Major League Soccer made improvements in both its racial and gender hiring practices, according to an annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.MLS received an overall grade of B+ with a combined grade of 84.7, up by a significant 1.5 percentage points from the leagues 2015 overall grade.Richard Lapchick, the author of the report, said MLSs improvements are encouraging.The league office is doing really in the racial and gender hiring practices and were seeing some increases at the team level as well, so thats definitely a plus, Lapchick told The Associated Press on Thursday.Laphchick said that MLS Commissioner Don Garbers office has been the pacesetter with an A+ in racial hiring and an A- in gender hiring and added, The teams need to follow the Leagues example more closely.For its racial hiring practices, MLS earned 88.5 points, up a substantial 2.1 percentage points from 86.3 in 2015. This resulted in a B+, the same letter grade as last year.MLS received an A- for head coaches, a B+ for team professional administration, and a B for team senior administration and assistant coaches when it came to racial hiring practices. There was a major improvement in the general manager position where four GMs who were people of color were hired, prompting the grade to rise from an F in 2015 to a B+ this year.MLS earned a B for gender hiring practices, the same letter grade as in 2015. In so doing, MLS remains the only other mens professional league other than the NBA with a B for gender hiring practices.The most notable achievement for gender hiring practices came at the league office employee level, where the MLS received an A- grade. The team senior administration received a C- and team professional administration received a C+. There was also major improvement for gender in senior administration where the MLS jumped from an F in 2015 to a C- in 2016, although Lapchick said in his report that area remains a serious concern.MLS earned an A+ for its outstanding diversity initiatives for the eighth consecutive season.Some other notes from the report:- The MLS League Office continued to be the standard-bearer for the entire league with people of color comprising 36.4 percent of all professional positions, while women filled 37 percent of these positions.- People of color with head coaching positions increased from 10 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2016. The Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, New York City FC and FC Dallas were the four MLS franchises led by Latinos.- Assistant coaches of color decreased by 5.2 percentage points from 18.8 percent in 2015 to 13.6 percent in 2015.- MLS teams have the worst record in professional sport for hiring people of color as team vice presidents. There was a decrease in vice presidents who were people of color in the 2016 season from 6.4 percent in 2015 to 4 percent in 2016.- Alex Leitao with Orlando City Soccer was the only person of color holding the position of CEO/president.- Earnie Stewart, of the Philadelphia Union, was the first African-American GM in MLS since its inception. Discount Nike Air Max 97 .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Nike Air Max 97 Sale . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. 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CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Marcus McMaryion kept it simple and he wound up with five touchdowns.McMaryion threw for 265 yards and a career-high five scores on Saturday night when Oregon State snapped a five-game losing streak with a 42-17 victory over Arizona. It was the most touchdown passes for a Beaver since 2013.Guys were just making plays, bottom line, McMaryion said. The play calls were there, real simple. I was trying not to over-complex things, just stick to my reads and not think too much. It definitely played dividends.Ryan Nall ran for 124 yards and another score while Jordan Villamin caught six passes for 124 yards in just the second conference win for the Beavers (3-8, 2-6-Pac-12).It was the eighth straight loss for the Wildcats (2-9, 0-8), who have been overwhelmed by injuries this season. Anu Solomon made his first start at quarterback since the opener but was injured in the first quarter and replaced by Brandon Dawkins, who threw for 106 yards and a touchdown while running for 88 yards on 15 carries.I feel bad for our school. I feel bad for our fans. I feel bad for our program, Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. We shouldnt get to this point. I guarantee well get out of it. I dont want to say that were going to be better because of it, because its miserable.Oregon State took the early lead on McMaryions 53-yard pass to Villamin. The Beavers extended the lead with McMaryions 11-yard pass to Nall, who missed last weeks game against UCLA because of a lingering foot injury.Solomon, who missed six games with a knee injury earlier this season, was sacked for a 19-yard loss early in the second quarter and was later seen limping on the sideline. He emerged from the locker room in the second half wearing a boot on his left foot.After Dawkins hit Nate Phillips with a 10-yard touchdown pass for the Wildcats, Timmy Hernandez made a diving 27-yard touchdown catch in the end zone to put the Beavers up 21-7.Josh Pollack made a 22-yard field goal for Arizona before the break.McMaryion added a 35-yard scoring pass to Trevon Bradford and Nall ran three yards for another score in the third quarter.Samajie Grant ran 2 yards for an Arizona touchdown in the final quarter but McMaryion closed out the game for the Beavers with a 10-yard scoring pass to Artavis Pierce.Oregon State coach Gary Andersen was impressed by the latest performance for his sophomore quarterback, who was pressed into service when starter Darell Garretson and backup Conor Blount were injured earlier this season.ddddddddddddI thought he threw the ball accurately and the great thing is tonight guys caught the ball for him when presented with the opportunity, Andersen said. Thats big for us, because it hasnt gone that way a lot of times in certain scenarios. But I thought he was accurate and when he was accurate the ball got caught.THE TAKEAWAYArizona: Arizona went into the game ranked at the bottom of the Pac-12 for scoring offense with an average of 22.4 points per game. ... Rodriguez said afterward that Solomon injured his toe.Oregon State: With two wins in the Pac-12, the Beavers pull even with the rival Oregon Ducks, who won their second league game earlier in the day in a 30-28 upset of No. 11 Utah. The Civil War game next week will determine the last-place finisher in the Pac-12 North division.ONE MORE CHANCE: The Wildcats get one more shot at a conference win next weekend in the rivalry game against Arizona State.I feel like crap. Lost another game. Thank God we have our rival. Its at home. Its our seniors, who have had a good career up until this year, Rodriguez said. Gosh, if we cant put all our energy into putting our best foot forward for that one, then Id be extremely disappointed.PLAYING FOR SETH: The Beavers were without receiver Seth Collins, one of the most dynamic players on the team, who was hospitalized this past week with an undisclosed illness. Andersen couldnt discuss any specifics because of privacy rules. Collins, who is most likely done for the season, had 36 catches for 418 yards this season.Linebacker Manase Hungalu said afterward: That was our motivation. This whole team is built around family. One family member goes down, we gotta fight for him. That was our whole motivation for this game and it will continue until he gets better.UP NEXTArizona: The Wildcats wrap up a disappointing season at home on Friday with the Duel in the Desert rivalry game against Arizona State. The Sun Devils fell to No. 7 Washington 44-18 earlier on Saturday night.Oregon State: The Beavers close out the season at home next Saturday with the annual Civil War rivalry game against Oregon.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '