Texas A&M pulls off dual three-peat at NCAA track championships

Texas A&M swept the men’s and women’s titles in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships Saturday at Des Moines, becoming the first school to post dual three-peat champions.

The men needed to win the 1,600-meter relay for their third straight crown, and anchor Tabarie Henry held off Louisiana State’s Riker Hylton to clinch the victory in 3 minutes 0.62 seconds.

The Aggies finished with 55 points, one ahead of Florida State and two ahead of Florida.

The Texas A&M women clinched their third straight national team title by winning the 1,600-meter relay as well. Anchor Jessica Beard ran a meet-record split of 49.14 seconds to give the Aggies the crown over Oregon with 49 points.

USC senior Nia Ali won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 12.63 seconds.

ETC.

Franchitti wins in Texas

Dario Franchitti held off teammate Scott Dixon in a 10-lap shootout Saturday night to win the first of two races at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in the first doubleheader in major open-wheel racing in 30 years.

Franchitti finished 0.0527 of a second ahead of Dixon, with the Target Chip Ganassi teammates ahead of Will Power and polesitter Alex Tagliani.

Kurt Busch earned consecutive pole positions in NASCAR, turning a lap of 171.579 mph at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel won another pole position, recording the top qualifying lap in the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal.

The Red Bull driver posted a fastest lap of 1 minute 13.014 seconds.

Robert Karlsson shot a two-under-par 68 to remain atop the leaderboard through three rounds in the St. Jude Classic at Memphis, Tenn.

Karlsson looked ready to run away from the field, leading by as much as five strokes on the back nine. But the Swede closed with his only bogeys of the day on the final two holes, dropping to 11 under and one stroke ahead of Harrison Frazar, who shot a 64.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot her second straight six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Mindy Kim in the LPGA State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill.

Tseng reached 17 under, birdieing all four of Panther Creek’s par fives in her bogey-free round. Kim, the leader after the first two rounds, bogeyed the final hole for a 69.

Bob Tway moved a step closer to his first Champions Tour title, firing a five-under 67 to maintain a one-shot lead after the second round of the Greater Hickory Classic at Conover, N.C.

The overnight leader made seven birdies at Rock Barn to move to 14 under, one shot ahead of playing partner Tommy Armour III.

Tennessee had the chance to make its case in front of the NCAA infractions committee at Indianapolis.

Former football coach Lane Kiffin, now USC’s coach, spent more than four hours in a hearing room as committee members discussed alleged infractions in the Volunteers football program. An hour later, former basketball coach Bruce Pearl and his former assistants got their turn.

“It’s a very thorough process and I’m glad it’s over,” Kiffin said.

Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzschner set up the first all-German final in the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany.

Petzschner beat second-seeded Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3, and Kohlschreiber ousted third-seeded Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-3.

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki defeated German qualifier Mona Barthel, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the final of the Sony Ericsson Open at Copenhagen, Denmark. She’ll face Lucie Safarova .