Ex-Ram Cheerleader Gets Four-Month Sentence

Tracy Ann Donoho, a former Ram cheerleader who was the key prosecution witness against Darryl Henley in his drug trafficking trial, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana to four months in prison for her role in the drug network.

Donoho was arrested in 1993 at an Atlanta airport after picking up a suitcase packed with 12 kilograms of cocaine. She testified against Henley, a former Ram cornerback and her onetime boyfriend, and four others.

Henley and the other defendants are facing a decade in prison, although they are seeking a new trial based on allegations of jury improprieties.

*

Mancel Johnson, a star receiver for the University of Maryland, was arrested and charged with stealing from two dormitory rooms last month. He was suspended from the football team by Coach Mark Duffner for “violating team standards.” Johnson will sit out spring practice and the first two games next season.

Baseball

Jim Abbott of the Angels was presented the 1995 Hutch Award in Seattle. The award, named after former major league pitcher and manager Fred Hutchinson, is given to the player who best exemplifies his character, competitive desire and fighting spirit.

The Angels signed Mark Williamson, a right-handed reliever, to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. Williamson, 36, hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 1994, when he had a 3-1 record with a 4.01 earned-run average in 28 games for the Baltimore Orioles.

Lou Gorman, who as general manager of the Boston Red Sox for 10 years helped the team win three division titles, retired but will remain a part-time consultant to the club. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals signed pitcher Gregg Olson to a $600,000 minor league contract. Olson, 28, had 160 saves from 1989-93, before suffering a partially torn tendon in his right elbow. . . . Mel Rojas and the Montreal Expos settled on a $2.025-million contract to avoid arbitration.

Winter Sports

Olympic and world ice dance figure skating champions Oksana Gritschuk and Yevgeny Platov of Russia began their quest for their first European title by taking the lead after the dance compulsories at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Former figure skating champions who turned pro will not be able to return to the amateur ranks as they did in 1994. International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta said the deadline had passed for ineligible skaters to apply for reinstatement, and that there would be no second chances.

College Football

Florida State’s program got a clean bill from the NCAA, which found no major violations or lack of institutional control after a yearlong investigation into a 1993 incident in which several football players accepted free merchandise from a sporting goods store.

However, school officials will meet next month to discuss a secondary violation that concerned the school’s monitoring of sports agents’ activities around Florida State athletes between the fall of 1992 and January, 1994.

Miami backup quarterback Scott Covington says he’s leaving for another school, even though his request for a release has been denied by the university.

Miscellany

Olympic tickets will go back on sale Feb. 10 by telephone only, and a Visa credit card is required for payment. Organizers added two volleyball sessions to the schedule. Earlier, volleyball had been one of the sold-out programs. Most of the 3.7 million seats left are for baseball, soccer and field hockey.

Finland’s Jani Sievinen equaled his world short-course record in the 100-meter medley at a swimming meet in Sheffield, England. He was timed in 53.78 seconds.

A girlfriend of the man on trial in Lumberton, N.C., for killing basketball star Michael Jordan’s father testified he picked her up for a date on the night of the murder driving the elder Jordan’s luxury car. Melinda Moore told jurors that she rode around in the $40,000 red Lexus belonging to James Jordan, 56.

On trial for Jordan’s shooting death is Lord Danielle As-Saddiz Al-Amin Sallam U’allah.