Walchhofer Wins; Rahlves Gets Third

Michael Walchhofer of Austria tamed the World Cup circuit’s most prestigious course Saturday, winning a downhill for the second time this season in a race in which Americans Daron Rahlves finished third and Bode Miller fourth.

Walchhofer, the reigning World Cup downhill champion, was timed in 1 minute 46.75 seconds on the difficult Streif slope, which was shortened because of dangerous weather on the upper part of the Hahnenkamm mountain in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein was 0.05 of a second behind. Rahlves, of Sugar Bowl, Calif., was 0.33 back, followed by Miller, of Franconia, N.H., the defending overall World Cup champion.

“Kitzbuehel is the ultimate in downhill skiing,” said Rahlves, who plans to retire after this season. “There is no place like it in the world. I didn’t win, but being on the podium is still a nice way to go out.”

Miller, who has been struggling to recover the form that vaulted him to the top last season, was pleased with his run.

“I was having fun out there as usual,” he said. “I had some problems with my knee and I might miss the next race, but it was OK.”

The victory lifted Walchhofer’s career total in World Cup racing to eight, including five downhills. His other downhill victory this season came at Val d’Isere, France, in early December.

Fritz Strobl broke his left hand, threatening his chance to defend his Olympic downhill title. He lost control after landing on the tails of his skis during a jump, but found his footing again after smashing through a gate.

The 33-year-old Austrian was taken to a hospital and was expected to undergo surgery in Salzburg on Saturday night. His coach said he would not race next week in Garmisch, Germany.

Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria won a World Cup downhill at St. Moritz, Switzerland, a day after she won a super-G in her final season before retirement. Austria’s Renate Goetschl was second. Janica Kostelic of Croatia, the overall World Cup leader, was third.

Dorfmeister, 32, covered the course in 1 minute 43.76 seconds for her first downhill victory this season and increased her lead in the discipline standings; she has four other top-three downhill results. Goetschl was second in 1:43.83, with Kostelic third in 1:43.95.

Dorfmeister leads the standings with 412 points after six races. Lindsey Kildow of Vail, Colo., who finished 17th, is second with 301, followed by Kostelic with 280.

Todd Lodwick is heading to his fourth Olympics with two more U.S. championships after winning the 100-meter hill jumping gold medal and the Nordic combined title at Steamboat Springs, Colo.

He now has 17 U.S. championships, a record nine in nordic combined, which blends ski jumping and cross-country skiing, and a record eight in ski jumping.

Lodwick jumped 396.98 feet and 395.34 feet for 257.3 points on the 100-meter hill as he breezed to the jumping title by nearly 10 points over two-time Olympian Clint Jones.

Jones jumped 385.5 feet and 392.06 (247.7 points). Tommy Schwall, another two-time Olympian, was bronze medalist.

The Nordic combined competition concluded with a 7.5-kilometer race that Lodwick led from start to finish.

Hannu Manninen of Finland won a World Cup Nordic combined event at Harrachov, Czech Republic, his eighth victory this season.

Manninen, third after the ski jump, dominated the 7.5-kilometer cross-country race and won in 19 minutes 43.6 seconds.

Georg Hettich of Germany, the ski jump winner, was second, 31.5 seconds behind. Jason Lamy Chappuis of France was third, 35 seconds behind.

Manninen, a favorite for next month’s Turin Olympics, leads the overall standings with 964 points. Ronny Ackermann of Germany is second with 501 and Magnus Moan of Norway is third with 480.

World Cup aerials leader Evelyne Leu of Switzerland earned her second victory of the season in a competition reduced to one round because of gusting winds at Lake Placid, N.Y. The men’s event was postponed until today.

After the women completed what was to be their qualifying round in light rain, with 12 to move into the finals, the winds picked up. Several hours later, organizers declared the qualifying results as the official results.

Leu’s double-twisting-double with a layout (two twists, two flips) was worth 102.98 points. Anna Zukal of Russia and Amber Peterson of Canada tied for second place at 90.09 with similar double-twisting doubles.

The final round in the U.S. Olympic snowboarding trials at Vernon, N.Y., was postponed due to windy conditions and rescheduled for this morning, organizers said.

The competition, which will decide the U.S. team for the Turin Olympics, will resume with the men’s events followed by the women’s competition.

Tobias Angerer of Germany won a World Cup double pursuit at Oberstdorf, Germany, for his fifth consecutive cross-country skiing victory.

Angerer finished the two 15-kilometer legs, one classical and one freestyle, in 1 hour 14 minutes 9.7 seconds. He beat Anders Sodergren of Sweden by 0.4 of a second.

Beckie Scott of Canada won a women’s double pursuit of two 7.5-kilometer legs in 39:44.3. Claudia Kuenzel of Germany was second, 6.7 back.

Silke Kraushaar established herself as the Olympic favorite, leading a German sweep at the European luge championships in Winterberg, Germany.

Kraushaar fought through thick snowfall to win in 1 minute 30.607 seconds. Tatjana Huefner was second at 1:30.761 and Barbara Niedernhuber was third in 1:30.936.

Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch won their third consecutive European title in men’s doubles in 1:29.824, ahead of fellow Germans Sebastian Schmidt and Andre Forker at 1:29.886. Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber of Italy were third in 1:29.924.

Evgeni Plushenko completed another Russian sweep of gold medals at the European figure skating championships. It was the third time in the last four years Russians won all four titles.

The competition in Lyon, France, ended with Russians getting six of the 12 medals.

Plushenko scored 245.33 points. Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland was second with 228.87, and Brian Joubert of France finished third with 222.95.

BASEBALL

Mets Trade Benson to Orioles for Julio

The Baltimore Orioles acquired right-hander Kris Benson from the New York Mets in exchange for right-handers Jorge Julio and John Maine. Benson went 10-8 with a 4.13 earned-run average in 28 starts for the Mets in 2005.

Julio was Baltimore’s closer from 2002 to ’04 and had 36 saves in 2003. After losing the closer’s job to B.J. Ryan, he went 3-5 with a 5.90 ERA in 67 appearances last season. Maine went 2-3 with a 6.30 ERA in 10 appearances after being recalled from triple-A Ottawa.

Former Dodger and New York Met left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii is returning to Japan after four seasons in the major leagues.

Ishii, 32, who was released by the Mets in December, agreed to a two-year contract with the Central League’s Yakult Swallows, team officials said.

Ishii played for the Dodgers from 2002 to 2004, compiling a 36-25 record. He was 3-9 in 19 games for the Mets last season. He played for the Swallows and had a 78-46 record with a 3.38 ERA in 244 games over 10 seasons.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Late Touchdown Lifts West Past East, 35-31

Texas A&M;’s Reggie McNeal threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Oregon State’s Mike Hass with two minutes left and the West made a goal line stand on the final play for a 35-31 victory in the East-West Shrine Game at San Antonio.

The East had a chance to win when Hofstra’s Marques Colston caught a desperation pass just short of the end zone with one second left. But Arkansas’ De’Arrius Howard, who ran for three touchdowns, was stopped short of the goal line as time expired.

UCLA’s Drew Olson gave the West a 21-7 lead in the second quarter when he capped his first drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Texas tight end David Thomas.

The 81st Shrine Game was moved to San Antonio from San Francisco after years of declining interest in the Bay Area. But the game drew only 18,533 to the Alamodome, the smallest crowd since 17,000 watched the second game in 1927.

Central Florida receiver Brandon Marshall caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown to lead the East to a 10-7 victory over the West in the 60th edition of the Hula Bowl at Honolulu.