Dragila Gets Her Record Back

Once again, Stacy Dragila has the indoor and outdoor world records in the pole vault.

Dragila cleared 15 feet, 8 1/4 inches at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday at Boston to break the world record she held until Svetlana Feofanova of Russia took it away 13 months ago.

Dragila holds her event’s outdoor world record at 15-9 1/4. She had raised the indoor record eight times, peaking at 15-5 in 2001, before a foot injury kept her from jumping her best for most of last year.

With Dragila on the sideline, Feofanova broke the record for the first time in February 2002, then raised it five more times, most recently to 15-7 3/4 on Feb. 21 in Birmingham, England.

Regina Jacobs won the 3,000 meters in 8 minutes 52.57 seconds to give her two national championships for the weekend and 24 in her career. She’s the world record-holder in the 1,500 and won that event Saturday night.

Jacobs is the first woman to win both since Jan Merrill (1976) and Francie Larrieu (1977) when the events were contested as the mile and two miles.

Winter Sports

Janne Lahtela of Finland and Margarita Marbler of Austria won dual moguls titles at Vass, Norway, in the final World Cup freestyle event of the season.

Lahtela, the Olympic moguls champion, came in third behind Canada’s Stephane Rochon and American Toby Dawson and finished with a 24-point lead over Rochon in the final standings.

Marbler finished eighth and beat Canada’s Tami Bradley, who finished sixth, by 28 points in the final standings. Olympic moguls champion Kari Traa of Norway won the event.

Kalle Palander of Finland won his third World Cup slalom race of the season, finishing with a two-run total of 1 minute 42.12 seconds to edge Giorgio Rocca of Italy by 0.53 seconds at Yongpyong, South Korea.

Brigitte Obermoser of Austria had a flawless run and was timed in 1 minute 28.06 seconds at Innsbruck, Austria, in winning her first World Cup super giant slalom. She finished 0.21 seconds faster than 2002 Olympic downhill champion Carole Montillet of France.

Pro Football

The New Orleans Saints signed free-agent left tackle Wayne Gandy to a six-year contract. The 6-foot-5, 308-pound Gandy played with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.... The Washington Redskins agreed to terms with quarterback Rob Johnson, a free agent who was Brad Johnson’s backup at Tampa Bay, and kicker John Hall, a free agent who was with the New York Jets.

Tennis

Second-seeded Amanda Coetzer won the Mexican Open at Acapulco by using a more-controlled game to defeat Mariana Diaz-Oliva, 7-5, 6-3, in only 1 hour 56 minutes.... Top-seeded Roger Federer beat Jiri Novak, 6-1, 7-6 (2), to win the Dubai Open in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Miscellany

UCLA will play host to the men’s NCAA Division I Final Four soccer championship in 2004 at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The semifinal games and the championship and will be played Dec. 10 and Dec. 12.

The Final Four was originally to be played at Southern Methodist in Dallas, but was moved when field conditions suitable for soccer could not be guaranteed because of numerous events at its stadium.

Bill Martin, interim president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced that Jim Scherr, the USOC’s chief of sport performance, will be in charge of day-to-day operations until an interim chief executive is named. Scherr will continue in his current position.

The All-American Football Foundation’s Western Banquet of Champions will be held at the Pasadena Hilton on March 11. The foundation will present Col. Red Blaik leadership scholarships to USC and Washington State in honor of quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Jason Gesser.

Among those scheduled to be honored is Times motor racing writer Shav Glick, who will receive the Jim Murray outstanding sports writer award.