Cross country
* Oregon women win title; Oregon’s women won the NCAA cross country title on Saturday in Louisville, Ky. No. 2-ranked Oregon won its first women’s title since 1987. Jordan Hasay and Alexi Pappas finished 2-3 in scoring while placing third and eighth overall. Iowa State’s Betsy Saina was first in 19:27.9. Hasay was third in 19:28.6. On the men’s side, Oklahoma State won the title, while Oregon finished in 20th.
Mixed martial arts
• St. Pierre wins welterweight title: Canadian Georges St. Pierre unified the welterweight title in his return to the octagon, unanimously outpointing Carlos Condit in a bloody fight Saturday night in Montreal at UFC 154. The judges scored it almost a shutout for St. Pierre at 49-46, 50-45, 50-45. The 31-year-old St. Pierre consolidated his lead with takedowns as the fight wore on, showing his wrestling skills and ability to resist Condit’s submission attempts on the ground. St. Pierre (23-2) fought for the first time since April 2011 following reconstructive knee surgery after a training injury. Condit won the interim title during the Canadian’s absence, beating Nick Diaz in February.
Football
• Maryland in talks to join Big Ten: The University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents has been told that Maryland is in serious discussions to join the Big Ten, and board members plan to meet as soon as Monday to discuss the proposed move, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks. The regents were told about the talks this weekend but had not received a written presentation as of early Saturday night. Not all of the regents favor leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference, and there is expected to be a lively debate, said one official who declined to be named because the matter is ongoing. Maryland has a long tradition with the ACC and is one of seven original conference members. A report at ESPN.com said that if Maryland were to join the Big Ten, the Big East’s Rutgers is likely to follow suit.
Motor sports
• Vettel wins pole position at U.S. Grand Prix: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel secured the pole position for the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, putting him in the perfect spot to chase his third consecutive world championship. Driving in the new $400 million Circuit of the Americas, Vettel dominated three practice sessions before securing the pole Saturday with a blistering round of qualifying. Vettel claimed the spot with a time of 1 minute, 35.657 seconds. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso will start eighth today after running 1.643 seconds slower than Vettel. Alonso trails Vettel by 10 points in the drivers’ championship. If Vettel wins today, Alonso must finish no worse than fourth to force the championship into the final race of the season next week in Brazil. Today’s race with be Formula One’s first in the U.S. since racing at Indianapolis in 2007.
Hockey
• NHL labor talks set to resume Monday: So much for a two-week break. Just over a week since the last set of failed negotiations, the NHL and the locked-out players’ association will return to the bargaining table Monday. Conversations that restarted Friday between NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr produced enough positive movement Saturday to set up another face-to-face meeting that the sides hope will lead to an agreement to save the hockey season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suggested to union executive director Donald Fehr this week that the sides take two weeks off from negotiations. The union maintained its desire to keep talking, and now bargaining is back on.
— From wire reports
