Female Bowler Reaches Final but Finishes Second

Liz Johnson made bowling history Sunday afternoon but still was disappointed.

Johnson, 30, of Cheektowaga, N.Y., became the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but she lost by 27 pins to Tommy Jones of Mauldin, S.C., in the final of the PBA Banquet Open at Wyoming, Mich.

Johnson spent eight seasons on the Professional Women’s Bowling Assn. tour, winning 11 events, including the 1996 U.S. Open as a rookie, and earning more than $500,000. She made bowling history Thursday when she became the first woman to advance to the round of 32 in a PBA Tour event.

Then she won two matches Friday, over the No. 2 player in the world, Chris Barnes, and No. 15-seeded Mike DeVaney, to advance to the quarterfinals. And she won a match Saturday afternoon, defeating Richard Wolfe, 4-3, in their best-of-seven contest.

On Sunday, Johnson edged Wes Malott by seven pins to advance to the final against Jones, who had defeated Steve Jaros in the other semifinal.

A split and subsequent open frame in the third cost Johnson in her bid to become the first woman to win a PBA Tour event. She lost to Jones, 219-192.

“There is a slight bit of disappointment because I don’t like to lose, but I made it to the finals as a player and as the first female,” Johnson said. “I made the big show. I have to be proud of myself for that.”

Jones earned $40,000 for his fourth tour victory of the season.

“Liz was trying to make history today, but she had already done that all week,” Jones said. “It is great for the PBA, what happened here this week.”

Johnson won $20,000.

Winter Sports

Toby Dawson of the United States and Jennifer Heil of Canada won the final dual moguls events at the freestyle world championships at Ruka, Finland.

Dawson beat Finland’s Sami Mustonen in the final. U.S. teammate Jeremy Bloom took the bronze by defeating another Finn, Mikko Ronkainen.

Heil topped Norway’s Kari Traa -- one of freestyle skiing’s all-time greats -- in the women’s final. Aiko Uemura of Japan finished third.

Canada finished first in the final medal standings with three gold medals, two silver and one bronze. The United States was second with a 3-1-1 record -- one medal short of the haul from the 2003 worlds at Deer Valley, Utah. France was third at 1-1-1.

World champion Norway won the final men’s 40-kilometer relay of the World Cup cross-country season at Falun, Sweden, with a 0.4-second victory over Italy in which Tore Ruud Hofstad outkicked Giorgio Di Centa.

Sweden finished third, 1.6 seconds back. The United States was 14th.

Norway’s Bjoern Einar Romoeren set a world ski flying record for a second time, leaping 239 meters to win a World Cup event at Planica, Slovenia.

Ski flying is contested off unusually big hills, with the jumpers covering great distances.

Arena Football

Tony Graziani threw eight touchdown passes to help the Soul beat the Tampa Bay Storm, 69-63, at Philadelphia.

John Dutton threw three touchdown passes, and Kevin McKenzie and Delvin Hughley scored on interception returns in the Colorado Crush’s 52-37 victory over the Columbus Destroyers at Denver.

Adam Kelly threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Bailey in overtime to give the New Orleans VooDoo a 46-40 victory over the Chicago Rush at Rosemont, Ill.

Distance Running

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia completed an unprecedented fourth consecutive long-short course double at the world cross-country championships after winning the 12-kilometer race at Saint-Galmier, France.

The 22-year-old Bekele, who nearly skipped this year’s event because of the recent death of his 19-year-old fiancee, won the long-course title in 35 minutes 6 seconds. He won the short-course title Saturday and now has eight world cross wins.

Countrywoman Tirunesh Dibaba also pulled off double victories. Dibaba took the 4K title in 13:15, a day after winning the 8K.

There were mixed results for American athletes. The top female finisher was Lauren Fleshman, at 11th in 13:44. For the men, Matt Withrow was 60th.

Tennis

Yoon-Jeong Cho of Korea defeated Julia Scruff of Germany, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in the $50,000 AmeriLending Women’s Pro Challenger at Orange.

Chris Dufresne has the day off.