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Wichita State's must-win weekend is off to a good start, even without leading hitter Conor Gillaspie. The 14th-ranked Shockers took over first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 6-1 win over Northern Iowa on a cold and windy Friday at Eck Stadium.

Shocker hitters took advantage of the wind with home runs by Kenny Williams and Tyler Weber. WSU starter Rob Musgrave avoided any wind-aided trouble by keeping hitters off balance with a variety of speeds and locations. He struck out 12 in his first nine-inning complete-game of the season. Even when hitters put the ball in the air, they rarely hit it solid enough to take advantage of the jet stream blowing out to right.

"You can't go out a little bit nervous about the wind," Musgrave said. "Obviously, you've got work on getting out front and keeping the ball down."

WSU (34-11, 12-4 MVC) snapped a three-game losing streak. UNI (25-17, 11-6) fell to third place, behind Missouri State (31-14, 14-5).

"It was a very tough night to pitch," WSU coach Gene Stephenson said. "With the wind blowing the way it was, any ball hit up in the air on the right side has a chance of going out of the ballpark."

No easy outs.

Goddard baseball coach Tom Campa takes pride in that when he looks at his batting order. His Lions certainly gave their coach even more to be proud about on Friday as Goddard swept North 8-3 and 8-5 in a doubleheader at West Side Athletic Field.

"I'm very pleased with the outcome," Campa said. "We had to execute at the plate and we did."

In game two the Lions (16-3) had six players drive in runs. Five of the players knocked in runs in the third inning to give Goddard a 5-0 lead.

Geoff Hagle, batting in the ninth spot, got things started with an RBI double that was followed by consecutive RBI singles by Logan Watkins and Taylor Douglas. Nathan Rausch finished the scoring spree with an RBI double.

The Heights boys track team proved that you don't necessarily need to have several individual victories to win in the team standings.

Heights won three events in the boys division of the Derby Invitational, but had several strong performances to win the team title. The Falcons finished with 119 points, edging Newton, which took second place with 105 points.

"We really don't concern ourselves much with winning a lot of these meets," Heights coach Steve Crosley said. "It was good competition today. The kids came out and performed very, very well. We are just trying to get ready for the league meet next week."

Southeast gained a dominating win in the girls division, winning eight of the 17 events.

A key event was the 200-meter dash, in which the Buffaloes swept the three top spots. Aarian Tipton edged teammates Sylvia Alexander and Jasmine Fortner in a finish separated by less than a half-second.

It was hard for Kapaun Mount Carmel not to get frustrated in the first half of its soccer game Friday at Heights field.

Blustery winds caused havoc with balls in the air and made it difficult to build an attack heading into the wind.

Throw in a nagging Heights defense that contained the potent attack from the Crusaders, and frustration began to set in.

But instead of letting the frustration become a distraction, the Crusaders released it on Heights the second half. After Caroline Kastor broke the scoreless tie early in the second half, Kapaun poured in four more goals with the wind at its back in a span of nine minutes for a 5-0 victory, setting up a showdown of undefeated teams Tuesday for the CL title against Northwest.

"After we got that first one, I think we played a little more relaxed," Kapaun coach Alan Shepherd said. "In the first half, we were a little frustrated with the wind. Heights did a great job defensively too. We were able to get some more shots off the second half and kind of open them up a little bit."

The Wichita Wingnuts lost 7-2 to the Lincoln Saltdogs in a six-inning, rain-shortened exhibition game Friday at Beatrice, Neb. It was the first game for the expansion Wingnuts, members of the American Association of Professional Baseball.

SOCCER

North boys coach D.J. Spaeth is retiring after 20 seasons. North athletic director Lance Deckinger said Heights coach Brent Lewis has been hired to replace her.

SOFTBALL

Brandi Leeker pitched a one-hitter and Annie Matthews and Stephanie Jaime homered as Friends won the KCAC Tournament with a 10-0 victory over Kansas Wesleyan on Friday in Salina.

Local favorite Denny Hamlin won his sixth career pole and second at Richmond in Friday's qualifying.

He's from Chesterfield, about a 15-minute drive from Richmond International Raceway.

Nationwide Series -- Hamlin used a late pit stop for tires to foil the strategy of fellow NASCAR stars Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards, blowing by them to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Friday night.

Harvick and Edwards dominated the race all night, but when the final caution flew with 22 laps to go, Hamlin gave up his fourth-place position to head to pit road for tires. When everyone behind him followed, leaving Harvick, Edwards and No. 3 Mike Bliss as the only cars still out on the track, Hamlin emerged still running fourth and with brand new traction.

Kyle Busch celebrated his 23rd birthday Friday in a race car, the one place NASCAR's hottest driver truly loves to be.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Busch said during a break in his marathon day at Richmond International Raceway.

And why would he?

Busch can't seem to lose lately, in anything he drives. His monthlong winning streak reached a fifth consecutive week when he jumped into a late model car Thursday night and won Denny Hamlin's charity race at nearby Southside Speedway. Add that to three straight Nationwide Series wins and last week's Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway, and Busch is on a roll not often seen in NASCAR.

"It makes you proud to have a teammate like him that's had that kind of success here the last five weeks," two-time series champion Tony Stewart said. "You can see the confidence it gives him, and I think that just helps the whole organization at the end of the day."

When it comes to picking a Kentucky Derby favorite, a lot of people simply play the name game. Be it cute, curious or catchy, that can be the deciding factor.

A look at how some of the 20 horses set to run today got their names, listed by post position:

1. Cool Coal Man. His sire was Mineshaft, but the owner "tried a million names and couldn't pull one," trainer Nick Zito said Friday. "I had it. I thought he was a cool horse."

2. Tale of Ekati. Owner Charles Fipke discovered a diamond mine in a remote Canadian area called Ekati.

5. Eight Belles. The only filly in the field gets her name from the summer home Eight Bells in Maine, where painter Andrew Wyeth lived. His family based it on the painting "Eight Bells" by Winslow Homer.

When the gates open this evening on the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, five front-running horses, all stuck in outside posts, will angle sideways and race each other to the rail. Big Brown, the morning line favorite in the No. 20 post, must run the farthest and fastest of them all if he is to gain that all important position on the rail.

Late afternoon showers Friday made for a soggy Kentucky Oaks day, but the forecast calls for sun today and this all-important sprint in the beginning of the race should take place on a dry track.

"Everyone talks about the last quarter-mile of the Derby, but the race is really won in the first quarter-mile," said Big Brown's jockey, Kent Desormeaux, a two-time Derby winner. "There's dozens of snap decisions to make between the gate and the first turn. If I make a mistake on the run to the turn, my chances of winning end there."

This initial mad dash also will go a long way in determining the prospects of the four other need-the-lead horses inside Big Brown, as well as the pace for what then becomes a grueling quarter of a mile. Immediately inside Big Brown are Gayego, Recapturetheglory and Cowboy Cal, each of whom led virtually every step of the way to win the Arkansas and Illinois Derbys and Bluegrass Stakes.

Bob Black Jack, perhaps the fastest of them all, might have the first chance to hit the rail because he breaks from the No. 13 hole. Bob Black Jack holds the world record for six furlongs, and he barely got caught at the wire in the Santa Anita Derby by Colonel John.

Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa played together for the first 36 holes at the SemGroup Championship, battling a vicious wind that came from two directions and getting two very different results.

Creamer has made enough birdies that another sloppy finish Friday -- two bogeys on the final three holes -- still left her satisfied. She shot an even-par 71 and was the only one under par at Cedar Ridge in Broken Arrow, Okla., giving her a one-shot lead over Ji Young Oh (72).

Ochoa was six shots behind at 5 over after a 3-over 74, the first time since the 2006 Women's British Open that she has had two rounds over par in the same tournament. Even more troublesome was that Ochoa, going for her record-tying fifth consecutive LPGA Tour victory, finished the second round without a birdie.

It was the first time in more than two years Ochoa played a round without a birdie, and she has gone 26 holes without a birdie or an eagle at Cedar Ridge, surprising for a player who came into this tournament averaging 5.39 birdies a round.

Wachovia Championship -- Jason Bohn shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-shot lead in the PGA Tour's Wachovia Championship, while Phil Mickelson's double bogey on Quail Hollow Club's easiest hole began a horrible closing stretch that left him seven shots back at Charlotte, N.C.

The largest native-plant sale in the state will take place May 9 and 10 at Dyck Arboretum of the Plains in Hesston.

The annual FloraKansas celebration will also feature seminars, tours, arts and crafts, and food.

This year the arboretum is also offering a botanical getaway weekend in conjunction with the event.

FloraKansas will feature more than 300 varieties of hard-to-find native wildflowers, shrubs, trees and grasses. Members will get first pick May 8 and 9, and the public can shop from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 10, noon to 4 p.m. May 11 and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 12. A complete list of plants can be found on the Web site www.dyckarboretum.org.

Other events on May 10: "Herbal Breakfast" by Kay Neff at 8:30 a.m.; "Planting a Monarch Waystation Garden" by Cristina Janney at 9:30 a.m.; "The Art of Nature" with sculptor and painter Janice Weibe Ollenberger at 10:30 a.m.; "What's in Bloom," a 45-minute tour of the grounds with Scott Vogt, at 10:45. Vogt will be available to answer questions and provide growing tips throughout the sale.

Bluffing is about telling a story of a hand that you don't really hold, so make sure that your betting is convincing.

Darrell Dicken didn't, and it cost him.

At the World Poker Tour's $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2007, Dicken drew 7-5 offsuit in the hijack seat. With blinds at $100-$200, a tight player raised to $600 under the gun.

"I'm thinking he probably has two aces or two kings, and I knew if I flop big, I can bust him with 7-5 offsuit," said Dicken.

The big blind also called, so three players took a flop of J-J-Q.

Kelsey Grammer says anchorman Chuck Darling is "great fun to play, because he is bombastic and egocentric, yet there is a goodness to him.

"And he is probably a bit more like I am than Frasier."

That's Frasier Crane, of course, the pompous psychiatrist Grammer portrayed for nine years on "Cheers," then for another 11 seasons on the successful spinoff.

"Frasier was a tortured mass of emotional tics," said Grammer, who won four Emmy Awards for that role. He now stars in "Back to You," a Wednesday night comedy on Fox. "Chuck is a completely different guy, much more comfortable in his skin, who cares very little about anyone but himself. We're watching a man who should have grown up years ago."

Grammer, who also is an executive producer of NBC's "Medium," and appeared last year in the New York Philharmonic's concert version of "My Fair Lady," said he welcomed the chance to return to the sitcom format because, "I like to work. What else am I going to do?"

The Missouri Valley Conference race is a clear-cut matter. Wichita State's chances of hosting an NCAA regional are murky, which is why the Shockers are better off worrying about what they can control.

"The most important thing to me right now is to win the Valley," WSU coach Gene Stephenson said. "In order to do that, we're probably going to have to win out."

Injuries and illness are adding uncertainty to WSU's final weeks of the season. Monday evening, Stephenson awaited word on an MRI performed on third baseman Conor Gillaspie's back. Earlier Monday, he found out left fielder Kenny Williams will miss at least the next five games with acute mononucleosis. Gillaspie, who missed games Friday and Sunday with the back injury, leads WSU with a .398 batting averages and 55 RBIs. Williams is hitting .325 with 10 doubles.

Stephenson said Gillaspie will not play tonight against Central Arkansas, regardless of the results of the examination. Stephenson is inclined to hold him out until the weekend, although he knows Gillaspie will want to play against No. 3 Arizona State on Wednesday.

"I would have to be convinced," Stephenson said.

Good pitching only takes you so far.

The Royals wasted Brett Tomko’s seven shutout innings Monday night in a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium. The bullpen coughed up all four runs in the ninth inning.

That was a problem, of course. But the bigger concern is this was another punchless effort. Another night of wondering why this team can’t score.

And another night with no answers.

Much of the problem, this time, was Angels starter Ervin Santana, who is now 6-0 after dominating pretty much everyone this season.

Make a mental error as a Wichita State baseball player and you expect to hear about it. Sophomore Ryan Jones missed the take sign in the sixth and let a struggling pitcher off the hook.

Three innings later, the Shockers were all hugs, high fives and smiles, thanks to Jones.

His two-run single in the ninth inning gave the 14th-ranked Shockers a 6-5 victory over Northern Iowa on Sunday at Eck Stadium to complete a series sweep.

"When it got to the ninth inning and the first two guys got on, I didn't want anyone else in that situation," Jones said. "I had to redeem myself and, hopefully, not get yelled at after the game by Gene."

Coach Gene Stephenson showed all smiles after WSU's victory. Jones' hit kept WSU (36-11, 14-4 Missouri Valley Conference) in first place ahead of Missouri State (16-5). The Shockers, with six MVC games remaining, control their own destiny. Missouri State has a series at fourth-place Northern Iowa (25-18, 11-7) remaining on its Valley schedule.

The Wranglers finished last in the Texas League in attendance from 2004-07, a major reason they relocated to Arkansas.

If the Wingnuts plan to bring more fans to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, they've taken an interesting first step.

Chris Presson, president of Wichita's American Association independent baseball team, set ticket prices for the Wingnuts' inaugural season 99 cents higher than those of the Wranglers -- it will cost $5.99, $7.99, and $10.99 to attend a Wingnuts game.

Presson admits the on-field product won't be as strong, but says the team will offer a unique experience that isn't necessarily all about baseball.

"For us, it has to be about the entertainment value," Presson said. "We can't always depend on the product we'll have on the field. We'll have to depend on other outlets we have in the stadium."

Since Conor Gillaspie is such a weather buff and one of the most forceful baseball players to ever wear a Wichita State uniform, let's tie the two together to describe his intensity.

When Gillaspie was a freshman, he was a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph or so and a storm surge of 15 feet. You definitely wanted to tie things down and hope something would be left standing when Gillaspie was around.

Nowadays, as a junior, Gillaspie is more like a tropical storm. Windy and rainy, to be sure, but nothing to make you seek cover.

He has accepted the one thing every hitter, sooner or later, has to accept. He can't get a hit every time he steps to the plate.

"Nobody is perfect," Gillaspie said.

Richard Childress always tells his drivers that luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity. Clint Bowyer proved the boss right on Saturday night.

Bowyer was a surprise winner at Richmond International Raceway, stealing a win that first seemed destined for Denny Hamlin, then Dale Earnhardt Jr. Neither made it to Victory Lane, though, because of a wild ending that saw three drivers denied the trip Emporia native Bowyer made to Victory Lane.

"He was prepared tonight, and the opportunity was there," Childress said after Bowyer's first win of the season.

Hamlin, the hometown favorite, ran away with the race and led a record 381 of the 400 laps in search of his first Cup victory at Richmond. Nobody came close to challenging him until a leaking right front tire allowed Earnhardt and Kyle Busch to catch him.

The two drivers split Hamlin as they moved past him, with Earnhardt emerging as the leader with 18 laps to go. Hamlin's tire finally failed with eight to go, and NASCAR accused him of intentionally bringing out the caution that regrouped the field and gave Busch a chance to race Earnhardt for the win.

Wichita State third baseman Conor Gillaspie made two errors in the first inning -- leading to two Northern Iowa runs -- and pitcher Aaron Shafer was frustrated.

Not because of Gillaspie's mistakes, but because of his own. Shafer walked two in the inning, but brushed off all miscues.

Getting stronger as the game went along, Shafer lasted eight innings, throwing 130 pitches in WSU's 5-3 win on Saturday at Eck Stadium.

"You're not going to get every play made behind you, and sometimes you have to look at yourself and you have to make pitches," Shafer said. "Right there, if I don't walk two guys in that first inning, they don't score."

The Shockers (35-11, 13-4) have won the first two games of the series, breaking a tie with UNI atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings and sending the Panthers (25-17, 11-6) to fourth place.

There will be no first-round draft picks, no top prospects, no big-money players.

Independent baseball, by definition, is starkly different from affiliated ball, in which a major-league organization focuses its efforts first on developing players and second on winning.

Billy Butler and Alex Gordon, former top Kansas City Royals prospects who made stops in Wichita with the now-departed Wranglers, won't be roaming Lawrence-Dumont Stadium this summer.

But independent baseball offers its own redeeming qualities. The Wingnuts, playing their first season in the American Association, start the regular season at home Wednesday against Sioux City.

"Very few of them have given up on the dream (of playing in the majors), but there are lot of guys in indy ball who love baseball," said J.J. Cooper, who covers independent leagues for Baseball America.

Five past and present Wichita State players who wore their hearts on their sleeves and the game on their faces:

Jim Thomas (1979-82) --Thomas was once thrown out of a College World Series game against Miami (Fla.). What makes it interesting is that the game had just ended.

Eric Wedge (1987-89) _ You can still see the intensity in the eyes of Wedge as he manages the Cleveland Indians. It has always been there.

Nick Blasi (2003-04) _ If you ever saw Blasi going less than full speed, or giving less than maximum effort, or playing without a chip on his shoulder, you saw something rare.

Derek Schermerhorn (2004-07) _ Schermerhorn never really said much. Some of the most intense baseball players in the world rarely say much. It's a trait of intensity.

KU batting: Larson 2-3, Faunce 1-1, Ro. Price 2-5, Allman 4-5, Afenir 2-5, Ry.Price 1-5, Morrison 1-4, Land 0-3, Waters 2-3, Thompson 1-4.

KU pitching: Esquibel 4-7, Hall 3-2, Smyth 2-1.

Missouri 11, KSU 7

NCAA baseball regional hosts are announced May 25 and the field is set May 26. Sixteen schools will host a four-team regional, leading to eight best-of-3 super regionals at host sites. A guess at how the field looks today:

National (top eight) seeds

Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Arizona State, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Rice, Nebraska, Oklahoma State

Comment: Nebraska can make a major move with series against Texas A&M and Missouri remaining. Oklahoma State has a strong case for a national seed with series wins over Texas A&M and Nebraska. However, a loss to Utah Valley State (No. 247 in the Boyd's World RPI) dropped OSU's RPI to No. 14. The Cowboys play Rice on Wednesday.

The next eight

Wichita State completed the regular season with a 3-2 loss to Drake in Des Moines. Drake scored three runs in the sixth for the win. The Shockers (32-27, 13-13 MVC) finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference and will play eighth-seed Indiana State at 11 a.m. Thursday in the opening round of the MVC Tournament in Carbondale, Ill. Creigthon (43-14, 21-3)) is the No. 1 seed.

Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall is tired of talking about Ehimen Orukpe. Tired of raising hopes and weary of wondering about the 7-foot center from Nigeria.

Marshall is not tired of pursuing Orukpe. Assistant coach Marty Gross recently returned from Nigeria, where he watched Orukpe play and prepared him for an appointment this month at the United States embassy.

Should Orukpe receive his student visa, "He's on his way," Marshall said. "We've got to keep our fingers crossed."

This latest part of the Orukpe episode does not make Marshall any more or less optimistic about his arrival at WSU. Orukpe signed with WSU last spring, but has not been able to leave the country.

"I haven't changed my feeling at all," Marshall said. "I knew it was going to be a battle."

The co-leaders in the Wichita Golf Association fourball tournament have made enough birdies over the years to claim the championship multiple times.

But their refusal to settle for bogeys during Saturday's third round at Willowbend Golf Club kept the rest of the championship flight on their heels heading into today's final round.

Defending champions Tracy Chamberlin and Steve Newman, and three-time winners Darren Copp and Mark Jolliffe each shot bogey-free rounds of 3-under-par 69 to share a one-shot lead after 54 holes of the WGA's season-opening event.

After last weekend's qualifying rounds at Clapp and Consolver, both teams climbed to 14-under 200 Saturday and will start the final 18 holes a stroke in front of Jeff Logan and Aaron Sheaks this afternoon at Reflection Ridge.

Newman, a four-time winner of the event -- three with Chamberlin as his partner -- was surprised their 69 held a place atop the leaderboard. Especially after cool breezes subsided early in their round.

City Senior Pairings

Monday at Sim Park

18 holes

8 a.m.-- S. Pearce-S. Wynkoop; D. Christiansen-B.Ford Buel. 8:10--D. Vohs-B.Dilsaver Millan; S. Pletcher-G. Prichard. 8:20--B. Parker-D. Hager; D. Plopa-P. Lunkenheimer. 8:30--D. Roth-P. Smith; P. Eck-S. Phillips. 8:40--J. Luellan-A. Cone; M. Alterman-M. Williams. 8:50--J. Naldoza-R. White-M. Love. 9 a.m.-- B. Crawford-P. Totten; B. Wright-L. Muth. 9:10--M. Rodriguez-P. Schroeder-M. Riggs, C. LaVergne. 9:20--J. Nichols-S. Hamrick; T. Burroughs-T. Chestnut. 9:30--S. Downey-C. Reynolds; L. Smith-M. Shaft. 9:40--S. Lomax-L. Taylor; M. Linn-S. Cook. 9:50--P. Roark-C. Squires; N. Parks-C. Winn. 10 a.m.-- J. Schraeder-B. Cochran; E. Kurtz-M. Jones. 10:10--L. Vanskike-A. Burgess; C. Pivonka-P. Kastens. 10:20--A. Stevens-D. Harris; P. Elarton-D. Greider. 10:30--G. Morgan-I. Atherton; B. Moore-E. Selenke. 10:40--J. Smith-B. McCraw; V. Schesser-A. Knowles. 10:50--V. McGee-M. Nichols-P. Thompson.

9 holes

Maize's sweep at the hands of Arkansas City in the season's second doubleheader seems oh-so long ago. The Eagles have improved so drastically that coach Jenny Meirowsky can only see positives.

"I don't have much to complain about," Meirowsky said with a laugh.

Especially not after Monday's 7-0, 4-1 sweep of Bishop Carroll at Two Rivers Youth Club. Maize has won 13 of its last 14 games.

The Eagles' pitching duo of Courtney White and Kaitlyn Kern was stellar. White, who threw 75 strikes on 100 pitches in the first game, struck out two and didn't allow a walk.

Maize's hitting was just as impressive, pounding out 25 hits on the night.

Stan Pulliam retired from coaching in 1992, but it was something he never stopped doing.

Whether it was helping a family member through a difficult situation or counseling his son, Heights girls basketball coach Kip Pulliam, Stan Pulliam was dedicated to making the lives of those around him better.

Mr. Pulliam, 65, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack.

"He was a great coach and a great father figure," said Kip Pulliam, one of Mr. Pulliam's four children. "He was a father that wanted you to do your best. He made us work hard. We might not have always liked it. But as we grew older, we appreciated it. He prepared us for life after high school."

After starring as a player at Derby High, Mr. Pulliam began his career coaching boys and girls basketball at Sands High School in Ackerly, Texas, before moving to Wichita to coach at Valley Center and Campus.

Clearwater softball is having the kind of season that conceivably could lead to a Class 4A title.

If, that is, Clearwater gets out of its regional next week at Douglass.

"I would be hard-pressed to see how you could configure the teams and make that regional any more difficult," Clearwater coach Chuck Schrader said.

The Indians are in one of the state's toughest regionals in any class, with Andover Central, Augusta, Mulvane, Rose Hill and Wellington -- all will enter next week's play with winning records.

Douglass and Andover are the other two teams in the regional. All but Douglass are in the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League.

It's difficult to envision a scenario where Kapaun Mount Carmel doesn't contend for the City League golf championship Thursday at McDonald Park.

The Crusaders, undefeated in league play, have put together back-to-back impressive dual performances.

Two weeks ago, they took down Bishop Carroll, their arch-rival and closest competitor in the City League, by 15 strokes. That's also Kapaun's narrowest margin of victory thus far.

Last week, Kapaun shot a 281, which included three players under par. Max Lazzo, A.J. Gebert and David Auer all shot 69.

Sandwiched in between was a fifth-place finish at the Hutchinson Invitational, which featured many of the state's best teams.

The North girls swimming team will try to mark the 20th anniversary of its last City League championship by adding another this week.

"We are really excited right now," North coach Megan Von Fange said. "This is probably the best shot we've had since then to win it and we don't want to miss out on this opportunity."

The City League meet will be held Thursday at Northwest.

The Redskins have swept through the competition during the season, going undefeated in duals.

"We have a lot of pressure on us because every team is gearing for us," Von Fange said. "We just have to keep our heads cool and we can't be overconfident. We just want to show up and swim some great races."

The Eagle track honor roll lists the top three times, distances and heights, regardless of class. Then the remaining class leaders, not covered in the top three, are listed. Even if a team goes to an out-of-town meet, it is the responsibility of coaches to report statistics (1-800-825-NEWS or 268-6252.) One may also e-mail results to stats@varsitykansas.com. The Eagle wishes to thank Carol Swenson for his assistance in compiling this honor roll.

Boys

100 meters

CL Standings

Denny Hamlin appeared headed toward an easy victory. Then, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed poised to snap his two-year losing streak.

In the end, surprise winner Clint Bowyer celebrated, stealing a victory Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway that ended in wild fashion.

Hamlin, the hometown favorite, ran away with the race and led a record 381 of the 400 laps in search of his first Cup victory at Richmond. Nobody came close to challenging him until a leaking right front tire allowed Earnhardt and Kyle Busch to catch him.

The two drivers split Hamlin as they moved past him, with Earnhardt emerging as the leader with 18 laps to go. Hamlin's tire finally failed with eight to go, and NASCAR accused him of intentionally bringing out the caution that regrouped the field.

Earnhardt and Busch staged a strong battle for the lead when the race resumed, but Busch and Earnhardt made contact in turn three that sent Earnhardt into the wall.

Carl Edwards could be the next NASCAR star to drive "the Big, Brown Truck."

Edwards, who announced Friday he had signed a three-year contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing, appears set to join with sponsor UPS beginning next season.

UPS is close to a deal to pair with Edwards on Roush's No. 99 Ford, although the company is still talking with other potential teams, sources confirmed.

UPS has sponsored Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 44 Toyota since last season and was with veteran driver Dale Jarrett since the 2001 season.

Jarrett retired as a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series after the March 16 race at Bristol, Tenn., but plans to compete in the May 17 all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Bobby Rahal believes the Indianapolis 500 rookie class could change the look of IndyCar racing -- and not just because his 19-year-old son, Graham, happens to be one of the series' top new faces.

With the veterans coming over from Champ Car, talented young drivers getting a chance to drive for established teams and the elimination of a contentious rift between the rival open-wheel series, Rahal thinks it could turn into a showcase for the series' future stars.

"It's not just going to be Graham or Alex (Lloyd) or Ryan (Hunter-Reay), but you've got Justin Wilson, Will Power, and I'm missing a lot of other guys, Oriol Servia, who is quite quick on the ovals, it's going to be a tough deal," the 1986 Indy winner said. "If this isn't the strongest rookie field in history, I don't know what year would be. I think it's going to create a lot of interest and make things better."

The verdict will come May 25, during the 92nd running of America's most prestigious open-wheel race.

Until then, the one dozen rookies hoping to make the 33-car starting grid will spend the next three weeks proving themselves.

Wichita natives Steve Newman and Darren Copp battled for a local golf title over the weekend. Today, they'll have the inside track on a state championship at Tallgrass Country Club.

Playing about 12 hours after his second-place finish to Copp in the city fourball tournament, Newman carded a 2-under-par 69 on Monday for sole possession of first place at the midway point of the Kansas Golf Association Mid-Amateur. Copp, who teamed with Mark Jolliffe to edge Newman and Tracy Chamberlin in Sunday's fourball finale, was tied for second with Overland Park's Luke Johnson in the Mid-Amateur, one shot behind Newman.

Newman lamented his early tee time in the KGA's season opener a few days ago, but he made the most of it. One of the first two golfers on the course, Newman made three birdies and one bogey to lead five players who shot par or better.

Copp wasn't far behind Newman on the course or the leaderboard. He completed the front nine with three consecutive birdies before making two of his three bogeys on the final five holes. That left him tied with Johnson, who birdied two of the last five.

Lawrence's Conrad Roberts and Olathe's Chad Judd were tied for fourth at even par. A group at 1-over 72 included Arkansas City's Trent Brown, Wichita's Michael Holloway and Topekans Gary Lucas and Mark Elliott.

After nine holes of the final round of the Wichita Golf Association fourball tournament, Darren Copp and Mark Jolliffe gave no indication that their bad fortune was going to change.

The two just watched fellow competitors Tracy Chamberlin and Steve Newman make countless long par saves and birdie putts to build a three-stroke lead at Reflection Ridge.

In fact, Copp and Jolliffe trailed by four strokes after 12 holes and were left for dead.

But something clicked on the remaining six holes and Copp and Jolliffe made an improbable comeback, sending the match to extras, where they won on the second playoff hole.

It's the duo's fourth four-ball championship and this year's title derailed the defending champs Chamberlin and Newman.

Paula Creamer made two long birdie putts to pull away from the field Saturday in the SemGroup Championship, only to drop two shots on the closing holes for the third straight day to give her challengers a chance.

But that small group chasing her doesn't include the player everyone expected to see. Lorena Ochoa, going for her record-tying fifth straight LPGA Tour victory, lost momentum with back-to-back bogeys and wound up eight shots behind, needing the best comeback of her career.

It doesn't look likely, even with Creamer still trying to figure out how to stop making bogeys with the finish line in sights. A three-putt on the 16th and a bogey from the bunker on the 18th gave her a 2-under 69 and a two-shot lead over Juli Inkster.

Inkster, a 47-year-old with two daughters and seven majors, turned in a tournament-best 67 in more blustery conditions, ending her solid round with a 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole after trouble in the trees.

Creamer was at 3-under 210 and will play in the final pairing today with Inkster, at 212 the only other player under par.

Scott Upshall scored with 3:04 remaining in the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night in Montreal.

Upshall deflected Jeff Carter's shot past Carey Price to give Philadelphia its second and final lead of the game as the Flyers won the conference semifinal in five games.

R.J. Umberger had two goals and an assist and Martin Biron stopped 31 shots for the Flyers, whose last appearance in the East final was in 2004 when they lost to Tampa Bay.

Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell scored as Philadelphia got three second-period goals to take a 4-3 lead. Mike Knuble scored into an empty net with 50 seconds left.

Andrei Kostitsyn scored at 2:13 of the third to draw Montreal even at 4.

Oscar De La Hoya showed he could still beat a contender. Next up is cashing in again like a champion.

In what was little more than a tuneup for a much bigger fight, De La Hoya kicked off his retirement tour Saturday night before an appreciative crowd by pitching a near shutout over a game but overmatched Steve Forbes.

De La Hoya got a chance to shake off ring rust and put on a show in front of his hometown fans, who came out in big numbers to cheer him on against a fighter whose previous biggest claim to fame was losing in the final of the "Contender" reality series. He didn't disappoint, battering the smaller Forbes around on his way to an easy 12-round decision win in his first fight in a year.

The win set up a September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who beat De La Hoya by split decision last May in what was the richest fight ever. And, even though De La Hoya was a 17-1 favorite, his dominating performance against Forbes will likely do what De La Hoya wanted by helping sell the second fight with Mayweather.

De La Hoya won all 12 rounds on one judge's scorecard and 11 out of 12 on the other two. He bloodied Forbes face, but he failed to knock out an opponent who had never been stopped in 38 previous fights, like he had vowed to do before the bout.

Today's NBA

At Coffeyville

Women -- Butler 219, Barton 143, Cloud 113, Cowley 85, Kansas City 53, Colby 51, Coffeyville 51, Johnson 43, Hutchinson 28, Highland 13, Neosho 10, Garden City 8, Allen 5.

100 -- 1. Hayes, Butler, 11.71; 2. Dorsey, KC, 11.95; 3. Williams, KCK, 12.05. 200-- 1. Hayes, Butler, 24.47; 2. Moore, Butler, 25.01; 3.

Bailey, KC, 25.05. 400 -- 1. Sanderson, Butler, 56.61; 2. Moore, Butler, 56.99; 3.

St. Louis, KC, 58.11. 800 -- 1. Webster, Barton, 2:25.06; 2. Buford, Barton, 2:26.29; 3. Stegman, Barton, 2:26.78. 1500 -- 1. Murindat, Butler, 5:07.48; 2. Thompson, Butler, 5:11.04; 3. Butler, Butler, 5:11.52. 5000 -- 1. Murindat, Butler, 19:07.16; 2. Cherono, Cowley, 19:15.09; 3. Nero, Cowley, 19:15.96. 10,000 -- 1. Nero, Cowley, 39:38.09; 2. Addison, Butler, 40:44.89; 3. Poe, Butler, 40:54.33. 100 -- 1. Simpson, Barton, 13.87; 2. Davis, Johnson, 14.28; 3. Stone, Barton, 14.49. 400 hurdles -- 1. Sutherland, Barton, 1:02.83; 2. Simpson, Barton, 1:04.50; 3. Sanderson, Butler, 1:04.72. 3,000 Steeplechase 1. Cherono, Cowley, 11:49.34; 2. Cronin, Cowley, 12:21.11; 3. Cole, Butler, 12:32.60. 400 Relay -- 1. KCK, 48.01; 2. Barton, 48.02; 3. Coffeyville, 51.15. 1600 Relay -- 1. Barton, 3:54.05; 2. Hutchinson, 4:10.75; 3. Butler, 4:12.08. 3200 Relay -- 1. Barton, 9:55.63; 2. Cowley, 10:00.18; 3. Butler, 10:04.66. High jump -- 1. Simmons, Barton, 1.60 meters; 2. Moore, Butler, 1.55; 3. Pruter, Cloud, 1.55. Pole vault -- 1. Burgess, Cloud, 2.82; 2. Schmelzle, Cloud, 2.67; 3. Howell, Coffeyville, 2.67. Long jump -- 1. Hayes, Butler, 5.88; 2. Simmons, Barton, 5.76; 3. Schmitz, Cloud, 5.70. Triple jump -- 1. Daye, Butler, 11.97; 2. Schmitz, Cloud, 11.95; 3. Simmons, Barton, 11.92. Shot put -- 1. Lavan, Barton, 13.79; 2. Poljansek, Cowley, 13.61; 3. Charlen Guigui, Neosho, 12.43. Javelin -- 1. Teuscher, Coffeyville, 37.79; 2. Gelino, Cloud, 37.77; 3. Lacio, Barton, 37.21. Discus -- 1. Poljansek, Cowley, 43.26; 2. Kris Lacio, Barton, 35.95; 3. Hill, Highland, 35.45. Hammer throw -- 1. Poljansek, Cowley, 47.81; 2. Mark, Cloud, 42.14; 3. Lavan, Barton, 41.84. Heptathlon -- 1. Moore, Butler, 4,392 points; 2. Simpson, Coffeyville, 3,884; 3. Pruter, Cloud, 3,507.

Filly Eight Belles suffers tragic injury

Big Brown was pulling away from the field, accelerating with every powerful stride toward the finish line in the Kentucky Derby.

The crowd of 157,770 was on its feet and cheering as the big, unbeaten, muscular bay crossed the line first, 4 ¾ lengths ahead of the filly Eight Belles.

Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. was still celebrating, along with thousands of happy bettors, as Big Brown and the 19 other horses in Saturday's race galloped out around the first turn at Churchill Downs.

It took a few moments to sink in, but one of them had fallen to the track.

A movie that is subtitled "No Intelligence Allowed" is practically begging to be made fun of, but I can't go there with "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," which boasts some smart arguments.

The idiosyncratic documentary, in which Ben Stein acts as a narrator/tour guide/martyr, is most interesting when it gets at a question as old as the Big Bang: How can science and religion be reconciled?

Late in the film, Stein questions atheist/philosopher Richard Dawkins (who has denounced the way his interviews are used in the film, although no manipulation of them is evident).

Stein takes Dawkins back to the origins of life, asking him to speculate about the moment when it all began and whether there might have been a creator involved. The idea makes Dawkins visibly uncomfortable, which is intriguing, and which recalls a scientist who, earlier in the film, said that asking impossible-to-answer questions "is what scientists are supposed to do."

Might there be a way to get to God through science? It's a fascinating notion and I wish the slickly produced "Expelled" investigated it more thoroughly, perhaps by closely questioning a few science professors who say they were canned because they brought spiritual concerns into their classrooms.