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Capel wins 200-meter world title

SAINT-DENIS, France - After all that American male sprinters have been through this week at the World Championships, John Capel and Darvis Patton finally gave the U.S. team something to celebrate with a 1-2 finish in the 200 meters Friday night.

Capel won gold on a wet track in 20.30. Patton, the U.S. champion, ran 20.31.

"It means the United States ain't lost our pep yet," said Capel, the former Florida and Hernando High standout. "Especially with the U.S. being down, it feels good."

As he and Patton made their way slowly around the track on a victory lap, draped in the U.S. flag, they stopped by the long-jump area to exhort U.S. teammate Dwight Phillips, who became the first American athlete in 10 years to win the world title with a leap of 27 feet, 33/4 inches.

American Joey Woody won silver in the 400-meter hurdles.

Capel flopped at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, finishing eighth in the 200 after being favored. He said that still haunts him. He then spent two seasons trying to make it as a wide receiver in the NFL. Four marijuana arrests got him kicked off the Chicago Bears and he was the last training camp cut in 2001 by Kansas City. Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil told Capel to re-evaluate his life.

"He said, "John, you've got to go home and do what you're best at,' and running is what I do best," Capel said. "If you talk to Coach Vermeil, tell him I love him."

Meantime, Phillips and hurdler Terrence Trammell were named to join Capel, Patton, J.J. Johnson and Bernard Williams in the final pool for the 400-meter relay. The relay squad was severely depleted by the absence of Maurice Greene, Tim Montgomery and Jon Drummond.

ROWING: The U.S. men's coxless four - Mark Flickinger, Garrett Klugh, Jamie Schroeder and Daniel Walsh - clinched an Olympic berth by winning the 2,000-meter race at the World Championships in Milan, Italy.

The U.S. men lost to South Korea in the volleyball semifinals, ending a dominating run by Americans in team sports at the world games that started in 1965. The United States was beaten 25-17, 25-23, 25-16 after a comeback victory over Russia the previous night. Since the United States entered this competition 38 years ago, a men's team had reached at least one final in basketball, volleyball or water polo. The volleyballers were the last hope at Daegu, South Korea. Meantime, world champion Mary Zorn guided her compound archery team to gold and swimmer Shannon Catalano won the women's 50-meter butterfly to lift the Americans to five gold medals overall. An athletes shuttle bus carrying 46 people and a regular commuter bus collided outside the Daegu track and field venue, injuring 16 athletes from Thailand, Algeria, Turkey and Libya, none seriously, police said.

The USF men's and women's cross-country teams kicked off their seasons at the Indiana Open in Bloomington. Sean Burris won the 7K run in 23:10.55 and Bulls teammate Adam Chumbley was second in 23:16.21. There was no team scoring. The USF women placed second with 60 points behind the Hoosiers (22), led by Christa Benton's 5K victory in 18:07.57. Teammate Jessica Hellender was sixth in 19:09.

VOLLEYBALL: Host Florida State opened the season with a 3-0 victory over Florida Atlantic (30-21, 30-23, 30-21). Aisha Carr (14) and Kristen Rust (15) combined for 29 kills. ... Eckerd opened with a 30-21, 30-25, 30-16 victory over visiting Francis Marion.

SOCCER: Florida's women opened their season with a 2-1 victory over visiting Penn State. ... Florida State's women dropped their opener 2-1 to visiting Southern California. ... Freshman Casie Poyssick scored four goals as Saint Leo's women opened with a 6-2 victory over visiting Palm Beach Atlantic College. ... The Saint Leo men tied host Alabama-Huntsville 3-3 in double overtime in the opener for both teams. ... The Eckerd women dropped their opener to visiting Fredonia State of New York 1-0.

BASKETBALL: Former Kansas star Danny Manning will be director of student-athlete development/team manager of the school's men's program. Manning, 37, the leading scorer and rebounder in Kansas history, recently concluded a 15-year pro career.

BOXING: Mike Tyson, looking outside boxing to pay some of his debts, signed a deal with Japan martial arts promoter K-1. It apparently doesn't call for him to battle K-1 star Bob Sapp, whom Tyson challenged after viewing one of his matches in Las Vegas this month. Recent bankruptcy filings indicate Tyson owes $17-million in back taxes and another $10-million in other debts.

NHL: Alberta oil man Clay Riddell, chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Resources Ltd., was introduced as the eighth member of the Calgary Flames ownership team, providing a cash infusion team president Ken King said further assures the franchise's viability. ... Pittsburgh signed defenseman Drake Berehowsky and left wing Reid Simpson, both unrestricted free agents.