Sports Shorts Sports Shorts (March 17, 2004)

CARDINAL CORNER . . . Stanford will be represented by five wrestlers at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis beginning Thursday. The Cardinal contingent includes Tanner Gardner (125), Paul Gross (133), Brad Metzler (141), Matt Gentry (157), and Imad Kharbush (174). Last year, only Gentry was selected to compete at the NCAA tournament. Gentry figures to compete for the national title, as he went 4-2 and was an All-America Honorable Mention last year. This year, Gentry has vaulted into the national spotlight with an undefeated season and a No. 2 ranking in the nation. He has a 37-0 record with six falls and is Pac-10 champion at 157 pounds.

FITNESS FINISHERS . . . Although obesity may soon become the leading cause of preventable death in America, you wouldn't know it watching scores of senior adults finishing the Paul Spangler Memorial 8-Kilometer race Sunday. The 21st annual event traditionally highlights the Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend held at Stanford University each March. This year's Fitness Weekend, presented by Fifty-Plus Lifelong Fitness, appropriately tackled the growing problem of obesity with lectures, forums, and a healthy dose of physical activity for about 800 participants. Michael Dove, 57, of Salinas, and Isobel Fox, 50, of Menlo Park served as key role models for the Weekend's attendees by winning the popular 8K road race, open to individuals age 50 and over. Competing in five-year age divisions through age 90 and above, 122 runners and several hundred walkers completed the event on a brilliant, sunny morning. Dove became a four-time champ by covering the USA Track & Field-certified course that tours Stanford's scenic campus in 29 minutes and 46 seconds to top the men's race. Fox, a first time Fifty-Plus champion, reached the finish line inside Stanford Stadium in 37:12 for the overall women's title. Dee Gibson, 53, of Los Altos was the women's runnerup in 39:14. The all-time oldest finisher in the race's record book is Dr. Paul Spangler, the multi-age-group recordholder to whom the event serves as a memorial. Spangler last competed at the Fifty-Plus race in 1993 just before his death at the age of 94.

OF LOCAL NOTE . . . Palo Alto's Chris Graff, who runs for the Stanford-based Nike Farm Team, finished third in 44:00 and won $3,000 at the USA Men's 15K road championships last weekend in Jacksonville, Fla. Graff was the 2003 USA 10-Mile national champion . . . Menlo College junior Sean Scott earned National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Hitter of the Week for the period ending March 7 following a three-game series in which he had 12 hits in 16 at-bats, with 11 RBI and nine runs scored. He boosted his batting average to .510 while becoming the first Menlo College player has won the award.

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