May 18, 2006 4 min read

Track and field: Uniontown’s Bota in ECACs Laurel Highlands graduate Emily Bota of Bethany College has qualified for the ECAC Outdoor Championships to be held today and Friday at Springfield College in Mass.

Bota, a freshman, will compete in the women’s long jump. She also was an alternate on the Bison’s qualifying relay, but will not compete in that event at the ECACs.

Bota, the first Bison woman to qualify for the championships since assistant coach Melissa (Crago) Hudson did so in 2001, has a shot at breaking the school record in the long jump. She qualified with a leap of 16 feet, 3.75 inches, which gave her a third-place medal at the Presidents Athletic Conference meet.

“Emily started out great, but was slowed down towards the middle of the year,” said second-year Bethany coach Andy Upton.

“She was doing very well in practice and jumping past the qualifying mark, but injuries didn’t allow her to do it in a meet until late in the year. She’s also broken the school record in practice, so she’s very capable of doing it this week. It’s just a matter of putting it all together at the right time.”

West Greene’s Pettit medals

West Greene’s Nicole Pettit earned a medal in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Track and Field Championships on Tuesday at South Side Beaver High School in Hookstown.

Pettit finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 97 feet, 9 inches, but did not qualify for the state meet.

Gatlin’s record voided

LONDON (AP) – Not so fast, Justin.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin thought he broke the 100-meter world record last Friday at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha, earning the title of world’s fastest man.

It turns out he only equaled the record, and will have to share it with Jamaican rival Asafa Powell.

A timing error prompted the sport’s governing body Wednesday to take away Gatlin’s announced record of 9.76 seconds. The International Association of Athletics Federations said his time was recorded at 9.766, and should have been manually rounded up to 9.77.

Gatlin’s time has now been adjusted to 9.77 and, pending ratification, will equal the record set by Powell in Athens, Greece, on June 14, 2005.

An obviously perturbed Gatlin issued a statement through USA Track & Field.

“It is very disappointing to me that it has taken five days to determine the official time of a race with this significance,” he said.

“I remain confident that I am the world’s fastest man and I look forward to proving it once again. My parents raised me to be a good sport, but I don’t want to share the world record.”

The 24-year-old Gatlin, who is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 100, received wide acclaim after being credited with breaking the most celebrated record in track and field.

Boxing

Karpency on Wheeling card

Tommy “The Soldier” Karpency of Adah will be on the eight-bout boxing card at Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center on Friday.

Karpency will be making his professional debut against Santago Hilario (2-4-2 with 2 KO’s) of Indianapolis in a four-round, light heavyweight bout that is second on “The Friday Night Fights XIV” card.

Tickets are on sale at the Wheeling Island Box Office (304-231-1725).

Boxing is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. with Stephan Pryor (9-1, 6 KO’s) of Cincinnati battling 60-bout veteran Hector Ramirez of Indianapolis in a six-round super middleweight clash.

Pryor, who trains in Pittsburgh, is the son of former world junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor.

The main event and eighth bout on the card has Charlie Howe (16-3-2, 8 KO’s) of Grelton, Ohio, taking on Tony Black (7-5-1, 7 KO’s) of Columbus, Ohio, in a six-round junior middleweight bout.

Hockey

U.S. loses, Canada wins

RIGA, Latvia (AP) – Mika Hannula’s hat trick helped Olympic champion Sweden beat the United States 6-0 Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the World Ice Hockey Championship.

Sweden goalie Johan Holmqvist had 18 saves, earning his first shutout in five games in the tournament.

The Swedes advance to face Canada, which scored three goals in a span of 1:39 in the third period to beat Slovakia 4-1 in a later quarterfinal.

On Thursday, Russia faces the Czech Republic and Finland plays Belarus.

The United States finished 4-3 in the championship. Of the 10 quarterfinals played since 1992, the United States has qualified for all but one.

In the later quarterfinal, Sidney Crosby scored one of the third-period goals for Canada.

Crosby leads the tournament in scoring with seven goals and six assists in seven games.

Tennis

Clijsters struggles in Rome

ROME (AP) – Kim Clijsters rallied to beat Japanese qualifier Akiki Mirigami 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 Wednesday in the second round of the Italian Open.

Clijsters can reclaim the No. 1 ranking if she wins her second Rome title. Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo was a late withdrawal because of illness.