U.S. Teams Look Sharp at Penn Relays

The United States conquered “the world”--and broke a world record--in the Penn Relays at Philadelphia on Saturday.

Competing against teams from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, the U.S. relay teams, with Marion Jones, Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson running sizzling anchor legs, swept the men’s and women’s 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter events.

Their most impressive performance came in the women’s 800, where the U.S. team raced to a world record of 1 minute 27.46 seconds. That shattered the mark of 1:28.15 set by an East German team 20 years ago.

Jones, the 1999 world champion at 100 meters, also brought the U.S. women’s team to victory in the 400 relay in 42.33, breaking Franklin Field and Penn Relays records.

Greene, the world-record holder and two-time world champion in the 100, keyed the men’s 400 relay team to stadium and meet records of 38.22, while the 800 team ran 1:19.92.

The men’s 800 team was overshadowed by Texas Christian, which won the collegiate relay at 1:19.67, breaking its NCAA mark of 1:20.20 set in 1986.

Johnson, the world-record holder and Olympic gold medalist in the 200 and 400, had a 43.7-second leg to anchor the USA team to victory in the 1,600 relay at 2:56.60, the fastest in the world this year and the fastest ever at Franklin Field. The U.S. women, with Jearl Miles Clark anchoring, completed the sweep, winning the women’s 1,600 relay at 3:25.96.

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Suzy Favor Hamilton won the 1,500 meters in the Drake Relays at Des Moines with a time of 4:05.13, the fastest in the world by a woman this year. . . . High jumper Hollis Conway, a two-time Olympic medalist for the United States, announced his retirement from the sport after finishing seventh at the Drake Relays with a jump of 6 feet 9 inches. . . . Ato Boldon easily won his first 200-meter race of the season in a time of 20.30, and Brian Lewis defeated Olympic champion Donovan Bailey in the 100 with a 9.96 in an IAAF track meet at Fort-De-France, Martinique.

Tennis

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario won her singles match and then teamed up for the decisive doubles victory with Conchita Martinez in leading Spain to a 2-1 triumph over Germany in the Fed Cup quarterfinals at Bari, Italy. The Czech Republic also advanced to November’s semifinals in the U.S. after its 2-1 victory over Slovakia. Eliminated from competition were Australia, which lost to Russia, 2-1, and Croatia, which lost to Italy, 3-0. Belgium, a 2-1 winner over France, needs to win one match against Russia today to qualify for the semifinals.

Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero held off a determined Carlos Moya in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, defeating his countryman, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2. Ferrero will face Russia’s Marat Safin, who defeated Sweden’s Magnus Norman, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Auto Racing

Rookie Alex Tagliani won the first pole of his CART career, barely edging series champion Juan Montoya in qualifying for the Rio 200 at Rio de Janeiro. The 27-year-old Canadian had a fast lap of 173.903 mph on the 1.864-mile Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway.

John Force topped funny car qualifying for the fourth time this year with a track-record time of 4.826 seconds and a top speed of 317.72 mph at the Moto1.net NHRA Nationals at Dinwiddie, Va.

Boxing

Keith Holmes stopped Robert McCracken in the 11th round to retain his World Boxing Council middleweight title at Wembley, England, and hand the British challenger his first professional loss.

Roberto Duran announced he will return to the ring for a June 3 bout against middleweight Pat Lawlor that will extend Duran’s 117-fight career into a record fifth decade.

Miscellany

Steve Konowalchuk’s goal with less than 10 minutes to play salvaged a 3-3 tie for the United States against Switzerland in both teams’ opening game in the World Hockey Championships at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Bell Gardens native Brenda Villa scored the winning goal as the U.S. women’s water polo team earned a spot in the Sydney Olympics with a 6-5 victory over Hungary in a qualifying tournament at Palermo, Sicily.

Former Miami Hurricane linebacker Nate Webster, recently drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, kept playing last season despite his arrest in October on charges of battery and false imprisonment of a former girlfriend. It’s unclear whether Athletic Director Paul Dee or Coach Butch Davis were aware of the arrest.

Doug Wrenn, a 6-foot-6 freshman swingman at Connecticut, has been kicked off the team by Coach Jim Calhoun after a campus arrest because of a dormitory disturbance.

Chris Witty, who has two Olympic medals for speedskating, finished third and was the No. 2 American in the women’s 500-meter time trial at the U.S. Olympic cycling trials at Frisco, Texas.

Freddie Jones, who ranked third in the AFC among tight ends with 56 catches last season, agreed to a new five-year contract with the San Diego Chargers.