Sports briefs for April 19, 2005

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

Ethiopian breaks Kenyan dominance

On a day ideal for spectators but too warm for runners, and with a headwind that at times became discouraging, an Ethiopian man won the Boston Marathon, America's showcase race, for the first time since 1989. The winner, by 180 yards, was 25-year-old Ehtopian Hailu Negussie in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 45 seconds, the slowest winning time since 1987. The Kenyan men, who had won 13 of the last 14 versions of this Patriot's Day race, placed second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh.

Kenya's solace was a victory in the women's race by 32-year-old Catherine Ndereba, who became the first woman to win Boston four times. After a sluggish start that seemingly doomed her chances, she won by a third of a mile in 2:25:13. Ndereba, like Negussie, earned $100,000 in prize money and an appearance fee.

And for many who lined the streets of the 26-mile, 385-yard course, the big thrill was the performance of the American men. Alan Culpepper, 32, of Lafayette, Colo., finished fourth in 2:13:39; Peter Gilmore, 27, of San Mateo, Calif., 10th in 2:17:32; and Ryan Shay, 25, of Central Lake, Mich., 11th in 2:18:17. It had been almost 20 years since an American man finished as high as Culpepper or since Americans had placed three finishers so high.

Agassi, Courier lose doubles match

Andre Agassi played doubles for the second time since 2001 and Jim Courier came out of retirement to join him, but South Americans Martin Garcia and Luis Horna beat the big-name duo in three sets at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston.

Courier, who hasn't played on the ATP tour in five years, and Agassi rallied in the second set but couldn't keep up the pace and lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Rebel men seeded fourth for tourney

The 51st-ranked UNLV men's team is the No. 4 seed and will play fifth-seeded Utah in the first round of the Mountain West Conference men's tennis championship April 28-30 at the Barnes Tennis Center on the campus of San Diego State.

The Lady Rebels (12-7, 5-2) have been eliminated in the semifinals by BYU the past two years, but can't meet the top-seeded Cougars until the championship round this year.

Bonnell recognized

Chris Bonnell had three home runs to help UNLV win two of three games against Utah and on Monday the MWC named him the league's Player of the Week. Bonnell went 6-for-13 in the series and had a slugging percentage of 1.231.