Monday, May 17, 2004
Sports digest
Garcia rebounds to win Nelson
The Enquirer and wire reports
Sergio Garcia defeated Robert Damron and Dudley Hart on the first playoff hole to win the Byron Nelson Championship and end a two-year drought on the PGA Tour.
Ochoa siblings climb to summit
Lorena Ochoa reached the pinnacle of her short career hours after her brother scaled Mount Everest. Ochoa won her first pro event Sunday, carding a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory at the Franklin American Mortgage Championship - making it a day to will remember forever. "Climbing Mount Everest has been his dream for many years," Ochoa said of her brother Alejandro. "Before he left, we made a promise that I will win my first tournament, and he will get to the summit. So it was special."
Huge parade greets Arsenal
Arsenal celebrated becoming the first soccer team in 115 years to end a season in England's top division unbeaten by parading the Premiership trophy in front of as many as 250,000 supporters on an open-top bus in north London. The Gunners Saturday beat Leicester 2-1 in their 38th and final league match to become the first club since Preston in 1889 to win the championship without losing a match.
Jones promises she'd go to court
Marion Jones said she would go to court if the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency bars her from competing in the Athens Olympics without a positive drug test. USADA has the power to bring a drug case against an athlete in lieu of a positive test when the agency has "other reason to believe that a potential doping violation has occurred, such as admitted doping," according to its rules. Jones, speaking at the U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit that also featured swimmers Michael Phelps, Gary Hall Jr. and Jenny Thompson during several sessions Sunday, was one of several athletes who testified before a grand jury in the BALCO investigation.
Federer ends Coria's run; is ready for French Open
Roger Federer defeated Guillermo Coria 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 Sunday to win the Hamburg Masters and end the Argentine's 31-match winning streak on clay courts.
It's a promising result for Federer, who has won two of the past three Grand Slam tournaments but lost in the first round at the French Open the past two years.
"I have the experience of big finals now, and I also know that I've played well in them and won them," the No. 1-ranked Federer said. "I am more relaxed now before the French," which starts a week from today.
At a key women's tuneup for the French Open, Amelie Mauresmo rallied to beat Jennifer Capriati 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the Italian Open final for her second straight title.
In Coria, Federer was facing the top player on clay this year, at 16-0 with two titles. Coria boasted a winning streak on the surface dating to the 2003 French Open semifinals. "It was a very important win for me," said Federer, who also won this tournament in 2002.
He made an impressive run to the final but looked uncomfortable Sunday, losing his serve in the first game. Coria used that edge to win the set, hitting a deep forehand that Federer could only put into the net.
Colleges
MT. ST. JOE BASEBALL: No. 20 Manchester (Ind.) thumped the Lions 14-0 Sunday in the championship game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament. MSJ finished 22-22. Manchester (32-10) advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
MIAMI SOFTBALL: Bowling Green (34-28) captured the Mid-American Conference Tournament and received the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament after beating the RedHawks 4-3 Sunday at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
Earlier Sunday, BGSU edged Miami 1-0 to force the league's first Game 11 since going to a six-team tournament format in 1998.
Miami finished 25-26-1.
MIAMI BASEBALL: Junior catcher John Slone (St. Xavier) drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to lift the RedHawks (32-17, 13-6 Mid-American Conference) to a 4-3 victory over Northern Illinois (27-25, 11-10 MAC) at McKie Field at Hayden Park. Slone went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a MAC-best 26 games. Miami is two games behind Central Michigan in the race for the MAC's regular season title.
UC SOCCER: Anders Cedergren and Tasha Wagner were honored at Fifth Third Arena as the top graduating senior student-athletes at the University of Cincinnati for the 2003-04 academic year.
Women's basketball
USA BASKETBALL: University of Colorado's Ceal Barry, former UC Bearcats coach and former assistant coach on the 1996 U.S. Olympic gold medal team, has been named head coach of the USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Team.
Elsewhere
SWIMMING: Alexander Popov won the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle, the final day of the European championships in Madrid. The Russian world-record holder won in 22.32 seconds. Popov wasn't near his world record of 21.64 in 2000.
U.S. OLYMPIC HALL: Janet Evans and Jackie Joyner-Kersee headline the first U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame class since 1992. Swimmer Matt Biondi, late track and field standout Florence Griffith Joyner and speedskaters Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair also were selected. Also inducted: the 1996 women's soccer team, paralympian Randy Snow, veteran Alice Coachman Davis, special contributor Bud Greenspan.
MEDIA: Smarty Jones' 111/2-length victory in the Preakness Saturday delivered a 7.2 overnight TV rating, a 29 percent increase from last year's ratings and the event's highest rating since 1990.
REDS
Reds come home on a high note
ONLINE EXTRA: Photos of Sunday's game
ONLINE EXTRA: Reds e-mail Q&A
Graves on save No. 148: It's an honor to be there
Kearns' status still uncertain
MORE BASEBALL
Sneezing injury puts Cubs' Sosa on bench
NL: Sheets fans 18 Braves
AL: Halladay outduels Pedro
AAA: Louisville 5, Toledo 2
COLLEGE SPORTS
Bearcats: Dantonio, Huggins highly paid
TRIPLE CROWN
Trainer says Jones better than ever
Daugherty: Smarty convinces Cauthen
MORE SPORTS HEADLINES
Baseball, softball polls & stats
Prep sports results, schedules
Sports digest
Sports on TV, radio
THIS WEEK'S SPORTS POLL
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