Briefly in Sports

Lopes claims sixth World Cup title

Saturday turned out to be lucky, indeed, for Laguna Beach resident Brian Lopes who earned his sixth World Cup in mountain biking title on 7-7-07 by winning the fourth World Cup race of the 2007 series in Schaldming, Austria.

After qualifying third for the finals race, Lopes, 35, carried the lead throughout the final.

“I was a little cautious in a few spots that if you messed-up would loose a lot time,” Lopes said of his approach in the qualifying aspect of the event.

Wacholder, Turner fall in semifinals

Rachel Wacholder (Laguna Beach High, 1993) and partner Tyra Turner “” seeded No. 1 on the women’s side for the first time this season “” fell short in their bid to win their first tournament title on the 2007 Croc Tour when they were eliminated in semifinals Sunday at the Assn. of Volleyball Professional’s Seaside Heights Open in Seaside Heights, N.J.

In the final four, Wacholder and Turner fell to No. 2-seed Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs, 21-19, 10-21, 15-12.