Kagwe Rolls to Marathon Win

Somewhere along the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon course, a band playing a Chuck Berry song made John Kagwe incredibly happy.

“Oh, man, I wanted to stop and dance a little bit,” he said as he cooled down from his breakaway victory in 2 hours 10 minutes 6 seconds Sunday.

“I felt they were saying, ‘Go, go John; go, go John.’ And I said, ‘What? What?’ The guys knew my name!”

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon at San Diego featured bands at approximately every mile and at the finish.

Kagwe of Kenya opened a lead of about a minute around the halfway point and was reeled in by former winner and countryman Philip Tarus, then blew away again to win the fourth annual race.

Kagwe beat another Kenyan, Stephen Ndungu, by 1 minute 37 seconds. Tarus used all his strength to catch Kagwe and had nothing left, fading to fifth in 2:13:57.

Margaret Okayo of Kenya was even more impressive in the women’s race, winning in 2:25:03 to break the course record for the second consecutive year. Okayo lowered the record she set last year by more than two minutes.

Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist and a three-time Boston Marathon winner, was second in 2:27:20.

Kagwe won the New York City Marathon in 1997 and ’98. But he hadn’t won another race since his second New York victory, and in the London Marathon in April, he had cramps in his right hamstring and had to walk the last few miles, finishing 32nd.

But he said he was ready for this race, and showed it by opening a lead of almost two city blocks after five miles.

The IAAF, track and field’s world governing body, instituted new rules this year for Grand Prix II meets. But the rules frustrated Stacy Dragila and angered Lawrence Johnson.

That was the general reaction to the experimental rules aimed at speeding up track meets at the Oregon Track Classic at Gresham, Ore.

Instead of three jumps at one height, vaulters get only two. Instead of six throws in the hammer and discus, the limit is four. And instead of being disqualified after two false starts, sprinters and hurdlers are out after one.

“It went by so fast, I’m not even tired,” Dragila, the Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder in the women’s pole vault, said after winning with a meet record 14 feet 9 1/2 inches.

Johnson, the world indoor champion in the men’s pole vault, didn’t even clear a height, missing twice at 18-10 1/4. Three others in the five-man field also no-heighted, leaving Pat Manson the winner at 17-6 1/2, one foot below the winning height at the NCAA Championships that ended Saturday.

Dawane Wallace, the world leader in the men’s 110 hurdles and the winner Sunday in a wind-aided 13.44, was one of the few pleased with the new rules.

“I like that rule, because I don’t have a problem with false starts,” Wallace, 24, said. “The older guys are the ones that false start, and they try to take us younger guys out of our game.”

Soccer

France and Australia advanced to the Confederations Cup semifinals at Ulsan, South Korea. France did it with a 4-0 win over defending champion Mexico. Australia, despite a 1-0 loss to South Korea, advanced because of goal differential.

Argentina defeated Colombia, 3-0, in a World Cup qualifier at Buenos Aires to increase its lead in the South American group. In another group match, Bolivia defeated Venezuela, 5-0.

Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Egypt qualified for the finals of the African Cup of Nations at Harare, Zimbabwe. Ghana defeated Zimbabwe, 2-1, Liberia tied South Africa, 1-1, Ivory Coast defeated Libya, 3-0, and Egypt defeated Sudan, 3-2.

Miscellany

Chamique Holdsclaw scored 18 points to lead the Washington Mystics over the Seattle Storm, 68-63, in a WNBA game in front of 17,310 at Washington. The Mystics limited No. 1 overall draft pick Lauren Jackson to 13 points and gave Coach Tom Maher his first WNBA victory.

The U.S. had a rough start at the World Amateur Boxing Championships at Belfast, Northern Ireland, with light heavyweight DeAndrey Arbon losing, 11-5, to John Dovi of France and heavyweight Francisco Palicios losing, 11-4, to Rustam Saidon of Uzbekistan.

Andre Dirrell, 17, a featherweight regarded as the most accomplished boxer on the 12-man team, was unable to meet the weight limit and was disqualified from the tournament.

Cuba, expected to dominate, also had a tough time. Evgueni Makerenko of Russia beat Johan Hernandez Martinez of Cuba, 11-8, in a light heavyweight fight. Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Fonte Solis, defeated Kerston Manswell of Trinidad and Tobago, 14-2.

Marshall Faulk tested his knee again, during the last day of the Rams’ mini-camp at St. Louis. Faulk, the NFL MVP last year, missed last month’s mini-camp recovering from his off-season right knee operation.

Harvard put together an impressive sweep of Yale in the 136th regatta at Ledyard, Conn., the oldest collegiate athletic event in the U.S.

In the varsity race, the Crimson routed the Bulldogs by a margin of 37.1 seconds over the four-mile Thames River course. Harvard’s winning time of 18 minutes 55.6 seconds was the sixth fastest in the history of the regatta, and the fourth fastest upstream.

Gilberto Simoni of Italy retained the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia by 15 seconds after finishing second to countryman Dario Frigo in the 15th stage at Salo, Italy. Frigo won the 34.4-mile leg in 1 hour 11 minutes 35 seconds.

Ivan Gotti, Giro champion in 1997 and 1999, said police seized medicines in his grandparents van. His Alessio team said the allergy medication was authorized.

“If I had something secret, I was not going to hide it in the caravan of my relatives,” Gotti said.