Bellevue's Valenti Soars For Bronze In Freestyle Skiing

-- SKIING

Bellevue's Dave Valenti won the bronze medal in yesterday's men's aerial competition in the World Freestyle Championships at Lake Placid, N.Y. Phillipe Larouche of Canada won the gold medal, with the silver going to teammate John Ross.

Larouche, ranked No. 1 on the World Cup circuit, had a two-jump total of 233.52 points to Ross' 215.74 and Valenti's 212.46.

Valenti, who had knee surgery last season, considered himself a longshot to win the competition.

``I had reconstructive surgery on the ligament in my right knee and didn't know if I'd come back,'' he said. ``Everything came together great. The jumps felt real good.''

Valenti's bronze was the United States' seventh medal in seven events - three gold, one silver and three bronze.

-- Eva Twardokens pocketed her second straight gold medal, overcoming near-blizzard conditions to win the women's slalom in the U.S. Alpine Championships in Crested Butte, Colo.

The men's giant slalom, scheduled to be the concluding event of the nationals, was canceled pending possible rescheduling because of unsafe snow conditions.

-- Torgny Mogren, after winning a bronze and a silver medal at previous World Nordic Championships, struck gold, beating fellow Swede Gunde Svan, the defending champion, in the 50-kilometer freestyle race in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Audun Endestad of Fairbanks, Alaska, placed 39th for the best U.S. finish.

-- BOBSLEDDING

Germany II overtook Switzerland I to win the four-man world championships in Altenberg, Germany. Germany II's total time of 3 minutes, 45.53 seconds, edged Switzerland I, the runner-up in 3:45.65. Germany I finished third in 3:45.67. The American team, with two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles gold medalist Edwin Moses, placed seventh in 3:47.47.

-- TENNIS

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl finished off Pete Sampras with three consecutive aces and beat the reigning U.S. Open champion 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the $1 million U.S. Pro Indoor Championships in Philadelphia. Lendl served 23 aces during the three-hour, 19-minute match.

-- Top-seeded Martina Navratilova won her 11th Virginia Slims of Chicago championship in 14 years, beating fifth-seeded Zina Garrison 6-1, 6-2 in 58 minutes.

-- France's Guy Forget beat Soviet Andrei Cherkasov 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the finals of the Donnay Indoor Championship in Brussels, Belgium.

-- Lori McNeil defeated Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 to win the Colorado Classic in Aurora.

-- BASEBALL

Catcher Scott Hatteberg reached base safely in his first nine at-bats en route to a combined seven-for-eight, four-RBI performance as Washington State opened its 100th anniversary season with a doubleheader sweep of Central Washington, 9-5 and 12-2, in Pasco.

Hatteberg had four of WSU's 11 hits in the opener, including a 400-foot solo home run to center field. Darrin Kitchen's first inning three-run homer gave the Cougars the lead for good as righthanded Aaron Sele struck out six batters in four innings.

In the nightcap, WSU exploded for eight runs in the first inning off Dean Martinez. Hatteberg's three-run homer and Beau Campbell's grand slam did the damage.

-- TRACK AND FIELD

World record-holder Leroy Burrell accused Britain's Linford Christie of making a postrace threat after the American beat him in a 60-meter race in Cosford, England. Burrell, who set the world record of 6.48 seconds at Madrid last Wednesday, rallied to beat countryman Mark Witherspoon and Christie, Europe's fastest sprinter. Then he became involved in a clash with Christie, the third-place Briton, accusing him of threatening to kill him.

-- BOXING

Michael Carbajal unleashed a devastating left hook in the second round to score a one-punch knockout of Macario Santos in Las Vegas, Nev., and retain his International Boxing Federation junior flyweight title.

Carbajal's shot put Santos flat on his back, where he stayed as referee Richard Steele counted him out at 1:09 of the second round. Carbajal improved his record to 19-0 with 13 knockouts.

-- FOOTBALL

New Orleans Saints running back Craig Heyward sustained a gash in his scalp when he scuffled with police, who arrested him outside a nightclub in Rankin, Pa. Police said they used force Saturday to subdue the former University of Pittsburgh player, who they said refused to cooperate when they tried to tow his car.

-- HORSE RACING

Farma Way rallied from fifth at the halfway point to capture his fourth straight win with a 2 1/2-length decision in the $331,750 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita. Ridden by Gary Stevens, the 4-year-old colt ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 1/5. Anshan, with Chris McCarron, finished second. Louis Cyphre and Festin crossed over the wire in a dead heat for third.