Mark Maloney on sports

The Lexington Legends introduced their new director of broadcasting and media relations Thursday, Keith Elkins.

Elkins replaces Rob Gidel, who left to take a broadcasting position with the University of Akron. The only other full-time play-by-play voice in the Legends’ eight seasons belongs to Larry Glover, who called games from 2001 through 2007.

The Legends also announced the addition of five other front-office employees: Ty Cobb, director of creative services; Chris Wohlgamuth and Maura Kennedy, group sales; Paul Scanlon, corporate sales; and Justina Wright, staff accountant.

Cobb was named after and born on the same day as Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.

Elkins, who filled in for Gidel several times last season, is a former Lexington television sports reporter and anchor and public relations officer at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University. In addition to play-by-play duties, he will serve as the South Atlantic League team’s primary media contact. Legends games are heard on flagship station WLXG in Lexington and 34 affiliates across the Commonwealth, making up the largest radio network in minor league baseball.

A trio of former Lexington Legends had their contracts purchased and were added to the Houston Astros’ 40-man roster Wednesday. The promotions were announced by General Manager Ed Wade in a press release.

And the Legends will name their new play-by-play announcer on Thursday.

Lexington fans will easily recall infielders Tommy Manzella and Drew Sutton, but may have to pause when considering outfielder Brian Bogusevic.

Bogusevic, a 2005 first-round draft pick, was a left-handed pitcher during his Lexington days. He began last season as a pitcher but by July he wound up in the outfield. He hit .371 (46-for-124), with three homers and 20 RBI over 42 games for Double-A Corpus Christi. Playing for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, Bogusevic is hitting .329 (23-for-70) with 12 RBI through 12 games.

Manzella, a 2005 third-round draft pick, is a slick-fielding shortstop. He split the 2008 season between Corpus Christi and Triple-A Round Rock, hitting a combined .259 (117-for-452). He earned Texas League All-Star honors with the Hooks, and was named Defensive Player of the Month in April for Corpus and in August for the Express.

Sutton, a 2004 15th-round draft pick, hit .317 (165-for-520), with 20 homers and 69 RBI for Corpus Christi, where he was the team’s MVP and a Texas League mid-season and post-season all-star. He led all Astros minor-leaguers in batting average, hits, runs (102), walks (76), doubles (39) and extra-base hits (63). Also with Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, he is hitting .327 (34-for-104), with seven home runs and 24 RBI over 29 games.

Thursday’s announcement by the Legends (Applebee’s Park, 10 a.m.) will reveal the new director of broadcasting and media relations, as well as other staff additions. General Manager Andy Shea said in a press release that the staff has been increased by about 15 percent.

The Legends have the largest radio network in the minors with flagship WLXG-AM and 34 affiliates.

“We are excited to have a longtime Lexington resident, who is already connected with our fans, represent out team on the air,” Alan Stein, team president and CEO, said in the press release.

Larry Glover handled play-by-play for the Legends’ first seven seasons. Rob Gidel took over in 2008, but recently left to take a broadcasting post with the University of Akron. His duties there include several “coach shows” and Zips women’s basketball play-by-play.

The Legends will open their ninth season in the South Atlantic League on April 9, visiting the West Virginia Power at Charleston. Lexington’s home opener, against the Kannapolis Intimidators, is set for Monday, April 13.

Oregon, Oklahoma State and Stanford held on to the top three spots in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s final men’s poll of the 2008 season, released Tuesday.

Wisconsin moved up from sixth to No. 4.

The NCAA Championships are set for next Monday (Nov. 24) at Terre Haute, Ind.

Kentucky, having qualified for the women’s NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since 1989, apparently has more to prove at that meet (Monday, Nov. 24, at Terre Haute, Ind.).

The Wildcats are nowhere to be found in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s final poll of the season. Thirty teams make the poll. UK is the last of two teams in the “others receiving votes” category — No. 32.

And Virginia, which beat the Cats for first place in the Southeast Regional, is a modest No. 28.

Washington and Oregon, 1-2 finishers in the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional, remain 1-2 in the poll.

South Regional champion Florida State is third.

Michigan made the biggest jump, moving nine places to No. 10 after winning the Great Lakes Regional.

The Women’s Division I Cross Country National Poll:

ORV: Penn State (20), and Kentucky (11).

Dropped Out: No. 25 Penn State, No. 26 BYU, and No. 30 Wake Forest.

In addition to a gold medal, the Olympic champion in the decathlon earns the unofficial title of World’s Greatest Athlete.

Tuesday, Olympic champion Bryan Clay added another distinction: 2008 Jesse Owens Award winner.

Clay and discus-thrower Stephanie Brown Trafton were named by USA Track & Field as the male and female winners of the Owens Award. The Owens is USATF’s highest honor, presented annually to the outstanding U.S. male and female track and field athletes. The 2008 awards will be presented Dec. 6 during the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held in conjunction with USATF’s annual meeting, at Reno, Nev.

Clay captured the World Indoor Championships heptathlon gold medal with a personal best of 6,371 points. He won silver medals in 2004 and 2006.

Outdoors, the 2004 Olympic silver-medalist set a U.S. Olympic Trials record of 8,832 points at Eugene, Ore. That was the best total by an American in 16 years and best in the world over four years.

At the Beijing Olympics, he led after every event en route to scoring 8,791 points and becoming the first American to win Olympic gold in the decathlon since Dan O’Brien in 1996. His winning margin of 240 points was the greatest winning margin in the Olympics since 1972.

Brown Trafton is the first women’s thrower to win the Owens Award. She had never won a national title, let alone an international gold.

After placing third at the Olympic Trials, Brown Trafton led the qualifying round at Beijing with her first toss, 212 feet, 5 inches (64.74 meters). From there, she went on to win the gold medal — the first by an American woman in the discus since Lillian Copeland in 1932 and the first medal of any kind by an American since Leslie Jean Deniz’s silver in 1984.

Brown Trafton had three of the top four marks by an American in 2008, including a personal-best 217-1 (66.17) on May 8.

Eastern Kentucky University announced the signing of two men’s basketball recruits Tuesday.

Spencer Perrin, a 6-foot-5 small forward, helped Boyle County to the 12th Region championship by averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds as a senior in 2007. He is now in his second season at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.

Willie Cruz is a 6-4 guard, now a senior at L’Anse Creuse High School near Detroit. Cruz averaged 20.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season. He was named all-conference, second-team all-area and honorable mention all-state.

EKU (0-1) plays its home opener tonight at 7 against Winston-Salem.

The Louisville Bats, Class AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, will keep its coaching staff in tact another season.

Rick Sweet will return as manager, along with pitching coach Ted Power and hitting coach Adrian Garrett.

The Bats won a franchise-record 88 games in 2008, going 88-56 to earn a berth in the International League playoffs. Sweet was named IL Manager of the Year and became Louisville’s all-time winningest manager (303-272).

* Also returning is the staff for the Reds’ rookie Pioneer League affiliate, the Billings Mustangs: Julio Garcia, the league’s manager of the year; Tom Browning, pitching coach; and Tony Jaramillo, hitting coach. Billings went 42-32 in 2008, winning North Division titles in both halves of the season.

* With Joey Votto runner-up to Cubs catcher Geovany Soto in Rookie of the Year voting, and Jay Bruce fifth, the Reds put two players in the top five for the first time since 1970. That year, Bernie Carbo finished second in the voting, while Wayne Simpson tied for fourth.

* Tickets for the 2009 World Baseball Classic go on sale Monday. A schedule and ticket information are available at www.WorldBaseballClassic.com.

A correction to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association rankings that were released Tuesday.

Virginia’s men, No. 13 with 211 points, were omitted. The corrected poll:

Polls have closed and it’s time to declare the winners:

Johnny Gray

Down Bowden

Bill Carr

Bernie Wefers

Jimmy Carnes

Word came Tuesday that those five have been elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. Inductions will be Saturday, Dec. 6, at Reno, Nev., in conjunction with USA Track & Field’s annual meeting.

Gray, who will be inducted in the “modern athletes” category, set five American records and still holds the U.S. mark at 800 meters. A four-time Olympian, he earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Bowden, Carr and Wefers are in the “veteran athletes” category, while Carnes is a “contributor.”

Bowden, a 1956 Olympian, wasa the first American to break the four-minute barrier in the mile. He also was an NCAA champion in the half-mile.

Carr was a double gold-medalist at the 1032 Los Angeles Olympics and a world record-holder at 400 meters. Track & Field News magazine named him the top 400-meter runner for the quarter-century spanning 1925-49.

Wefers competed in the late 1800s, setting multiple world records for the 100- and 220-yard dashes. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100 three times.

Carnes was the first president of TAC/USA — now known as USA Track & Field. He founded the Florida Track Club and served as executive director of the Florida Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Defending NCAA champion Oregon retains the top spot in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association men’s poll, released Tuesday.

Oklahoma State moved up a spot to No. 2, trading places with Stanford.

The top four women’s teams remain unchanged: Washington, Oregon, Florida State and Princeton. Villanova climbs a spot to No. 5. Three-time defending NCAA champion Stanford is No. 11.

Although no Kentucky teams are ranked nationally, four men’s teams are among the top 15 in the Southeast Region: No. 4 Eastern Kentucky, No. 9 Louisville, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 Morehead State.

The women’s Southeast Region has UK at No. 7, U of L at No. 11.