Milwaukee Prep Who Died Had Enlarged Heart

Ervin Killiebrew, the 17-year-old high school basketball player who died after collapsing during a game at Milwaukee on Friday, had an abnormal heart rhythm caused by an enlarged heart, according to the autopsy report released Saturday.

Killiebrew’s condition is a muscle problem that typically would not be caught by a routine physical or electrocardiogram, Medical Examiner Jeffrey Jentzen said.

“The heart is so big the normal circuitry didn’t work right,” Jentzen said.

Jentzen said it could take several weeks to determine the exact cause of the abnormality.

Killiebrew, who was a student at Custer High, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.

He was not in the game when he collapsed but had played earlier, said Janis Doleschal, commissioner of athletics for Milwaukee Public Schools.

Boxing

Bruno Girard of France stopped a bloodied Robert Koon of the United States in the 11th round at Orleans, France, to win the vacant World Boxing Assn. light-heavyweight title.

The referee ended the bout after Girard hit his opponent with a left-right combination. Koon had been pinned to the ropes much of the last four rounds. In the final two, he swayed, with his nose bleeding.

Girard, a former WBA super-middleweight champion, improved to 32-3-2.

Koon of Mobile, Ala., is 29-9-1.

Koon was a late replacement for countryman Lou Del Valle, ranked No. 1 in the WBA. Del Valle drew against Girard in the title bout in August but missed the mandatory rematch because of a hand injury.

The light-heavyweight title had been vacated because Roy Jones Jr. was promoted to WBA super world champion. He held the WBA, World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles in the division.

Antoine Echols won the NABA super-middleweight title Friday night at the Pechanga Casino Entertainment Center in Temecula when Lawrence Chapman was disqualified for an intentional foul in the fifth round of a scheduled 12-round bout.

Referee James Jen Kin ruled at 2:47 of the fifth that Chapman intentionally twisted Echols’ body in a clinch, then threw him to the floor.

Ringside physician Richard Castanon determined that Echols could not continue because of a lower back strain.

Chapman is 16-1 with 12 knockouts. Echols is 26-4-1 with 24 knockouts.

Horse Racing

One jockey was killed and two were injured Saturday when a horse stumbled down the stretch at Beulah Park in Columbus, Ohio.

Arnold Ruiz, 33, of Arlington Heights, Ill., fell with Winds Of Sonora and was run over by two horses, track steward Joe DeLuca said.

Ruiz was pronounced dead of head injuries at a hospital.

Chuck Costanzo, 34, of Cleveland, was thrown to the ground after his horse, Kaicoltra, hit Ruiz’s horse. Costanzo was treated at a hospital and released.

Jockey Michael Heath, 35, of Georgetown, Ky., suffered minor cuts and bruises.

The track’s final nine races were canceled.

Lloyd Arnold, a major owner and entrepreneur in harness racing for more than 50 years, has been voted owner of the year.

From the 1950s, he turned Arnold Cattle Co. Stables into one of the largest and most successful stables. In the 1970s, Arnold helped to revitalize West Coast harness racing.

His best-known horse is world champion mare pacer Sanabelle Island, a winner of $1.5 million lifetime.

Miscellany

Claudio Reyna scored in his English Premier League home debut, leading Sunderland over Everton and fellow U.S. national soccer team star Joe-Max Moore, 1-0.

Reyna joined Sunderland earlier this month on a $6.5-million transfer from Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers.

Michael O’Brien was selected as Toledo’s athletic director after working as associate athletic director at Kansas State since 1997.

His contract runs through June 30, 2005, and pays $130,000 annually.

The Ice Dogs defeated the Fresno Falcons, 3-1, in a West Coast Hockey League game at the Long Beach Arena.