Duluth native Molly Oberstar of Minneapolis placed 15th among 23 entrants Thursday night in the Senior Ladies short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Alissa Czisny of Detroit led the field with 65.75 points, Rachael Flatt of Del Mar, Calif., was second with 60.19 and Caroline Zhang of Boston was third at 58.91.
Oberstar, 20, a University of Minnesota freshman who trains with the St. Paul Figure Skating Club, had a score of 46.73.
The Senior Ladies long program is Saturday.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Behind relentless defensive pressure, and 19 points and five blocks from JaJuan Johnson, No. 18 Purdue banged its way to a 70-62 Big Ten Conference men's basketball victory over No. 21 Minnesota on Thursday night.
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E'Twaun Moore added 16 points for Purdue (15-4 overall, 4-2 Big Ten), which won its fourth straight conference game after an 0-2 start. The Boilermakers entered charged-up Williams Arena with the second-ranked field goal percentage defense in the country and made life miserable all evening for the Gophers (16-3, 4-3).
Al Nolen had 17 points on 3-for-14 shooting and four steals for Minnesota, which shot a season-low 27.6 percent, including 3 for 19 from 3-point range, to lose its second in a row.
MILWAUKEE -- First baseman Prince Fielder and the Milwaukee Brewers reached a preliminary agreement Thursday on an $18 million, two-year contract.
Milwaukee renewed Fielder's contract last year for $670,000, and Fielder, 24, was eligible for arbitration for the first time. He asked for $8 million and the Brewers offered $6 million when figures were exchanged Tuesday.
He can become a free agent after the 2011 season.
CHICAGO -- The billionaire Ricketts family has been selected by Tribune Co. as the winning bidder for the hard-luck Chicago Cubs.
The bid is worth about $900 million, said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for Tom Ricketts. The sale would include Wrigley Field and a 25 percent interest in a regional sports network.
NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire's youngest brother says in a book proposal that he injected the former baseball star with steroids, according to Deadspin.com.
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Jay McGwire is circulating a manuscript titled "The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a slugger and Ultimate Redemption," the Web site reported Wednesday. Jay McGwire, a body builder, said his brother started using steroids in 1994 and that he injected Mark with Deca-Durabolin.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Olympic silver medalist Dinara Safina reached the fourth round for the first time in seven trips to the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia on Friday.
The 22-year-old Russian took 4-1 leads in each set and ousted the 25th-seeded Kanepi in 66 minutes.
She broke into the top 10 last year for the first time and credits having a full-time coach and trainer for the rise.
The third-seeded Safina has yet to win a Grand Slam singles title, although she reached the French Open final last year before losing to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.
