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Wimbledon women's final sets ESPN record

National Sports

LONDON — Helped by some mid-match drama, the Wimbledon final between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova over the weekend was ESPN’s most-watched women’s championship match at the grass-court Grand Slam. The all-Czech final, during which Noskova wasted five match points and a 5-2 lead in the second set before eventually winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday, averaged 1.9 million viewers. That was an increase of 48% compared to last year’s women’s final: Iga Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 rout of Amanda Anisimova in 57 minutes. ESPN began its coverage of Wimbledon in 2003 and has had ...

NCAA women's tourney to seed top 16 by ranking

Local Sports

Beginning with next year's NCAA women's basketball tournament, the top 16 teams will be placed in the bracket in their true ranking regardless of conference affiliation. In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four. For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU fifth and Vanderbilt seventh. LSU was dropped down to seventh and Vanderbilt eighth in the bracketing to avoid having them be in the ...

Bobcats’ Friday Night Lights football camp announced

Local Sports

The Marshalltown Bobcat Football program has announced its Friday Night Lights Youth/Middle School Camp for Friday, Aug. 7, under the lights at Leonard Cole Field. The free camp for all youth going into grades 3-8 will serve as a mini-clinic for all Marshalltown Football League (MFL) and middle school football players with instruction from the Marshalltown High School football staff and current Bobcat players. The camp will take place from 7-9 p.m. To register, or for more details, go online to www.gobound.com/ia/schools/marshalltown/camps.

Mustangs denied by Warriors

Local Sports

FAIRBANK — The East Marshall softball team suffered its first and last losses this season to the same team. Eighth-ranked Wapsie Valley capitalized on four Mustang errors and advanced to the state tournament with an 8-3 victory over East Marshall in Monday’s Class 2A Region 8 final at Wapsie Valley High School. Lola Destival hit a three-run home run to put icing on the Warriors’ regional title, launching Wapsie Valley (18-7) into next week’s state field in Fort Dodge with her fifth-inning round-tripper. East Marshall (23-10) scored its last run in the top of the seventh to ...

Trojans struck down by Thunder

Local Sports

DES MOINES — The West Marshall softball team missed some chances to do damage. The Thunder struck. Second-ranked Grand View Christian put up a bunch of crooked numbers and knocked out No. 14 West Marshall 12-4 in five innings in Monday’s Class 2A Region 1 regional final at Hoover High ...

Spain blanks Les Bleus, 2-0, to reach World Cup final

National Sports

ARLINGTON, Texas — Spain's defensive prowess and swagger were just too much for an attacking trio led by France great Kylian Mbappé, and just enough to get the 2010 champions into another World Cup final. The Spanish team managed a record sixth shutout in seven games so far, winning 2-0 in the semifinals Tuesday against one of the most prolific scorers in World Cup history. Teenager Lamine Yamal certainly was correct when he said France should fear Spain. That despite FIFA's top-ranked team being led by Mbappé — their captain with 20 goals in his 20 World Cup games before the ...