Maze Wins Giant Slalom, Kildow Happy at 9th

Tina Maze of Slovenia won a World Cup giant slalom for the third time this season Saturday at Maribor, Slovenia, and Lindsey Kildow of the United States enjoyed her best result in the event by finishing ninth.

Kildow, a speed specialist, had failed to complete any of her three previous giant slaloms this season. She has won a downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, and had seven more top-three finishes since.

“It was a big step forward -- obviously one of the biggest days of my career as far as my technical skills,” Kildow said. “Maybe it will give me a push.”

Maze finished her two runs in 2 minutes 16.36 seconds for her fourth career title and third in two months. She was 0.22 seconds ahead of Italy’s Karen Putzer. Germany’s Martina Ertl was third in 2:17.29.

Julia Mancuso of the United States shared fifth place in another strong showing by the American skiers.

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Bode Miller’s chance for a rare sweep of five events in a season ended at Kitzbuehel, Austria, when a World Cup downhill was postponed because of wet snow, forcing the cancellation of the combined.

The race will be rescheduled in Kvitfjell, Norway, the International Ski Federation said. The combined adds times from the Saturday downhill and Sunday slalom.

Organizers called off the Hahnenkamm downhill for the first time in 12 years, but the slalom was expected to run today despite predictions of poor weather.

There are only two combined events on the World Cup schedule this season. The other, a new version of the competition, was held last week in Wengen, Switzerland.

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American Jennifer Rodriguez set personal records in the 500 and 1,000 meters and led after the first day of racing at the World Sprint Speedskating Championships at Kearns, Utah.

Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon, a four-time world sprint champion, was in the lead on the men’s side.

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Finnish ski jumper Janne Ahonen soared to a record 12th victory of the World Cup season by winning a large hill event at Titisee-Neustadt, Germany.

Ahonen has won 12 of the 16 events. He missed the previous two because of illness and has two runner-up finishes. He topped the mark of Germany’s Martin Schmitt and Poland’s Adam Malysz of Poland -- each with 11 victories.

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Kati Wilhelm of Germany won the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at a World Cup biathlon meet in Anterselva, Italy, defeating Norwegians Tora Berger and Linda Tjorhom.

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Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic and Kristin Steira of Norway recorded their first World Cup victories of the season at Pragelato, Italy, winning double pursuit cross-country events at a venue that will be used for the 2006 Turin Olympics.

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Italy’s Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber won a luge doubles race at Winterberg, Germany, for their first victory this season, giving them the overall World Cup lead with one event left.

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The Swiss team of Martin Annen and Beat Hefti edged the Canadian duo of Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown by six hundredths of a second to win a men’s World Cup two-man bobsled race at Cesana Pariol, Italy.

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Andy Finch and Kelly Clark won halfpipe titles for the United States at snowboarding’s European Open at Laax, Switzerland.

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College Football

Michigan State linebacker Ronald Stanley scored two defensive touchdowns to rally the East to a 20-13 victory over West in the Hula Bowl at Wailuku, Hawaii.

Brendon Heaney of Brigham Young returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown to lead the West over the East, 21-16, in the Las Vegas All-American Classic.

Running back Hakim Hill, Arizona State’s leading rusher who was dismissed from the team for violating team rules before the Sun Bowl, has enrolled at Northern Iowa. He will be eligible to play in the fall because Northern Iowa competes at the Division I-AA level.

NCAA investigators have interviewed Robert Baker, the Springfield, Ohio, man who allegedly gave money to Ohio State’s Troy Smith that led to the quarterback’s suspension before the Alamo Bowl.

Baker also was questioned about his relationship with former Buckeye defensive back Chris Gamble, who was employed briefly in the off-seasons by Baker’s former company, PolyCare Services.

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Miscellany

Kevin Messick, the University of Washington’s head trainer, has been put on paid administrative leave after he was accused of falsifying medical records to earn an athlete an additional year of eligibility with a medical redshirt.

The Seattle Times reported that Messick, who has held the job for five years, will be fired next month unless an appeal is upheld.

Washington officials said they would not identify the athlete or the sports involved because of student privacy rules.

Former heavyweight boxer Shannon Briggs was ordered to pay $2 million to former University of Miami lineman Brian Stinson for breaking his eye socket during a nightclub fight in 2001.

Jurors in a Miami court sided with Stinson, who said his football career was cut short because of the injuries. A doctor testified that Stinson has limited vision in his left eye. Briggs said he would appeal.

Sergey Anikin, the taxi driver involved in a Jan. 12 car accident in Portland, Ore., that killed Dolores Nikodinov, the mother of figure skater Angela Nikodinov, has received two citations, but won’t face criminal charges.

Anikin was cited for careless driving and failing to maintain his line of travel. The combined citations carry a maximum fine of $1,080.

Ryk Neethling of South Africa broke the world record in the 100-meter medley by clocking 52.11 seconds at a short-course World Cup swim meet at Berlin.

The record was only four days old -- another South African, Roland Schoeman, had swum 52.51 at another short-course meet in Stockholm.