Lagat Becomes the First U.S. 1,500-5,000 Winner

Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat became the first runner in the history of the U.S. track and field championships to sweep the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, winning the shorter race Sunday night in Indianapolis.

The Kenyan-born runner, who lives in Tucson and became an American citizen in 2004, outsprinted Gabe Jennings over the final 50 meters to win in 3 minutes 39.29 seconds.

Six athletes had world-leading performances in the final day of competition at the U.S. meet, suspended for nearly four hours because of a slow-moving thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Lagat’s victory followed his 5,000 triumph Friday.

“It means a lot,” Lagat said. “I didn’t know that nobody had done it until someone was telling me that today. This is my first nationals, and I’m proud to be here. Doubling means a lot to me.”

Allyson Felix barely qualified for the finals with a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter semifinals, then decided to call it quits. She said that her strained left hamstring was nearly completely healed, but the lack of training time took its toll.

Lauryn Williams, second in the 100 to Marion Jones on Friday night, withdrew before the semifinals.

Lashinda Demus (400 hurdles), Dominique Arnold (110 hurdles), Walter Davis (triple jump), Wallace Spearmon (200), Khadevis Robinson (800) and Tora Harris (high jump) all had world-leading times or distances Sunday.

Demus ran the fastest 400 hurdles by an American in eight years, defending her title with a 53.07-second clocking.

Demus and 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin each won $100,000 as Visa champions, awarded through points earned at three U.S. meets and these championships.

Arnold had the world-leading performance twice, going 13.15 in the semifinals, followed by a 13.10 in the finals.

Davis, the reigning world champion, won the triple jump at 58 feet, 1 1/4 inches.

Spearmon became the first sprinter this year to break 20 seconds in the 200, going 19.90 seconds, 0.01 of a second off his personal best.

Later Sunday, Asafa Powell matched Spearmon’s 19.90 in the Jamaican national championships in Kingston. Powell shares the world 100 record of 9.77 with Gatlin.

Robinson ran a personal-best 1:44.13 to win his third U.S. 800 title. Harris, in his first outdoor competition of the year, won the high jump at 7-7 3/4 .

GOLF

Hot-Shooting Curtis Put on Hold by Rain

Ben Curtis will have to wait at least one day to get his first victory since the 2003 British Open.

Curtis was routing the field in the Booz Allen Classic in Potomac, Md., leading by eight strokes over Padraig Harrington with seven holes left, when play was suspended for the day because of approaching thunderstorms.

Curtis was on the 12th hole with a score of 23 under, poised to break the tournament record of 21 under. Play was scheduled to resume this morning.

Curtis has led after every round, shooting 62, 65 and 67 on the TPC at Avenel. The low scores are skewed somewhat because the players have been allowed to lift, clean and place their shots on the fairways during the last three rounds. Storms and threats of storms prompted the ruling.

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South Korea’s Jeong Jang won the Wegmans LPGA in Pittsford, N.Y., for the second LPGA Tour title of her career, closing with a two-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over Paraguay’s Julieta Granada.

Jang, also the 2005 Women’s British Open champion, had a 13-under 275 total on the Locust Hill course to become the eighth South Korean winner on the tour this season.

Granada, a 19-year-old rookie who tied for fourth in February at the Fields Open in Hawaii, birdied the last hole for a 67.

Marcy Hart (69) missed an 18-inch par putt on the last hole to drop to 11 under and a tie for third with Brittany Lang (71).

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John Harris won his first Champions Tour title, making a six-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Tom Jenkins in the Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, N.Y.

Harris had eight top-10 finishes in his four-plus years on the tour for players 50 and over. He matched the tournament’s best round with a 64 Sunday despite bogeying the 18th hole in regulation.

He came up with a birdie on that same par-four in the playoff.

Jenkins, who had a one-stroke lead after completing the rain-delayed second round in the morning, made par on the 18th with a tap-in to cap a 69 and tie Harris at 11-under 202.

HOCKEY

Carolina Rewards Laviolette for Title

Carolina Hurricanes Coach Peter Laviolette agreed to a five-year contract with the team, less than a week after leading the franchise to its first Stanley Cup.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under Laviolette, the Hurricanes finished 52-22-8, setting franchise records for wins, home wins (31) and points (112).

The Hurricanes also agreed to five-year contracts with assistants Kevin McCarthy and Jeff Daniels.

CYCLING

Riders Protest Paper’s Report on Doping

About 200 professional riders stopped during an elite road race to protest a newspaper report of a police investigation about drugs and cycling.

The newspaper, El Pais, said a major doping investigation in Spain shows at least 58 professional cyclists may have received banned substances and blood transfusions in recent years.

The Spanish Cycling Federation said on its website it would take legal action for damages resulting from the leaked police findings, noting judicial authorities clamped a secrecy order on the investigation.

The protest came less than two miles into the Spanish Championships, the final event of the competition in Madrid.