Maier Wins Title in Super Giant Slalom

Hermann Maier won Sunday’s super giant slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, to clinch the World Cup title in the event and take the overall standings lead with his third victory this season.

The Austrian finished in 1 minute 18.09 seconds, edging Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin of France by 0.07 of a second. Tobias Gruenenfelder of Switzerland was third in 1:18.46.

Daron Rahlves of the United States had been a contender for the super-G title but hurt his chances by finishing 14th.

Maier regained the title he had won four years in a row before a motorcycle accident nearly cost him his right leg in August 2001. Maier was sidelined for 18 months, coming back late last season.

Maier, a two-time Olympic champion in 1998, is seeking his fourth overall World Cup title. He has 922 points in the standings, followed by Austria’s Benjamin Raich at 918. Austria’s Stephan Eberharter, who finished ninth, is third at 871.

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Germany’s Maria Riesch and France’s Carole Montillet finished with identical times to share first place in a World Cup super giant slalom at Haus Im Ennstal, Austria.

The winners were timed in 1 minute 25.04 seconds on the curving and treacherous Krummholz course. Super-G world champion Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria was third, 0.15 back.

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Olympic champion Sylke Otto won a luge singles race at Koenigssee, Germany, becoming the first woman to claim four season World Cup titles. Otto captured her 32nd World Cup race by 0.65 of a second over German Silke Kraushaar to add to her overall titles from 1995, 2000 and 2003. Otto was timed in 1 minute 36.014 seconds.

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Martin Annen drove Switzerland II to victory in a World Cup bobsled meet at Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, ending Andre Lange’s seven-race winning streak in the four-man event. Switzerland II finished with a two-run combined time of 1 minute 45.02 seconds.

Miscellany

A broken suspension piece cost NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and road-racing ace Andy Wallace a victory in the Rolex 24 sports cars endurance race at Daytona Beach, Fla., an event they appeared to have won until the final hour.

Instead of the two Nextel Cup drivers and four-time 24-hours champion Wallace celebrating in the familiar Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway, it was Andy Pilgrim, Terry Borcheller, Christian Fittipaldi and Forest Barber spraying the champagne Sunday.

Stewart was at the wheel of the Chevrolet-powered Crawford when the left rear tire pulled off the rim and sent the car spinning to a stop on the backstretch.

Pilgrim drove into the lead with 15 minutes left, passing Stewart and the car that had led since late in the seventh hour Saturday night.

Pilgrim then gave up the driver’s seat to car owner Barber to make the last lap and take the checkered flag on the 3.56-mile circuit that includes about three-quarters of the 2 1/2-mile oval that will be in use in the Daytona 500 in two weeks.

Mark Jecmen gave up only three hits over five innings, and Jed Lowrie drove in three runs with a homer and a double as sixth-ranked Stanford completed a three-game sweep of fourth-ranked Cal State Fullerton with a 4-1 victory at Palo Alto.

In the opening series for both teams, Stanford, which eliminated the Titans at the College World Series in June, won its fifth consecutive game against Fullerton and avenged a season-opening three-game sweep last season. Fullerton lost the first two games, 16-3 and 8-7, as it didn’t have injured preseason All-America starters Jason Windsor and Dustin Miller.

U.S. freestyle wrestlers Joe Williams and Chris Bono qualified for the Athens Olympics. Williams was first in the 163-pound class of the qualifying tournament at Bratislava, Slovakia. Bono was third in the 146-pound division.

Russia’s Olga Kotliarova broke the long-standing indoor women’s 600-meter world record by nearly two seconds at the Russian Winter IAAF indoor track meet at Moscow. She was timed in 1 minute 23.44 seconds, beating the previous record of 1:25.46, set by Russian Lyubov Kiryukhina in 1987.

Howard Schnellenberger received a two-year contract extension from Florida Atlantic, two months after leading the Owls to the Division I-AA football semifinals. Schnellenberger, who led Miami to the 1983 national championship, is under contract through the 2009 season.

Robert Perez hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead Venezuela over Puerto Rico, 7-6, in the opener of the Caribbean Series at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.