Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503130069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Street earned her place in history Saturday at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, by winning her fifth downhill race this season, capping another successful day on the slopes for the U.S. ski team. At Kvitfjell, Norway, Kyle Rasmussen collected his second downhill victory this season.
Street, the downhill silver medalist at the Lillehammer Olympics, now has won more downhills this season than any other U.S. skier in an entire career. ``Now I've proven you can persevere and succeed every day,'' she said.
She staged a brilliant late spurt, finishing the Lenzerheide course in 1 minute, 50.57 seconds, six-hundredths of a second ahead of Russian Warwara Zelenskaja. Renate Goetschl of Austria was third in 1:50.71.
It was Street's fourth straight downhill win, and seventh this season for the U.S. in eight races.
Street has 609 points in the downhill standings with one race remaining. Teammate Hilary Lindh, who won two races early in the season, is second with 443 points. Olympic downhill champion Katja Seizinger of Germany is third at 400.
FOOTBALL - Rams on owners' agenda
Will the Los Angeles Rams be allowed to move to St. Louis? Will the National Football League owners grant their approval on a done deal? What implications might such a move have on future realignment? And how would this move affect the NFL in the nation's No.2 television market?
These are the questions that NFL owners must answer in their annual league meeting, which begins today in Phoenix.
The Raiders have discussed moving, too, no longer seeing the Los Angeles Coliseum as a viable stadium for pro football. The league has discussed building a stadium in Los Angeles for use by the Raiders and frequent Super Bowls. The Fox television network has complained about losing any part of the L.A. market. And if the owners prohibit the move, might the Rams sue and prolong a final decision?
``If there are two teams in the Los Angeles area, that affects it,'' Joe Browne, the NFL vice president of communications and government affairs, said of the Rams' move and its ripple effect on everything, especially realignment. ``If there are zero teams that's something else, and, frankly, zero teams in Los Angeles would probably be unacceptable.''
For the first time, 30 teams (including expansion clubs Jacksonville and Charlotte) will vote on most issues. That makes the Rams move even more difficult to approve because league rules require that three-fourths (now 23) are needed on most voting items.
The Houston Oilers signed Dallas Cowboys free-agent center Mark Stepnoski to a four-year deal.
Terms of the contract with the three-time Pro Bowl selection were not available. Stepnoski reportedly was deciding between the Oilers and the Philadelphia Eagles, who offered him an average of $2.2 million a year. He wanted an average of $2.5 million, which would make him the highest-paid center in the league.
nThe Washington Redskins signed free agent safety Stanley Richard from the San Diego Chargers and got tight end Derrick Walker of the Kansas City Chiefs to sign an offer sheet. Richard was San Diego's starting free safety the past four seasons, collecting 10 interceptions.
GOLF - Faldo pulls closer to O'Meara
Mark O'Meara squandered four shots over the last four holes at the Honda Classic. As a result, O'Meara will take only a three-stroke advantage into today's final round at wind-raked Weston Hills in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
And Nick Faldo is poised to pounce. ``If I play as good as I did on the front nine, it might sort of even things up and then we will just have to see what happens,'' Faldo said after taking second after a 69 and a 207 total.
O'Meara needed only a hard-won round of par 71 to retain his advantage with a 204 total. That's 9-under on the windswept course that became a nightmare for some of the world's finest players.
Mark McCumber bogeyed the first six holes he played. Seve Ballesteros of Spain had a wildly erratic 76 that included eight bogeys and three birdies. And then there was Mike Standly, in third place until he took a triple-bogey 6 on the 17th to drop from contention.
Ian Woosnam of Wales and Blaine McCallister shared third at 209. Woosnam shot 69 and McCallister 73.
In Tucson, Ariz., Dottie Mochrie didn't win more than $2 million in the last four years by shooting par. Par was good enough, though, with 45-mph winds raking the Randolph North course in advance of a 20-minute downpour which did little to soften the debris-flecked greens.
Mochrie parred nine straight holes before making birdie on No.18 for a 72. The last putt got her back to 6-under at 210 and opened a two-shot lead after 54 holes of the $450,000 Ping-Welch's Championship.
Mochrie led Amy Alcott by a stroke starting out, and picked up a new pursuer when Caroline Pierce carded a 70 - the only sub-par score by a late finisher - and finished at 212. Alcott, who struggled early, birdied the last four holes to salvage a 73 and pull even with Pierce.
In San Antonio, defending champion Jim Albus scalded the course in the Dominion Seniors tournament. Albus, who started the round at 1-under-par, fired eight birdies in a 7-under-65 in the second round. That left him at 8-under 136 in the $650,000 event at the 6,814-yard, par-72 Dominion Country Club. He takes a one-shot lead into today's final round.
At 137 are Dick Rhyan and Bob Dickson. Dickson, who shared the first-round lead with Lee Elder, shot a 70. Rhyan came in at 66. Elder, who opened with a 67, dropped to 139 after shooting a 72.
TENNIS - Graf gains Winter title match
In Miami, top-seeded Steffi Graf continued her mastery over German compatriot Anke Huber to advance to the final of the Delray Beach Winter Championships. Graf served six aces and had seven service winners in holding off the third-seeded Huber 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Graf will play the second seed, Conchita Martinez of Spain, in today's final. Martinez advanced when Brenda Schultz, the fourth seed from the Netherlands, retired during the second game of the first set - trailing 0-1 - when she realized the tightly wrapped left thigh muscle she injured in the latter stages of her quarterfinals match wasn't sufficiently healed to continue.
In Copenhagen, Andrei Olhovskiy of Russia amd Martin Sinner of Germany won semifinal matches in the Copenhagen Open. Ohlovskiy whipped Karol Kucera of Slovakia 6-2, 6-0, and Sinner defeated Swedish doubles veteran Anders Jarryd 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
U.S. men win gymnastics gold
At Mar Del Plata, Argentina, the first surprise in the Pan American Games was followed quickly by the first gold medal, with the United States heavily involved in both.
The St. John's baseball team, an also-ran in the Big East, didn't fare any better in the Far South, losing to Argentina 6-4. Baseball is almost a non-existent sport in the host country, which participated only in the first Pan Am baseball tournament, losing every game in 1951.
The U.S. men's gymnastics team was victorious, collecting the first gold of the games, which officially began with opening ceremonies at Municipal Sports Park. The Americans edged Cuba, the defending champion, 551.150-550.900. Canada won the bronze.
John Roethlisberger of Minneapolis had the top all-around score in leading the American gymnasts to the country's seventh Pan Am team title. Roethlisberger did not finish first in any discipline, but his 56.150 total placed him ahead of two Cubans.
At North Brunswick, N.J., John Gant won all four of his matches to capture the championship in the Professional Bowlers Association's Brunswick Johnny Petraglia Open. Gant, a 37-year-old left-hander from Winston-Salem, N.C., defeated tournament leader Ken McNeely, of Morgaton, N.C., 234-216 in the title match to win his first title in eight years and $34,000.
by CNB