INDIANAPOLIS – Joan Samuelson has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after setting an American record for the W50 age group last Sunday at the USA 5km Championships in Providence, R.I.

Samuelson, an Olympic gold medalist in the marathon and member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, covered the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 25 seconds to place 22nd overall in the championship field. The previous record was set by Shirley Matson in 1991.

Now in its seventh year, the USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport.

USATF names a new honoree each week, with selections based on top performances and results from the previous week.

Celtics players to visit Maine

PORTLAND (AP) – World Champion Boston Celtics players Tony Allen, Leon Powe and Brian Scalabrine will accompany the Larry O’ Brien Championship Trophy to a rally in Portland.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci says Celtics legend JoJo White will also join the 2008 NBA champions at Wednesday’s rally in Portland.

TD Banknorth is sponsoring Wednesday’s rally. The NBA Championship Trophy will first be on public display from noon to 2 p.m. at The Expo in Portland.

From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., it will be on display at the Alfond Arena on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

Spurs sign first-round pick

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The San Antonio Spurs signed first-round pick George Hill on Tuesday.

The Spurs took Hill with the 26th selection, but didn’t have to sign him. His agent, Michael Whitaker, said the former IUPUI star participated in summer league with the Spurs and had been working out in San Antonio since Aug. 18, despite the fact that he hadn’t officially signed.

“The Spurs are a championship organization,” Whitaker said. “They told us all along they wanted to get the deal done, they just wanted to use the time to sign free agents. We just took them at their word.”

Now that Hill has signed, the first two years of the deal are guaranteed. The rookie scale shows that Hill would make $1.22 million his first year and $1.31 million his second year. The Spurs have team options the next two years.

Hill, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists last season for the Jaguars. He declared himself eligible for the draft after his junior year, and performed well enough in workouts to put himself in position to get selected.

Whitaker needed to reassure Hill that the deal was going to happen.

“It’s not common for first-rounders to go that long, but I told George, ‘You got drafted by a unique team,”‘ Whitaker said.

Vikings linebacker Hilgenberg dies

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg died after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease Tuesday. He was 66.

Friend and former Vikings tight end Stu Voigt said Hilgenberg died peacefully surrounded by his family at his Lakeville, Minn., home.

“He’d say, ‘It’s not when you go, it’s where you go,”‘ Voigt told The Associated Press. “He handled these last six months with a lot of dignity.”

Hilgenberg played in college at Iowa and then spent 16 seasons in the NFL, including 12 with the Vikings from 1968 to 1979.

Hilgenberg was a solid member of a feared defense that led the Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances.

Overshadowed by the Purple People Eaters playing in front of him, Hilgenberg started 116 games of the 157 he played for Minnesota, tied for 21st on the franchise’s career games played list.

Hilgenberg led the team in total tackles with 110 in 1971 and his 13 combined tackles at Chicago on Oct. 23, 1972, remains tied with Scott Studwell for the most by a Vikings player in a single game.

He ranks 12th on the team’s all-time tackles list with 739.

Voigt and Hilgenberg met when Voigt joined the Vikings in 1970.

Hilgenberg was already with the team, and because of their positions on opposite sides of the ball, the two “literally ran into each other every day for years” during practice, Voigt said.

“We were teammates and friends from the very start,” Voigt said.

Voigt said Hilgenberg made him and other members of the team better players, but that Hilgenberg’s strong faith and community involvement also made them better people.

“We were back in the era when athletes were role models,” Voigt said. “He was a role model for myself and a lot of other guys.”

Hilgenberg was active through his religious affiliations, in charity events and in his community. He was also an avid outdoorsman, Voigt said.

After the Vikings, Voigt and Hilgenberg remained friends and ran banking and real estate businesses together.

Voigt said the last few months were rough. Hilgenberg was in a wheelchair, crippled from the effects of Lou Gehrig’s disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eventually leading to death.

“It takes away your body,” Voigt said of the disease. “But I could tell the mind was there, and the twinkle in his eye. … He was really quite a guy.”

He is survived by his wife, four grown children, and several grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.

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Associated Press Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report.

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