In brief

Snow cancels Bode's sweep chance

By VERA FILIPELLI, Times wires
Published January 23, 2005

KITZBUEHEL, Austria - Bode Miller's chance for a rare sweep of five events in a season ended Saturday when a World Cup downhill was postponed because of wet snow, forcing the cancellation of the combined.

The race will be rescheduled in Kvitfjell, Norway, the International Ski Federation said. The combined adds times from Saturday's downhill and Sunday's slalom.

Organizers called off the Hahnenkamm downhill for the first time in 12 years, but the slalom was expected to run today despite predictions of poor weather.

There are only two combined events on the World Cup schedule this season. The other was last week in Wengen, Switzerland.

Miller leads the overall World Cup rankings with 1,048 points, with Austria's Benjamin Raich next at 850.

OTHER SKIING: Slovenia's Tina Maze won her third giant slalom event this season in Maribor, Slovenia. She finished her two runs in 2 minutes, 16.36 seconds, 22 seconds ahead of Italy's Karen Putzer.

FIGURE SKATING: Sergey Anikin, the taxi driver involved in a car accident that killed the mother of Angela Nikodinov, received two citations but will not face criminal charges. He was cited for careless driving and failing to maintain his line of travel, which combined carry a maximum fine of $1,080.

SKI JUMPING: Finland's Janne Ahonen won his record 12th event of the season in Titisee-Neustadt, Germany. Among the 16 events, he missed two because of illness and finished second twice. Ahonen went 138 meters in his second jump to finish with 283.5 points.

SNOWBOARDING: Americans Andy Finch and Kelly Clark won halfpipe titles at the European Open in Laax, Switzerland. Keir Dillon gave the American men a 1-2 finish with 87.5 points, eight behind Finch. Clark won with 93.2 after the competition was cut short midway through the second heat of because of darkness.

SPEED SKATING: American Jennifer Rodriguez set personal bests in the 500 and 1,000 meters at the first day at the world sprint championships in Kearns, Utah. Scoring is based on the average times, with the final heats today. Rodriguez cut .2 seconds in the 500 with a 37.96 and .01 in the 1,000 with a 1:14.05. Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon, a four-time world champion, leads the men.

Juan Diaz had little trouble defending his WBA lightweight title Friday, stopping Billy Irwin at 1:27 in the ninth round of a lopsided fight. Diaz (27-0, 12 KOs) dropped Irwin in the second round, staggered him plenty more times and finished him with a flurry against the ropes.

LAWSUIT: A jury ordered former heavyweight Shannon Briggs to pay $2-million to former Miami lineman Brian Stinson for breaking his eye socket during a nightclub fight in 2001.

TRACK: Florida won two meets. At the Clemson Invitational, Tiandra Ponteen (400 meters), Nadine Palmer (60) and Liz Wanless and Candice Scott (shot put) posted provisional marks for the NCAA championships for the Gators, who beat South Carolina by 131/2 points. The men won the Wes Kittley 6-Way in Lubbock, Texas, by 19 over Texas Tech. Stefan Pastor, Reggie Witherspoon, Sekou Clarke and Kerron Clement ran the third-fastest 4x400 in school history, 3:06.81. Clement and Kyle Farmer (200) and Mike Morrison (long jump) posted provisional marks. ... Florida State's Walter Dix (60, 200) and RicardoChambers (400) won their events at the Niswonger Invitational in Johnson City, Tenn. ... South Florida's Megan Malone won the pole vault and set a school record with a personal-best 12-6 at the Red Simmons Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.

TENNIS: The Seminole men beat Jacksonville 7-0 in their home opener. FSU swept doubles to take the point then got wins from Jonathas Sucupira, Sam Chang, Mat Cloer, Jeff Groslimond, Ytai Abougzir and Chris Westerhof. ... The Florida-Baylor women's match was canceled (weather) and will not be rescheduled.

FISHING: Kelly Jordon won the Wal-Mart FLW Tour season opener on Lake Okeechobee. Jordon caught four bass (23 pounds) for a two-day total of 30.81.

GREYHOUNDS: Fuzzys Cannon held off JR's Flashy at the 21st annual Matinee Idol at Derby Lane.

HORSES: Electric Light, trained by Nick Zito, set a record in winning the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. It finished 7 furlongs in 1:23.67, 0.84 faster than Slew The Message in 1999. ... Russell Baze passed the late Bill Shoemaker for second place on the list of all-time winningest jockeys, getting his 8,834th aboard Hollow Memories. Laffit Pincay Jr., who retired in 2003, holds the top spot with 9,530.

SWIMMING: South African Ryk Neethling broke the world record in the 100-meter medley by clocking 52.11 at a short-course World Cup meet in Berlin. The record was four days old - another South African, Roland Schoeman, had swum 52.51 in Stockholm, Sweden. Schoeman equaled another world record when he clocked 46.25 in the 100 freestyle, tying American Ian Crocker.

[Last modified January 23, 2005, 00:15:19]