Sports Briefs
Harris takes Spring Migration Run
John Harris won the 5-kilometer, fifth annual Spring Migration Run Sunday in Homer. Harris had a time of 18 minutes, 21 seconds, while Katie Faulkner took the women's race with a time of 19:32.
The run took place during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, and proceeds benefited the festival. The run took place on the Homer Spit. The finish was at Lighthouse Village across from Mud Bay, a major shorebird destination.
Spring Migration Run Saturday in Homer
1. John Harris, 18 minutes, 21 seconds; 2. Gordon Wetzel, 18:27; 3. Jens Klaar, 18:46; 4. Alan Gnad, 18:55; 5. Randall Wiest, 19:33; 6. Daniel William, 19:35; 7. Charlie Button, 19:55; 8. Joe Meehan, 20:03; 9. Timothy Middleton, 20:08; 10. David Lewis, 20:28; 11. Ted Reynolds, 20:35; 12. Steve Dean, 20:45; 13. Chris Perk, 21:03; 14. Cameron Schneider, 21:09; 15. Morgan Jones, 21:35; 16. Drew Cason, 21:59; 17. Gary Lyon, 22:16; 18. Mathew Becker, 22:25; 19. Paul Wieneke, 22:36; 20. Jim Adams, 22:54; 21. Ken Satre, 22:59; 22. Scott Moon, 23:20; 23. Brennan Palmer, 23:31; 24. William Faulkner, 23:32; 25. Bryan Zak, 23:40.
26. Alex Young, 23:50; 27. Cade Dickey, 25:11; 28. Bjorn Klaar, 26:24; 29. Mario Gomez, 27:29; 30. Jack Goldstein, 27:34; 31. Greg Seikaniec, 28:36; 32. Joseph Randolph, 29:16; 33. Monte Goodrich, 29:23; 34. Dylan Saunders, 32:20; 35. Jaron Bution, 35:21; 36. Robert Schulmeister, 39:24; 37. Ian Lowe, 50:34.
Women
1. Katie Faulkner, 19:32; 2. Pat Shipley, 19:39; 3. Jennifer Chapple, 21:35; 4. Caroline Kanhemert, 21:47; 5. Shannon Brodie, 22:20; 6. Joanne Thomas, 22:40; 7. Leslie Klaar, 22:56; 8. Lainie Johnstone, 23:02; 9. Heloise Chenelot, 23:38; 10. Julie Morse, 24:00; 11. Karla Barkman, 24:27; 12. Claire Siekaniec, 24:30; 13. Melanie Mach, 24:37; 14. Ella Bredthauer, 25:19; 15. Hannah Harrison, 25:37; 16. Tracy Asselin, 25:54; 17. Rose Vanhemert, 25:55; 18. Chris Szymoniak, 26:24; 19. Suzanne Haines, 26:25; 20. Stephanie Silianoff, 28:09; 21. Tara Schmidt, 28:24; 22. Lois Andrews, 28:24; 23. Susan Brooks, 28:39; 24. Rosie Dipietro, 28:41; 25. Carmen Field, 29:01.
26. Georgia Stansell, 29:23; 27. Cindy Ecklund, 29:30; 28. Danielle Mather, 30:04; 29. Suzanne Alvarez, 30:45; 30. Marnie Shepherd, 30:45; 31. Magery Waggood, 30:57; 32. Penny Loos, 31:44; 33. Jenny Coyle, 32:03; 34. Wendy Toymil, 32:04; 35. Christie Gates, 32:19; 36. Sheri Saunders, 32:51; 37. Helen Harrison, 33:12; 38. Terry Slaven, 34:40; 39. Peggy Chappel, 35:21; 40. Kathy Bush, 35:36; 41. Sue Klinker, 35:56; 42. MariLyn Shroyer, 35:56; 43. Kristen Faulkner, 36:34; 44. Janelle Siekaniec, 36:42; 45. Lyn Maslow, 37:19; 46. Susan Schulmeister, 39:15; 47. Carolyn Rousch, 39:18; 48. Betty Dean, 41:10; 49. Yvonne Adkison, 41:14; 50. Janet Gomez, 42:22.
51. Liza Walker, 45:23; 52. Codwe Walker, 45:23; 53. Marcia Indhal, 48:59; 54. Selina Mach, 49:43; 55. Terri Mach, 49:44; 56. Cats Lowe, 50:34; 57. Sidney Beach, 51:28; 58. Heather Brinster, 51:29; 59. Laura Nyman, 51:30.
Nikiski girls down Grace
The Nikiski girls soccer team finished up their regular season with a 4-0 Region III victory over Grace Christian Monday in Anchorage.
The Bulldogs received goals from Sabrina Johns and Kasi Morse in the first half and Liz Gola and Amanda Weaver in the second half. Karen Rabung notched the shutout in goal.
The victory came at a high cost as midfielder Laura-Beth Covich, one of the most important players on Nikiski's team, had to leave the game after 30 minutes after twisting her ankle. The injury meant Nikiski had just one substitute on the sideline at the end of the game.
"The game was a bit scrappy in the first half," Nikiski coach Richard Kelso said. "We started passing the ball around and using the width of the field a lot better in the second half."
Sampras exits again in first round
HAMBURG, Germany -- Looking more vulnerable as the French Open approaches, Pete Sampras was beaten in the first round of his second straight clay-court tournament.
He lost to Spain's Alex Calatrava 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 on Monday as the men began play at the German Open. Calatrava, who defeated Andre Agassi at the Italian Open, needed eight match points to complete the victory.
The French Open begins in two weeks, and Sampras hardly seems in position to capture the only Grand Slam title to elude him.
''It's disappointing -- two weeks in a row I lost 6-4 in the third,'' said Sampras, seeded fourth. ''I'm there, I'm just not converting the big points.
''I definitely had my chances out there but I couldn't make any of them. ... I played well, though, and have to give him credit.''
Agassi, seeded third, had no trouble recovering from his opening-round defeat at the Italian Open last week, downing Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-1, 6-4.
Minnesota women's basketball coach fired
MINNEAPOLIS -- Two years after an academic fraud scandal tarnished Minnesota's men's basketball program, its women's coach was fired Monday for a pattern of rule-breaking that included improper benefits to players.
The university's investigation found that Cheryl Littlejohn gave money to a player, bought clothing for others and interfered with an earlier inquiry by telling players to lie.
Littlejohn also required players to participate in pickup games before sanctioned practices began, which university general counsel Mark Rotenberg said would likely constitute a major violation to the NCAA.
The men's athletics department already is on four years' probation for the academic fraud scandal uncovered in March 1999. But Rotenberg said he believed the NCAA would consider the latest allegations independently of the men's scandal since they occurred before November 2000, when the men's probation went into effect.
Littlejohn, who was in the fourth year of a five-year contract worth $101,800 annually, had a 29-81 career record and a 7-58 mark in the Big Ten.
Supreme Court rules against Garvey
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court overturned former baseball player Steve Garvey's $3 million labor settlement Monday, ruling that a lower court usurped the role of an outside arbitrator by awarding him the money.
The court ruled 8-1 in favor of the baseball players' union, which had argued that giving Garvey the money would upset a careful system for handing out labor settlements based on an arbitrator's findings.
Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, was trying to collect a share of a $280 million settlement that baseball owners agreed to pay in 1990 after arbitrators ruled they had worked together to hold down the salaries of free agents.
Marino fails to qualify for U.S. Open
WESTON, Fla. -- Dan Marino, the NFL's most prolific passer, failed Monday to get beyond the first stage of qualifying for the U.S. Open.
Marino shot a 6-over par 78 at Weston Hills Country Club and missed advancing to the next round of qualifying by nine strokes.
''Football is much easier for me,'' said Marino, who retired in 1999 after 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. ''But it was fun. You've got to stay so focused all the time. There's a few times where I didn't, but 78 is nothing to be ashamed of.''
The 39-year-old Marino was one of 8,340 entrants trying to make this year's field. Less than 100 will earn berths in the Open played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., on June 14-17.
Followed by as many reporters as spectators, Marino had two double bogeys, four bogeys and two birdies in an up-and-down round.
Marino started on the back side and approached the par-5 18th tee at 1 over -- still having a solid shot at shooting below par, especially with the front playing several strokes easier for the 137-man field.
But that's where Marino ran into trouble.
After his tee shot on No. 18 found a fairway bunker, he duffed his sand shot. It hit a tree and landed in the rough. He layed up from there and then missed a 40-footer for par.
His struggles continued on the front nine. He three-putted three of the next five holes, lipping out a 2-footer for bogey on No. 1, missing a 2-footer for par on No. 2 and failing to sink a 3-footer for bogey on No. 5.
''I missed a few short putts or I could have played a lot better,'' he said. ''But I hit it pretty good.''
Marino was 7-over after 14 holes, and his best golf came well after he was all but eliminated from the Open field.
After a great drive on the par-5 No. 7, Marino hit a 6-iron from 195 yards that stopped on the fringe behind the hole and left him with a 40-footer for eagle. He left his putt 6 feet short but sank the birdie attempt.
On the par-4 eighth, his second shot out of a fairway bunker stopped 12 feet from the pin, and he made par. He almost got to 5-over on No. 9, but his 35-foot putt slipped past the left side of the hole. He tapped in for par.
''I just happened to be doing nothing today, so I figured I would come out here and play a little bit,'' Marino said.
Nonetheless, Marino's retirement remains as busy as his playing days.
He signed on for another season as a commentator on HBO's Inside the NFL, he plays a handful of golf tournaments -- some for charity and some for the Celebrity Players Tour -- and he also is part of a group looking to buy the NHL's Florida Panthers.
He also spends much more time with his family.
Marino has received offers to become a color commentator for NFL games, but said that won't happen this year.
''It's as close as you can get to playing,'' he said.
And as for a possible return?
''I wish I could, but my body just can't take it,'' Marino said.
So he will stick to golf, possibly taking another shot at qualifying for the U.S. Open next year.
''I have to get my game together a little bit,'' he said.