Sports digest 1/15/02

College*** Southeast Missouri State's gymnastics team fell to 0-2 on the season Sunday with a loss to Illinois State in Normal, Ill.

Denise Houda won the all-around (38.950) to lead Illinois St. to a 191.400 total. Southeast's Ashley Godwin (38.850) was a close runner-up to Houda as Southeast finished at 188.625. Godwin won the vault as she tied her career-bet with a 9.750 in the event.

Henry Domercant of Eastern Illinois earned honors Monday as the Ohio Valley Conference's player of the week. The junior guard scored 33 points last week in a victory over Morehead State and 37 in a win over Eastern Kentucky.

Tennessee Tech's Damien Kinloch scored a total of 43 points in Tech's two wins to earn newcomer of the week.

Derek Winans of Southeast Missouri was named rookie of the week. He averaged 18.3 points in three games, and had 16 rebounds and four steals.

*** Illini football coach Ron Turner would receive a $400,000 raise, half of it deferred, under a proposal University of Illinois officials plan to consider this week.

Under the proposal, Turner's total annual compensation would increase from $700,000 to $900,000.

Turner also would receive an additional $200,000 under a contract with Coach Ron Turner Football Enterprises to increase his compensation for educational, public relations, consulting and promotional services.

Turner, who led the Illini to a 10-2 record and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl this past season, would also have his contract extended one additional year, through Jan. 20, 2007.

Baseball

Charles Dolan raised his bid for the Boston Red Sox to $750 million Monday, $90 million more than the offer the team accepted from a group headed by Florida Marlins owner John Henry.

Dolan upped his offer after Attorney General Thomas Reilly had been negotiating with the Red Sox over the weekend and with Henry on Monday.

"We are negotiating more money for the charities and some other items as well," Reilly said.

Though Dolan and New York lawyer Miles Prentice had raised their offers, Reilly said he was only negotiating with the Red Sox and with Henry's group. The Red Sox turned down a $700 million offer from Dolan on Sunday.

Donald Fehr, the head of the players' association, was given an unprecedented invitation to address a baseball owners' meeting Thursday.

The invitation, announced Monday by baseball commissioner Bud Selig, was surprising given the painful history of labor relations in the sport. Selig spoke to eight players during a bargaining session in New York last Wednesday.

"As it was important for me to speak to the players, I believe it is important for Don to address the owners," Selig said in a statement.

Outfielder Darren Lewis agreed Monday to $500,000, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Lewis, who has made 16 errors in a major league career that began with Oakland in 1990, spent the past four seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He has also played with the Giants, the Reds, the White Sox and the Dodgers.

In 1,296 major league games, he has batted .250 with 600 runs scored and 246 stolen bases. He has also been in the playoffs three times, going 13-for-51 in 18 postseason games.

Last season, Lewis appeared in 82 games for the Red Sox and batted .280 with a homer and 12 RBIs.

The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics will switch first baseman prospects as part of a six-player trade.

Texas will send first baseman Carlos Pena and left-handed pitcher Mike Venafro to Oakland in return for four prospects, including first baseman Jason Hart.

Pena, the Rangers' first-round pick in the 1998 amateur draft, made his major league debut at the end of last season, hitting .258 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 22 games. He also had four doubles and a triple.

Pena would have been the backup to Rafael Palmeiro if he made a major league roster. The A's likely will give Pena an opportunity to take over the vacancy created at first base when former AL MVP Jason Giambi signed with the New York Yankees.

Hart, once expected to be Giambi's successor in Oakland, hit .246 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs in 133 games for Triple A Sacramento last season.

-- From staff, wire reports