National Sports

BELLEAIR, Fla. (AP) — Charley Hull made five birdies Friday for a 4-under 66 that gave her a two-shot lead and an extra day of her offseason holiday, along with a weekend date with Nelly Korda at The Annika.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have hired former Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell to be the team's vice-president of baseball operations and assistant general manager. The Blue Jays announced the move in a release Friday.

VANCOUVER — There’s a long list of things the Toronto Argonauts must do if they hope to upset the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Sunday’s Grey Cup game. Near the top is containing explosive Bomber running back Brady Oliveira.

VANCOUVER — Chris Kolankowski will be a key figure Sunday for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

MONTREAL — The Montreal Victoire anticipated Swedish star Lina Ljungblom's arrival from overseas for more than a year. They’re confident it was well worth the wait. “We wanted a game breaker,” head coach Kori Cheverie said.

TORONTO — John Tavares met Connor McDavid before the phenom had ever played a shift in junior. Chris Tanev has trained alongside the superstar each off-season for more than a decade.

VANCOUVER — Jordan Younger knew right away that Tyrell Ford was a special talent. He first noticed the Canadian defensive back at the CFL combine in 2022 and was impressed.

Canada looks to take the first step back up the rugby sevens ladder when it competes in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens later this month.

Longtime Canadian women's tennis captain Heidi El Tabakh could sense that Leylah Fernandez was going to be a special player from a young age.

SAN JOSÉ — Aghilas Sadek, Will Daniels and Aidan Evans scored to help the Canada under-17 team blank Costa Rica 3-0 in a friendly Friday. The young Canadians play Mexico on Sunday, also in San Jose.