Slippery Rock University senior running back Josh Kniess was named as an honorable mention player of the week by D2Football.com.

Kniess, a Slippery Rock High School graduate, rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns in a 21-15 win over Millersville Saturday.

Kniess also earned PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week honors.

Rock defensive ends Cory Lacek and Josh Zeisloft also were honored by D2Football.com, earning spots on the honorable mention list for their efforts against Millersville.

Both players had three sacks. Lacek had seven tackles, including four for a loss. Zeisloft had five tackles.

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Bryan Bullington, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 June draft, underwent surgery to repair his right shoulder and probably won't be ready for game action until mid-June.Bullington was expected to pitch in the Arizona fall league, but an MRI exam revealed damage in his right labrum. While performing the operation, Texas Rangers team physician Kevin Meister found the injury to be more severe than initially thought.Bullington, 25, probably can't resume throwing again until late January, which means he will likely miss all or most of spring training.The former Ball State pitcher went 9-5 with a 3.38 ERA at Triple-A Indianapolis last season. He began the season on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis and had a reoccurrence of the problem after being recalled by Pittsburgh in September. Bullington pitched in one game after his recall.

NEW YORK - New York Mets reliever Felix Heredia Tuesday was suspended for the first 10 days of next season for violating baseball's steroids policy.Heredia became the 11th major league player suspended for steroids.

SAN FRANCISCO - Victor Conte was sentenced Tuesday to eight months as part of a plea deal for his role as mastermind behind a scheme to provide professional athletes with undetectable performance-enhancing drugs.Conte, who will spend four months in prison and four months in home confinement, started the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. The lab, according to court records, counted dozens of prominent athletes among its clients, including Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Marion Jones and others.

WASHINGTON - Testifying from a wheelchair, former jockey Gary Birzer told a House panel Tuesday that The Jockeys' Guild let him down last year after a paralyzing fall during a race.Facing intense pressure from the House panel after Birzer's testimony, guild officials did not dispute that jockeys were not clearly notified that they were no longer insured against on-track injuries.Birzer, now 30, fell during a 2004 race at West Virginia's Mountaineer Race Track, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. While taking the oath to testify, he was unable to lift his fingers.The Birzers said they have incurred some $500,000 in unpaid medical fees and were forced to transfer him to an inadequate hospital facility because the guild would not cover his medical expenses.