Sports Digest

Sports Digest

May 21, 2006

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Michael Phelps was the main attraction at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix in Ann Arbor, Mich. Phelps, from Rodgers Forge, won the 400-meter individual medley by nearly 5 seconds over a top field. He wanted a time in the 4:20 range and was satisfied with a 4:21.19 clocking. An estimated 1,200 fans saw the first of five Grand Prix events before the USA Swimming National Championships on Aug. 1-5 in Irvine, Calif.

Christian Gomez scored for D.C. United and Joseph Ngwenya got his first goal for the host Columbus Crew and in a 1-1 tie. United evened the score when Gomez put away a rebound fumbled by Columbus goalkeeper Jon Busch after Busch stopped a 17-yard drive from Freddy Adu in the 29th minute. It was Gomez's third goal of the season. D.C. outshot the Crew 18-3. United is 4-1-3 and Columbus is 3-3-2.

Dutch yacht ABN Amro One won the seventh leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, two days after the death of a Dutch sailor on a sister yacht. ABN Amro One, skippered by Mike Sanderson, crossed the finish line in Portsmouth, England, nine days after leaving New York. It has won six of the seven legs in the round-the-world race. Second-place Ericsson, heading to the English Channel, led U.S. entry Pirates of the Caribbean by 15 miles.

• Louis Vuitton Cup // America's Cup defending champion Alinghi led the standings after winning one of two fleet races on the second day of Act 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials in Valencia, Spain.

Australia's Craig Mottram won the Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park in New York but failed in his bid to set the course record. Mottram finished in 28 minutes, 13 seconds, coming up 3 seconds shy of the mark set by Kenyan Paul Koech in 1997.

Sebastian Bourdais broke his own Champ Car course record, finishing his best lap in 1 minute, 13.253 seconds at an average speed of 103.401 mph to capture the pole for today's Monterrey Grand Prix in Mexico. It will be the fourth straight year Bourdais has started first in the event. He is the first driver since Rick Mears between 1988 and 1991 to win the pole at the same race four years in a row.

Top Of The Bill accelerated over the final two fences to catch rival The Next Man in the stretch and win the $75,000 Mellon Bank National Hunt Cup at the Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern, Pa. The third leg of the Steeplechase Triple Crown lured seven runners, including first-stage winner Top Of The Bill and first-stage runner-up The Next Man. Trained in Virginia by Jimmy Day and ridden by Carl Rafter, the winner scored by 1 1/2 lengths while covering the 2 3/8 miles and 16 fences in 4:35.66.

Theft charges were filed against an 18-year-old accused of stealing a replica Super Bowl ring and a Hall of Fame ring that belonged to late Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton. Jeremy J. Sherman was being held in the Kane County Correctional Center in Geneva, Ill., on unrelated charges when he was charged with two counts of theft in connection with the stolen rings, police said.

• More pro football // Annis Stukus, the Canadian Football League figure who enjoyed a varied career in sports, died yesterday. He was 91. The Edmonton Eskimos said Stukus died at his home in Canmore, Alberta. Nicknamed Stuke, he was best known for helping build CFL franchises in Edmonton and Vancouver. He also was general manager of the World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets, and signed Bobby Hull to a $1 million contract.

• Cycling // Unheralded Leonardo Piepoli won the rainy 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia ending in the Alps, while Ivan Basso improved his overall lead. Piepoli, riding for the Saunier Duval team, completed the 135-mile route from Alessandria to La Thuile in 5 hours, 21 minutes, 12 seconds. Basso was second, 44 seconds behind.