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Southern Californian who began his career working at Churchill Downs reaches horse racing's crown jewel for first time

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PHOENIX (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner said she thought about killing herself during her first few weeks in a Russian jail after her 2022 arrest on drug-related charges.

Griner spoke for the first time about her monthslong detention in Russia during an hourlong interview that aired Wednesday night on ABC. Her memoir, “Coming Home,” is set to be released on May 7.

Griner was detained after arriving at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges allegedly containing oil derived from cannabis.

“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks,” Griner told interviewer Robin Roberts. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”

She decided against it in part because she was afraid the Russian authorities wouldn’t release her body to her family.

Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., ending only after she was freed in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner said before she was released, she was forced to write a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They made me write this letter. It was in Russian,” she said. “I had to ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time I wanted to come home.”

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She was disappointed when she got on the plane for the trade and that Paul Whelan, another American who has been detained in Russia, wasn’t with her.

“I walked on and didn’t see him, maybe he’s next. Maybe they will bring him next,” she said. “They closed the door and I was like, are you serious? You’re not going to let this man come home now.”

Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA season begins on May 14.

Baseball Homestead 3, Los Altos 2

Los Altos doesn’t have Los Gatos’ impressive overall record — 20 wins, three losses — but for weeks has had the better league mark.

Not anymore.

On Wednesday, Homestead scored two runs in the visitor’s half of the first inning and another run in the fifth to edge Los Altos, an outcome that elevated Los Gatos into a first-place tie with the Eagles in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division with three games to go.

Los Altos and Los Gatos play a two-game series next week.

Howard Cheng, a sophomore, had two hits and knocked in two runs and Logan Christianson drove in one run to lead Homestead, which improved to 11-8-2, 4-6.

Darrion Wesley had a home run among his two hits and Aaron Baum had two hits, including a double, for Los Altos.

The Eagles fell to 12-10, 9-2.

Los Altos will visit Homestead on Friday before opening a home-and-home series at Los Gatos next Wednesday.

No. 6 Los Gatos 13, Wilcox 1

Donovan Freed homered, doubled and knocked in four runs and Brayden Smith had two doubles and three RBIs to lead Los Gatos to a rout of host Wilcox in an SCVAL De Anza Division game.

Leading 3-1 after two innings, Los Gatos scored five in the third to break the game open.

Ethan Williams pitched five inning for the Wildcats, allowing two hits and an unearned run. He struck out five.

Los Gatos improved to 9-2 in league play. Wilcox is 14-10, 6-5.

No. 12 San Ramon Valley 2, Monte Vista 1

San Ramon Valley scored a run in the top of the third and another in the fourth and then held off Monte Vista’s seventh-inning rally to win this rivalry game in East Bay Athletic League play.

Jake Hensley had two hits, including a homer, and Julian Cambra knocked in a run for SRV, which upped its record to 14-8, 9-3.

Charles Reiland held Monte Vista to a run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Jacob Deguzman had two hits and a seventh-inning RBI for Monte Vista, which fell to 13-10, 4-8.

No. 1 Granada 5, Livermore 0

Four Granada pitchers — Parker Warner, Bryce Berry, A.J. Hattaway, Logan Hahn — combined on a one-hitter and Riley Winchell knocked in three runs to lead the host Matadors past crosstown rival Livermore in EBAL play.

Granada improved to 22-1, 11-1. Livermore dropped 13-10, 5-7.

No. 4 De La Salle 5, California 1

Joe McGee and Jack Harper each had three hits, Hank Tripaldi homered and Graham Schlicht pitched six strong innings to lead De La Salle to a victory at home over California in an EBAL game.

De La Salle is 16-5, 10-2. California slipped to 11-12, 3-9.

Menlo-Atherton 4, The King’s Academy 3

Menlo-Atherton knocked TKA out of first place while keeping its own league title hopes alive with a dramatic victory in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game.

With three league games left, M-A and TKA are one game behind Burlingame in the standings.

On Wednesday, M-A trailed 1-0 after five innings. But the Bears rallied for two runs in the visitor’s half of the sixth and two more in the seventh. TKA scored two in the bottom of the seventh before the final out was recorded.

Ronan Cutright had two hits and two RBIs for M-A, which improved to 13-11, 7-4.

Nate Plata had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs for TKA, which fell to 12-10-1, 7-4.

Softball No. 16 Bishop O’Dowd 1, No. 6 Alameda 0

Freshman Zoe Bolick pitched a complete game and Riley Veenstra’s fourth-inning RBI accounted for the only run as O’Dowd prevailed at home over Alameda in West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division play.

The victory moved O’Dowd into a first-place tie with Alameda.

The Dragons improved to 16-6, 7-2. Alameda is 15-3, 7-2.

No. 1 St. Francis 13, Valley Christian 3 (6 innings)

Shannon Keighran had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in three runs and Maya Yumiba and Isabella Sandoval each had two hits to lead St. Francis to a victory at home in a West Catholic Athletic League game.

Savannah Hernandez knocked in two runs for Valley Christian.

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St. Francis is 21-0, 6-0. Valley Christian fell to 14-10, 4-3.

No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 13, Sacred Heart Cathedral 3 (5 innings)

Megan Sutton had two doubles among her three hits and drove in three runs and Cara Edwards and Corri Hicks each had two RBIs to lead Mitty to a win over visiting SHC in WCAL play.

Mitty is 17-3, 5-2. SHC is 10-11, 1-5.

Sobrato 8, Leigh 1

Trailing 1-0 going to the bottom of the sixth, Sobrato erupted for eight runs to turn back Leigh in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division game.

Brooklyn Amato and Zoe Rodriguez each knocked in two runs and Sam Zimmerman pitched a complete game to lead Sobrato, which improved to 15-6, 10-4.

Leigh is 8-11, 4-9.

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SCOTTSDALE — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark “certainly wasn’t happy” with the College Football Playoff’s revenue distribution plan starting in 2026 — a plan that leaves his conference and the ACC at a significant disadvantage to the SEC and Big Ten — but wasn’t in a position to complain.

His competitive streak, honed over the decades, wouldn’t allow it.

“I’m a believer that if you create value, you need to be rewarded — that’s just how I look at life,” Yormark said  Wednesday following the Big 12’s spring meetings at a Scottsdale resort.

Yormark addressed a series of issues at the forefront of college athletics during two public sessions: the first with a small group of reporters; the second as a panelist on college football during an event at the annual Fiesta Summit.

On CFP revenue

The conferences agreed earlier this spring to a revenue-sharing plan for the next contract cycle with ESPN, which begins in 2026.

It allocates about 60 percent of the reported $1.3 billion in annual revenue to Big Ten and SEC, with the ACC and Big 12 accounting for approximately 30 percent. The breakdown was based, in part, on CFP participation over the past decade.

Teams in the new Big 12 have accounted for just two of the 40 semifinal berths, with Cincinnati and TCU earning bids. The SEC and Big Ten combined for 29 spots.

“When you look at the first 10 years of the CFP,” Yormark said, “we didn’t perform probably as well as we would have liked. That’s OK. History might not repeat itself.”

On the CFP “opener”

The Big 12 and ACC had little leverage with the Big Ten and SEC, which feature most of the biggest brands in the sport. But during the negotiations, Yormark pushed for what’s called a “look-in” (or “opener”) in the contract midway through the six-year term.

It gives the commissioners a chance to reconfigure the economic piece if participation trends shift from the benchmarks used to create the initial distribution plan.

“Having that look-in made sense for a lot of different reasons,” Yormark said.

“I certainly wasn’t happy with the distribution … And I don’t think our (athletic directors) or our coaches are either, but we’re going to continue to invest for the right reasons.

“We’re going to continue to build football. It’s at the core of what we do, and I’m excited about the future.”

On CFP expansion

While the revenue model for the next edition of the CFP was established earlier this spring, many specifics are unresolved, including the number of teams.

The event is expanding to 12 teams for the 2024-25 seasons. But starting in the fall of 2026, it could grow to 14.

“If we end up going to 14 and we can further enhance the championship experience for more teams and more student-athletes, that’s great,” Yormark said.

“More is good, but the proof is in the details, and I’m excited to see how this year plays out at 12.”

On college football separating

Many in college sports believe football should be declared a separate entity from all other NCAA sports, including basketball.

A group of sports executives even pitched the “super league” concept to conferences in recent months.

“I think that’s noise,” Yormark said. “I don’t see that happening for the foreseeable future.”

On NCAA Tournament expansion

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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has been perhaps the greatest proponent of exploring an expansion of March Madness, which has featured 64 or 68 teams since 1985. The expanded field size often cited is 78 teams.

The Big 12 is one of the top basketball conferences in the country and will get bigger and stronger next season with the addition of Arizona, ASU, Utah and Colorado.

Yormark said the coaches are in favor of expansion “in theory.”

“But what does that number look like?” he added. “The devil is in the details.”

Critics of expansion worry that the power conferences will gobble all the newly created spots and marginalize the mid-majors and smaller schools that give the tournament its captivating chaos and upsets.

“You don’t want to mess with something that’s great,” Yormark said, “but if there are chances and opportunities to modify a little bit, to maybe provide more access, to amplify the experience, to look at it slightly differently, we owe it to ourselves to do that.”

“I’m a firm believer that from time to time, you’ve got to put things through an audit.”

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*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

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