Several area teams are preparing for a high school football playoff game this week. They include:

WPIALMars (7-3) will face Blackhawk (9-1) in a Class AAA quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Moon.

District 9Moniteau (9-1) will play Brookville (5-5) in the Class AA semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Karns City.• Karns City (9-1) will battle Kane (8-2) in a Class AA semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Clarion University.

District 10Slippery Rock (7-3) will play North East (9-1) in the Class AA quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Saturday at Erie Veterans Stadium.• Grove City (7-2) will take on Cathedral Prep (6-4) in the Class AAA semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock University.SV grad Boyd leads Ball State to victorySeneca Valley High graduate Jennifer Boyd paced the Ball State women's volleyball team with 13 kills in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over Mid-American Conference rival Eastern Michigan Friday.

NEW YORK — Paula Radcliffe defended her title at the New York City Marathon on Sunday to become the second woman to win the race three times.Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won the men's race for the second time in three years, passing Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco with about a mile to go.On a cool, windy day, 38,377 runners started the race.Unlike Radcliffe's tight victories in 2004 and '07, the world record holder from Great Britain pulled away from Ludmila Petrova in the 22nd mile to win comfortably in two hours, 23 minutes, 56 seconds.

NEW YORK — A Brazilian runner collapsed and died after finishing the New York City Marathon.Police say 58-year-old Sao Paulo resident Carlos Jose Gomes had just passed the finish line around 4:30 Sunday afternoon when he complained about feeling ill. They say he was taken by ambulance to a Manhattan hospital, where he died shortly after.No cause of death has been disclosed.At least two other runners fell ill during the race and had to be hospitalized.

PHILADELPHIA — Ruben Amaro Jr. will replace Pat Gillick as general manager of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.Amaro just completed his 10th season as assistant GM and was considered the front-runner for the job after Gillick said this would be his last season.The Phillies will introduce Amaro at a news conference Monday, just five days after the team beat the Tampa Bay Rays to capture the second championship in franchise history.Amaro got the nod over Mike Arbuckle, who spent the last 15 years with the Phillies. Arbuckle was the director of scouting for his first seven seasons in Philadelphia.