The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 23

THE PANTAGRAPH 8 SECTION SUNDAY October 7, 2001 SPOR Fkrewell Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. plans Mh final game Page D3 (ft CARDINALS 10, ASTROS 6 mm force Bryan Bloodworth Carts' Final game today to determine NL Central division champion took a one-game lead over the Astros (92-69), who lead the season series 8-7. If the Astros win Sunday, when the Cardinals' Darryl Kile (16-10) pitches against Shane Reynolds (13-11), the teams would finish with identical records and Houston would win the division title because of a better head-to-head record. "Who wants to start the season and shoot for second place?" Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny said. "We've got everything in sight." The division winner starts the playoffs at home Tuesday against Atlanta and the wild card opens Tuesday at Two runners take different goals to Chicago Heidi Sarnecki just wants to finish.

Jim Pelarske is shooting for an American record. Those are just a few of a thousand storylines that will take shape today when runners compete in the Chicago Marathon. Sarnecki and Pelarske are members of the Bloomington-based Lake Run Club, which has several members run "This will be one last playoff game before the real playoffs start," the Astros' Craig Biggio said. "It's been like the playoffs for us the last 3 weeks." St. Louis was helped by three Astros errors, two by first baseman Jeff Bagwell in the third inning.

"I had a bad day, there's no getting around it," Bagwell said. "I've made bad throws before, but this just happened to be in a big situations. I'll shake it off and come back." Craig Paquette, who filled the No. 6 slot usually held by slumping Mark McGwire, was 4-for-5 with an RBI. Fernando Vina homered and drove in two runs.

ner of today's game also winning the Central. "I remember in August, everyone was asking me about the last series of the year, which was the Cubs," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "I kept telling everybody, 'Don't forget about the St. Louis (93-68), which wound up as Houston's final opponent because of the extra week added to the regular season, ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. LOUIS With one game to go, the NL Central is still up for grabs.

Jim Edmonds homered and had three RBI as the St. Louis Cardinals regained the division lead by defeating the Houston Astros 10-6 Saturday. While both teams clinched postseason berths when San Francisco lost late Friday night, the division title will be decided on the final day, with the win ILLINOIS 25, MINNESOTA 14 Lloyd does in Minnesota "TP- III III 1 1 Self evaluation helps receiver to huge afternoon By Randy Kindred ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR CHAMPAIGN Two sub-par performances had University of Illinois receiver Brandon Lloyd scratching his head. Or, more accurately, his dc-rag. So Lloyd, the mini's flamboyant and loquacious sophomore, talked with Coach Ron Turner this past week.

"I asked him, 'What do I need to Lloyd said. "He told me I Indiana scores 63 points, slams Wisconsin Page D9 needed to work harder, that it didn't look like I was giving all of my ef fort. It gave me a chance to look in the mirror and say, 'Man, what are you doing I had an opportunity to fix it." Consider it done. The speedy Lloyd broke out Saturday with nine catches, 168 yards and two touchdowns, sparking Illinois to a 25-14 Big Ten Conference victory over Minnesota at Memorial Stadium. Lloyd's 28-yard TD catch in the first quarter gave the Dlini' (4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten) a 10-0 lead.

His 59-yarder late in the third period pushed a 19-14 edge to 25-14, and Illinois went on to avenge two straight lopsided losses to Minnesota "It was nice to get Brandon back in the flow of things," Turner said. "He's a young guy, and hopefully he's learned a lesson. When you practice at a high level, you go out and play that way." It was the third 100-yard re- ning in the 26.2-mue event. They represent opposite ends of the spectrum. The 50-year-old Pelarske has competed in over 20 marathons.

For the 32-year-old Sarnecki, it will be her first marathon. "I've run in two half-marathons, but never a Heidi Sarnecki full one," said Sarnecki, who began running four years ago at the encouragement of her husband. "I wanted to do something to stay healthy. He told me I could burn double the calories in half the time by running," added Sarnecki. Sarnecki admits she never started running with the idea of competing in a marathon.

"I ran a few road races and became addicted," she continued. "It was like 'Hey, I did five miles, so why can't I do "I was so disappointed after my first half-marathon because I walked the last third of it. I knew then I had to do another one and run the whole way." Sights turned toward full marathon She accomplished that before giving birth to a daughter 14 months ago. She gained 61 pounds during her pregnancy and it was at that time she decided to compete in a full marathon. "I knew I would have to set a goal to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight," she said.

"I decided I wanted to run a full-marathon." She started training for it four months after giving birth to her daughter. Sallie Elliott and Mitch Smith from The Workout Company helped Sarnecki develop a training program. She ran three to four miles a day, five or six times a week in the beginning of her training. She gradually increased the miles to 41 per week. Her longest run has been 20 miles.

"They say if you can run 18 miles, then you can run 26," said Sarnc-ki. "I don't care about my time. I just want to run the whole thing and finish." Pelarske, on the other hand, is shooting to com Jim Pelarske plete the 26.2 miles in a time of 2 hours, 34 minutes, 21 seconds. If he is successful, it would establish an American record for 50-year-old males. "The record was set in 1988 and I can't believe someone hasn't broken it," said Pelarske, whose best time has been 2:41.52.

"I turn 51 in November, so I have a short window of opportunity to set the record," said Pelarske. "Realistically, my chances of breaking the record are very slim. "But if the weather cooperates and I have a good race, I have a chance. A lot of it depends on the conditions." Asthma overcome This will only be Pelarske's second marathon in five years. He was forced to quit running five years ago because of asthma.

"I've had asthma all my life, but it wasn't a real problem until about five years ago," added Pelarske. "It kept getting worse to the point that I couldn't do hard training." Fortunately for Pelarske, his wife happened to be sitting next to an asthma specialist on an airplane and the two began discussing asthma. "The specialist suggested I try a new medicine that had come out," said Pelarske. "I gave it a try and so far, so good. I hope my luck holds out." Pelarske, who originally hails from Minnesota, competed in a marathon in mid-June after returning to the sport five months earlier.

The Chicago Marathon, which he has never competed in, will be his second in a nine-month period. "Ideally, you gradually build up your training for a marathon," he said. "I'm doing this one in about half the prepara tion time. Bryan Bloodworth is The Pantagraph sports editor. He can be reached at 309-829-9411, ext.

246 or email at bbloodworth0pantagraph.com. S. ILLINOIS 23, ILLINOIS STATE 17 ISU Still can't earn first win By RANDY REINHARDT PANTAGRAPH STAFF CARBONDALE Andy King spoke haltingly, choking back emotion and picking his words carefully at the same time. "I don't think I ever thought in my tenure as a Redbird I would see us start off like this," said King, Illinois State's senior offensive tackle and co-captain. Yet another cold, cruel slap of reality stung the Redbirds Saturday at McAndrew Stadium in the form of a 23-17 Southern Illinois victory that dropped the Redbirds to an 0-5 record that seemed unfathomable less than two months ago.

"I definitely hate to be here," said King, a starter on the 1999 ISU team that advanced to the Division I-AA national semifinals. "I've been through losing seasons before (at Lincoln High School). I hated it then. I hate it now." The worst ISU start since the 1978 team lost its first nine featured a too little, too late rally from a 20-0 deficit in the Redbirds' Gateway Conference opener before a crowd of 9,830. "I'm just as puzzled as I've ever been as a ball coach," said ISU coach Denver Johnson.

"I'm really searching for some answers right now as to how to help them. It's very frustrating." SEE ISU NEXT PAGE LAKE CENTRAL 28, NORMAL WEST 6 Lake Central stifles West playoff hopes BY PANTAGRAPH STAFF ST. JOHN, Ind. The Normal West High School football team dropped a 28-6 decision to Lake Central in nonconfer-ence action Saturday. The setback ended the Wildcats' playoff hopes.

"They (the Wildcats) did as well as they could do under the circumstances," said Normal West coach Jim Baker, whose team fell to 2-5 while Lake Central improved to 4-4. "They never quit." The Wildcats lone score came on a 62-yard screen pass in the fourth quarter from Joe Caslow to Matt Swearingen. "We've been working on this for a couple weeks," Baker said. "It was perfectly set up. The line was where they were supposed to be.

They blocked out the linebackers." When a would-be tackier closed on Swearingen from behind, Corey Fisher impeded his progress to allow Swearingen to score. The conversion run failed. SEE WEST PAGE D5 Associated Press Illinois' Rocky Harvey (23) was wrapped up by Minnesota linebacker Phil Archer (31) during the first half at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Saturday. Tailbacks Antoineo Harris and Rocky Harvey and fullback Carey Davis each rushed for 65 yards, leading the Dlini to 198 yards on 48 carries (4.1 average). SEE ILLINOIS NEXT PAGE man coverage and we were able to go deep.

We also were able to run the ball." Illinois' running game was vastly improved after being held to 25 yards in last week's 45-20 loss at Michigan. ceiving game this year for Lloyd, who was held to six catches for 82 yards the previous two weeks. "We got a chance to showcase our talent today," Lloyd said. "They played man-to AUGUSTANA 14, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 7 Augustana wins battle of the Ds Jk 1 I By Jim Benson PANTAGRAPH STAFF BLOOMINGTON Augustana came into Saturday's crucial College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football game against Illinois Wesleyan with some eye-opening offensive numbers. What really opened the eyes of the estimated crowd of 3,000 watching at IWU Stadium, though, was Augustana's defense.

For the Titans, it was like running into a stone wall. Augustana held IWU to only 188 yards of total offense. The Titan defense almost was just as stingy. Howvever, Augustana took advantage of a crucial IWU turnover early in the third quarter to register a 14-7 victory and spoil the Titans' homecoming. "We gave up only seven points to a potent group.

They (the Titans) didn't look, except for one drive, that much came easy for them," said Augustana coach Jim Barnes. "Our defense did a tremendous job. In the course of a season, its' never one unit." Augustana, ranked No. 11 in the Division in coaches' poll, improved to 5-0 and 2-0 in the CCIW, tied with Millikin for first place. IWU dropped to 2-2 and 1-1, re- The Pantagraph STEVE SMEDLEY Illinois Wesleyan's Pat Spangler exploded through a hole as Augustana's Leo LaBrie (23) and Todd Baldwin (25) tried to make the stop during the first half at Illinois Wesleyan Stadium Saturday.

spectively, ahead of next Saturday's 1 per game before Saturday. IWU limited p.m. game at Elmhurst. Augustana to 226 yards rushing and 288 The Vikings were averaging almost 500 yards overall, yards rushing and more than 50 points SEE NEXT PAGE.