Kate Hall-Harnden hops onto a step platform while working out at Momentum Performance and Wellness in Portland last June after surgery to repair the ACL in her left knee. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
INDOOR TRACK
Maine native and 2019 U.S. indoor long jump champion Kate Hall-Harnden plans to compete at a track meet this weekend for the first time in nearly two years.
The Buxton resident has been sidelined since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee on Jan. 28, 2021. The knee injury ended her hopes of earning a spot in the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Most of her 2020 season was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hall-Harnden posted Thursday night on Facebook and Instagram: “It’s official … I’M BACK! … I honestly can’t begin to express how excited and truly thankful I am to be back doing what I love!”
Hall-Harnden, who is a Type 1 diabetic, will compete at 12:55 p.m. Sunday in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on New York’s Staten Island. The meet will be broadcast live on NBC from 12 to 2 p.m.
A native of Casco, Hall-Harnden set the national high school long jump record in 2015 and won two NCAA long jump titles while competing for the University of Georgia. She turned pro in 2018 after her junior year of college and won the 2019 U.S. indoor long jump title while also placing second in the 60-meter dash.
BASKETBALL
G LEAGUE: Matt Ryan scored 25 points, including six 3-pointers, and Nik Stauskas added 20 points for the Grand Rapids Gold, who took control in the third quarter and held off the Maine Celtics for a 116-108 victory at the Portland Expo.
The Gold broke away from a 47-47 halftime tie to lead 79-62 after three quarters. The Celtics gradually cut into the deficit before free throws in the final minute put it away.
Brodric Thomas led Maine with 26 points, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Jaysean Paige added 24 points.
WNBA: The Phoenix Mercury signed Tina Charles, who led the league in scoring last season for the second time in her career.
Charles averaged 23.5 points in 2021 for the Washington Mystics. She joins a roster that includes Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who led the Mercury to the WNBA finals last season.
GOLF
PGA: Seamus Power set a 36-hole record in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a second straight 8-under 64 to build a five-shot lead in Pebble Beach, California.
Power broke the record previously held by Phil Mickelson (15-under 129) in 2005 and Nick Taylor (14-under 129) in 2020.
Tom Hoge could only manage a 69 at Monterey Peninsula and was at 11-under 132 along with Adam Svensson of Canada (63 at Monterey Peninsula) and Andrew Putnam (67 at Spyglass).
LPGA: Leona Maguire and Marina Alex shared the lead after the second round of the LPGA Drive On Championship after another windy round in Fort Myers, Florida.
Maguire birdied the par-5 18th for a 7-under 65, and Alex closed with birdies on the par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth for a 66. They were at 13-under 131 with one round left.
Stacy Lewis (67), Brittany Altomare (67) and Linnea Johansson (69) were 9 under. Lexi Thompson (67) was another stroke back with Jeongeun Lee6 (69) and Patty Tavatanakit (70).
SAUDI INTERNATIONAL: Defending champion Dustin Johnson shot a 1-over 71 to fall six strokes behind co-leaders Harold Varner III and Adri Arnaus after a windy second round in Saudi Arabia.
Varner and Arnaus carded 66s to reach 10 under in the Asian Tour event. Cameron Smith (66) and Matthew Wolff (67) were two strokes off the lead, and Tommy Fleetwood’s 67 left him another shot back, alone in fifth place.
BASEBALL
MLB: Joe West has made it official, retiring from Major League Baseball after umpiring a record 5,460 regular-season games.
Roberto Ortiz became the first Puerto Rican-born umpire to join the big league staff in a series of retirements and promotions announced Friday by MLB.
Longtime umpires Gerry Davis, Kerwin Danley, Brian Gorman and Fieldin Culbreth also have retired.
Ben May, Ryan Additon, Sean Barber and John Libka joined Ortiz in promotions to the full-time MLB staff. Laz Diaz, Greg Gibson, Marvin Hudson, Ron Kulpa and Bill Welke were elevated to crew chiefs.
SOCCER
ENGLAND: Manchester United made an embarrassing early exit from the FA Cup, losing at home to second-tier side Middlesbrough in a penalty shootout after the teams played to a 1-1 deadlock.
MLS: U.S. national team winger Paul Arriola signed a four-year contract with Dallas, a week after he was acquired in a trade from D.C. United.
Arriola has 20 goals in 89 regular-season matches since joining D.C. from Tijuana in 2017. He missed most of 2020 because of a torn right ACL and played three games with Swansea during the second half of the 2020-21 season before a quadriceps injury.
Arriola has eight goals in 42 international appearances.
• Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, a son of U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter, was traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps from the Columbus Crew for $50,000 in general allocation money plus $50,000 in allocation money contingent on performance.
As part of the trade, Columbus would receive a percentage of any transfer fee if Berhalter is transferred to an international team.
Berhalter, 20, made his professional debut in 2020. He spent last season on loan to Austin and made 18 appearances, including five starts.
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