Lagat first to complete 1,500-5,000 U.S. double
Indianapolis – Two years after becoming an American, Bernard Lagat made history in his first U.S. track and field championships.
The two-time Olympic medalist for Kenya is the first runner to sweep the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the U.S. meet.
Lagat, who has lived in the United States for a decade and makes his home in Tucson, took the lead on the first lap, then outsprinted a charging Gabe Jennings over the final 50 meters to win the 1,500 on Sunday night in 3 minutes, 39.29 seconds.
“It means a lot,” Lagat said. “I didn’t know that nobody had done it until someone was telling me that today. This is my first nationals, and I’m proud to be here. Doubling means a lot to me.”
Six athletes had world-leading performances on the final day of competition at the U.S. meet, which was suspended for nearly four hours because of a slow-moving afternoon thunderstorm.
Lashinda Demus (400 hurdles), Dominique Arnold (110 hurdles), Walter Davis (triple jump), Wallace Spearmon (200), Khadevis Robinson (800) and Tora Harris (high jump) all had world-leading efforts Sunday.
Demus ran the fastest 400 hurdles by an American in eight years, defending her title with a 53.07-second clocking.
Arnold had the world-leading performance twice, going 13.15 in the semifinals, followed by a 13.10 in the final.
Davis, the reigning world champion, won the triple jump at 58 feet, 1 1/4 inches.
Spearmon became the first sprinter this year to break 20 seconds in the 200, going 19.90 seconds, 0.01 of a second off his personal best. Jordan Vaden ran a personal-best 19.98 to finish second. It was the first U.S. title for Spearmon, the silver medalist behind Justin Gatlin at the world championships last year.
Robinson ran a personal-best 1:44.13 to win his third U.S. 800 title.
Harris, in his first outdoor competition of the year, won the high jump at 7-7 3/4.
WNBA
Comets hike home win streak to seven
Tina Thompson scored 21 points and Sheryl Swoopes added 19, including 11 in the fourth quarter, to lead Houston to an 84-74 victory over the visiting Seattle Storm on Sunday.
The win was the seventh straight at home for the Comets (10-5), who lost guard Dominique Canty to a broken finger in the second minute of the game. X-rays taken during the game revealed the fracture, and Canty said she hopes to have surgery today and expects to miss at least four weeks.
Betty Lennox scored a game-high 29 points for the Storm (7-8), which fell to 3-5 on the road and 0-2 against the Comets this season.
The Storm led 58-55 entering the fourth quarter. After Lennox put the Storm up 60-57, the Comets rallied with a 15-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 72-63 lead with 2:38 left in the game.
“The entire game, I felt like my shot just wasn’t there even though I was getting some open looks,” Swoopes said. “But we had different people stepping up throughout the game and my time came in the fourth quarter.”
Thompson scored seven points in the fourth quarter and gave Houston the lead for good when she hit a 3-pointer with 8:14 left.
Chasity Melvin had a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds to help keep the Washington Mystics unbeaten at home with an 87-80 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
Four Mystics players scored in double figures as they snapped a two-game slide and won their seventh in a row at home.
Deanna Nolan tied a team record by scoring 20 of her 26 points in the second half as the Detroit Shock came from behind to beat the Charlotte Sting 71-61 in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Detroit (9-4) trailed by as many as nine points before rallying for its fifth straight win. The Sting (2-13) has lost seven straight.
Nolan matched Ruth Riley’s team record of 20 points in a half.
MLS
Fire blanks Red Bulls 2-0
Chris Armas and Thiago scored to give the Chicago Fire to a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls in Bridgeview, Ill.
Playing in front of 20,133 spectators at Toyota Park, its new soccer-specific stadium, Chicago (3-5-5) won its first game since May 20 and moved into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Red Bulls (2-3-7) dropped to last place in the East.
