flacco’s five throws was a diving out route by Michael Woods II.
• Flacco was mostly a spectator beyond those throws, although he took two plays in an 11-on-air offensive series. Both plays were runs.

Dillon Gabriel’s Browns training camp highlights July 23

• Gabriel was the first quarterback up on the second field for the modified 7-on-7 period.
• None of Gabriel’s five passes in the session fell incomplete.
• Luke Floriea was Gabriel’s favorite target in the period, with three passes going to the former Mentor High School and Kent State product.
• Gabriel, who went second in the 11-on-11, ran what looked like a naked bootleg left on the first play. That was one of three running plays of his five
• The best throw by Gabriel was a deep corner to Gage Larvadian that the rookie wide receiver turned into a touchdown
• Gabriel and wide receiver Diontae Johnson appeared to have a slight miscommunication on one throw. Johnson appeared to cut a deep stop route off just shy of where Gabriel threw it, as it bounced just feet away from him.

Kenny Pickett’s Browns training camp highlights July 23

• It’s was Pickett’s day to mostly be the No. 1 quarterback, at least during 11-on-11. He went second behind Flacco, though, during the modified 7-on-7 on one field.
• Pickett completed all five throws in the 7-on-7 portion of practice.
• Jamari Thrash made a nice diving catch on one crossing pass from Pickett in the 7-on-7s. He was the only wide receiver to get multiple catches during Pickett’s five-play series.
• Pickett’s 11-on-11 started with a handoff before he was forced out of the pocket and had to run due to pressure on his first pass attempt. Rookie defensive tackle Mason Graham was one of the interior defensive linemen to put the pressure on Pickett.
• Pickett completed a short pass to wide receiver DeAndre Carter on a rollout to the right.
• Pickett ended his 11-on-11 series with a deep crossing route to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

Shedeur Sanders’ Browns training camp highlights July 23

• Sanders was up second on the field with Gabriel in the modified 7-on-7.
• The first throw from Sanders was low to rookie Luke Floriea, one of three passes that were off-target in the five-pass series.
• Sanders also had a throw across the middle to rookie wide receiver Cade McDonald that was broken up, a play which also nearly got McDonald de-cleated.
• Sanders was wide on a deep throw down the left sideline as well. However, he closed out the series with a quick throw to McDonald.
• Sanders was the third and final quarterback to go during 11-on-11s. As with the other two, multiple plays were handoffs.
• Sanders opened his series with a quick out to the left to McDonald.
• Twice Sanders had to avoid pressure in his face. He was able to throw the ball at the feet on one, then ended practice with a flip to running back Ahmani Marshall, who was a safety valve.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ