Sports briefs 4/6/05

Boxing

* A college teacher who won a regional boxing title three years ago died from a head injury she sustained in a Golden Gloves competition, apparently becoming the first woman to die in a sanctioned bout.

Becky Zerlentes, 34, of Fort Collins, Colo., died Sunday afternoon, Howard Daniel of the Denver County coroner's office said Monday. The preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, but results from an autopsy were not immediately available.

Zerlentes is believed to be the first female amateur boxer to die in a sanctioned match, USA Boxing spokeswoman Julie Goldsticker said.

Zerlentes was hit by a punch from Heather Schmitz, and despite wearing protective headgear fell unconscious during the third round of a bout late Saturday, Goldsticker said.

Physicians jumped into the ring, but Zerlentes never regained consciousness and died several hours later. Zerlentes had a 6-4 record.

College

* Murray State basketball players Shane Dansby and Reggie Jackson have been released from the team at their own request, coach Mick Cronin said Tuesday.

Dansby, a 6-foot-5 freshman forward from Kingston Springs, Tenn., played in all of Murray State's 28 games this past season, starting one. He averaged 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game.

Jackson, a 6-8 junior forward from Denver, played in 24 games with one start for the Racers, averaging 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game.

Football

* The Kansas City Chiefs acquired a wide receiver and a defensive end from the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, addressing two pressing needs.

The Chiefs agreed to give the Titans an undisclosed choice in this month's NFL draft for defensive end Carlos Hall, a restricted free agent.

The 6-foot-3, 259-pound Hall has made 31 starts in three years with Tennessee.

Also Tuesday, receiver Darrell Hill signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs. The team did not release any other terms of the deal. Hill, 6-3, 200 pounds, appeared in 14 games for the Titans last season and ranked third on the team with 15 special teams tackles.

Miscellaneous

* Congressmen looking into steroids in sports sent letters Tuesday to the heads of the NBA, NHL and five other groups asking for information about their drug-testing policies.

The House Government Reform Committee sent a similar request to the NFL last week.

"This is the compare-and-contrast phase of the investigation," said David Marin, spokesman for committee chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican.

During the panel's 11-hour hearing on steroids in baseball last month -- with Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and commissioner Bud Selig among the witnesses -- several lawmakers threatened federal legislation to govern drug testing in baseball and possibly all U.S. sports.

The seven letters sent Tuesday were addressed to NBA commissioner David Stern, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, ATP CEO Mark Miles, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber, U.S. Soccer Federation president Bob Contiguglia, USA Track & Field CEO Craig Masback and USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia.