The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 94

F6 THE VANCOUVER SUN, THURSDAY. MARCH 16, 2000 SPORTS Maier, Haeusl Win ski titles Debate on gender stamina arrives ar no conclusions I 1 '4 iV her interest in athletic performance piqued a few years ago at a swimming competition among high-energy physicists in Europe not exactly in the same league as world-class athletes. The physicists said the results challenge the notion that women's bodies may be better suited to long races. One theory was that women have a higher fat content that can be converted to energy during exercise. But some exercise experts say that is an outdated assumption about gender differences and athletics.

For women, any athletic benefits gained by tapping into their supplemental energy supply would be outweighed by the struggle of carrying the extra fat in a race, they said. Also, Jay Carney, a senior sports physiologist at the U.S. Olympic Committee, criticized what he considers the paper's oversimplification of the relationship between aerobic and anaerobic energy. The body's use of each type shifts over the course of a race, he said. "A 'transition time' is an absolute, total misconception," Carney said.

"It's one of the biggest misconceptions in the world of sports. It's just plain wrong." In 1992, a look at world records suggested that women marathoners might catch up with men around 2055 because their times have been improving faster than men's times. Critics bashed the foundation of that paper as a statistical quirk, saying the biological limits would be too much to No matter how long the race, men and women burn energy at the same rate. DAVID KINNEY ASSOCIATED PRESS Curious how their running and swimming times stacked up against the world records, a couple of physicists waded into the long debate over whether women's bodies are better suited to long distance competitions than men's. In a paper appearing in this week's science journal Nature, they plot the world-record times in running and swimming for racers of both genders and conclude women are slower than men by the same proportion in both distance races and sprints.

But outside physiologists and exercise researchers said the finding is no surprise. The physicists, Sandra Savaglio of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and Vincenzo Carbone of the University of Calabria in Italy, said in races shorter than two minutes, runners and swimmers use more anaerobic energy, which doesn't require oxygen. In races longer than that, they use more aerobic energy, requiring a lot of oxygen. But no matter how long the race, men and women burn energy at the same rate, they report. "Any physiologist would tell you this," said Carl Foster, a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.

"This isn't groundbreaking." Savaglio, an astronomer, had Hauesl fractures her leg in a bloody crash at finish line of women's downhill at Bormio in Italy. VANIA GRANDI ASSOCIATED PRESS BORMIO, Italy Austrian star Hermann Maier and Germany's Regina Haeusl won their first downhill crowns on Wednesday, with Haeusl breaking her leg in a bloody crash at the finish. Haeusl twisted sideways as she crossed the line, fell and smashed into the safety padding at high speed. Her nose gushing blood, she was taken away on a stretcher with compound fractures to her right shin. The 26-year-old German was ninth in the final downhill of the season, barely holding her lead in the standings.

She won the downhill title by five points over Austria's Renate Goetschl. "I'm pleased that Haeusl won after such bad luck," said Goetschl, who finished third Wednesday behind Regine Cav-agnoud of France and Switzerland's Corinne Rey-Bellet. "She deserved the title because she was very strong and consistent this season." Haeusl, runner-up five times in the downhill this season, regained the downhill crown for the Germans two years after Katja Seizinger's triumph. For Maier, a double Olympic and world champion, winning the downhill trophy was far less painful but just as demanding. "When I knew I had won, I saw a film unfolding before my eyes of all the hours I spent on the bike, all the hours in the weight room and all the hours training," Maier said.

"Suddenly, it was all worth it." Maier last week won the over-all World Cup and super-G title. But he had done that before capturing the overall in 1998 and the super-G in 1998 and 1999. "This was the most important event title in my career," he said. "It's been a goal of mine for three years." The 27-year-old Austrian earned the crown by finishing second to teammate Hannes Trin-kl at the final World Cup downhill in this Italian Alps resort. Despite skiing cautiously to avoid falling, Maier beat his closest rival in the chase for the title, Italy's Kristian Ghedina, by nearly two seconds.

To win the title, Ghedina needed to finish first or second while Maier finished worse than sixth. "I knew my chances were slim," said Ghedina, who was 14th. "But I refused to give up before it was over." Maier goes for his fourth title of the season in Saturday's giant slalom, where he holds a commanding 83-point advantage over teammate Christian Mayer. The last time a man or woman won four titles in a season was in 1987, when Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen won five. Maier does not usually race slalom and has never been in the chase for that title.

He is also trying to become the first skier to top 2,000 World Cup points in a season. With Wednesday's result he moved within 100 points. Maier was timed in 1 minute, 58.71 seconds down the demanding Stelvio course. He finished four-tenths of a second Johnson pounded in loss to Angels IT'S Ed Podivinsky of Canada sticks out his tongue in the finish area of the men's downhill World Cup final race March 15. Podivinsky placed fifth in the race and was ninth in the downhill title.

behind Trinkl's winning time of 1:58.31. It was Trinkl's second victory at Bormio and second win this season. "Each victory is great and important, but this is no doubt one of my favourite courses," Trin-kl said. The fast and bumpy course is among the most difficult. Skiers reached speeds of 80 mph on Wednesday.

Canadian earns silver CANADIAN PRESS LIVIGNO, Italy Canadian freestyle skier Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau won a silver medal in moguls at the World Cup finals on Wednesday and finished third in the over-all standings. The 20-year-old from Drum-mondville, was runner-up to Finland's Janne Lahtela, who had clinched the over-all title prior to the final event in this Alpine resort in high altitude. Wednesday's win was Lahtela's fifth in seven events. Rousseau posted the fastest time of the day but not the best style points. Lahtela scored 26.89 followed by Rouisseau at 26.81 ERIC GAILLARDReulcrs agnoud mastered the tough course in 1 minute, 33.01 seconds for her second victory this season, Rey-Bellet was .73 seconds back.

Melanie Turgeon of Lac Beauport was sixth, the top North American. Goetschl is almost assured the over-all women's title. She has a 263-point lead with three races remaining. in moguls Sweden's Marja Elfman in the last race of the season. Elfman, who placed second to Germany's Sandra Schmitt in Wednesday's event, tied Battelle at 468 points in the World Cup standings, succumbing to the American skier because Battelle had two wins in the previous events while the Swede had none.

Schmitt won the women's race with a score of 24.65. Elfman was second with 24.24 and Norway's Kari Traa third with 23.97. Battelle placed fifth, barely pocketing the points she needed for the moguls title. Tami Bradley of Vancouver was the top Canadian in eighth. Sanders said.

"If I don't get at-bats in the games, I'd love to go down to the minor leagues complex and hit over there." General manager Jim Bow-den would be agreeable to letting Sanders spend some time with the minor leaguers. "We can take whoever needs work here and put them in minor league games," Bowden said. "That includes guys who need innings and that kind of thing, not just guys trying to make it. Deion's a perfect example." impressive single to left leading off the fifth. He then retired his final three batters.

"This is the best spring I have had," Irabu said through interpreter Go Ikeda. "I don't know why. I just like it here." Irabu, 3-0 this spring, was 29-20 in 2V2 seasons with the New York Yankees, but was erratic and pitched only once in the post-season as they won consecutive World Series. "He was very impressive," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. some pitches are, regardless of scores, inning or count." In other games: Red Sox 8, Reds 1 At Sarasota, Carl Everett and Trot Nixon homered and Ramon Martinez pitched allowed one run and four hits in three innings.

Ken Griffey Jf. was 0-for-2 and is 5-for-26 (.192) with three homers and four" RBIs this spring. Cardinals 7, Marlins 3 At Viera, Ryan Dempster allowed six hits and six runs in two innings. Mark Smith was 2-for-2 for Florida and is batting .577 (15-for-26) this spring. Royals 7, Braves 2 At Haines City, Brett Lax-ton gave up two runs and three hits in four innings, allowing Andres Galarraga's third homer of the spring.

Loser Bruce Chen allowed three runs and five hits in four innings. Pirates 15, Devil Rays 5 At St. Petersburg, Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run, second-inning homer and Adrian Brown, Pat Meares and Bruce Aven keyed a 20-hit attack with three hits each. Rangers 2, Orioles 0 At Port Charlotte, Darren Oliver pitched 4 1-3 hitless innings and Ivan Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Mets (ss) 6, Indians 3 At Winter Haven, Jay Payton singled in each of his three at-bats.

David Justice hit his second home run of the spring for Cleveland. Mets (ss) 6, Dodgers 6, 10 innings At Port St. Lucie, Glen-don Rusch couldn't hold a 5-0 lead, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. Geronimo Berroa hit a two-run double, and former Met Kevin Elster had a solo homer. Simon Fraser wins first game SUN SPORTS REPORTER Simon Fraser Clan women opened up the NAIA championship tournament Wednesday with a 72-55 win over Langston Lady Lions in Jackson, Tennessee.

Ail-American point guard Teresa Kleindienst led the Clan with 22 points and eight rebounds. The Clan, seeded third in the tournament, improved their record to 27-2 on the year. Jen Van De Walle and Jessica Kaczowka each added 11 points for the Clan. The Clan's next game is Friday at 6 p.m. PST against the winner of the Wayland Baptist (Texas) vs.

Lambuth (Tennessee) game today. ASSOCIATED PRESS Randy Johnson gave up 10 runs in an eight-start span last June 25 to July 31. On Wednesday, he gave up 11 in three-plus innings. "I stunk," he said after the Anaheim Angels pounded him for 11 runs and 12 hits in their 15-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The NL Cy Young Award winner failed to retire any of the eight batters he faced in Ana-heim's 11-run fourth, getting chased by Tim Salmon's two-run homer, his fourth of the spring.

"Everything I threw was down the middle of the plate, and they hit it," Johnson said. "I don't think I got too many quality pitches in today." Bengie Molina hit his third homer to start the inning, and Gary DiSarcina had a two-run double. Anaheim sent 16 batters to the plate in the inning 13 before Arizona got an out and was helped by four errors in the inning. Pitcher Kent Mercker made the first out of the inning. "I was pretty much sleepwalking out there today," Johnson said.

"I just had a bad day. It was just a game that you put behind you." At Dunedin, Houston coach Jose Cruz Sr. got a rare opportunity to watch his son play for Toronto in the Blue Jays' 8-3 win over the Astros. "Someday I hope he could play with a team that I'm coaching, but right now I just hope he has a good time and enjoys playing the game," the elder Cruz said after his son went 2-for-4. Cruz thinks his son has the potential to hit 35 home runs.

Last year, Cruz Jr. homered for Toronto while his father watched during a spring training game against the Astros at Kissimmee. "He sees a lot of what I don't see," Cruz Jr. said. "He knows me the best and can watch me take a pitch and know right away how I am feeling." Raul Mondesi, Tony Batista, Homer Bush and Shannon Stewart homered for the Blue Jays.

At Lakeland, Roger Clemens gave up four runs on three hits and three walks in the New York Yankees' 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. But an RBI double by Juan Gonzalez was the hardest ball hit off Clemens. Clemens (1-2) actually was fairly impressive in his third outing of the spring. He worked the first five innings, retiring the Tigers in order in the fourth and fifth. "I felt strong," Clemens said.

"The fifth inning, I wanted to turn a few balls loose and was able to do that. I think it was a good trip. I'm working on some stuff. I've got to find out where CanadaCasino Austria's Christian Greber surprised the field by finishing third in 1:59.10. Fritz Strobl completed an Austrian sweep of the top four spots.

Ed Podivinsky of Toronto was fifth. Jeff Durand of Calgary was 48th. "I'm satisfied with fifth because I am ending my season on a good note," Podivinsky said. On the women's side, Cav- and Garth Hager of the U.S., third at 25.48. Stephane Rochon of St-Sauveur, Que, was 10th Wednesday and finished 10th over-all Jay Vaughan of Newmarket, 13th.

Three-time World Cup cham-pion Jean-Luc Brassard of Grande-Ile, Que, ended up eighth over-all. He suffered a serious knee injury in training on Tuesday and is out for the seasoa Brassard goes home today to have his knee examined. American Ann Battelle won the women's over-all moguls title, surviving a strong comeback by get it," Sanders said. "Anybody else doesn't get a response. As long as I get a response, I know I'm still living." Getting in shape hasn't been easy for Sanders, who could do little more than hobble a few yards when training camp opened.

He had arthroscopic knee surgery in January after finishing the season with the Dallas Cowboys. "I think by the end of the week, I'll make a tremendous amount of improvement," Irabu looks ASSOCIATED PRESS JUPITER, Fla. Hideki Irabu seems to be responding to a change in scenery. Irabu struck out five in five innings, allowing one hit as the Montreal Expos beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0 on Wednesday. Marty McLeary, Shayne Bennett and J.D.

Smart finished the combined two-hitter. Irabu, acquired Dec. 22 from the New York Yankees, retired his first 12 batters before Butch Huskey lined a Fans getting on Sanders' case FULL SERVICE M0 Football player on the limp in his bid to play baseball with the Reds. ASSOCIATED PRESS SARASOTA, Fla. When Deion Sanders let two soft hits fall in front of him in centre field, Philadelphia Phillies fans let him know it.

"I've been getting booed since I was a kid," the Cincinnati Reds outfielder said after Tuesday's game in Clearwater. "I don't really care about that stuff. It didn't bother me way back when I was a child. It don't bother me now that I'm a grown man." Sanders, trying to return to baseball, is with the Cincinnati Reds on a minor league contract. His appearance Tuesday was his first baseball appearance in two years, and he went 0-for-3 with two groundouts and a called strikeout.

The footballbaseball star said part of the fans' response was to the persona he has created. "If somebody hit one over the scoreboard, with my jumping ability, they'd think I should be able to go up and MONOPOLY Vie dMinctM dBSMjn ol game board. four comer squares, fte MR MONOPOLY name and character, aa Ml a eadi of dsencaw etanoras of tw game board and tfw pMqnr paces are trademark! ol Hasbro, he bet property tadng game and game aquvmenl O2000 Hasbro. Inc Al Rqr Reserved..