Jones’ Last Long Jump of Day Is Best of Year by an American

Marion Jones won the long jump on her sixth leap after three scratches Saturday in the Pontiac Grand Prix Invitational at Raleigh, N.C.--an effort that was the best by an American this year but left her lying in the sand pit gripping her right knee.

Jones went 23 feet on her final jump to overtake Adrien Sawyer, who jumped 22-4 1/2, and suffered a hyperextended knee in the process. Sawyer had the best American jump this year, 22-5 1/4. Jones was half an inch short of the best jump in the world this year by Fiona May of Italy.

The nine-event meet was held at the North Carolina State track where Jones trains six times a week. It was the final competition for most U.S. athletes before the USA Championships this month at Eugene, Ore.

Jones zipped down the runway on her first two jumps, but couldn’t best 22-1 3/4 on either attempt. She encouraged the crowd to cheer her on by clapping her hands over her head, but on the next three jumps she scratched.

After landing on her sixth and final try, Jones grabbed her right knee and sat in the pit until her distance was measured. Jones was able to walk away and later came to the awards platform with an ice pack wrapped around her knee. She described the injury as a hyperextension.

“I came down wrong on my knee,” she said. “I think I scared myself a little bit. . . . Sitting here now, I’m not really concerned about it.”

Tennis

Pete Sampras held off 18-year-old Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), in the semifinals of the Queen’s Club tournament at London.

Sampras will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Tim Henman of Britain and Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, which was stopped because of rain with Henman leading, 6-1, 3-2.

The match will be completed today before the final.

Nicklas Kulti of Sweden upset second-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, and will play Nicolas Kiefer of Germany in the final of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany.

Kiefer beat Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-3.

Kulti won the event in 1996, but has since dropped to No. 303 in the singles rankings. Although he failed to qualify, Kulti made the draw as an alternate, replacing Andre Agassi, who withdrew because of an injury.

Third-seeded Hicham Arazi of Morocco eliminated top-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in the semifinals of the Merano Open at Merano, Italy.

Fernando Vicente of Spain defeated unseeded Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Nathalie Tauziat of France continued her winning streak and moved one victory away from defending her title at the DFS Classic with a victory over Magui Serna of Spain at Birmingham, England.

Julie Halard-Decugis of France led Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-4, 1-0, in the other semifinal when play was suspended. The match will be completed today before the final.

Miscellany

USC will play Auburn in college football games in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, when the calendar will permit teams to play 12 regular-season games.

Auburn tailback Demontray Carter, who had emerged from spring practice as the Tigers’ top back, will be academically ineligible to play next season, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

Carter, a junior, rushed for 406 yards and two touchdowns last season.

He beat out Michael Burks, the Tigers’ top returning back, for the starting job in spring practice, prompting Burks’ announcement last month that he would transfer from Auburn.

Now with Carter out, Auburn’s top returning rusher is quarterback Gabe Gross, who ran for 97 yards last season.

Athletes should take the lead in pressing for reforms in the Olympics, a former congressional leader who wrote a critical report of the Salt Lake bribery scandal said.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said he was impressed by the path of changes the International Olympic Committee was pursuing in the wake of its worst corruption case and that “there is a reasonable chance that something good will happen.”

But he said that more time was needed to tell if the IOC’s actions were long-term changes or “tinkering at the edges in a manner that is deemed sufficient to get past this problem.”

Meanwhile, IOC leaders meeting in Seoul, South Korea, began considering whether to expel Australian member Phil Coles for alleged ethical misconduct.

A German news magazine has accused the cycling team of 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich of systematically using blood doping and other performance-enhancing drugs.

A team spokesman denied the allegations.

The allegations come three weeks before this year’s Tour de France and one week after the banning of Marco Pantani, last year’s Tour winner.

Byron Mitchell knocked Frankie Liles down three times in the 11th round at Wilmington, Mass., to win the World Boxing Assn. super-middleweight title.

Veteran heavyweight Joe Bugner, 49, who has announced his retirement three times previously, said he will quit for good after today’s bout with American Levi Billups at Gold Coast, Australia.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken won a 50-meter freestyle race in Charlotte, N.C., her first competitive swim race since she had shoulder surgery last year.

Walter Ray Williams Jr. defeated David Ozio, 268-233, in the championship match of the PBA Tucson Open, giving the Hall of Fame bowler the 30th title of his career.

“After struggling for the past six months, it feels nice to come out and win this week,” said Williams, a five-time player of the year and the third player in PBA history to reach 30 victories.

Earl Anthony holds the record with 41 titles and Mark Roth has 34.