Ross Carlson, who played for the Florida Everblades of the ECHL last season, has signed a two-way contract with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League

Carlson becomes the fifth U.S.-born player to wear the red, white and blue for Rochester.

“Ross came in and did a good job for us last year,” said Americans Director of Player Personnel Jody Gage. “He is a solid two-way player and had a great season down with the Everblades, and signing him will provide great depth for our organization.”

Carlson, 27, enters his third full season of professional hockey after registering two points in three games with the Amerks last season. The native of Duluth, Minn., spent most of last season with the Everblades where he compiled a career-high 22 assists and finished eighth on the team with 36 points in 52 games. He also scored a team-best seven goals and nine points in 11 postseason games for the Blades.

Rochester opens its 54th season in the AHL against the Lake Erie Monsters on Oct. 3.

Fall Tennis Classic: Florida Gulf Coast University open the fall portion of the 2009-10 season this weekend when it hosts the men’s tennis Fall Classic Saturday and Sunday.

Participating with the host Eagles are Florida Tech, Webber Internation-al, and St. Thomas. Saturday’s opening matches start at 8 a.m. with Florida Tech taking on Webber in singles and St. Thomas battling FGCU in doubles.

The full tournament schedule is available online at www.fgcuathletics.com.

Cross Country Invitational: FGCU’s cross country teams head to Gainesville Friday for the 21st Mountain Dew Invitational meet hosted by the University of Florida.

The women’s 5k race starts at 6:30 p.m. and the men finish off the meet with an 8k race at 7 p.m.

Both races are held on UF’s on-campus golf course.

FGCU is competing in a field with Embry-Riddle, FAU, FAMU, FIU, Florida, Florida Southern, Florida State (B Team), Florida Tech, Jacksonville, Miami, North Florida, Nova Southeastern, Palm Beach Atlantic, Rollins, Saint Leo, Tampa, UCF (women), USF, Warner Southern and Webber International.

Twisters gym grand opening: Tropical Twisters Gymnastics is inviting the public to its grand opening Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at its new, long-awaited building.

The 7,000-square-foot air conditioned facility is located at 307 SW 7th Place, behind Fosters Grille off Pine Island Road.

The building is the only stand-alone gymnastics facility in Cape Coral, featuring a 42×42-foot spring floor mat, vault, two sets of uneven bars and three competitive training bars, a bungee hypoallergenic foam pit, 30-foot tumble track and much more.

Tropical Twisters offers classes for children ages 24 months through competitive team, plus open gym time.