The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 8

Tlie Modesto Bee Online: wwwmodbeecom How lo reach us: Sports News Scores 578-2300 TUESDAY APRIL 16 2002 INSIDE Morning Briefing C-2 Baseball C-3 Scoreboard C-5 FIRST EDITION Yosemite makes rock solid friendship Sidelines BREAKING AWAY SCOREBOARD Padres 4 Giants 3 fiJjwTl Kent a pair of home runs for San Francisco in defeat Lake Elsinore 2 Modesto 1 The three-game winning streak halted by the Storm Page C-5 4 decades after first meeting Tom Frost and Royal Robbins still enjoy challenge of climbing By CLARE NOONAN BEE STAFF WRITER ore than 40 years after they met on Tahquitz Rock in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles Royal Robbins and Tom Frost are still friends and are still climbing The two men among the biggest names in the climbing annals of Yosemite recently talked about their passion for inching their way up massive rock formations using grip and grit and as few bolts and pitons as possible a study in contrasts: Robbins in a tie that he eventually takes off Frost in a button-down shirt on top of a white undershirt Robbins chooses each word carefully a serious look on his face Frost is quick to laugh and quick to answer Loquacious or taciturn Frost and Robbins share a love of Yosemite and its granite peaks Their accomplishments are incredible: In 1957 Robbins Jerry Gallwas and Mike Sherrick completed the first ascent of the northwest face of Half Dome Steve Roper points out the climb's significance in "Camp 4 Recollections of a SEE PAGE C-4 CUMBERS Pirates 6 Brewers 1 Dodgers 5 Rockies 2 14 Cardinals 5 NBA Bulls 98 76ers 96 Celtics 93 90 Lakers 111 Sonics 104 Baseball American League Red Sox 4 Yankees 3 White Sox 13 Orioles 4 Mariners 13 Rangers 11 (10) National League Cubs 6 Expos 4 Mets 7 Braves 6 (12) TED BENSONTHE BEE Tom Frost left and Royal Robbins are legendary figures among Yosemite rock climbers BREAKING AWAY More than just riding Bee staff writer Clare Noonan examines the Valley Sierra Pony Club which teaches youngsters more than just how to ride The club places equal importance on stable management and animal care Page C-6 Driver killed at Altamont race track Manteca man dies during race crashed into concrete wall By WILL DeBOARD BEE STAFF WRITER A Manteca resident was killed in an accident during a race at Altamont Raceway Park Saturday night Mark Hutto 42 was racing in the Sportsman Late Model main event when according to witnesses he was forced to the infield slid across the dirt and struck a concrete retaining wall He was declared dead at the scene according to the Alameda County coroner's office Track media manager Dennis Ortolan referred all questions to track manager Andy Herbst who could not be reached for comment Monday This is the first death at the track that sits on the Alameda and San Joaquin county border seven miles west of Tracy since it reopened in 1995 the first death at an area race track since San Jose driver Roger Paulson was killed in 1999 at Delta Speedway in Stockton According to witnesses Hutto was racing side by side with another driver on the half-mile track when the two came upon a third car that had stopped running and was coasting at the top of the track They converged near the start-finish line a roughly 200-yard area of common asphalt that is shared by both the track's outer half-mile and inner quarter-mile ovals Hutto's car was forced off the half-mile oval through the dirt infield and almost squarely into the retaining wall that surrounds the quarter-mile oval Verg Beaty who has more main event wins than any other driver at Altamont since 1995 was roughly 200 yards behind Hutto when the accident occurred "That part of the track is where the cars are going their fastest" Beaty said "The top cars get up to about 103 miles- SEE PAGE C-5 DRIVER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rodgers Rop left and Margaret Okayo both of Kenya cross the finish line to win the 106th Boston Marathon on Monday Win races at Boston Marathon Local Finishers become a tradition in Kenya to win Boston so I had to try my level best to win Boston Marathon winner Rodgers Rop GOLF Tiger gives Masters boost People watch when Tiger Woods wins even if little drama what happened at the Masters telecast of his second straight title at Augusta National drew a 99 overnight rating from 10:30 to 3:45 pm PDT Sunday at least 40 percent higher than the final-round rating for the three prior majors when Woods finished back in the pack For the First time Augusta allowed CBS to show coverage of the leaders on all 18 holes Sunday Masters overnight rating was -f- 23 percent lower than when the coverage was from 4 to 7 pm This rating for the last 3 hours showed only a 6 percent drop BASKETBALL Kings tickets go on sale A limited number of tickets for the Sacramento Kings' first two home playoff games will go on sale Thursday at 10 am Tickets can be purchased via the Internet at wwwticketmastercom or by calling 551-TIXS (916) 649-TIXS or (530) 528-TIXS Tickets also are available at the Arco Arena box office BASEBALL Collector spends a wad Someone apparently spent $10000 for the gnawed-on chewing gum of Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez It was all for charity of course Jason Gabbert owner of a sports memorabilia store in Wood Lake Minn and Johnjay Van Es of KRQ radio confirmed the $10000 bid Monday evening The name will be announced this morning me tell you it's a doozie" Van Es said of the winner's identity Gabbert said he got the gum after asking a security guard to pick it up off the ground The World Series hero had discarded it in the dirt during a March 7 spring training game in Tucson where the Diamondbacks train TV SPOTLIGHT Mariners at Athletics ace Freddy Garcia leads Seattle Into Network Associates Coliseum for an AL West battle with the Oakland Athletics who send Cory Lidlo to the mound FSN 7pm LOOKING BACK On this date in 1940 Boh Feller of the Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in the only Opening Day no-hitter in major-league history PARTING SHOT "He's lost the respect of a lot of people just from his childish behavior Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton i on fellow dtiver Kevin Harvick who was fined $35000 and placed on probation by NASCAR for rough driving By HOWARD ULMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON Kenyans are back on top of the Boston Marathon reclaiming a winning tradition that's now as much a part of the race as Heartbreak Hill Rodgers Rop won the men's event Monday by three seconds over Christopher Cheboib-och and Margaret Okayo set a course record for women in beating two-time defending champion Catherine Ndereba All are from Kenya whose 10-year winning streak among men was broken last year by Lee Bong-ju of South Korea who was fifth Monday and the first non-Kenyan to cross the finish line "The Kenyans are very happy Last year I was not happy" Rop said "Before running I said 'We have to reclaim our become a tradition in Kenya to win Boston so I had to try my level best to win" As he crossed the finish line Cheboiboch embraced Rop How local runners fared at Monday's 106th running of the 262-mile Boston Marathon: Ron Giannone Turlock 3 hours 15 minutes 36 seconds Darin Morris Modesto 3:16:11 Michael Persak Modesto 3:25:25 Eva Schaeffer Modesto 3:54:23 Susan Pfeifer Salida 3:57:18 Mark Lantz Escalon 3:57:24 At that same spot about 2 Mi hours earlier four American flags each 45-by-90 feet were held horizontally by volunteers in the First Boston Marathon since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks Just before the 262-mile race that is held each year on Patriots Day about 17000 runners gathered near the red white and blue starting line in overcast Hopkinton west of Boston A state trooper sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" then ran the race The race began in cooler temperatures SEE PAGE C-2 MARATHON San Diego Giants with 9th-inning homer Giants notebook Page C-3 SF wastes 2 home runs from Kent Bonds plays BEE NEWS SERVICES SAN DIEGO Phil Nevin horn-ered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning for his fourth straight hit Monday night giving the San Diego Padres a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants and thcirsixth victory In seven games San Francisco's Jeff Kent tied it at 3 with his second homer of the game i i he eighth and Barry Bonds playing with a sore hamstring robbed D'Angelo Jimenez of a home run in the eighth Nevin drove a 2-2 pitch from Christiansen (0-1) over the fence in left his third home run of the sea- son Nevin also hit a two-run single In the sixth and finished 4-for-5 Alan Embree (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win San Francisco starter Ryan Jensen who entered the game with scoreless innings this season had to leave after spraining his ankle in the first inning Bonds who left game against Milwaukee with a slightly strained right hamstring got back to the fence on fly hall timed his jump and got his glove over the 8-foot 2-inch fence to make the catch Trailing 2-0 five straight Padres SEE PAGE C-3 GIANTS DEBBIE NODATHE BEE Signed sealed delivered Merced High foreign exchange student Erika Urmonalte flanked by Bears coach John Bliss right and hosts Don and Melissa Proiettl signs a national letter ot intent to play basketball tor St College next season Urmonaite a member ot The Bee's 2002 All-District team hails from Lithuania.