Page B3
April 18, 2001
New Court at Irving Park
T he Irving Park covered
basketball court reopened Fri
d a y w ith s tu d e n ts fro m
Irvington E lem entary School
ju m p in g up and dow n in an
ticipation.
T he s c h o o l’s ju m p -ro p e
team and chorus jo in e d P o rt
land C ity C o m m issio n er Jim
F rancesconi and rep re sen ta
tiv es from the Portland T rail
B lazers and U nion 76 to ded i
cate the refu rb ish ed court.
T his project has been m ade
p o ssib le w ith $10,000 from
the 76 Points for Parks p ro
gram , co lla b o ra tio n betw een
U nion 76, the T rail B lazers
and P ortland Parks and R ec
reation.
E v e ry tim e th e B la z e rs
m ake a th re e -p o in t shot d u r
ing a te le v is e d b ro a d c a s t,
U nion 76 donates $50 tow ard
building or refurbishing inner-
city basketball c ourts. T his is
the seventh park to benefit
from the program .
T he b a sk etb a ll co u rts at
Irving Park are som e o f the
m ost intensely used in the city
and reg u lars have an x io u sly
aw aited com pletion o f this
project, w hich put the c o v
ered court out o f com m ission
over the w inter. But the im
provem ents have been w orth
A new basketball court, made from the latest and most durable playing surfaces, is celebrated Friday at Irving Park
in northeast Portland,
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver )
Ring Rage VII
rable, and lo n g -lastin g play
surface. F ollow ing the d e d i
cation cerem ony, the B lazer
Stunt Team ran Irvington s tu
dents th rough som e b a sk et
ball drills.
Jeremy Morrison (left) scores a Technical Knock Out against James
Brock at Multnomah Greyhound Park Friday. The Oregon Trail
Promotions Ring Rage VIII professional boxing card was without
Portland's Reggie Davis who fo r the second time in recent weeks was
unable to fight because o f circumstances beyond the control o f
promoters. Fight officials say Reggie's pro-debut will take place in the
very near future.
(P hoto by D avid G iezyngs /T he P ortland O bserver )
su rfacin g system s around the
n o rth w est, in stalled a three-
layer surface.
T h ey to p p e d it o f f w ith
P lexipave, and a c ry lic color
finish, providing a colorful, du
the w ait. F irst, crew s rem oved
and replaced cracked and u n
even portions o f the court and
im proved drainage around the
perim eter. Then A tlas Track
and T ennis, a lead er in court
Korean Snaps Kenya
Streak in Boston Marathon
B O S T O N (A P ) — L ee
Bong-ju o f South Korea won
the 105th Boston M arathon on
M onday, snapping a 10-year
victory streak for Kenya.
C a th e rin e N d ereb a m ade
sure the Kenyans w eren ’t shut
ou t, h o w ev er, w in n in g the
w om en’s race for the second
consecutive year.
Lee raised his fist to salute
the crow d as he cam e down
Boylston Street to finish in 2
hours, 9 m inutes, 43 seconds.
Silvio G uerra o f Ecuador was
second, 24 seconds behind, and
K e n y a ’s Jo sh u a C h e la n g ’a
cam e in third, 46 seconds be
hind the winner.
Rod DeH aven, o f M adison,
W is., was sixth in 2:12:41 —
the first top 10 finish for an
A m erican since 1994. T he
United States, which hasn’t had
a B oston w inner since Greg
M eyer in 1983, placed two run
ners in the top 15 and nine
am ong the top 31.
“I ’ll be back,” said Josh Cox,
o f El Cajon, Calif., who led
near the m idpoint o f the race
before finishing 14th. “ And I
think the A m ericans w ill, too.”
Italy’s G elindo Bordin, in
1990, was the last non-K enyan
to win the m en’s race. The last
Korean to win was Kee Yong-
ham in 1950.
“ I knew I was running alone
against m any Kenyans, but the
marathon is competing by your
self,” Lee said. “ I focused on
com peting by m yself and not
paying attention to the others.”
Lee stayed with the pack the
entire race as it dw indled from
24 at the half-m arathon to a
dozen and then to four by the
tim e the runners came out o f
Heartbreak Hill, with Boston in
their sights. It quickly becam e
th re e : L ee, C h e la n g ’a and
Guerra.
C helang’a dropped o ff the
pace in the 25th m ile, ju st be
fore Lee m ade his move on
Guerra. “ I was a little bit w or
S au v ag e w on th e w o m e n ’s
w h eelch air race in 1:53:54,
outsprinting Edith Hunkeler o f
Sw itzerland over the last 600
yards to win by four seconds
and take her fourth victory'.
Van Dyk finished six minutes
ahead o f Franz Nietlispach, who
won in 1995 and 1997-2000.
Heinz Frei, the ’94 and '96 w in
ner, was 35 seconds back, in
third. A field o f 15,606 runners
and 47 w heelchair racers left
the H opkinton starting line at
noon. A half-m illion spectators
were expected along the 26.2-
mile route to C opley Square,
w here a laurel w reath and a
prize o f $80,000 aw aited the
ried, because I was expecting
my team m ates to be with me, to
assist,” C helang’a said.
Rod DeHaven, o f M adison,
W is., was sixth in 2:12:41 — the
first top 10 finish for an A m eri
can since 1994. The U nited
States, which hasn’t had a Bos
ton winner since Greg M eyer in
1983, placed two runners in the
top 15 and nine among the top
31. “I ’ll be back,” said Josh Cox,
o f El Cajon, Calif., who led near
the m idpoint o f the race before
finishing 14th. “ And I think the
A m ericans will, too.”
Ndereba finished in 2:23:53,
alm ost three minutes ahead o f
Poland’s M algorzata Sobanska.
Senior Softball Program Seeks Players
The Vancouver Senior Metro Adult Softball Association is seeking men age 60 and older to participate in its 2001
slowpitch league. Teams will form this month, with weekly games played between May and late August. All games are
played on the association’s field, located on the Clark College campus in Vancouver.
To registeror get more information, contact; Joe Raabe at 360-571 -9952 Joe Irwin at 360-896-0890 orGary Bradbury
at 503-253-1654.
Wow!
Two Years
of the
'Jta rth m h
$50
fastest. The field, the third-larg-
est in the event’s history, in
cluded the last three m en 's
cham pions and the winners o f
the last four w om en's races.
Cloudy skies with tem peratures
in the low 50s greeted the run
ners and early m orning winds
had stilled— good marathoning
weather. W ith 10 consecutive
victories, Kenya was looking to
break the record for any coun
try set by the United States from
1916-25, although the 1918 race
was a relay because o f World
War I. Last year, N dereba com
pleted the sweep when she be
came the first Kenyan to win
the w om en's race.
I
G
Constniction
Bepns on
Piedmont
landmoik
Mansion Lights
Up for the
Lee Bong-ju crosses the finish line to win the Boston Marathon
Lyubov M orgunova o f Russia
was another 36 seconds back, in
third. N dereba's repeat deprived
Ethiopian Fatuma Roba o f an
unprecedented fourth Boston
w om en’s title. Roba, who won
from 1997-99, finished fifth. The
lead pack o f about 10 women
stayed together for the first 16
m iles before Ndereba and Roba
finally broke away, with K enya's
Lom ah Kiplagat about 50 yards
back. Roba faded in the last five
miles.
Earlier, South African Ernst
Van Dyk won the m en's w heel
chair race in 1:25:12 to end a
seven-year Swiss hold on the
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